ok thanks (: how would you describe the bass difference between the two then if you don’t mind
i wonder what is the design of the atom, i know spark is discrete but can’t find info about atom, i also don’t know what it changes. maybe it’s placebo but i think with the spark my computer handle sounds better, less lag or something (than the op amp magni heresy)
the spark has more prominence in the bass, and is a bit more rounded than full, with more slam and impact, the atom is more linear in the bass and is a bit cleaner and tighter but with less impact and density
Pretty sure the atom is opamp based
So it does handle sound differently for sure, less latency or lag isn’t something that should change though, that sounds more like a dac problem but if you didn’t change anything there then it can come down to other things
Take a tub of Vaseline dip three fingers in it and then smear it over your computer monitor and then see if you can see the immage in the same way. Because that’s the difference between my D10 and my Lampizator Amber 3.
Consider yourself lucky you don’t have to spend so much to achieve happy listening!
i still find that there isn’t enough bass with the liquid spark. maybe it’s the E30 dac? is there something better around the same price bass wise? (still think bass were better and extended lower with the creative X7)
Fostex T50RPs. 
Dacs should all pretty much sound the same – I mean, I’m talking about frequency response only not the 100 other possible technicalities. Although I noticed my SMSL Sanskrit 10th had way more bass “authority” than my AVR (Denon receiver from 2009 I think)… I doubt two recent, “chi-fi” dacs (E30 + sk10th) would sound that different. You won’t get a “bass boost” with a DAC, unless you’re interested about iFi stuff and their dac+amp combos.
So i tested magni heresy, liquid spark and atom.
I don’t remember well heresy but i felt like it was too mid focused (but i liked it, little bit more than the two others).
between spark and atom, atom definitely has slightly more sub-bass -but slightly less “mid-bass”- (and little bit more harsh treble), but in some song vocals are more veiled than spark.
atom has wider soundstage, when i go back to the spark i feel like something missing. i got the spark before the atom, and after first trying the atom i felt like it was cheap sounding in terms of quality (too analytical?), i think i still do but it’s very slight and still not sure if the better soundstage is a better tradeoff.
some songs are better with liquid spark and some others with atom
for gaming i feel that i struggle much more at earing where footsteps comes from with atom than spark (magni heresy was almost like spark). i feel on atom different sounds are too much on top of each other.
i think i should have taken asgard 3 with the integrated multibit dac…
Nah. The Asgard 3 is a viable Amp long term. If you go down the rabbit hole of higher end DACs you’ll still be able to enjoy it with them. You’re much better off running it as a standalone amp.
I have mine on a Zen DAC V2 right now if you are looking for more suggestions…
is the zen dac v2 better than e30? i feel e30 is lacking some bass
ps: i kept the atom (spark gain switch was strange and made sound even more too mid centered/narrow) but ordered asgard 3.