tankas
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I would guess it's your headphones. Because for me with AKG K712pro, sometimes I can't understand if the sound is coming from the headphones or from outside, and have to remove headphones to make sure. 
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Review and Measurements of New JDS Labs Atom Headphone Amp
- Thread starter amirm
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I would guess it's your headphones. Because for me with AKG K712pro, sometimes I can't understand if the sound is coming from the headphones or from outside, and have to remove headphones to make sure.
What dac do you have it paired with?
That won't be the Atom. It's fully transparent. If you're getting that sensation then you'll need to equalise your phones (or get new ones).
tankas
Member
Topping E30, but it was all the same with Audioengine D1 and Grace SDAC.
What DAC & headphones you are using?
Khadas Tone Board. Eh, I own almost 20 pairs of headphones
The Atom sounds close and stuffy to me on all of them. Even when I pull out something massive sounding like my Modhouse Argon Mk3.
Veri
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If your Atom sounds so weird, it might very well be brokenKhadas Tone Board. Eh, I own almost 20 pairs of headphones
If your Atom sounds so weird, it might very well be broken
I had considered this...
How long have you had the Atom? It does sound like it might be broken. What were you listening on before (headphone amp-wise)?
highpurityusbcable
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Try putting an amp further from yourself https://emojipedia.org/clown-face/
Just over a year. Before that I was using an O2-odac combo unit.
The Atom is definitely not closed sounding as you mentioned and it is definitely airy. The Atom sounds directly opposite of your description but then again it all depends on which amp you're comparing it to and not forgetting which headphone you're pairing to the Atom. I own both Topping L30 and Atom and the Atom definitely sounds more airy with a bigger soundstage than Topping L30. My comparison is of course done with the Gustard X16 DAC and Hifiman Sundara headphone.
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Happy to report as a new owner of a JDS Atom Amp. I initially connect it to ifi Hip Dac via RCA-3.5mm. With PowerMatch on, volume dial at 3pm and low gain on Atom, there was considerable background hiss in some recordings. I went on the dial it down to 12pm, the hiss reduced, but upon turning up the volume on Atom, the hiss was still there. Eventually, I removed the Hip Dac from the equation and connect it directly to my PC (RCA-3.5mm) green speaker output jack (Gigabyte B450M S2H mobo). The hiss is much lesser now! I'm happy with the Atom's performance. 100 volume on PC, Atom on high gain, 12pm-1pm my comfortable listening level for my Hifiman Arya.
Thank you Amir and ASR for recommending the JDS Atom Amp!
p/s: Thinking to add the Topping D10s as a Dac later on, would that have less hiss? Any thoughts here are appreciated.
Thank you Amir and ASR for recommending the JDS Atom Amp!
p/s: Thinking to add the Topping D10s as a Dac later on, would that have less hiss? Any thoughts here are appreciated.
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Veri
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Why not JDS Atom DAC? That one has a nice transformer supply. Or Topping E30, also great. D10s is fine but I read at least some reports of ground hum, it is one of topping's cheapest after all.
Aldoszx
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I have D10s and Atom working together.
No problem so far. There is not hiss or hum at all.
Thank you! I'm from Malaysia, the shipping cost will bring up the cost for the Atom Dac. The Topping alternatives are cheaper as I can buy them locally. The E30 also uses AK chip as well but at a lightly higher price, but will be worth it to avoid the ground hum that you mentioned.
Great and thanks for the feedback! With the price for the D10s, it's kinda a strong contender and having no hiss would be my main concern now.
Veri
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It'll likely work fine. I'm only concerned because your iFi dac is already hissing :/
Yeah, no idea what's causing it. I don't want to go out on a limb and say it's because of the ifi dac though.
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Well I finally just did that stupid thing we all hope never to do. I wasn't paying attention and plugged a 5V3A DC power supply in the Atom. No pop, no smoke, no smell of burning. The amp still works. Did I just dodge the bullet or is the amp now fatally wounded and waiting to die?
Veri
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Guessing it's protected against a small mistake at least it wasn't a much higher voltage or you could have smoked it for sure.
5V is too low to cause any damage. The regulated voltage should go higher than 20V with stock supply. I'm pretty sure if you do the other way plugging in the 15V ac supply to one that takes 5V it will be smoke...
It looks like there's a voltage senser that is waited to be triggered to close the relay. Maybe higher voltage would lead to the amp outputting DC, I'm not sure.
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