[phthora]

You have to wonder why anyone would buy a super expensive amp if something like the Atom is considered good enough, clean enough, and no bottleneck for a 300ohm headphone. Just me asking aloud - I don’t have all the answers either.

People define 'good enough' differently.

 

[gLer]

People define 'good enough' differently.

Spoken like a true audiophile

 

[phthora]

Spoken like a true audiophile

Oddly, I can't tell if that's an insult or a compliment...

BTW, the Atticus goes beautifully with the Violectric v90, which sounds almost tubey in that pairing.

 

[gLer]

Oddly, I can't tell if that's an insult or a compliment...

BTW, the Atticus goes beautifully with the Violectric v90, which sounds almost tubey in that pairing.

Haha, neither, just a quip (and absolutely no insult intended). Like many around here my definition of ‘good enough’ generally depended on what I thought was reasonable to spend until I had nothing left to spend.

 

[Wheel Hoss]

Re Driving Atty on the go:

I was just at Audio46 and tested Dragonfly Red vs. Chord Mojo.

DFR was thoroughly impressive. Miles ahead of the infamous Dongle.

Mojo was on another level. If you can afford it, get the Mojo.

 

[erics75]

Has anyone tried the atticus with a dragonfly red or JDS Labs atom? I really want to get a pair for the office but I worry that what I have available to amp it (at the office anyway) will simply not be good enough.

i havent heard the Atom so no comments there, but i do have a DFR and Atticus. it's not bad, but you're really not hearing the Atticus near it's full glory. it really needs the extra power a bigger amp can deliver to really open up with full dynamic range and impact. i'll offer this, i much prefer my NightOwl on the DFR to the Atticus. now put both headphones on a stronger amp, and it's Atticus by a LARGE margin. just my opinions though, grain of salt and all that

 

[PointyFox]

You have to wonder why anyone would buy a super expensive amp if something like the Atom is considered good enough, clean enough, and no bottleneck for a 300ohm headphone. Just me asking aloud - I don’t have all the answers either.

Same reason they'd buy an expensive cable when they've been proven to have identical performance.

https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/headphone-cable-measurements-part-one-page-2

 

[Pharmaboy]

I recently picked up an Atticus and am really enjoying them, but wondering if it is worth upgrading from the stock flat cable. Any opinions/comparisons with the OFC upgrade cable or spc vs copper, etc. would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Absolutely. The gains w/cable upgrades tend to be small & subtle, but with headphones as good as these, headphones that scale in all kinds of ways if you give them an excuse to--any sonic upgrade is worthwhile.

I have a 2M ForzaAudioWorks HPC Noir cable and love its sound and complete lack of stiffness, kink, or microphonics. It's also relatively affordable (the Danacables Lizuli is twice the price, though it, too, sounds excellent). Matt is very responsive/helpful and the wait times are not onerous.

 

[Vanheim]

The Atticus definitely likes being driven on high gain. It sounds lifeless on low gain on both magni 2 and objective2, but on high gain magni sounds far better than the O2. I'm pretty happy with these now, I was suffering buyers remorse for a long time when I was only driving it on low gain.

I wonder which of the THX AAA or Beyer A20 or violectric v100 would be a better pairing for it.

 

[phthora]

The Atticus definitely likes being driven on high gain. It sounds lifeless on low gain on both magni 2 and objective2, but on high gain magni sounds far better than the O2. I'm pretty happy with these now, I was suffering buyers remorse for a long time when I was only driving it on low gain.

I wonder which of the THX AAA or Beyer A20 or violectric v100 would be a better pairing for it.

I have a Violectric v90 (nearly identical to the v100) that handles the Atticus very well. It's not my favorite amp pairing for them, but it doesn't make them muddy or veiled. It's a more euphonic, rich sound that you get from the THX AAA, but still neutral and revealing. The THX AAA does bring out more detail and yields a faster decay, especially with the bass.

If you have to pick, it comes down to this: Do you like the particular character of the Atticus (which is heightened a bit by the Violectric), or do you want it to be a little clearer and cleaner sounding (which is what the THX AAA will do for them)?

 

[cspersel]

i havent heard the Atom so no comments there, but i do have a DFR and Atticus. it's not bad, but you're really not hearing the Atticus near it's full glory. it really needs the extra power a bigger amp can deliver to really open up with full dynamic range and impact. i'll offer this, i much prefer my NightOwl on the DFR to the Atticus. now put both headphones on a stronger amp, and it's Atticus by a LARGE margin. just my opinions though, grain of salt and all that

I've used the Atticus with my Schiit Mojlnir 2 amp with Gungnir DAC, Schiit Jotunheim multi-bit amp/dac and DragonFly Red and was shocked to discover that they sound far, far better with my DFR than the more powerful and expensive Schiit amp/dacs. They don't match well with the Schiit amps and match very well with the DFR.

 

[cspersel]

Has anyone tried the atticus with a dragonfly red or JDS Labs atom? I really want to get a pair for the office but I worry that what I have available to amp it (at the office anyway) will simply not be good enough.

The Atticus sounds fantastic with the DragonFly Red. Surprisingly much better than with my more expensive Schiit amp/dacs.

 

[Wes S]

The Atticus sounds fantastic with the DragonFly Red. Surprisingly much better than with my more expensive Schiit amp/dacs.

Curious, which schiit amps?

 

[cspersel]

The Schiit Mojlnir 2 and Jotunheim. The Dragonfly Red romped all over them with the Atticus. My Audeze and Focals, by contrast, are much better with the Schiit amps than Dragonfly. A bit of a mystery as to why the Atticus matches so well with the Dragonfly.

 

[Wes S]

The Schiit Mojlnir 2 and Jotunheim. The Dragonfly Red romped all over them with the Atticus. My Audeze and Focals, by contrast, are much better with the Schiit amps than Dragonfly. A bit of a mystery as to why the Atticus matches so well with the Dragonfly.

Interesting.