Review and Measurements of New JDS Labs Atom Headphone Amp

[maxxevv]

Just wondering is there any reason the SNR is higher in high gain mode, i would have expected the opposite instead?

You need to read up a little on Amplifiers 101 of elemental electronics.

 

[Yviena]

You need to read up a little on Amplifiers 101 of elemental electronics.

Yeah, I always thought lower THD-N (low gain) = higher SNR but that's clearly not true then.

 

[Music1969]

Yeah, I always thought lower THD-N (low gain) = higher SNR but that's clearly not true then.

For the Atom though, lower gain had higher measured SINAD.

On page 1: "This is in low gain by the way. High gain was not quite as good."

 

[Azeia]

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.

I wanted to ask this the last time I posted in this thread, but I figured if it was in the JDS Labs blog comments, I could go look for it myself. I looked a few times over the past few weeks, and couldn't find it in the blog post for the Atom. I found some posts where JDS Labs staffers were saying things like "I wish I could say more" when people asked about new Atom products, which does imply something is in the works, but no info about any timeline for the new stuff, not even ballpark.

Could you clarify where the "late 2019" estimate comes from just out of curiosity?

 

[Veri]

Could you clarify where the "late 2019" estimate comes from just out of curiosity?

Communication with JDS labs from several people's mailings. Nothing set in stone but that's what they've said a couple times, "coming 2019".
I was pretty sure I've seen JDS themselves talk about it on their blog or on reddit but can't find it right now sorry.

 

[Azeia]

Communication with JDS labs from several people's mailings. Nothing set in stone but that's what they've said a couple times, "coming 2019".
I was pretty sure I've seen JDS themselves talk about it on their blog or on reddit but can't find it right now sorry.

Ah, ok. Well if you do find it, you can message me or something if you like.

As for the mailings, do you know if those were recent? (I mostly ask because if it was a very long time ago, it's always possible they hit delays and may end up pushing it into 2020 or something, whereas recent info is more likely to still be accurate)

 

[Lt_George]

Hi all,

My first post here on Audio Science Review and I've just received my Atom from the hifiheadphones sale. I was lucky enough to get it for £93.49 + £3.99 p&p, a great deal on the Atom for the UK

I'm hoping finally to give my HiFiMan RE-262 the power they need, but I can't try it out yet as I need a 6.35 mm to 3.5 mm adapter. I hopefully have one coming tomorrow, and I just saved a whole £0.87 on the Prime Day 20% off warehouse items, which makes it totally worth forgetting to order one along with the Atom...

In the meantime, I have a couple of questions, which I hope aren't too stupid:

1. Does the Atom usually come with some sort of instruction leaflet? I don't feel like it needs one, but the box and plastic sleeve weren't sealed so I was curious whether I got a previously opened unit?
2. Until I either get a DAC, or player with line out, I'm stuck double amping from either my tablet or a desktop PC motherboard. I think I read somewhere the preferred method with a PC is to set the volume to 100% and use low gain. What about the tablet? same strategy, or should the volume be turned low in this case? I imagine it would save some battery to lower the volume, but I'm not sure it matters much while 'tethered' to the amplifier.

Thanks.

 

[maxxevv]

That's way too much power for an IEM.

You definitely don't want to use the output volume of the PC at 100%.
That 100% is only for the digital volume over USB connection to DAC. Not from output jack to amplifier.

I would say get a basic DAC out of the many decent ones measured here so far, the Atom is way overkill for an IEM and amping a PC output.

 

[Lt_George]

You'd think, but the RE262 is very low sensitivity. Specs I can find say: 150Ω, 94 db SPL / mW. It's very quiet on the PC at max volume, and basically useless on the tablet. Anyhow, I can happily keep the PC and/or tablet volume low. It'll be a short term solution.

EDIT: should add that I'm looking for headphones as well, so I have more use planned for the Atom. I'm looking at KTB & D30 as the short list for DAC. If a very good deal materialises for the D30 I'll probably go for that.

EDIT: got my adapter and was able to test. Turns out it's not possible to get the HiFIman RE-262 to an uncomfortable volume from my tablet, even with everything maxed I could happily have it louder. Tried a pair of Sony MH755, it doesn't get too loud until roughly 70% max power on the Atom while using high gain. I guess that the tablet's maximum output is very low.

 

[Hugo9000]

Hi all,

My first post here on Audio Science Review and I've just received my Atom from the hifiheadphones sale. I was lucky enough to get it for £93.49 + £3.99 p&p, a great deal on the Atom for the UK

I'm hoping finally to give my HiFiMan RE-262 the power they need, but I can't try it out yet as I need a 6.35 mm to 3.5 mm adapter. I hopefully have one coming tomorrow, and I just saved a whole £0.87 on the Prime Day 20% off warehouse items, which makes it totally worth forgetting to order one along with the Atom...

In the meantime, I have a couple of questions, which I hope aren't too stupid:

1. Does the Atom usually come with some sort of instruction leaflet? I don't feel like it needs one, but the box and plastic sleeve weren't sealed so I was curious whether I got a previously opened unit?
2. Until I either get a DAC, or player with line out, I'm stuck double amping from either my tablet or a desktop PC motherboard. I think I read somewhere the preferred method with a PC is to set the volume to 100% and use low gain. What about the tablet? same strategy, or should the volume be turned low in this case? I imagine it would save some battery to lower the volume, but I'm not sure it matters much while 'tethered' to the amplifier.

Thanks.

Welcome to ASR!

Regarding your question about the packaging, here is a drawn out "unboxing" video someone did.

My Atom arrived direct from JDS Labs and was packaged exactly the same way. Jimmy and Dwayne were the inspectors/testers stamped on my "Instructions" card (thanks, guys! ). No printed manual in the box, just visit their website at the address on that card, jdslabs.com/instructions for the simple instructions for using your new Atom. Here is a direct link to the pdf for the Atom:
https://jdslabs.com/media/support/d...3-47.atomamp_instructionmanual_04292019_1.pdf

I've had my Atom since January of this year, and it's been wonderful. I use it with my KEF Space One (wired version) headphones and my Sennheiser HD58X Jubilee. When listening from my computer, I keep Windows volume at 100%, connected via USB to my SMSL M100 DAC, and then to the Atom, low gain setting, and use the volume control on the Atom.

Happy listening, and welcome once again to this great site!

 

[Lt_George]

Thanks for the words of welcome That unboxing was interesting - there was a bit of dust on the feet of my Atom, no courtesy card, but the power brick was clean and the UK box was checked. So a bit inconsistent overall, but nothing to worry about. I'm just kicking myself even more for not ordering the JDS Labs 3.5 mm adapter (not worth doing now due to postage cost) so bought one of these instead, looks okay and should provide a bit of strain relief.

 

[nyxnyxnyx]

Alright , after fooling for a few weeks and experimented some other amps , while i don't think Atom is the "best" or "most preferred" amp to me anymore , it is the cleanest out of all the bunches i tried , very powerful despite a compact design , and EXTREMELY high in value-over-price aspect .

I was still a bit skeptical even after my first month with Atom , so i tried out all the different amps i could , and even while comparing to some more expensive players like Jotuheim , Mjonir 2 , Sony PHA-3 , THX 789AAA , audiogd NFB-11 PE , and some other amps i still don't remember . My conclusion is Atom is just on par , or even performing better than some of the amplifiers i mentioned . There are differences in this and that in each and every amp i tried , but sound quality-wise , atom is very good. I can't say this is the top 5 amplifier ever or something , but Atom itself should be the new standard for amplifiers , especially if companies are going to make much more expensive products .


If you are picking an amplifier to buy , or hesitating to choose Atom , please listen to my advice : don't hesitate , it is so worth to give it a try.

 

[Azeia]

If you are picking an amplifier to buy , or hesitating to choose Atom , please listen to my advice : don't hesitate , it is so worth to give it a try.

My main gripe is the plastic chassis, which isn't really a big deal I guess, but ideally I would like a metal one.

I would've bought the Atom already but with rumors that there may be some new kit at the end of this year, I feel like I want to wait and see, otherwise I'll end up buying something and just replacing it in 2-3 months maybe, and I've got other expenses this year so it'd be a waste for me.

 

[nyxnyxnyx]

Off topic a little , i'm getting another amp called Krell KSA5 (Clone) , does anyone here know it? Or have experienced with it in the past?

I was perfectly content with Atom and had no logical reasons to sell it , but due to this sheer curiosity i had , i ended up selling Atom and i am regretting a little , may have to re-buy it if my new amp sucks .

 

[JohnYang1997]

Off topic a little , i'm getting another amp called Krell KSA5 (Clone) , does anyone here know it? Or have experienced with it in the past?

I was perfectly content with Atom and had no logical reasons to sell it , but due to this sheer curiosity i had , i ended up selling Atom and i am regretting a little , may have to re-buy it if my new amp sucks .

Atom is 100 times better.

 

[akarise]

I would've bought the Atom already but with rumors that there may be some new kit at the end of this year, I feel like I want to wait and see, otherwise I'll end up buying something and just replacing it in 2-3 months maybe, and I've got other expenses this year so it'd be a waste for me.

What rumors are you referring to?

 

[nyxnyxnyx]

Atom is 100 times better.

Ouch , i guess i may end up selling that to get Atom back again .

 

[nyxnyxnyx]

And i also was quite a bit surprised to see Atom standing up to Mjolnir 2 quite easily in term of cleanliness and power ( SE ) . I attended a local audio offline event quite a few weeks ago and everyone was surprised at how clean this amp is , and the event concluded with 2 new orders for Atom .

By the way i have had this question for awhile now : If not for sheer curiosity , or simply looking for something new/different , is there even a point in buying other amplifiers? And if you would upgrade your amplifier from Atom , what would it be?

 

[Chiv]

And i also was quite a bit surprised to see Atom standing up to Mjolnir 2 quite easily in term of cleanliness and power ( SE ) . I attended a local audio offline event quite a few weeks ago and everyone was surprised at how clean this amp is , and the event concluded with 2 new orders for Atom .

By the way i have had this question for awhile now : If not for sheer curiosity , or simply looking for something new/different , is there even a point in buying other amplifiers? And if you would upgrade your amplifier from Atom , what would it be?

Only reason I would upgrade from my atom would be if I needed balanced outputs, in which I would get the THX AAA 789. Otherwise I'm at my personal endgame with the ASR combo (KTB + atom)

 

[maxxevv]

You could also look for 15VAC 30VA or something. (Toroids have less stray magnetic fields but higher leakage currents)
something like this (windings in parallel... make sure they are connected in parallel correctly)
or this (with windings in series) which is 18V 15VA

The best transformers are R-cores but are a bit more expensive. These have very low mains leakage.
This particular one will provide you with 15V (use 2 windings in parallel) or 18V (2 other windings in series)

When loaded with the Atom there will probably be around 16VAC on it.
The object of the game is to have enough DC voltage to drop over the regulators.
The regulators output voltage is 15VDC so you need 18VDC minimum on the regulator input and assuming ripple will be 1V or so, 19V DC or higher is perfect.

15V AC will give you about 20 VDC but in reality will probably be around 22 VDC in idle.
16V AC will give you about 21.5 VDC but in reality will probably be around 23 VDC in idle.
18V AC will give you about 24 VDC but in reality will probably be around 27 VDC in idle.

All of these options will work.
The higher the unregulated DC voltage is the warmer/hotter the regulators will become.
There won't be a difference in performance nor sound.

Hi Hans, @solderdude ,

managed to get an R-Core with a 16V 1A output with and additional 10V 1A line.
Amazingly, those guys in China seems to have produced my transformer specifically o order. The date stamp was actually the day after my order for it !

Going to use the additional line as a USB 5V output socket. So I can power other USB powered devices with it.