Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo replaced my O2 headphone amp

My O2 amp is a bit marginal with the 300ohm HD650s ... not bad but I need push the volume knob close to max when I crank the 650 ... so every so often I think about getting something better ...

A week ago I was looking at the DAC and headphone amp ratings at Audio Science Review. I noticed that Amirm gave high marks to the JDS Labs Atom Amp+ and Atom DAC+. At $110us each these were damn inexpensive compared to most of the others they were ranked with.

Two things stood out:
1st - Amirm is petty tough ... if he rates anything highly you know it's good.
2nd - was JDS Labs ... I bought my O2 amp from them and they are a great outfit, made in the US, and they stand by their stuff.

So, I ordered the Atom Amp and then a what the hell moment hit me ... and added the Atom DAC+ as well.

I've only been using them for a few hours and have not tried to compare them to the old setup ... but my impression is simply this: Why did I wait so long ... money well spent.

Hey rrlev, how’s the Atom stack treating you ? I just finished setting up my new home office…..and the Atom is priced right. And it may satiate an itch I’m having to buy some audio gear….have you tried the stack with anything other headphones than the 650?

I only have positive things to say about this combo. Deep noise floor … just blackness … you’ll only hear the music. Haven’t done any measurements myself … but from my subjective listening you can’t go wrong …

On different phones …
I’m listening on Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO (250 ohm version) at the moment … sounds great! Just because you ask I switched to the Koss PortaPro (60 ohm and the best $35 headphone out there IMHO) … floor still deep with even with the volume full out (without the music playing of course). Very impressive…

Right on! That’s what I want to hear. I bet those Beyers are amazing! Thanks for the update. Looks like a perfect stack for my home office and to keep all the kid noise cancelled.

The quiet noise floor would be a welcome environment, great. The few things I’ve tried with my phones always have the low hiss in the background. At higher volumes who cares, but at lower volumes it gets annoying at ruins the experience, in my opinion.

When you listen to headphones, is the soundstage between your ears? Is your brain the venue?

2x,

Unfortunately none of the headphones I have (or have heard) present a stage in front of you ...
The stage (for me) has always been in the same plane as my head ... yes, center'ed between ears.

I've tried a few apps that claim to correct that but none did
Some recent phones are claiming to do 3d sound but since I've not tried them ... who knows

That's why I don't headphone.

Mojo, for a guy who likes to be front and center ... headphones can put you at the center of everything ... Master of the Universe in your own head, a legend in your own mind, the sex god of sonic bliss... now how can ya turn that down??

As for me ...
I'm really looking to close out the world, concentrate on what I'm doing, and do it with something that sounds great! So, when on the computer (often when programming, doing finance stuff, or even goofing off writing silly stuff in some nutty speaker manufacture forum) it's nice to have a pair of phones. I can ignore/trade-off zero depth because my focus is else where ... just enjoy the music ...

Did you go for it?

Hear hear!

( See what I did there….)