Review and Measurements of New JDS Labs Atom Headphone Amp

[Tortie]

Finally had an opportunity to listen to the Atom with my Sony Z7 and pairing works extremely well. Sound is super clear and musical. The Atom has the right balance of detail and smoothness. For the HD650 I mostly use high gain. Gain is set at 0dB for the Z7 and it sounds fantastic at this setting which surprises me since every other amp I've used has never sounded good at 0 gain.

 

[Aperiodic]

Thoughts on the Atom vs the Schiit Heresy pleez.

 

[Veri]

Thoughts on the Atom vs the Schiit Heresy pleez.

Atom with a replaced better knob will be smoother to use IMO. Power-wise they are quite close... Heresy knob can get scratchy (very small knob). Atom DAC+amp vs Heresy+Modi stack aesthetics is rather personal.

 

[raistlin65]

Thoughts on the Atom vs the Schiit Heresy pleez.

To add to what @Veri said, Atom amp has two switchable analog inputs. Modi 3+ has switchable USB and optical inputs. So different kinds of extra connectivity that might suit you more one than the other.

 

[yigitboy]

does atom have any reservoir power, like capacitors vs?

 

[Fernando]

Hellos.
Has someone added weight to it so that it doesn't fly off or to be able to change headphones without effort and juggling?

cheers.

 

[Tortie]

Hellos.
Has someone added weight to it so that it doesn't fly off or to be able to change headphones without effort and juggling?

cheers.

You could use 3M fasteners (interlocking tape) to secure the bottom of the amp to the shelf or desk underneath. This is an inexpensive and reversible solution.

 

[GGroch]

Hellos.
Has someone added weight to it so that it doesn't fly off or to be able to change headphones without effort and juggling?
cheers.

It actually does have 4 weights on the inside. I put my D50 DAC on top of it. I have used Tortie's idea, 3M slim velcro, in the past and that works great.

 

[SeaNNyT]

White tac or blue tac works as well.

 

[cryptout]

I'm considering bridging and removing the volume pot. Did anyone already try this? (I prefer to use my D50s digital volume with remote)

 

[King3567]

I have a question as well, I have a couple of headphones and sometimes I will want to use a different amp - I know this has an output, can that feed into a second headphone amplifier, or will this cause problems? Thanks

 

[Veri]

I have a question as well, I have a couple of headphones and sometimes I will want to use a different amp - I know this has an output, can that feed into a second headphone amplifier, or will this cause problems? Thanks

Don't see why not, it has a preamp function on the performance level of the head-amp. So should be fine to use the way you envision.

 

[King3567]

Don't see why not, it has a preamp function on the performance level of the head-amp. So should be fine to use the way you envision.

thanks

the second amp is definitely higher distortion than the atom amp, so I don’t know really why I will be doing this, but I just feel like it. Ok. Gracias

 

[Boris Badinov]

A noob question here: I have a Cambridge Audio Dacmagic Plus sitting around doing nothing and just wondering if this would be a decent pairing with the Atom headphone amp?

 

[3125b]

Sure why not, the Dacmagic Plus is not too bad: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...measurements-of-cambridge-dacmagic-plus.6887/

 

[Boris Badinov]

Well, I don't know why I said Plus. I'm sure I looked at the box, but I have the DacMagic 100. Has that been reviewed here?

Edit: found it, measures close to the Plus. Same question, though. Would I be good enough with this or should I look for something better & more recent?

Thanks

 

[AdamG]

Well, I don't know why I said Plus. I'm sure I looked at the box, but I have the DacMagic 100. Has that been reviewed here?

Here ya go: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ds/cambridge-audio-dacmagic-100-review.12201/

 

[Boris Badinov]

Here ya go: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ds/cambridge-audio-dacmagic-100-review.12201/

found it just as you posted, measures close to the Plus. Same question, though. Would I be good enough with this or should I look for something better & more recent?

 

[AdamG]

You will find more information about DAC’s and reviews here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...gital-to-analog-dac-review-and-discussion.10/

 

[Sukie]

found it just as you posted, measures close to the Plus. Same question, though. Would I be good enough with this or should I look for something better & more recent?

If you've already got the DACMagic 100 then I don't think there's much to be gained from buying a new DAC, unless you want/need a remote or other features.

It's true that there are cheap-end DACs with better measurements, but I don't think you'd get any audible improvements with those over the Cambridge. Should pair nicely with the Atom amp.