Review and Measurements of New JDS Labs Atom Headphone Amp

[Veri]

PS guys from JDS Blog comments, a new DAC design from JDS is coming late 2019 as well as a more premium Atom, think EL Amp with matching specs.

 

[Swtoby]

Just saw these semi-rigid cables on the JDS Labs site. I'm considering ordering a pair since my Atom likes to stand on its hind 2 legs with my current cables...

https://jdslabs.com/product/stack-rca-cables/

I got these recently. They do the job. Well built and I like that the connection feels firm, but doesn't have a death grip, unlike some I've tried.

 

[ngs428]

PS guys from JDS Blog comments, a new DAC design from JDS is coming late 2019 as well as a more premium Atom, think EL Amp with matching specs.

Ahh, don’t tell me my ASR special will already be out of date!

 

[Veri]

Ahh, don’t tell me my ASR special will already be out of date!

I believe more 'premium' only in the enclosure, knub, overall luxurious feel. I think they have Atom already perfected elsewhere

 

[yavormoskov]

Alright guys. I pulled the trigger and have the ASR special. I compared subjectivity the Atom to my Burson Fun. I don’t have any professional equipment to measure them so take it with a grain of salt. Barely noticeable but the soundstage is slightly bigger when using the Atom. On the other hand bass is, again, barely noticeable but tighter and more controlled on Burson Fun. We are talking about silent room void of outside noise. Mids and highs are equally good. Burson did very good job by removing noise but the atom is something else. I was shocked how black is the background. It is unbelievable. My sensitive IEMs sound better with the Atom, same for my very low impedance Verum 1 planar magnetic phones (I am not trying to say they sound bad on the Burson Fun, it’s just that the JDS labs Atom did a better job here) Everything else is great on both. The low gain stage is very well implemented, I am very impressed. On a $99 device, are you kidding me?!! As a preamp to my Adam Audio speakers I have to give it to Burson, it sounds marginally better to my ears. But did you notice the words I am using such as ‘barely’ and ‘marginally’. I am comparing $300 amp (actually more expensive because I purchased different op-amps) vs $ 99. The Atom is just phenomenal. The built quality is very good, I don’t mind the plastic. But the volume knob is no go. I like the diameter actually but not how shallow it is. I found an aluminum volume knob with a 23.5 mm diameter. Do you know the diameter measurements of the original volume knob?

 

[EReich]

Alright guys. I pulled the trigger and have the ASR special. I compared subjectivity the Atom to my Burson Fun. I don’t have any professional equipment to measure them so take it with a grain of salt. Barely noticeable but the soundstage is slightly bigger when using the Atom. On the other hand bass is, again, barely noticeable but tighter and more controlled on Burson Fun. We are talking about silent room void of outside noise. Mids and highs are equally good. Burson did very good job by removing noise but the atom is something else. I was shocked how black is the background. It is unbelievable. My sensitive IEMs sound better with the Atom, same for my very low impedance Verum 1 planar magnetic phones (I am not trying to say they sound bad on the Burson Fun, it’s just that the JDS labs Atom did a better job here) Everything else is great on both. The low gain stage is very well implemented, I am very impressed. On a $99 device, are you kidding me?!! As a preamp to my Adam Audio speakers I have to give it to Burson, it sounds marginally better to my ears. But did you notice the words I am using such as ‘barely’ and ‘marginally’. I am comparing $300 amp (actually more expensive because I purchased different op-amps) vs $ 99. The Atom is just phenomenal. The built quality is very good, I don’t mind the plastic. But the volume knob is no go. I like the diameter actually but not how shallow it is. I found an aluminum volume knob with a 23.5 mm diameter. Do you know the diameter measurements of the original volume knob?

where did you get this ASR special? Do you have a link good sir?

 

[ngs428]

where did you get this ASR special? Do you have a link good sir?

ASR special is the Code name for the JDS Atom + Khadas Tone Board DAC. Just buy them where you can find them.

 

[Azeia]

I believe more 'premium' only in the enclosure, knub, overall luxurious feel. I think they have Atom already perfected elsewhere

Oh, when I saw your first comment I thought you meant the specs (like power output) would match the EL Amp, since I think the EL has a bit more, right?

So it'll just be the design then; that's still good as that's one of the main reasons I was still on the fence about getting one, otherwise I'd probably have ordered an Atom already. =)

 

[Veri]

Oh, when I saw your first comment I thought you meant the specs (like power output) would match the EL Amp, since I think the EL has a bit more, right?

So it'll just be the design then; that's still good as that's one of the main reasons I was still on the fence about getting one, otherwise I'd probably have ordered an Atom already. =)

Ahh you're right, the EL Amp does output max 140 mW at 600 ohms, 15mW more than Atom. Maybe they'll keep that, not sure in any case hardly a big difference in terms of power.

 

[yavormoskov]

I have the ASR special, check. I have good headphones, check . ......And I am sitting in my kitchen and thinking what if.....I change the RCA cables. Jokes aside, do you think that different RCA cables will make the JDS labs Atom amp sound even better or I shouldn’t bother? My current choices are...Chord company C-line around $50-60 for 1 foot, Blue jeans 1 foot low capacitance cable made with Belden wire for $35 without shipping , or silver plated copper cables, such as Van Damme silver series or silver plated cables made by Amplifier surgery from military silver plated wire. I am afraid cables from moon audio or DH labs, or higher end Chord or Audioquest are out of my budget. So $50-60 is my reasonable limit for cables to complement the Atom amp. I guess if the cables are that good I could push my budget a little. If you have any opinions on the matter, please share.

 

[solderdude]

No worries, as long as the cables are of good length, have decent fitting connectors you do not need to worry.

capacitance is NOT of any concern in your case.
A cable will have a bandwidth beyond your wildest dreams ( 0Hz to well over 1000 kHz ) and will add no noise nor distortion.
At least any of that will be FAR below that of the used equipment.

 

[escalibur]

Alright guys. I pulled the trigger and have the ASR special. I compared subjectivity the Atom to my Burson Fun. I don’t have any professional equipment to measure them so take it with a grain of salt. Barely noticeable but the soundstage is slightly bigger when using the Atom. On the other hand bass is, again, barely noticeable but tighter and more controlled on Burson Fun. We are talking about silent room void of outside noise. Mids and highs are equally good. Burson did very good job by removing noise but the atom is something else. I was shocked how black is the background. It is unbelievable. My sensitive IEMs sound better with the Atom, same for my very low impedance Verum 1 planar magnetic phones (I am not trying to say they sound bad on the Burson Fun, it’s just that the JDS labs Atom did a better job here) Everything else is great on both. The low gain stage is very well implemented, I am very impressed. On a $99 device, are you kidding me?!! As a preamp to my Adam Audio speakers I have to give it to Burson, it sounds marginally better to my ears. But did you notice the words I am using such as ‘barely’ and ‘marginally’. I am comparing $300 amp (actually more expensive because I purchased different op-amps) vs $ 99. The Atom is just phenomenal. The built quality is very good, I don’t mind the plastic. But the volume knob is no go. I like the diameter actually but not how shallow it is. I found an aluminum volume knob with a 23.5 mm diameter. Do you know the diameter measurements of the original volume knob?

Which opamps did you use with Fun? I have both amps and as for now I would say that Fun has a bit wider soundstage compared to Atom.

 

[yavormoskov]

Which opamps did you use with Fun? I have both amps and as for now I would say that Fun has a bit wider soundstage compared to Atom.

I use Sparkos singles. I also have the V6 vivids but they are collecting dust somewhere

 

[escalibur]

I use Sparkos singles. I also have the V6 vivids but they are collecting dust somewhere

I happen to own both of them as well.

Might give Atom another shot just out of curiosity because I really want it to shine.

 

[nyxnyxnyx]

Good day everyone

Have any of you used Atom with a hard-to-drive planar headphones? Such as HE-560 or HE-500 or maybe some TOTL LCDs

What was the result? Was atom able to drive them beautifully?

 

[Veri]

Good day everyone

Have any of you used Atom with a hard-to-drive planar headphones? Such as HE-560 or HE-500 or maybe some TOTL LCDs

What was the result? Was atom able to drive them beautifully?

I tested Atom with Ananda. On unity gain it is already ear-bleedingly loud, in high gain it should be able to drive mostly anything including HE-5xx series. Maybe not HE-6 but apart from it, should drive anything.

 

[frogmeat69]

Good day everyone

Have any of you used Atom with a hard-to-drive planar headphones? Such as HE-560 or HE-500 or maybe some TOTL LCDs

What was the result? Was atom able to drive them beautifully?

Tried it with the Audeze LCD-3f, LCD-2f, and EL-8, HiFiMan HE560 and HE5se, all sounded good to me, Had enough power to make it to an uncomfortable level with room to spare on the knob.

 

[AresHarvest]

Enough power to drive my HE560 v2 to comfortable levels and beyond, in low gain mode. (source being a DAC with 2 Vrms maximum output)

 

[audiopile]

And now for something completely different ..... A very large/way too many LP collection means I listen somewhere above 95% of the time to LP's (acquired my first 7" 45 last week). Having read this whole thread (when's the Tshirt comin ?)-ordered a ATOM on weekend-came in yesterday mornin and compared it with my O2 and I'm very pleased with it drivin Beyer T1gen2's. Currently the ATOM is being fed thru a Sweet Vinyl SC-1 that gets it's signal from the unbalanced/RCA outputs of a Parasound JC-3jr phone preamp. My question is this -I could also feed it from the balanced outputs of the JC-3jr (via balanced to unbalanced plug in adaptor -this currently feeds the input of a Bryston B60R used as a headphone amp) ) -what is the overload voltage for the ATOM ? IOW-the point where the ATOMS input stage will distort ? I could be the first post/ question on this thread with a analog input source (another Tshirt? ?

 

[Veri]

via balanced to unbalanced plug in adaptor

Is it transformer-based? As in 1:1?
If it's just the adapter kind, you're only running half the power of the XLR output anyway. No overload worries there.