That was a nice way of saying that some people need to have their hearing checked, lol. I’m joking and not making any insinuations towards anybody BTW.
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The three diffrences you mentioned to me worth 30% not 3% …
After all hifi is about noisless HQ sound and presenese of harsh highes or bloated bass means alot …
So im using my atom with blon b20 and the harsh trebile is annoying me to the point i prefered my phone to drive them… course of detailed HP when paired with entry level equipment.
The b20s have a pretty pronounced v shape. What phone do you use? Hows the bass/low end compared to your phone And atom? And what dac to you have with the atom?
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i have Khadas tone board as a dac paired with Atom…
And the harshness of trebile along with S hotness in some songs is so annoying … i used them with galaxy s10 near full volume but dynamic range is so diminished plus the sub bass is weak still more bearable from atom … im planning buying fiio q5s with balanced cables for them since i like the wormth and the smoothed akm dacs trebile.
Yes, the Atom and THX amps, especially when matched with an ESS-based DAC like the tone board can get quite sibilant. In my own audio journey I’ve discovered that I don’t like the effect that most op-amp-based headphone amplifiers have on the treble. To me it sounds brittle, harsh, and sibilant. AKM-based dacs are smoother, but IMO the biggest help comes in pairing a ESS dac with a warmer sounding amp. I have an SU-8 (ESS-based) and it sounds much better paired with a Liquid Spark, Asgard 3, or Darkvoice than it did with either the Atom or SP200.
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With what @WaveTheory has said you may be better off with a different amp, but maybe consider a different headphone as well? Something more neutral perhaps? Since blon20 has a v shape. @WaveTheory what do you think?
Headphones will almost always make the biggest sonic difference. If you get headphones you like, though, then you should get amps and dacs that complement them well. My personal issue with the Atom/THX is that even if a headphone (6XX is a good example) tames the quantity of treble, it doesn’t address that issue of treble quality. The harshness and brittleness is still there, IMO.
@Ahmed_S.Albadrawi, do you like your B20?
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Yea i could tell as well going fron the atom to a3.
I knew my Atom sounded bright. F 
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Yeah, it took me awhile to figure that out too. When I first got my Atom I LOVED it. The clean, powerful sound was different and a definite improvement over everything I had heard before. In time and through playing with more gear though, I started to hear its shortcomings. It’s still a fine product, and a real bargain at $99. Some people, very understandably, really like its sound. I’m just no longer one of them.
I mean, it’s hard to say what “truth” is, i.e.: What DAC/amp/recordings are the most “natural” sounding unless you were there in the studio lol. Definitely not a bad product anyway. Atom sounds bright AF if you pair it to some DACs but now my Atom amp is paired to my recording interface and its integrated headphone amp lacked a bit of treble (and power). 
In short, more and more I think “no one’s doing anything wrong per se, it’s all about pairings”.
Like, was something horribly wrong with my recording interface DAC, or was it just “perfect”, just waiting to be paired with the JDS Atom’s “perfection” ?
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Hmm… paired with the Atom Dac, I don’t find it bright at all. Maybe I’m not sensitive enough.
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I haven’t heard the Atom dac. Is it AKM base? If so, that might temper the Atom amp a bit. Also, it does seem there’s quite a variation between people on treble tolerance/sensitivity. I’m actually jealous of those who have high treble tolerance. Seems to open a lot more listening doors that way.
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It sounded bright with my PS3’s DAC (yes… using the red-white-yellow wire we all forget now as the RCA out), and with my Tube-03. Sounds ok with my old recording interface (Cirrus chipset?). Atom DAC uses AKM chipsets, these are known to sound… well, just not “sibilant” like some “ESS” chipsets (again, when paired with some specific amps).
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According to couple hunderd revewis i saw and read on internet …
I see that akm dacs though more expensive and little on warm side
But paired well with neutral and
Analytical amps and HPs.
Ess dacs better paired with warm
Amps or HPs .
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The silver colored Topping D50S (2xESS) and the silver colored liquid spark (“warmer” amp) would look – and potentially sound – great together…
I think this is changing. The SMSL M100 uses AKM and goes for about 70USD. The Topping E30 is also AKM and is 130USD. The new Atom DAC is also AKM at 99USD. In previous generations you were correct, though. Most previous entry level dacs used ESS chips. There’s also even more choice now! You can go Burr-Brown with the iFi Zen (130USD) or Cirrus Logic with the EarMen Donald DAC (99USD).
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Oh right…
Sorry i overlooked them
Since i hate every entry level
Non portable device …
Going portable with fiio btr5
Or fiio q5s … is so better nowadays
Especially for iem owner
How about the SMSL SH-9 vs the Atom? Single ended performance and sound? Clearer, vocals?
Hey gang,
I have the JDS Atom Amp and original DAC here along with the SP200 and been comparing them back and forth all night. The Atom has more tiny details which I noticed while gaming. The treble is better, but it lacks the bass slam of the SP200 and feeling of limitless power. The SP200 and Khadas tone board using closed backs was too small of a sound stage, but with the Hifiman Ananda it didn’t have as much impact and sounded really good. The Atom and Tone board was best on the Ananda though.
I love the Atom stack, and for competitive gamers, it wins for 3d positioning and better treble. For music lovers it’s a wash of which is more important, bass slam or more detailed and accurate treble. I even have a Soundblaster AE-7 I lined out to them to test the 9018 DAC and they both sounded really good with it.
I’m keeping the SP200 because I buy and sell audio gear and the connection convenience is handy too. It was childs play powering the Beyerdynamic DT880 600ohm but the Shure 1840’s took high gain at 50 percent volume to get to an exciting volume level(!). They sounded really great though, but took a lot of power to get them there.
Bassheads, run, do not walk to get the SP200. If you’re a gamer the AE-7 is best of all, but if you just want a stack with no drivers or other reindeer games to mess with, the JDS Atom stack is a sure thing. I contacted JDS to buy a B-stock original DAC and they had one, still haven’t tried the new one. Keeping the original one perched on the SP200 and really happy with the combo.
Also tested both with the Gen1 MMX300 here and the Hifiman HE4xx and wow, the Hifiman takes the power REALLY well and the MMX300 bass shines too.
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