Introducing Atom Amp 2 and Atom DAC 2! More Power. All Metal.

Over the past five years, we’ve resisted the temptation to dramatically change Atom Amp(+) due to its strong reputation and reliability–no need to change what works well. However, we believe there is always room for improvement, and we’re excited to introduce Atom Amp 2 and Atom DAC 2.

Atom Amp 2 is the best Atom you can own, built in an all metal chassis with an easier to grip knob, featuring both 4.4mm and 6.35mm SE outputs, DC protection, and stereo octo-buffers delivering 2.5x the power of Atom Amp+.

Atom DAC 2 is built in a matching metal chassis with USB Type C input, dedicated power switch, and a more efficient I/V stage that operates at cooler temperatures.

Standard Atom Amp+ and Atom DAC+ Remain

Before diving in, we have no immediate plans to retire Atom Amp+ or Atom DAC+. Each continues to set a high bar for transparency, value, and reliability. We found that half of new customers opt for the Standard Atom Amp+ over the more rugged HEVI edition. And thus, Standard Atom Amp+ and Atom DAC+ remain, while HEVI editions are being replaced by Atom Amp 2 and Atom DAC 2. In fact, we depleted inventory of Atom Amp+ in October and initiated a new production batch this month.

Why More Power?

We’ve held off on drastic changes to Atom Amp+ for two key reasons. First, power has not been a priority to most of our customers. Second, we’ve been hesitant to make changes that might impact Atom’s high reliability.

As often as we have advocated that most headphone listening requires below 1W of power, we continue to field questions and concerns over how much power headphones require. And after five years delivering the same 1W Atom Amps, perhaps our time is better spent, well, delivering more power? Some listen at extreme volumes with inefficient headphones. Or as one Youtuber commented:

“How much I need is not as important as how much I want, imo that’s how the market works.”

Point taken! His voice is not alone, and we’re happy to accommodate.

Failsafe DC Protection

With great power comes great responsibility: DC protection is standard in Atom Amp 2.

This is no off-the-shelf protection circuit. Common protection circuits are built for speakers, for which a volt may be considered safe. Protecting headphones requires detecting DC at 1/20th of this level without accidentally tripping during normal listening. Not exactly trivial.

Atom Amp 2’s protection circuit began in simulations. Real world prototypes were more sensitive than predicted, tripping at moderate volumes. Weeks of iterations later, the final sensing circuit relies on a precision rectifier built with a zero-drift opamp. Muting disengages only for safe audio output, and never accidentally mutes. The circuit has already protected us during development, muting output for minor assembly errors.

Octo Buffers

The original Atom Amp+ uses a single LME49600 buffer per channel. Adding parallel buffers increases power proportionally. However, LME49600s are large chips–not exactly optimal. Replacing the single, large buffer with numerous, less powerful buffers achieves the same goal in less space. Parallel buffers also happen to cancel out some common mode noise, pushing the noise floor even lower.

We evaluated several variations of paralleled output buffers. Atom Amp 2 was originally drafted with 4x OPA1692s per channel, due to their low quiescent current (cooler running). The setup achieved less output power than Atom Amp+, so doubling the number of buffers to 8x would improve the situation. By chance, OPA1692s were out of stock at the time of the octo-buffer prototype build. OPA1656s happened to be available, and the change stuck. Octo-OPA1656s deliver 75% more power than OPA1692s.

Atom Amp 2’s THD performance is exceptional and power is extreme. You can turn the volume knob to 100% with 32Ω headphones and hear perfectly clear music at 9.22VRMS = 26Vpp = 2.65W.

There is no incentive to move beyond octo-buffers, now that power is limited by voltage swing. Audio opamps are typically limited to +/- 18V rails before self-destructing, and it’s good practice to leave some safety margin. Redesigning around a differential output topology is the only way to push power dramatically higher in a solid state amp, but differential outputs have their own tradeoffs (more noise, higher THD).

Bit of trivia: Douglas Self built a speaker amp called OpAmplifier in 2010 using 32 pairs of NE5532s per channel. This amp may be even stronger with today’s OPA1656s.

Dual Headphone Outputs

On that note, some of you may ask, “Is the 4.4mm jack balanced or more powerful?”. This question refers to a differential bridged mode circuit, which doubles voltage swing, doubles noise, and raises THD–a mixed bag of results. We are pleased to report that both of Atom Amp 2’s headphone jacks deliver 26Vpp single-ended with a miniscule noise floor. If you want to see a differential output amp, let us know in the comments!

Making Atom in Metal

Yes, Atom Amp 2 and Atom DAC 2 are all metal! It’s been a long journey. 

The injection molded enclosure simplified the original Atom Amp, allowing us to source and assemble Atoms rapidly. Injection molded designs came with a caveat: much higher tooling costs. The complex molds for a chassis like Atom Amp weigh a ton (difficult to transport), and cost a small fortune. So while each enclosure cost was low, the initial setup costs are prohibitive for lower volume designs. This is precisely why the Atom line has consisted of only an amplifier and a DAC. A phono preamp or equalizer may never have recouped its tooling costs.

We began the transition to an all aluminum version of Atom last year. The first engineering samples fit together unacceptably, so the production batch ran months behind schedule as we iterated. We concurrently prototyped HEVI editions, and given the manufacturing delay of the all metal chassis, we chose to share the surprisingly nice Atom Amp+ HEVI edition in the interim.

Those with OCD tendencies will appreciate that Atom Amp 2’s RCA Inputs now physically align with Atom DAC 2’s RCA Outputs:

Atom Amp 2 and Atom DAC 2 electronics evolved thanks to the extra mechanical development time.

Atom DAC 2 vs. Atom DAC+

Think of Atom DAC 2 as a refined build in an aluminum enclosure:

  • The transimpedance stage now uses triple OPA1692s, reducing quiescent current and overall operating temperature by about 10F.
  • The external rocker switch is now integrated on Atom DAC 2. Auto standby is still supported.
  • The light ring now attaches firmly with screws, so it cannot be accidentally dislodged.
  • The USB jack is now a modern Type C input.

Measurable performance is remarkably similar; Atom DAC 2 raises SINAD to 113 dB.

Atom Amp 2 vs. Atom Amp+

Atom Amp 2 is the pinnacle of the Atom line, at twice the weight and more than twice the power of Atom Amp+. 

SINAD edges slightly higher to 120dB at 20-20k bandwidth, and the noise floor is lower than ever. More astounding is Atom Amp 2’s high gain performance, matching its low gain figure. These improvements are byproducts of the octo-buffer output stage–not intentional goals per se. The input stage and filter is unchanged given its high performance and excellent RF rejection; only the NJM5532 gain stage has been updated to OPA1656.

Output impedance increases slightly due to paralleled buffers, remaining well within acceptable territory. Minimum suggested headphone impedance is 6 Ω.

Regarding channel balance, the same custom, hand matched potentiometer is used in both Atom Amp+ and Atom Amp 2.

Atom Amp 2 – SINAD @ 1kHz
Atom Amp+ Atom Amp 2
Frequency Response, 20Hz-20kHz +/- 0.01dB +/- 0.01dB
SINAD @ 2VRMS, 1kHz (Low Gain)  119 dB 120 dB
SINAD @ 2VRMS, 1kHz (High Gain)  107 dB 120 dB
SINAD @ 50mV, 1kHz 90 dB 93 dB
IMD SMPTE -95 dB -97 dB
Noise (20-20kHz) 1.99 μV 1.33 μV
Crosstalk @ 10kHz (RCA Out) -92 dB -101 dB
SNR (20-20kHz) 122 dB 124 dB
Dynamic Range (AES17) 120 dB 122 dB
Input Impedance 10k Ω 10k Ω
Output Impedance < 0.7 Ω 0.7 Ω
Max Continuous Power @ 600Ω 136mW (9.05VRMS) 143 mW (9.28VRMS)
Max Continuous Power @ 32Ω 1 Watt (5.66 VRMS) 2.65 Watts (9.22VRMS)

Availability

We have a small number of Atom Amp 2 and Atom DAC 2s in stock today, exclusively at jdslabs.com! And yes, both are eligible for free custom engraving!

Given the holidays, we expect most orders to ship early next week, Nov 27-28th. Please be patient–our team will be hand soldering thru-hole jacks on the first batch of Atom Amp 2 and Atom DAC 2s.

By the way, some lucky Atom Amp+ HEVI customers received free upgrades to pre-production “all metal” enclosures throughout summer and fall. These builds are correctly marked “Atom Amp+”, as they contain Atom Amp+ electronics. Atom Amp 2 is easily distinguishable at a glance by its dual headphone jacks.


Updates:
21-Nov-2023: Atom Amp 2 has sold out within the first hour!
25-Nov-2023: More Atom Amp 2 circuit boards arrived yesterday, meaning we’re on track to resume shipping on Monday.

Reviews will be shared below as they appear:

24 thoughts on “Introducing Atom Amp 2 and Atom DAC 2! More Power. All Metal.”

  1. They are simply amazing. I’m not even interested in audio anymore (at least for the time being) but I have to comment and express my appreciation for the continuous improvements you guys deliver!

    I might even consider selling some of my boutique amplifiers to get your new stack now, even though I already have the old Atom combo (+ Subjective 3, this thing rocks!!!) at home, and I’m still using it every now and then 😀

  2. Nice to see DC protection we previously discussed!
    The 1656 is an amazing chip, so much power in such a small package.
    The metal case also looks fabulous — the design language shows its noble lineage that descended from his elder plastic brothers.

    1. Good move adding power. I like the JDS labs Atom I bought 3-4 years ago. Love the integrated volume/on off knob. Nice looking unit. Didn’t mind the plastic. It works great as a preamp on my PC desk setup with powered speakers. I like being able to turn the sound on and adjust volume from the Atom.

      But it is underpowered. For IEMs it’s obviously plenty. But just didn’t have the power to drive my Sennheiser 600x and A-T athRX70x phones. Those are hungry cans, I realize. But the other budget headamps I own, the Schiit magni 3+ and the Topping L30, drive them far better. It’s very noticable.

      So nice job in improving the product. Cheers

      1. I don’t think either the HD 600 nor ATH-R70x are power hungry in any respect. Probably 80mW would produce 115db for either of them,

        Maybe I don’t know what a Sennheiser 600x is, and maybe athRX70x is different?

  3. Any Atom variant with an integrated Subjective3 (ideally, bass, treble and bypass controls only) would be an instant buy for me. How hopeful should I be? I have the original Atom but I don’t want to purchase Subjective3 as I can’t justify having two separate units on my desk, with two large PSUs under the desk, just to add an extra headphone output to my audio interface. This would make it possible to quickly equalize harsh/boring monitoring headphones for longer listening or practice sessions. It could also be used with audio mixers, and so on. System-level SW equalizers can’t address those needs. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      1. Thanks, John. Element doesn’t have a line input. What I meant was a headphone amp with tone controls, which can be connected to any line level output. That’s why, I mentioned “practice sessions”. A prosumer/utility device, if you will.

  4. I purchased the new Atom Amp 2 and DAC 2 stack and it sounds great. I have the subjective 3 but a matching equalizer the same size as the stack would complete it. I’m hoping one day!

  5. Any chances that we have a dac+amp product soon (like, Element 4?)
    I like this duo but having 2 adapters seem troublesome

    1. @tamio:

      We initiated a large batch of Element III MK2 this winter, intended to last well into 2024.

      As a reminder, we use an AC transformer with every amp and DAC for the purpose of mains isolation. Yes, Element III is the way to go if you prefer a single unit and single power supply.

  6. Does the DC protection affect gaming? I have heard negatives with Schiit amps causing sound to cut out. Any issues with this happening with the Atom 2?

    1. @Jason – Thanks for checking. We designed the DC protection circuitry to stay out of the way. It will not trip during gaming, nor have here been any reports of difficulties. So far, the muting circuit has protected at least 1 set of headphones to my knowledge. In other words, it’s working exactly as intended!

  7. @John, Great product. I have a question, one of your instagram posts show only one headphone output in the front [link below] of Atom Amp 2 . The left most gold color output looks like plugged in the instagram post. Is there any possibility of getting that appearance? That will help my OCD tendencies of wanting things aligned, symmetric and uniform in color when ever possible.

    [Instagram post]
    https://www.instagram.com/jdslabs/reel/Cz7K2AUKMvN/

    1. Thanks, @Sam. The video in your link is a rendered view, in which both jacks are present. Admittedly, the 4.4mm jack is modelled in a dark color and difficult to see in same parts of the clip.

  8. Hi, are you guys going to be making Element 3 with the 4.4mm balance jack too? Or maybe a new Element 2 combo with the 4.4mm balance jack? Only thing holding me back from buying the Element 2 or 3 is that I wish it had TRS jacks or the 4.4mm jack. Maybe next year hopefully?

    1. @Kold – Yes, Element 3 MK2 can be built with a 4.4mm headphone jack upon request. This option is unlisted, as we prefer the default 6.35mm jack. Feel free to mention your special request in the Shipping Notes field during checkout.

  9. Btw I meant XLR not TRS, although I don’t think it would really make an audible difference, it’s more or a peace of mind. Also like someone said in the Element 3 blog post, it would nice to have digital output/toslink like a previous comment mention a few months ago.

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