Lol I already got the Atom. I’m just curious about Class A… for cheaper than the Atom even.
I don’t expect it to be better – just different. The “all the power all the time” thing.
SMSL says 100dB SNR and their measurements are always like 5dB more or less than ASR measurements. Proof enough for me that at least it will not sound like crap.
It’s not the sort of Class A that people like to talk about, generally those are MOSFET or JFET designs.
Mosfets in particular can impart some of the same sorts of distortion that Valves are somewhat renown for.
A lot of the reverence for class A comes from higher powered Speaker amps, where there is a huge trade off in choosing to go Class A, so they tend to be higher end designs, with higher quality components.
Not that it’s $90 or easy to DIY, but the WHAMMY amp is a class A amp that doesn’t cost $1000.
I wasn’t talking about the smsl, just saying that the atom and 2.5 pro have great performance for their price
The whammy is pretty sweet for the price
Apart from packaging (obviously), how is an integrated FET different to a dedicated one?
Technically they are not, but they do sound different.
I think most of the perceived difference is in temperature variation and heat dissipation from the package.
Those factors are probably less relevant when driving headphones, but a 1W class A amp is still dissipating at least 2W in heat.
Pass labs has a piece on there blog somewhere comparing identical circuits with OP Amps and Discrete components.
We can also get into individual FET types sounding different.
I just don’t think convincing people that buying a $90 amp no one has actually heard because it’s technically class A is a good idea. I mean I could be wrong it could sound better than amps costing thousands, but IME it’s generally not the case.
I’m honestly just expecting it to sound “clean”, and if it sounds different than my Atom, that’s a plus. I’m curious to know if headphones can sound even more detailed with a Class A amp. If the “all the power all the time” thing can equal more detail, even at this price. I don’t want Class A for “tube distortion” sound.
And no, don’t get me wrong, I don’t think everything class D is like variable bitrate mp3s lol.
TL,DR: That would be fun if this thing could be the “little 80$ class A” that actually can sound a bit like class A, like the Little Bear B4 is the “little 80$ tube amp” that actually can sound a bit like a tube amp.
Aaaand…
The SMSL SAP-1 is 75mm height x 45mm width x 149mm deep
And the SMSL Sanskrit 10th is 75mm height x 45mm width x 144mm deep.
Nice, cheap dac + amp combo.
And oh well, this is 90mm in width, and my FX Audio Tube-03 is also 95-ish mm in width so could go on top. Weeeeeee lol. Too bad I’m broke. I’ll order both in a few weeks, heh.
I just ordered the SMSL SAP-1. 
But it’s from China, so, you’ll know how it compares to the JDS Atom… in one or two months, lol.
Also, this appears to be the same thing, but balanced: SMSL SAP-10.
http://www.smsl-audio.com/productshow.asp?id=137
Inside SAP-1:
Inside SAP-10:
There’s one used SAP-10 for sale in the US, if you’re curious and don’t want to wait one month.
That is pretty tiny lol
That realy is tiny.
You can’t even hide your smartphone behind it. 
Ok I just deleted my first thoughts because I need to throw faulty cables in the trash apparently. 
Lol. Sorry all.
Cables, unless there is an obvious crackling when one gets bumped, are usually the last you realize have gone bad.
USB cables or RCA cables?
does it have the weight for a class A amp…even if it’s ‘small’? thinking about opening it up to peer at what it has for a transformer?
yeh…@M0N just learned that the other week when one of his USB cables corrupted on one of his devices. was causing system lock ups.
