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Is the Schiit Magni Heresy better than the JDS labs Atom?

hello0000

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Here are the reviews for both:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ents-of-new-jds-labs-atom-headphone-amp.5262/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...gni-3-and-heresy-headphone-amp-reviews.10311/

So I am in the market for an amp and have been diligently reading the reviews on this site.

I've been trying to understand the measurements in each review and from what I can see these two amps are just as good as each other at worst, and at best Heresy is better, based on power, SINAD, and SNR.

Also the materials used for the Heresy are superior, although for sure there is a huge question mark on the quality controls as with all Schiit products.

Is this the correct interpretation of the reviews? Is the Heresy the best bang for buck amp available right now?
 
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Veri

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Honestly they are just about equal performing. You should get the one you like the most aesthetics-wise or on your desk.

Heresy has an advantage in that it stacks really well with the modi though :)

JDS on the other hand has some of the best customer support I've yet experienced.
 
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hello0000

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Honestly they are just about equal performing. You should get the one you like the most aesthetics-wise or on your desk.

Heresy has an advantage in that it stacks really well with the modi though :)

JDS on the other hand has some of the best customer support I've yet experienced.

I'm going to pair it with the SMSL M500, so no chance of stacking there:D

I'm sure the differences are not audible at all, but as far as measurements go am I right in how I'm interpretting the two reviews, that the Heresy measures better?
 

urfaust

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Likely the only thing you can notice with the heresy is it has more power. Depends what you are gonna plug into it when it comes to impedance but you may not need it either. I ve never used the atom in high gain so far (it's also a safe guard for me to not listen too loud!)
 

Cahudson42

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How efficient are your headphones? With my HE400i planars, I really notice anything less than 1 Watt in bass performance. Returned numerous es100, BTR3, etc. as they sounded anemic in comparison to my Liquid Spark..

So, my suggestion is: "When in doubt, go with the power". And the Heresy has 2x the Atom on low impedance like the HE400i.
 
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hello0000

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How efficient are your headphones? With my HE400i planars, I really notice anything less than 1 Watt in bass performance. Returned numerous es100, BTR3, etc. as they sounded anemic in comparison to my Liquid Spark..

So, my suggestion is: "When in doubt, go with the power". And the Heresy has 2x the Atom on low impedance like the HE400i.

HD600 and also etymotic IEMs (multiple)

The thing with more power is it also keeps options open in the future if I want to try different cans
 

Cahudson42

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HD600 and also etymotic IEMs (multiple)
So, both high 300ohm and low 22ohm requirement. Maybe the Heresy higher power is even more desirable - the slightly higher rail +/- 15v of the Heresy for HD600 headroom, and higher current delivery w/o bogging down for the etymotic?
 

urfaust

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The added power is nice but it comes with more distorsion/noise, compared to something like the Geschelli it's 10db worse at 100mw and 7db at 500mw (you are not going to blast +2w on regular basis).

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...power-at-33-ohm-audio-measurements-png.36224/

The atom is cleaner across the board up to 1W

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...gh-gain-into-33-ohm-audio-measurem-png.42011/

Right now I would certainly consider the archel 2.5 pro (1W and likely the same measurements as version 2) but you will be happy with either one of thoses anyway.
 

Get a hearing test

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Both are top tier anyway. It's more about dacs and your headphones. But can't deny if heresy measures like that then it must be better surely. or is it?! o.o
 

Human Bass

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I would go for the Heresy, as clean but with much more power.
 

odyo

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Likely the only thing you can notice with the heresy is it has more power. Depends what you are gonna plug into it when it comes to impedance but you may not need it either. I ve never used the atom in high gain so far (it's also a safe guard for me to not listen too loud!)

I don't really get this ''power'' thing. I have SBX AE5 soundcard and it can literally kill my DT 1990 and DT 770 250 ohm at max volume and it's completely noise free. If i'm reading measurements correct atom should be much more powerful than my soundcard. What am i missing here ? If my soundcard is this powerful and external standalone amps generally even more powerful than my soundcard so i can't see the need of more powerful amp. My soundcard should be able do drive even the hardest headphones beyond ear damaging level.
 

Veri

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I don't really get this ''power'' thing. I have SBX AE5 soundcard and it can literally kill my DT 1990 and DT 770 250 ohm at max volume and it's completely noise free. If i'm reading measurements correct atom should be much more powerful than my soundcard. What am i missing here ? If my soundcard is this powerful and external standalone amps generally even more powerful than my soundcard so i can't see the need of more powerful amp. My soundcard should be able do drive even the hardest headphones beyond ear damaging level.
Different headphones have different sensitivity, for one thing you are not using 600ohm beyers, or demanding hifiman planars.
 

odyo

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Different headphones have different sensitivity, for one thing you are not using 600ohm beyers, or demanding hifiman planars.

I know that. I still think they can be loud enough to damage ears.
 

Get a hearing test

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I don't really get this ''power'' thing. I have SBX AE5 soundcard and it can literally kill my DT 1990 and DT 770 250 ohm at max volume and it's completely noise free. If i'm reading measurements correct atom should be much more powerful than my soundcard. What am i missing here ? If my soundcard is this powerful and external standalone amps generally even more powerful than my soundcard so i can't see the need of more powerful amp. My soundcard should be able do drive even the hardest headphones beyond ear damaging level.
My onboard could drive hd600 to ear killing levels but the dynamics werent there. To put it short i didnt knew what was missing til i heard the difference.
 

Get a hearing test

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What determines the 'dynamics' ?
Ear piercing highs that clip at times. If there are any finer details, it cant resolve them, theyre not there. Muddy distorted bass and if the music gets too complex its all around distorted mess. Everything sounds on the same plane and volume too, narrow presentation. Probably down to individual implementation. But ive heard far worse onboard audio.
 

odyo

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My onboard could drive hd600 to ear killing levels but the dynamics werent there. To put it short i didnt knew what was missing til i heard the difference.
Yeah but the difference between atom and heresy is power. It's not like onboard.
 

Berwhale

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As i've mentioned on other threads, you should also consider the ergonomic differences between the Heresy and the Atom. The Atom has the power (via the volume knob) and the gain on the front, the Heresy has both controls on the back. If you're going to buy the Heresy, then make sure that you'll be able to reach around the back.
 

solderdude

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Ear piercing highs that clip at times. If there are any finer details, it cant resolve them, theyre not there. Muddy distorted bass and if the music gets too complex its all around distorted mess. Everything sounds on the same plane and volume too, narrow presentation. Probably down to individual implementation. But ive heard far worse onboard audio.

You mean clipping, shortage of max output voltage.
 
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