[hottyson]

That Fostex T50RP is a fantastic headphone! It sounds better than it's big brother the T60RP.
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Too many people making baby steps with audio upgrades. The JDS Labs Atom is a great amp if you really must stay at $100 budget. The Schiit Magni amps have the most power for the Fostex T50RP at the $100 level. However, if it were me, I would save up $200 to $300 for an amp that will make a much greater upgrade impact. For the Fostex T50RP you could get a SMSL SP200. It drives them notably well with serious impact. However, that pairing does suffer with a slightly narrow sound-stage. But, then again it is an amp that can be found used under $200. If you plan on running other headphones, the SMSL SP200 is not a good choice. For driving a variety of headphones, save up for a better all around headphone that will play with many headphones.

I just hooked up my $100 amps to my system because I wanted to revisit them with the Fostex T50RP and make certain that I still believed what I had stated above. From what I just heard, here is the rating of the aforementioned three amplifiers.

1st place = Schiit Magni 3 Plus
2nd place = JDS Labs Atom
3rd place = SMSL SP200

All three are fairly close and the order would change depending on my mood. But, I will have to retract my comment about spending more for the SMSL SP200.
I think many would be happy with the Schiit Magni 3 Plus or the JDS Labs Atom. I was really impressed with the Schiit Magni 3 Plus driving the Fostex T50RP. That pairing brought a very three dimensional, enveloping sound stage. The JDS Labs Atom was very clean sounding but just as detailed as the Schiit Magni 3 Plus. The SMSL SP200 has a smoother sound. I usually prefer the SMSL SP200 over the other two. But, tonight I prefer the lively, snappy, wide sound of the two cheaper amplifiers and they will play nice with a large variety of headphones unlike the SMSL.
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I did follow up with the six other more expensive amplifiers that were also hooked up and of course they sounded even better. But for those on a $100 budget, the Schiit Magni 3 Plus or the JDS Labs Atom sound awesome with the Fostex T50RP.

 

[Lolito]

I would add to that, if you want a solid build, and a proper potentiometer, make it 300$ total single ended. Will sound just as good, but the extra build and quality is worth it. Apart from that, if you want end game sound with 99$, I owned jds atom for over a year, and very happy. Very neutral and very clean, but it slightly slightly leans towards the warm, unlike topping or smsl amps. It also has the advantage of an extra analog input. It is a great amp if you swap the knob, and great pre-amp too. For anyone entering the hobby, great buy really, buy something else once you have learned the stuff. Now, if you want something to keep for a while, solid, to buy it at once... Schiit asgard 3, or magnius, or... jot2, or sa-1, or drop single ended for 200$. great options with a better build or better connections.

 

[schmalgausen]

I would add to that, if you want a solid build, and a proper potentiometer, make it 300$ total single ended. Will sound just as good, but the extra build and quality is worth it. Apart from that, if you want end game sound with 99$, I owned jds atom for over a year, and very happy. Very neutral and very clean, but it slightly slightly leans towards the warm, unlike topping or smsl amps. It also has the advantage of an extra analog input. It is a great amp if you swap the knob, and great pre-amp too. For anyone entering the hobby, great buy really, buy something else once you have learned the stuff. Now, if you want something to keep for a while, solid, to buy it at once... Schiit asgard 3, or magnius, or... jot2, or sa-1, or drop single ended for 200$. great options with a better build or better connections.

Have you managed to fix yours?

 

[Lolito]

Yes, it is for sale now in the classifieds section. JDS replaced it.

UDATE: sold already here locally.

 

[schmalgausen]

What is the replacement?

 

[eloelo]

What's a good dac to pair with the atom? I was thinking to use apple dong, but was wondering about other budget options

 

[hottyson]

What's a good dac to pair with the atom? I was thinking to use apple dong, but was wondering about other budget options

I paired with and was happy with the Schiit Modi and the Khardas Tone Board. However, the Monolith Liquid Spark using USB input was slightly less enjoyable. And, the Monolith Liquid Spark using optical in was absolute garbage.

 

[holsen]

What's a good dac to pair with the atom? I was thinking to use apple dong, but was wondering about other budget options

I Hooked mine up to a topping D50s and I'm very happy with the results and although I don't use BT often, this set up allows me to beam LDAC over to Atom as well. The D50s is a great little DAC and it stacks nicely on the Atom.

 

[eloelo]

What cable do I need to connect the balanced out of Khadas tone 2 pro to the Atom?

 

[hottyson]

What cable do I need to connect the balanced out of Khadas tone 2 pro to the Atom?

I don't have any experience with the Khadas Tone 2 Pro. But, it looks like they are using a proprietary or non-standard connection for balanced output. So, perhaps a custom cable for balanced output.
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The JDS Labs Atom does not have balanced input. It has two inputs that are not balanced. One is traditional RCA and 3.5mm on the other. So you could just use a typical RCA to RCA cable for a non-balanced signal.

 

[eloelo]

I don't have any experience with the Khadas Tone 2 Pro. But, it looks like they are using a proprietary or non-standard connection for balanced output. So, perhaps a custom cable for balanced output.
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The JDS Labs Atom does not have balanced input. It has two inputs that are not balanced. One is traditional RCA and 3.5mm on the other. So you could just use a typical RCA to RCA cable for a non-balanced signal.

ah ok so 2 RCA to RCA cables. Thanks! Think those cables are already in the khadas packaging

 

[Mazak23]

Have you guys seen the new Atom DAC+? It just came out today. I have one coming on Friday. It has a new chip and a download that can produce a tube amp-like sound.

 

[holsen]

Have you guys seen the new Atom DAC+? It just came out today. I have one coming on Friday. It has a new chip and a download that can produce a tube amp-like sound.

Looks good, thanks for the heads up! Look forward to hearing your impressions of it.

 

[Mazak23]

Looks good, thanks for the heads up! Look forward to hearing your impressions of it.

No problem. I just wish I had a chance to pair the original Atom DAC with my Atom amp to get a baseline. I guess my laziness led to something better in this case lol.

 

[Lolito]

I don't have any experience with the Khadas Tone 2 Pro. But, it looks like they are using a proprietary or non-standard connection for balanced output. So, perhaps a custom cable for balanced output.
.
The JDS Labs Atom does not have balanced input. It has two inputs that are not balanced. One is traditional RCA and 3.5mm on the other. So you could just use a typical RCA to RCA cable for a non-balanced signal.

khadas 2 uses a very very cool balance RCA connector, that is backwards compatible with regular rca apparently, so seem slike a great idea, if it was more widespread at least. Regular XLR is too big for small stuff.