Hi
Upon frequenting this darn (
)website went on and purchased the ASR special ( JDS Labs Atom + Khadas Tone Board) plus some Amazon 3 ft cable for a total of $210 shipping in the USA .... I have a slew of DAC and amplifier, the least expensive of those components, is $499 ...
I have already written about this but I would suggest anyone interested in correct audio reproduction to get this combo. I don't think you can do better at any price. Let me qualify this statement: One can scrutinize the measurements made by Amir and others and come up with a few amps with better SINAD or Dynamic Range or THD .. by a few db .. still the Atom sits at or near the top of anything reviewed here and it cost $100. To do better, you need to go the THX 488, MonoPrice, Sabaj or Benchmark and they cost from 4 to 25 times more ... for not (clearly accepted, a debate in itself) audible gains.., To call the Atom an end of game product is not far fetched...
And there is the Khadas Tone board .. at also 100 shipped via Amazon Prime for me ... You may need to put it in a box I bought one that fit it to an extent but was designed or a different Khadas Board. A bit of surgery/butchery and I have a DAC that is one of the best on the market ... at any price... End of game too.. Not balanced but so far I am not msssing anything and it is driving my headphones .. If I were to go to a classic shrine then I may consider something else for now ...
It drives even the HE6 to serious level, at any case louder than I should listen to ...
.. Now my 2 favorite headphones are in this order : HiFiMan He-6 , He-560 driven by the ASR Special!
Now there are some problem with this combo. Subjectively. It sounds, at first. I insist, as if there is less bass... until you listen carefully and notice your jaws and your head vibrating ... on the cleanest , lower bass many are likely to have ever heard on headhones. I believe it comes from the fact that the perception of more bass comes from distortion in the the mid bass, for exemple playing something in the low bass , say 40 Hz results in a first harmonics at 80 Hz, second at 120, fourth at 160 Hz etc.. those are perceived as "bass" region. No such things with the Atom .. bass is bass, there is not sweetening , adulteration. What is in the signal is what is reproduced ... And it comes first with a bit of disorientation ... you get used to all the distortion and ... the absence of distortion n this region is a bit new, unsettling... then bliss ... That level, quality of bass are addictive...
You will tend to hear louder than you think you are so devoid of distortion the reproduction is .. One needs to be careful on the volume control...
All this for $200!!
Thanks ASR!! Thanks Amir!!