Audirect Atom 2 Amp/DAC Review – Hot Sauce For Head-Fi Habitues
The Audirect Atom 2 is yet another entrant into the crowded field of diminutive <$100 USB-powered mobile dac/amps, the $75 Atom 2 attempts to distinguish itself with an unusual, rectangular design and with the ability to decode MQA (which, considering the relative paucity of MQA material, is of less importance to me than other more demanding types). I like this form factor more than the typical dongle-with-cable.
Shiny aluminum casing looks premium, and the color-changing LED (which indicates bitrate) is a neat gimmick. Its rated output power of 30mW/16ohm, 7mW/600ohm seems modest on paper, but in practice it had considerably more oomph than my unamped LG V50 (in high impedance mode) and drove my 150ohm buds adequately, although it showed better bass control on lower-impedance phones. As with most such devices, it runs a bit warm, but power draw is surprisingly low (my LG was still at 94% after an hour of use).
Unlike neutral-sounding peers like the Cozoy Takt-C, the Atom 2 imparts a definite tonal signature—a warm, formal presentation which tends to thicken notes, enhance midrange presence and take some of the edge off the high end. This works well with brighter IEMs and source material, but does have a tendency to blur some detail—cymbal hits and vocal nuances sound smoothed out and less crisp.
Overall effect is to impart richness, especially in the midrange and to widen the soundstage. A leaner phone like the NiceHCK NX7 or Tin T4 seemed to benefit from the pairing, with more overall oomph and a warmer, less clinical sound, while fuller-sounding pieces like the Moondrop Starfield or the Shozy 1.4 sounded better sans the Atom, with better detail and more instrument separation.
The Atom’s tonality is actually quite similar to the Tempotec Sonata, a $50 dongle much praised by Jürgen—both have a forward, beefy sound which imparts a slight warmth, although the Atom comes across as the less grainy and more refined of the two. The $109 Hidizs S9 shares the Atom’s aggressive nature, but is brighter and more detailed; the S9 also sounds more powerful and is better-suited to less efficient phones.
Overall, the Atom 2 is something like auditory Tabasco—it enlivens dull-sounding IEMs while somewhat masking the nuances of more lively ones. It’s a quality piece, and registers as good value, though you’ll need to be careful with pairing and devotees of transparency will look elsewhere.
DISCLAIMER
This unit was sent to me for review by hilidac, whose website is accessible here: https://www.hilidac.com/product-page/atom-pro
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