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Fulla 2 as DAC and JDS Labs Atom as amp. Clear improvement?

AZA

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Hello guys,

This is my first post on this site and first I have to say that I am truly impressed with the level of expertise shown in the reviews and the great atmosphere on the forum :)

I am currently using a fulla 2 to power my HD660s and Beyerdynamic 1990pro. Is it wort buying a JDS Labs Atom to replace the headphone amp in my fulla 2, and continue to use my fulla 2 solely as a DAC (3.5mm fulla direct line output to 3.5mm input Atom)?

Thank you for your responses!
AZA
 
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AZA

AZA

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hahahaha did not see that one coming! :p
 

Veri

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hahahaha did not see that one coming! :p
Although a modi3 would be the better DAC, the fulla2 into the Atom via line-out will at least bring your music louder and (placebo?) 'better' ;)
Also hello fellow Belgian.
 
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AZA

AZA

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Although a modi3 would be the better DAC, the fulla2 into the Atom via line-out will at least bring your music louder and (placebo?) 'better' ;)
Also hello fellow Belgian.

Hoihoi :p

Do you think the gain will be so minimal that the term "placebo" is best used?

Currently I am pretty happy with my fulla2 and I don't expect things to become much better ("much better" is here +10% of quality, I think :rolleyes:).

BUT

Reading around and watching reviews on youtube (yes: z, dms, metal571 and yoshua mostly :) ) I get the impression that I might be missing out on higher quality audio without spending much more than I already have.

So I am juggling with the idea to maybe get a better amp and leave the fulla as my dac, wondering oooooo wondering if it might be worth it.
 

Veri

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Hoihoi :p

Do you think the gain will be so minimal that the term "placebo" is best used?

Currently I am pretty happy with my fulla2 and I don't expect things to become much better ("much better" is here +10% of quality, I think :rolleyes:).

BUT

Reading around and watching reviews on youtube (yes: z, dms, metal571 and yoshua mostly :) ) I get the impression that I might be missing out on higher quality audio without spending much more than I already have.

So I am juggling with the idea to maybe get a better amp and leave the fulla as my dac, wondering oooooo wondering if it might be worth it.
If you already have the fulla and need louder sound for hard to drive gear, getting an atom might be sensible.

For raw gains in sound, you can only go so far with the Fulla being the limiting factor. And even then... I'm a firm believer in transparent will always be transparent, we can discern pretty difficult between 0.003% and 0.0003% distortion.

Unfortunately for our money, people just like buying new shiny things :D :D
 
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AZA

AZA

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Unfortunately for our money, people just like buying new shiny things :D:D

Hahaha thanks for your help.. I laughed too hard at this..:facepalm: I guess I'm just a sucker for nice shiny things! especially if I can make myself believe that it is worth the money! :p

I don't get my headphones to ear bleeding levels but I don't like listening to those levels anyways :rolleyes:.

The best reason I can come up with for getting a better amp for the moment is to avoid getting over noon volume level and more sound quality if this is possible. With the dt 1990 I can easily get to 2 o'clock volume level for short more detailed listening on some of my favorite classical tracks.

The fulla2 is not getting too many positive reviews, on the contrary, which is getting me to believe there must be much better possibilities at approximately the same budget level.
 

flipflop

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As KR8NUX pointed out, almost everything about the Fulla 2 is bad. However, the most important measurement, output impedance, is very good at a low 1.0 ohms, so getting a new amp is unlikely to yield an audible improvement.
If you want better sound quality, I suggest installing a parametric equalizer (Windows APO + Peace GUI if you're using Windows) and correcting the flaws in the frequency response of your headphones.
 
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bravomail

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You're not going to spend much on Atom. It's an excellent amp. Get it. It might then drive u to getting other harder to drive headphones like Fostex T50 or Sennheise HD6xx. And then maybe changing/upgrading your DAC.

With buying a good amp you are opening up more options for yourself.

wondering oooooo wondering if it might be worth it.
 
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AZA

AZA

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As KR8NUX pointed out, almost everything about the Fulla 2 is bad. However, the most important measurement, output impedance, is very good at a low 1.0 ohms, so getting a new amp is unlikely to yield an audible improvement.
If you want better sound quality, I suggest installing a parametric equalizer (Windows APO + Peace GUI if you're using Windows) and correcting the flaws in the frequency response of your headphones.
Hello flipflop,
interesting proposition. I was just looking into the proposed equalizer (explanation vid on youtube by metal571) I will experiment with my HD660. thx for the idea!
 
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AZA

AZA

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tential

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Hoihoi :p

Do you think the gain will be so minimal that the term "placebo" is best used?

Currently I am pretty happy with my fulla2 and I don't expect things to become much better ("much better" is here +10% of quality, I think :rolleyes:).

BUT

Reading around and watching reviews on youtube (yes: z, dms, metal571 and yoshua mostly :) ) I get the impression that I might be missing out on higher quality audio without spending much more than I already have.

So I am juggling with the idea to maybe get a better amp and leave the fulla as my dac, wondering oooooo wondering if it might be worth it.
You're comparing subjective listening reviews vs science reviews. You have to decide what you think is more important.
Someone's opinion on what something sounds like and it's objective measurements..

Personally, I've seen myself easily duped by my own system, thinking I had great sound with literally the center channel and sub on at times. Having been learning about audio for my whole life, I realize lot of it is just marketing.
If I can get good measurements at a decent price I'm happy. The dx3 pro does that. The thx amp would be good as well if you can afford it.
I really just wait for amir to post a device with all around amazing measurements. It doesn't really seem like it should be that hard and there are a couple of devices that do that. As long as you run audio gear within spec and there is no fatal flaw you're good to go.
I also look and see how a person acquired the item for review. If you don't pay for items (which most reviewers don't) its more of a show than a review.
 

KR8NUX

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There are multiple 'Ultimate DAC/Amp combos'. Amir is not a subjective reviewer, so he does not give you ranking charts.
Both the Topping DX3Pro and DX7s are proven gold standards. Even tiny DAC/Amps like the pixel gen 2 dongle, Topping NX4, FiiO Q1Mk2, DACPort HD, Chord Mojo, Apogee Groove etc.

Read the various articles before presuming there are no options given. This site doesn't give easy to read recommendations as of now, Amir's time is better spent measuring devices. It's not as if this is his main job anyway, unlike your subjective reviewers like Zeos and Joshua and DMS (Metal is an engineer), he is doing us a service by measuring so many and publishing his findings.
 
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KR8NUX

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btw, I just bought a used cmoybb of jds labs for 15euro and they get louder than the fulla, also very much impressed with the quality of the bass boost at lower volumes on my HD580 especially. Wondering if amirm already reviewed this one, I don't seem to find it in the forums.
The CMOY is a legendary design by Pow Chu Moy, a boon to DIYers and beginner level electrical engineers. A lot of my electrical engineer friends made one back in our second year in college. I'm pretty sure, given Amir's experience (he's been around for quite some time now :p) he would have a CMoy lying around or easily accessible.
 
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