Interview w John Seaber- What do ppl think is next for JDS Labs?

[Pugsly]

Hey All,
Early this morning (gotta love insomnia) I ran across the following interview with John Seaber of JDS Labs:

Conversations With: John Seaber of JDS Labs

Listen to this episode from The Curiosity Project on Spotify. Brew a cup and join Omar and John for a chat! For those who are veteran listeners of the show, you will be familiar with JDS Labs, Omar uses their equipment to test almost all headphones and earphones that we talk about but in todays...

open.spotify.com

Some key points of interest:
(1) Amplifiers and DACS have reached the point where the advances in measurements are far beyond what is audible
(2) In particular, J.S. cites the fact that the new Atom+ measures better than the old Atom, but no one could hear it - indeed, they were shipping the new version for a month before announcing it, and just giving ppl the updated version
(3) J.S. is committed to being honest and giving them real, meaningful improvements, but at this point there is no further advancement to be made in that direction
(4) because of this J.S. says that in the future they will not continue to chase measurements. He was (understandably) cagey about what they do have in the works and plan to do instead... but any suspicions or hopes?
(5) Maybe it is just me, but I feel like J.S. was doing his best to be polite and avoid telling the interviewer that the claim that he could hear substantial differences between the Element II and Atom stack with his very expensive new headphones are highly implausible... and instead deflected/ignored the claim and insisted that the E2 is 'better' in terms of premium materials, looks, feel, etc.

I found 4 quite interesting, particularly as with the recent crop of Topping, etc. offerings that are also measurably transparent, cheap, and include more features (e.g. bluetooth) there is certainly a danger, I would suspect, that their market share will start get cannibalized by the increasingly inexpensive and ever more superlatively measuring Chinese gear. So what direction can they go in?
(a) start adding more features such as bluetooth, etc (but then wouldn't they be following the Chinese hifi market instead of innovating and end up in the same place?)
(b) branch out from headphone amplifiers into other electronics such as speaker amplifiers? Or headphones? Or speakers?
(c) start working on/including dsp functions? So 'the JDS Subjective' on steroids?
(d) design equipment that will emulate other kinds of 'less perfectly' measuring gear (in the direction of Solderdude's Project Polaris)?

C strikes me as the most plausible and exciting options for an honest EE who expresses some personal appreciation in this interview for, e.g., some 'subjective' things like bass boosting subs, etc.

At any rate, I hope you all enjoy. I really liked John after listening to the interview, and was amazed by his commitment to giving the straight goods even when going along with the interviewer would have been both easy (say by saying that the EL2 is more powerful and maybe that was the difference) and financial advantageous!
Pugs

 

[julian_hughes]

Thank you for the heads up.

 

[Paolo]

(a) start adding more features such as bluetooth, etc (but then wouldn't they be following the Chinese hifi market instead of innovating and end up in the same place?)

My opinion is that we need innovation in electronics just like we need innovation in electric plugs. News shapes to address physical needs, new functions like smart appliances, that’s it.

Btw, I’ve not seen the interview yet, just commenting on the post, for the moment.

 

[Kevbaz]

Thanks for heads up will take a look today at the interview.
I think JDS should still focus on measurements otherwise they might fall behind the Hurd, also new features such as EQ DC out protection.
But I would also still maintain nicely priced models such as Atom DAC /Amp+

 

[solderdude]

Looks like they want to market new models, probably cheaper, with less great measurements because below a certain number it really doesn't matter.

 

[Firefly00]

Looks like they want to market new models, probably cheaper, with less great measurements because below a certain number it really doesn't matter.

I wonder how far in the future $50 will get you an amp with L30 performance, or a DAC with E30 performance.

It will be a beautiful day

 

[solderdude]

I think the point is it doesn't have to meet that performance so one can cut some corners and make something cheaper that measures less well but good enough for transparency.

No idea what @jseaber really meant though. He is a member here so one could ask him (oops just paged him it seems).
I was just venting my take on the OP not from JDS.

 

[Mulder]

I found 4 quite interesting, particularly as with the recent crop of Topping, etc. offerings that are also measurably transparent, cheap, and include more features (e.g. bluetooth) there is certainly a danger, I would suspect, that their market share will start get cannibalized by the increasingly inexpensive and ever more superlatively measuring Chinese gear. So what direction can they go in?

A major disadvantage for European customers is that they have to order JDS-labs products from the USA, with all the hassle it entails in the form of customs fees, delays, more complicated possible warranty matters, etc. Products from Topping and other Chinese manufacturers can be purchased directly from European retailers. This is probably a big competitive advantage for these compared to JDS. Incidentally, the same now also applies to British HiFi, after GB left the EU.

 

[Kevbaz]

There is a dealer / reseller for JDS labs in the UK called Hifiheadphones. I bought Atom DAC+ and Amp+

 

[Mulder]

There is a dealer / reseller for JDS labs in the UK called Hifiheadphones. I bought Atom DAC+ and Amp+

Yes, but as I wrote, since UK left EU, ordering from the UK is almost the same hassle as when ordering from the US, i.e. when you are living outside the UK.

 

[Kevbaz]

Yes, but as I wrote, since UK left EU, ordering from the UK is almost the same hassle as when ordering from the US, i.e. when you are living outside the UK.

Sorry misread your post. Agreed it’s not a good situation, also Schiit products are hard to get in Uk and EU now

 

[Mulder]

Sorry misread your post. Agreed it’s not a good situation, also Schiit products are hard to get in Uk and EU now

I used to buy records and books from the UK, and still do sometimes, but it is very much delayed because of customs-administration etc..

 

[Pugsly]

A major disadvantage for European customers is that they have to order JDS-labs products from the USA, with all the hassle it entails in the form of customs fees, delays, more complicated possible warranty matters, etc. Products from Topping and other Chinese manufacturers can be purchased directly from European retailers. This is probably a big competitive advantage for these compared to JDS. Incidentally, the same now also applies to British HiFi, after GB left the EU.

I'll never understand how or why computers, tvs, and stereo equipment in the UK costs as much in British pounds as they do in Canadian dollars, despite the Canadian dollar being worth half as much at best. And yet we Canadians still complain about how much more expensive some things are here than in the US!
I feel your pain...

 

[Mulder]

I'll never understand how or why computers, tvs, and stereo equipment in the UK costs as much in British pounds as they do in Canadian dollars, despite the Canadian dollar being worth half as much at best. And yet we Canadians still complain about how much more expensive some things are here than in the US!
I feel your pain...

Hmm.. I think you maybe missunderstod. I do not live in the UK, but I sometimes buy from webshops in the UK.

 

[Pugsly]

Yep, I misunderstood, although my point stands (as an ex-pat who has 'gone home' a few times and suffered severe sticker shock when looking at electronics in the UK...)