JDS Labs EL AMP II Headphone Review

[Vaejoviscarolinanus]

For real lol

I just used the rca cables that JDS sells.

 

[aarmath]

Hiya awesome fellow forum members -

Wanted your opinion on using this headphone preamp as a Preamp to a full-fledged Power amp using the el-amp II's preouts?
The power amp in question is a Yamaha B2.

Eagerly solicit your opinions.

 

[Swtoby]

I am using the amp II as a preamp with a Crown XLS 1502 and get good results: no hum for example.

 

[ReaderZ]

I think that JDS have provided just what many (myself included) wanted, an Atom in a nice metal enclosure and with nice industrial design. Does that make it sound any better? No, but it does make it nicer to own. I have an Atom and think it's probably the best $99 you can spend in audio but I will be buying one of these. The Atom will become my office and travel companion. Personally I think they made a good call avoiding balanced on this as with so much power available I see no point in a balanced output and I have never had an issue using the Atom with RCA inputs.

But why would I buy this one? Why not just get Atom for 99? Performance wise they are almost the same. Balance headphone out is nice to have, my speakers only take XLR so making this unusable as preamp just like atom. So if I am going to buy a separated head amp it's Atom or Monoprice 887, but if this one had balanced, there is no a or b, I would just buy this one.

 

[Morpheus85]

What is the difference to El Amp 1?

 

[Swtoby]

What is the difference to El Amp 1?

The El Amp 2 has a preamp feature, El Amp 1 was passthru only.

 

[raistlin65]

What is the difference to El Amp 1?

They measure quite different
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...f-jds-the-element-dac-and-headphone-amp.4315/

 

[Morpheus85]

The measurements look much worse. But measurements don't say anything. How to read from Armir's conclusion.
I could get an El Amp1 cheaply. That's why I'm asking.

 

[trl]

The measurements look much worse.

Indeed, the 2nd version is way better, just check SINAD difference and you'll see that.

But measurements don't say anything.

Then get whatever piece of equipment you think it might sound better. Although, ASR differs from portals like whathifi by the objective measurements did by Amir and others, so I'm not sure ASR is the right forum to tell that, unless I missunderstand your thoughts.

 

[raistlin65]

The measurements look much worse. But measurements don't say anything.

I agree with trl. At ASR, measurements say a lot. If you are looking for subjective evaluations where measurements might be ignored, I would recommend head-fi.org.

 

[trl]

Head-Fi has access now to Audio Precision equipment, to several RMAA testers and to headphones measurements too, which is a great thing. I guess we're all evolving somehow, without even knowing.

 

[xykreinov]

This thing is awesome- just got one for $120 via a lucky used-listing find on Amazon.

I had never heard my over two decade old Beyerdynamic DT 770 600Ω, or any pair of headphones, on a proper headphone amp. I'd only ran my cans with the pretty anemic Meridian Explorer 2 portable DAC and laptop/cell phone outs (I use the powered Sony WH-1000XM3 or other very efficient 32ohm headphones, most of the time).
So, it might not be surprising that the power hungry DT 770 brought me to tears with this combo. I had to go through playlists from my childhood and feel like I was young again- like I was hearing things for the first time.
I'm so glad to be living in an age where fine pieces of engineering like this are so accessible, alongside valuable data and testimonies from this forum.

 

[Aperiodic]

Whyyy!
View attachment 39353

To piggyback on MKZM's question... Yeah, why do headphone amp builders make such quirky design choices? I question putting two identical frequently used buttons close together on the rear panel where you can't see them. Would putting the two pushbuttons on the front (where there's nothing but a headphone jack) as JDS does on their own Atom- mess up the 'aesthetics' that much? I don't think so.

It doesn't seem there is likely to be a vast chasm audibly between the performance of the Atom and this amp, so I guess the metal enclosure is responsible for most of the > 2:1 price difference.

 

[raistlin65]

To piggyback on MKZM's question... Yeah, why do headphone amp builders make such quirky design choices? I question putting two identical frequently used buttons close together on the rear panel where you can't see them. Would putting the two pushbuttons on the front (where there's nothing but a headphone jack) as JDS does on their own Atom- mess up the 'aesthetics' that much? I don't think so.

It doesn't seem there is likely to be a vast chasm audibly between the performance of the Atom and this amp, so I guess the metal enclosure is responsible for most of the > 2:1 price difference.

You're right.

I've always thought that a lot of electronics designers in the audio industry would benefit from some training in hardware user interface design.

I have some professional experience in web design and web user experience. I spot all kinds of hardware user interface tweaks that might be made, and hardware interface is not something I've been trained in. If nothing else, there must be hardware interface consultants that could take one look at a device and spot obvious problems. And just a little bit of usability testing with a prototype could also probably pick up some issues.

 

[xykreinov]

To piggyback on MKZM's question... Yeah, why do headphone amp builders make such quirky design choices? I question putting two identical frequently used buttons close together on the rear panel where you can't see them. Would putting the two pushbuttons on the front (where there's nothing but a headphone jack) as JDS does on their own Atom- mess up the 'aesthetics' that much? I don't think so.

It doesn't seem there is likely to be a vast chasm audibly between the performance of the Atom and this amp, so I guess the metal enclosure is responsible for most of the > 2:1 price difference.

You're right.

I've always thought that a lot of electronics designers in the audio industry would benefit from some training in hardware user interface design.

I have some professional experience in web design and web user experience. I spot all kinds of hardware user interface tweaks that might be made, and hardware interface is not something I've been trained in. If nothing else, there must be hardware interface consultants that could take one look at a device and spot obvious problems. And just a little bit of usability testing with a prototype could also probably pick up some issues.

I think the EL Amp II looks cleaner enough than the Atom to justify the inconvenience.
You are indeed strictly paying for the chassis. The electronics are basically identical, and JDS never claims otherwise.
There is no error in user interface design.
I switch between my speakers and headphone amp a lot. The little reach to the power switch is not a problem, I never mistake it for the gain switch, and the clean sheen of the metal front of the Amp in sunlight against the metal of my keyboard and wood desk is enough for me not to care if it was.
If anything, blame buyers, not designers. If I was alone in having a situation like this, then the the EL Amp would never sell and everyone would buy the much cheaper Atom. I would concur if this was the sole product of some boutique manufacturer. But, JDS themselves offer the practical variant you think "designers need training for", the Atom.

 

[Aperiodic]

I guess it's 'pick your poison' time. To me, I value practicality and convenience and wouldn't be bothered at all by two small round pushbuttons on the front. I switch between Etymotic IEMs and high-impedance full size cans frequently and think I would find it annoying. Oddly though, I don't mind the way Schiit does their rear switches- being toggles, it seems less likely that you would, say, accidentally blast out your ears (or your IEMS!) by accidentally switching the gain to way more than they need. the

 

[deafenears]

Just announced:

https://blog.jdslabs.com/2021/07/jds-labs-el-amp-ii-is-now-el-amp-ii/

"EL Amp II+ increases SINAD from 114dB to 119dB at low gain, and from 105dB to 110dB at high gain. All other parameters measure similarly."

 

[Swtoby]

A version with balanced inputs is available.

 

[trl]

​

Seems that input stage converts balanced to unbalanced while the output stage is identical with el-amp-ii (unbalanced). However, it is a good thing that JDS LABS made this new headamp at the same price as the unbalanced one.