JDS Labs Atom DAC Review

[Veri]

Let me say it as I understood this statement: the AKM chips do not scale the filter cut-off frequency with sample rate. That is wrong. Measuring at 44.1 and 48 kHz gives two different results, in both frequency response as well as the above noise based out-of-band measurement.

View attachment 68404

Thank you for the correction!! Honestly I find this quite odd from AKM.

 

[Veri]

Huh?

View attachment 68407

Don't they mean "to enable ASIO mode"?

 

[gvl]

Don't they mean "to enable ASIO mode"?

Must be a typo.

 

[Aldoszx]

I would buy this to pair with the Atom if it wasn't much more expensive in Europe but... Those two fat power supply and that rca cable really make this ugly and clutter your space.
Considering how little power the dac requires it would have been great to have a Y cable for the Atom power and a flat bridge for the rca. Too bad that you can't DIY because of the Atom Ps being AC and not DC else a simple 7805 in the Y adapter would have done the trick.

I think you can build a custom power source to have two AC outputs.
Both DAC and AMP uses 15VAC.
And you can find 2x15 VAC transformers for this.

 

[restorer-john]

Let me say it as I understood this statement: the AKM chips do not scale the filter cut-off frequency with sample rate. That is wrong. Measuring at 44.1 and 48 kHz gives two different results, in both frequency response as well as the above noise based out-of-band measurement.

And neither of those filter slopes are optimal for their sampling frequencies are they, e.g. [email protected] on a 44.1K signal? Surely that's a definition of broken.

What happened to proper LPFs that attenuated 80-90dB by Fs/2? They went the way of the Dodo it would seem.

 

[aarmath]

Holy Smokes!!! This is phenomenal!!!
I can now die Happy!!!

 

[aarmath]

I like my Atom Amp, and this one isn't too bad either based on performance alone.
It's just not competitive on features. Only USB in, no controls at all (no volume control [stacked with the the Atom amp and its analog control that's not ideal with low impedance haedphones], no display, no remote) ... just nothing.
Also the same mediocre plastic case and bulky transformer.
They are building down to a price, but for me as a consumer, that still just doesn't cut it compared to the chinese competition.

I agree with you on the paucity of digital inputs. But for analog additions like volume at al, wouldn't it make sense to have it paired with the standalone Atom headphone amp? Yes, pricing would be $ 198 hereabouts. But I would still think that's some great value in a modular & discrete package.

My two cents

 

[KPH]

How is the defect rate of JDS Labs products in the past? How do they performe in the first batch?

 

[Tks]

Thank you for the correction!! Honestly I find this quite odd from AKM.

Yeah it is pretty weird, I would have assumed Non-Scaling of filters would be only within the No-Over-Sampling modes.


Now I wonder what Hi-Res or DSD looks like when played back >_>

 

[raif71]

I'm sure this is a non issue but anybody test this dac for reverse polarity ?

 

[3125b]

wouldn't it make sense to have it paired with the standalone Atom headphone amp?

Yes, thats pretty much the setup I run, with my point being that the Atom Amps lowest gain setting is 1x, and the analog volume control doesn't allow for the last ~10% or so of the adjustment range to be used due to channel imbalance.
Now that's normal and ok at the 99$ price point, but with my HiFiMAN HE-35X (19 Ohms, 98dB/mW sensitivity) that makes volume control for the DAC essential (given full 2V nominal RCA output level and not using Windows volume control). I use my E30 at -12dB, wich gives me a reasonable adjustment range for both headphones and active speakers (preamp out of the Atom Amp).
Now that might be very different for some people, and I want to make very clear that I'm not complaining about the performance, in that regard it's absolutely fine and on par with the competition.

But I would still think that's some great value in a modular & discrete package

Agreed. It's amazing how far the budget category has come in the last couple years.
If this DAC released together with the Amp, it would have been amazing.

 

[aarmath]

Now the fun would be to check the audio sonics of this JDS Atom DAC pitted against the veritable who's who in the budget world of great sounding DACs.

 

[Objectivist01]

Well, Toslink (optical) would allow you to hook the DAC directly to the Optical Out of your TV for instance....so it would enable you to route TV/movie audio through the DAC and to speakers. If you're limiting your DAC to USB input only then I think that's mostly limiting you to PC use.

CD players, streamers and lot of other devices have optical output which sounds cleaner than an average PC. But if the jds has very good emi isolation then it won’t make any difference. Also if your primary use case is just to use it at a pc desk then you are good to go. You have America backing up you, than some Chinese firm which would make you cost lot of money on repairing their shiny boxes in case anything goes wrong. JDS and Schiit always is better than Chinese firms in the big picture. They have the numbers which are relevant and product is backed up with speedy and excellent service. But if you are out side America, the American support and Chinese support doesn’t make any difference.

 

[ZolaIII]

Posted this a couple of days ago on another thread. Having read the review and specs etc, pretty sure its got to be true. Or maybe I am wrong and people want to spend $200-250 on two box simple solutions, rather than have to.

I can see a shift coming in the desktop component market. The days of standalone cheap single ended DACs must be coming to an end soon. Given the "they all sound the same" mantra and the dongle class leaders showing what can be done in such a small package- surely the future will be $100-$150 USB / Bluetooth Headamps which of course include a DAC chip. Essentially the Atom HPA v2 includes a DAC. Undercutting the likes of the Topping DX3.

Standalone DACs become multiple input and output devices (as most new ones are anyway)- RCA and XLR outputs for what I will call "power" users who want more than one box and output. Not sure why anyone would either make or buy an $80-120 standalone single ended only DAC.

Still nothing comes close to Loxjie D10 (regarding both functionality and performance) for the price of 91$.

 

[Jimbob54]

CD players, streamers and lot of other devices have optical output which sounds cleaner than an average PC. But if the jds has very good emi isolation then it won’t make any difference. Also if your primary use case is just to use it at a pc desk then you are good to go. You have America backing up you, than some Chinese firm which would make you cost lot of money on repairing their shiny boxes in case anything goes wrong. JDS and Schiit always is better than Chinese firms in the big picture. They have the numbers which are relevant and product is backed up with speedy and excellent service. But if you are out side America, the American support and Chinese support doesn’t make any difference.

I dont want America or anyone else backing up me, thanks ;-) If they would like to back me up, hoorah!

 

[Jimbob54]

Now the fun would be to check the audio sonics of this JDS Atom DAC pitted against the veritable who's who in the budget world of great sounding DACs.

You mean the ones that have already been measured here and show good measurements? Think most would say that would be a futile exercise.

 

[Deleted member 4360]

I got excellent support from Topping, they fixed a faulty DAC at no charge and I wasn't even the original owner, I was out $22 for shipping the mainboard from the USA and wait time, so yes that's there. Support was a bit slow to respond but communication was good. I understand if you go with Apos they will help you out for a faster turnaround. Sure, it is easier with JDS but it is unfair to bash Topping for no reason.

Not bashing, just communicating my experience. I like Topping designs and clearly have great product... but yes, I'm a JDS fan and biased for sure...

 

[Robbo99999]

CD players, streamers and lot of other devices have optical output which sounds cleaner than an average PC. But if the jds has very good emi isolation then it won’t make any difference. Also if your primary use case is just to use it at a pc desk then you are good to go. You have America backing up you, than some Chinese firm which would make you cost lot of money on repairing their shiny boxes in case anything goes wrong. JDS and Schiit always is better than Chinese firms in the big picture. They have the numbers which are relevant and product is backed up with speedy and excellent service. But if you are out side America, the American support and Chinese support doesn’t make any difference.

Well that's likely to be the case if something goes wrong, if nothing goes wrong then it doesn't make much difference, potentially more of a gamble buying something that's being imported all the way from a Chinese store directly to the consumer in another country.

 

[gvl]

Not bashing, just communicating my experience. I like Topping designs and clearly have great product... but yes, I'm a JDS fan and biased for sure...

Your experience of returning a faulty item to Amazon? What does it have to do with Topping support?

 

[3125b]

But if you are out side America, the American support and Chinese support doesn’t make any difference.

In the EU there is something called "Sachmängelhaftung" (§ 437 BGB in Germany), wich states, that the vendor is required to sell an item free of any faults and therefor has the duty to have it repaird or replaced for the customer if it breaks within two years of purchase. So basically a mandatory 2-year warranty. The manufacturer or vendor are of course free to give additional warranties just like in the US.
Of course that is only enforceable if you can get hold of the seller (eg don't buy expensive electronics form a questionalbe manufacturer off some dodgy eBay seller).
So over here it matters more from wich seller one buys than from wich manufacturer, at least for the first two years.