JDS Atom Amp 2 Headphone Amplifier Review

[phoenixsong]

I seriously love this thing. I bought one recently on a bit of a whim. I didn't need it. I've got a couple of Magni Heretics that are working fine for me and are well reviewed here, and the power output is roughly comparable, from what I remember in the spec sheets. But I like what I've read about JDS Labs here, and their "sound as science" design philosophy appeals to me. And sometimes you just want a new toy, you know?

The Atom Amp 2 is awesome. Things I like over the Heretic: It feels solid, like it's not going anywhere. The volume knob is larger, and I like that it's also the power toggle (turn all the way down and click it off). I like the glowing ring around the knob. And the free engraving looks great!

The main two areas where the Heretic has an advantage, to my mind, is the greater distance between the volume knob and the headphone jack, and the presence of a low/negative gain. That last one doesn't matter much to me, but I'll come back to it in a moment.

Just to put it through its paces (I knew it would be fine) and have some fun with headphones I haven't gotten out in a while, I've so far tried all of these with my Atom Amp 2:

Audeze LCD-XC (2021 revision) - my daily driver
DCA Aeon RT Closed
Sennheiser HD 6XX
Etymotic ER4SR
Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED

There's no need for high gain with any of those headphones. I've turned high gain on just to verify it worked, but the farthest I've had to turn the knob in low gain was with the Aeon RT when using my preferred EQ, in which case I took it to around 1:00 or 2:00 o'clock, depending on the track.

The HD-6XX is at a comfortable volume for me around noon or 1:00, again depending on which track and whether I'm using EQ. (I always use EQ unless I'm playing around like this.)

For the LCD-XC with my preferred EQ, I keep it around the noon position or so. Without EQ, it can start getting uncomfortable to me before 11:00 (not unexpected since the LCD-XC is meant to be fairly easy to drive).

For the IEMs, it actually starts getting too loud around 9:00 or so. I'm unlikely to use IEMs with the amp very often if at all, so this doesn't matter much to me, and even if it did, I still felt there was enough room to play with the volume for my liking. I consider it a non-issue.

Side note: Maybe my headphone tastes are more varied than I think, but I'm kind of blown away by how good all of the above models sound even without EQ. The Etymotic is the only one that's a bit iffy because it's so much more on the analytical side, but they're all really good. I was particularly struck by how good the Aeon RT is after having had it hanging up for a while.

Anyway, the Atom Amp 2 is a fantastic amp and I'm glad I bought it! At some point I guess I have to get an Atom DAC 2 (which I also don't need) just to have a matching stack.

If it gets uncomfortable you may be able to use Equalizer APO's digital preamp function to reduce gain. I think it helps with clipping issues too from others' posts

 

[Blake]

If it gets uncomfortable you may be able to use Equalizer APO's digital preamp function to reduce gain. I think it helps with clipping issues too from others' posts

I do use that. Well, strictly speaking I use eqMac since I’m not on Windows anymore, but same thing. It’s why I can push the volume farther when I’m using my preferred EQ settings.

You can use the preamp function to give more headroom without adjusting anything else, too, if you just want the stock response with more play on the volume knob. Useful hack for IEMs, especially.

 

[grogzilla]

Hi, everybody. I've been kind of a lurker of the forums for a while and just registered. I'm not super knowledgeable about audio hardware.

I just have a couple of questions, if anyone with more knowledge can help out. I currently have an original (as in first version) Schiit Magni and have been using that to drive various headphones for a while (DT 880, Fostex TH600, HD 6XX). I don't know how the original Magni really compares to something like the Atom Amp 2 or Topping L30 II, and I'm just wondering: would there be any audible difference if I moved over to a new amp like one of those two? Or should I just stick with what I have? I like how the Atom looks and all, but I won't waste money if what I already have is still fine.

I'm also kind of looking at trying the HiFiMAN Edition XS on my system, which sort of sparked this whole line of thinking. I don't know if the Magni is a "good fit" for those, but would any of these amps really have an issue with the XS?

edit: I didn't think it would warrant a separate thread, but if I should make a separate thread to ask about this, just let me know.

 

[elshaddai]

Hi, everybody. I've been kind of a lurker of the forums for a while and just registered. I'm not super knowledgeable about audio hardware.

I just have a couple of questions, if anyone with more knowledge can help out. I currently have an original (as in first version) Schiit Magni and have been using that to drive various headphones for a while (DT 880, Fostex TH600, HD 6XX). I don't know how the original Magni really compares to something like the Atom Amp 2 or Topping L30 II, and I'm just wondering: would there be any audible difference if I moved over to a new amp like one of those two? Or should I just stick with what I have? I like how the Atom looks and all, but I won't waste money if what I already have is still fine.

I'm also kind of looking at trying the HiFiMAN Edition XS on my system, which sort of sparked this whole line of thinking. I don't know if the Magni is a "good fit" for those, but would any of these amps really have an issue with the XS?

edit: I didn't think it would warrant a separate thread, but if I should make a separate thread to ask about this, just let me know.

I can't answer your first question, but I did try an XS a while back with my Atom 2. I normally run a Beyer DT 900 Pro X and it works great on the normal gain setting. I found that I had to use the High Gain option on the Atom 2 to get comparable volume levels with the Edition XS, but there were no issues with the resulting sound quality. It was nice to have the boost option.

 

[Doodski]

I just have a couple of questions, if anyone with more knowledge can help out. I currently have an original (as in first version) Schiit Magni and have been using that to drive various headphones for a while (DT 880, Fostex TH600, HD 6XX). I don't know how the original Magni really compares to something like the Atom Amp 2 or Topping L30 II, and I'm just wondering: would there be any audible difference if I moved over to a new amp like one of those two? Or should I just stick with what I have? I like how the Atom looks and all, but I won't waste money if what I already have is still fine.

The new ATOM AMP has DC protection circuitry. A nice feature. Otherwise the total volume of output and sound quality are very close between a ATOM and the Schiit.

 

[BDWoody]

Hi, everybody. I've been kind of a lurker of the forums for a while and just registered. I'm not super knowledgeable about audio hardware.

Welcome!

I just have a couple of questions, if anyone with more knowledge can help out. I currently have an original (as in first version) Schiit Magni and have been using that to drive various headphones for a while (DT 880, Fostex TH600, HD 6XX). I don't know how the original Magni really compares to something like the Atom Amp 2 or Topping L30 II, and I'm just wondering: would there be any audible difference if I moved over to a new amp like one of those two? Or should I just stick with what I have? I like how the Atom looks and all, but I won't waste money if what I already have is still fine.

Do you hear any noise during quiet parts, or any kind of objectionable behavior in terms of noticeable distortion or not being able to get loud enough? If not, you are unlikely to notice any improvement with a new amp.

 

[grogzilla]

Thanks for the replies and the welcome.

I don't personally notice noise or anything objectionable about the sound right now. There seems to be clipping above a certain volume level on my TV if I'm using the amp directly plugged into the TV's 3.5 mm out, and I have to almost crank the volume on the Magni to the maximum because of that limit and EQ, but other than that I haven't had any noticeable problems lately. I have an old X-Fi Titanium HD sitting around that I could hook up to my PC to try to fix the volume limit issue, but I'm using the HD 6XX currently and they generally get loud enough even with the limit from the TV. So, I should probably just stick with what I have for now and see what other headphones are like.

 

[Zimmerman]

Hi everyone, just a quick question:
Does the Atom Amp 2 have enough power for the Dan Clark AEON 2?
Thanks for reading

 

[AnalogSteph]

Given that it can churn out over 6 Vrms into 16 ohms at negligible distortion, I would think so. Even if we assume only 4 Vrms into 13 ohms, that's still more than 1 W, which would mean peak levels exceeding 122 dB SPL based on the 92 dB / mW spec for the open one. This may be 12 dB more than you'll ever want or need.

 

[Zimmerman]

Given that it can churn out over 6 Vrms into 16 ohms at negligible distortion, I would think so. Even if we assume only 4 Vrms into 13 ohms, that's still more than 1 W, which would mean peak levels exceeding 122 dB SPL based on the 92 dB / mW spec for the open one. This may be 12 dB more than you'll ever want or need.

Thanks for your response, I appreciate you taking the time

 

[jasonhanjk]

Can anyone tell me why you'd want a 4.4mm headphone jack if it's not outputting more power? Like Amir says, is it just for convenience if you have your headphones set up with 4.4mm balanced cables and don't want to swap them out (or can't if you've modded your headphones)?

And would the 4.4 out have any meaningful difference over the 6.35?

4 pole have better crosstalk than 3 pole. Very obvious using 16 ohm load.