I've just contacted them too, and their engineer (John Seaber) also agree that there will be no risk doing so.
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My Atom amp has just arrived today. Below is my initial impression of D10-atom stack, upgraded from Fiio e10k.
Cons:
- Noticeable channel imbalance (to the right), but I can get used to it. Just to be clear, I'm already aware of this issue before buying the amp.
I'm using a very sensitive headphone ATH AD700x, and Atom amp is @ 8'o clock. Changing from e10k to atom amp immediately make me feel this imbalance. The e10k is perfectly balanced (or not noticeable imbalance) to my ear even at lowest volume (I always let the volume on e10k stay in 1-2 range). Atom amp L/R volume become more balanced when I turn it to 9'o clock, but it is still toward the right. I don't turn it higher because at that time, it is already too loud.
In case you wonder why I bought these gears just for this can, playing with these electronics is just my hobby so it is okay to me to upgrade my headphones last even though to me, it is the key to define how your system is.
Pros (only about audio quality and compared to e10k):
To be clear, this is not ABX test and I have no way to balance the sound between 2 combos. Maybe all of these impression is just placebo.
- The overall sound is fuller. Somehow I feel the bass range decay slower too. (e10k sounds much softer)
- Clearer
- Wider sound stage.
- About transparency, it is weird that in some cases, the detail is more revealing on Fiio e10k. Overall, I still prefer d10-Atom combo.
- About imaging, I think it is the same to e10k.
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I'm pretty sure that my AD700x cannot push both combos to their limit. I will upgrade it in the near future to see whether the differences between two combos become more noticeable or not.