[tim0chan]

500+ Head-Fier

K

 

[bequietjk]

Ordered the Atom amp and should be here Wed. Can't wait to experience OL DAC + Atom Amp combo. OL Atomic

 

[ckhirnigs113]

@bequietjk I swear we’re living in some sort of Head-fi Twighlight Zone. We have had the same DAC, same headphones, same amp, and now you bought the Atom I have been recently intrigued by! Let me know what you think of it with the HD58X when you get a chance.

The last thing I need is another amp, but I’m always tempted to get back to basics and get a nice simple setup that has no obvious flaws and puts money back in my pocket by allowing me to sell my iCan SE and perhaps this monstrosity of an amp I just got, the Emotiva A-100.

The OL DAC/Atom is the simple setup I have been hypothesizing might fit the bill. Now you can give me a nice review and save me the trouble of having to buy it for myself!

 

[bequietjk]

I'll gladly fill you in on the experience! My intention was to A) simplify and B) yes, save some cash. Ultimately I think the Atom will be just fine if not better for the needs of the 58x. I'll settle with a cut in power to high impedence cans because I love the 58x and they're easy to drive.

@bequietjk I swear we’re living in some sort of Head-fi Twighlight Zone. We have had the same DAC, same headphones, same amp, and now you bought the Atom I have been recently intrigued by! Let me know what you think of it with the HD58X when you get a chance.

The last thing I need is another amp, but I’m always tempted to get back to basics and get a nice simple setup that has no obvious flaws and puts money back in my pocket by allowing me to sell my iCan SE and perhaps this monstrosity of an amp I just got, the Emotiva A-100.

The OL DAC/Atom is the simple setup I have been hypothesizing might fit the bill. Now you can give me a nice review and save me the trouble of having to buy it for myself!

 

[snip3r77]

I'll gladly fill you in on the experience! My intention was to A) simplify and B) yes, save some cash. Ultimately I think the Atom will be just fine if not better for the needs of the 58x. I'll settle with a cut in power to high impedence cans because I love the 58x and they're easy to drive.

do you have sdac/o2 by chance?

 

[bequietjk]

@snip3r77 OL DAC! So ill be going pc > ol dac > atom

 

[ExacoMvm]

Atom vs E10K ? Is there any difference in sound quality for avg listener? The E10K cant rly drive the 4XX but i don't listen on high volume most of the time, is it still worth picking Atom?
Tbh i could even sell the E10K and go back to onboard audio, the volume is enough for 99% of use and quality is exact same, but ppl say that E10K sounds bad, so im rly curious to try good amp such as Atom.

 

[bequietjk]

First impressions of the Atom amp...

Positive:
-Excellent detail
-Great size matched with the OL DAC. OL sits right on top.
-Zero hiss and noise floor with Senn 58X. HUGE plus.

Gripes:
-Knob a little stiff
-Lacks in bass (but i'm also coming from the A100).
-Plastic construction (but we all know this).

I've just now begun to use it and only have a couple hours with it. But I thought I'd share what I immediately notice.

I'm not sure if it's lacking in bass because of the detail it's providing to the 58X and I just haven't noticed it. Could it be that it's just delivering a clean signal and the 58X naturally lean more towards the mid/highs? 4.5x gain powers the T50RP's pretty well. Surprisingly well, actually. It feels a little bright but I'm impressed how it handles the planars and with no noise. Detail tends to splinter on the T50RP the louder you crank the knob in high gain, but still sounds clean.

Will report later, most likely tomorrow with more of my experience!

 

[ExacoMvm]

-Zero hiss and noise floor with Senn 58X. HUGE plus.

How can you tell when there's hiss/noise coming from the amp/dac and not the source file? I personally never heard anything like that or some big difference between onboard, retro/oldschool mp3 player, 3 low end laptops from ~2k10, 2low end phones ( ~2015-2016 w/ 90$ MSRP ) and E10K. All the differences i can hear is only in the source files itself e.g. one song is noisy in flac while same song is clean af on youtube or the opposite and the AMP doesn't change a thing on both 4XX and 598. P.S. My hearing is superb.

 

[ckhirnigs113]

@ExacoMvm If you have a hiss/noise from the amp itself, you can unplug the source and you should still be able to hear it. It's unlikely to get louder as you turn up the volume if it's the noise floor of the amp. If you plug in the source (but don't play any music) and notice a hiss/noise, and it gets louder as you turn up the volume on your source, then you know the source is the culprit and you are just amplifying the source noise with your amp.

 

[bequietjk]

Right. I completely agree with ck.

The issue I had with my A100 amp was that even just having the amp powered on without any source input (RCA's attached) with my headphones on there is an audible static noise. This is not the case with the Atom. In fact both in low and high gain and the knob cranked all the way up, there is no noise that I can report. It's ultra silent.

 

[ExacoMvm]

@ExacoMvm If you have a hiss/noise from the amp itself, you can unplug the source and you should still be able to hear it. It's unlikely to get louder as you turn up the volume if it's the noise floor of the amp. If you plug in the source (but don't play any music) and notice a hiss/noise, and it gets louder as you turn up the volume on your source, then you know the source is the culprit and you are just amplifying the source noise with your amp.

Oh, got it, but not always the amp is the case, for example on my E10K only 598 has noise/whooshing on high volume when nothing is playing, i guess it's overamping it in some way. While 4XX and iphone IEM is dead silent.

 

[bequietjk]

Not sure how I feel about using this for the set of cans, but HD600 are on their way. Been wanting these for a VERY long time, and they're $249.00 on amazon. Price matched with bhphoto and placed the order asap! I'll report back with my experience

 

[bequietjk]

Ok so I will say this. The detail and transparency in the Atom amp to the 58X is insane. I'm hearing the musicality of things much more presently, though I do miss the power of the A100. In that there is a certain strength or "punch" with the A100. But the benefits imo of switching to the Atom leave me no regrets. I'm happy with this.

Someone in the A100 thread mentioned something about using a tube preamp for the A100 and this is something I'm very interested in. I've reached out to John for more information regarding using a preamp with the Atom and am waiting for a response now. If I can gain power and more dynamics using a preamp with this amp I think I will have my ideal setup. I wonder what the Sunrise or Horizon from Garage1217 used as preamps in this configuration would result in. I must know!

 

[bequietjk]

Considering adding in a Project Horizon III before the Atom, after OL DAC 0_0