This is a review and detailed measurements of the JBL M-Patch Active 1 USB DAC/ADC, analog switcher and headphone amplifier. I bought summer last year and just now getting to review it. I don't remember what it cost then (it was special on some site) but it is US $100 on Amazon. But get this listing:
Just imagine the level of confusion at JBL to be listing this device as a set of four casters. Anyway this was a product from another company that JBL acquired. Original price was US $200 I think. Lost in the midst of giant Samsung/Harman it may be liquidating prices.
The unit looks like above in person:
Volume control is smooth and has no detents. The switches are quite stiff to push. Given the application (live music/speech) having stiff switches so you don't change settings by accident is probably a good thing. It is a loss for my use though in that they are not toggle switches. If you push one input and then another, both are active now. Ditto for the two outputs. I was hoping to use it for a speaker selector for active speaker listening tests.
The back panel shows all the connectivity:
Makes for a good hobby project box if you don't like the functionality or performance of it.
There is a lot here so I am just going to touch on each subsystem.
USB DAC Audio Measurements
Nice to have a bundled balanced DAC at such low price but performance is disappointing:
This puts the Active 1 in the middle of forth and worst tier of DACs tested:
Dynamic range results are similar:
So you basically have 14 bits to play with. Good enough for the application but not what we like to see in our domain.
Preamplifier Audio Measurements
This is a test of analog input to analog out with balanced interface and voltages throughout:
Ah, this is better. Distortion is down to nearly -100 dB. Noise level is also reduced compared to USB resulting in much better signal to noise ratio:
Frequency response is broad and flat:
I am only showing one channel because my other XLR to TRS cables are in the speaker "lab."
Now you have 16 to 17 bits to play with.
Headphone Audio Measurements
We get decent level of power when using USB as a source and 300 ohm output load:
The situation is not as good with 33 ohm load:
Power went down instead of up. How much do you want to bet the output impedance is high?
A 70 or so ohm resistor on the output is burning power. Unless your headphone has flat impedance, then its tonality is going to be changed. Best to stay with high impedance headphones where that effect is lower.
ADC Interface Audio Measurements
Since the Active 1 can capture analog signal over USB, here is our last measurement:
There is a lot of gain here for some reason. At near max level before clipping, the input voltage is around 0.68 volts. Resulting SINAD (signal over noise and distortion) is not so bad for a budget device:
Conclusions
There is a lot of functionality in JBL Active 1. Alas, low performance targets to achieve the price means we are not going to get any measurements that excite us. Best performance is as a switcher and gain controller with balanced analog in and out. Make sure you can live with lack of toggle switches. A better version with higher performance would be a great box to have on the desk with the large volume control, LED signal indicators, mic input, etc.
Not going to give a recommendation one way or the other. Decide for yourself if it fits our needs. Me? I am going to see if I can stick it under my amp as a coaster and see if it is easier to move it....
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
I already told my one joke above. So just donate some money and make me happy using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
Just imagine the level of confusion at JBL to be listing this device as a set of four casters. Anyway this was a product from another company that JBL acquired. Original price was US $200 I think. Lost in the midst of giant Samsung/Harman it may be liquidating prices.
The unit looks like above in person:
Volume control is smooth and has no detents. The switches are quite stiff to push. Given the application (live music/speech) having stiff switches so you don't change settings by accident is probably a good thing. It is a loss for my use though in that they are not toggle switches. If you push one input and then another, both are active now. Ditto for the two outputs. I was hoping to use it for a speaker selector for active speaker listening tests.
The back panel shows all the connectivity:
Makes for a good hobby project box if you don't like the functionality or performance of it.
There is a lot here so I am just going to touch on each subsystem.
USB DAC Audio Measurements
Nice to have a bundled balanced DAC at such low price but performance is disappointing:
This puts the Active 1 in the middle of forth and worst tier of DACs tested:
Dynamic range results are similar:
So you basically have 14 bits to play with. Good enough for the application but not what we like to see in our domain.
Preamplifier Audio Measurements
This is a test of analog input to analog out with balanced interface and voltages throughout:
Ah, this is better. Distortion is down to nearly -100 dB. Noise level is also reduced compared to USB resulting in much better signal to noise ratio:
Frequency response is broad and flat:
I am only showing one channel because my other XLR to TRS cables are in the speaker "lab."
Now you have 16 to 17 bits to play with.
Headphone Audio Measurements
We get decent level of power when using USB as a source and 300 ohm output load:
The situation is not as good with 33 ohm load:
Power went down instead of up. How much do you want to bet the output impedance is high?
A 70 or so ohm resistor on the output is burning power. Unless your headphone has flat impedance, then its tonality is going to be changed. Best to stay with high impedance headphones where that effect is lower.
ADC Interface Audio Measurements
Since the Active 1 can capture analog signal over USB, here is our last measurement:
There is a lot of gain here for some reason. At near max level before clipping, the input voltage is around 0.68 volts. Resulting SINAD (signal over noise and distortion) is not so bad for a budget device:
Conclusions
There is a lot of functionality in JBL Active 1. Alas, low performance targets to achieve the price means we are not going to get any measurements that excite us. Best performance is as a switcher and gain controller with balanced analog in and out. Make sure you can live with lack of toggle switches. A better version with higher performance would be a great box to have on the desk with the large volume control, LED signal indicators, mic input, etc.
Not going to give a recommendation one way or the other. Decide for yourself if it fits our needs. Me? I am going to see if I can stick it under my amp as a coaster and see if it is easier to move it....
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
I already told my one joke above. So just donate some money and make me happy using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
