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JDS Labs Element III Review (DAC & Amp)
- Thread starter amirm
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That's easy. Reliability and customer support. I'm done with Topping products after multiple issues with them.
SorpassoSonance
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I’ve been using an Element III since February 12th. Have put it through its paces/listened to quite a bit of music with it, using both my Fidelio X2HR over-ears and Etymotic ER2SE in-ears. (I'm excited to get a pair of Sennheiser HD 600s and Moondrop Blessing 2s in the near-future and see how they sound with it, as well.)
The auto gain switching is very nice. JDS Labs says in their instructions that most people will find -50 to -20 dB to be suitable listening levels. I'm often in the -3.5 to -1.0 dB range lol. And I have put it up to 1.5 dB a couple times so far to see what it's like. It's very loud and I like it (though I wouldn't want to listen above 0.00 dB for too long lest I do further long-term damage to my ears).
I don’t mind the dead zone/progress bar that takes two seconds to get past when you transition from low to high gain. I like that it serves as a cautionary warning that you’re heading into potentially-harmful listening levels. But it’s great that firmware 2.1.0 gives the option to shorten this transition for people that would prefer that.
The perfect channel matching is appreciated but less important to me since it really only is noticeable when you are listening at lower volumes which I don't often do.
When I first saw the li'l OLED screen on the unit in photos on JDS Labs’s website I thought it was a complete gimmick. But it's incredibly useful to know precisely what dB volume I'm at. Also although I'll rarely use it going forward it is nice/easy to make settings adjustments with it as well.
Yes the unit is pricey. You could get a Topping EX5 for $100 less. Or you could get a JDS Labs Atom DAC+ and Atom Amp+ for $240 less. With the former you lose the the large rotary knob (which indeed feels fantastic to turn) and auto gain switching. With the latter you again lose the large rotary knob, have two separate units (stackable, but still) and two large power adapters instead of just one, and have to manually set the gain. Personally I just preferred the large knob above all else, but some might not care about that aspect. As a loud volume liker auto gain switching is also nice to have (though most probably wouldn't want to listen above 0.00 dB).
Also with regards to JDS Labs's customer service reputation, I can now give some anecdotal evidence:
I emailed them at 11:31 a.m. on a Sunday (February 6th) with a few questions about the unit. I got a detailed response back shortly after. I emailed them a second time with a couple more questions and feedback at 3:37 p.m. on February 16th and received a detailed response shortly after. I haven't had all that many customer service experiences in my life, but like anyone I've had a few and certainly never have encountered a better experience than I did here.
A caveat I'll freely admit to: JDS Labs happens to be located in Collinsville, IL, which is 15 minutes from where I live (downtown Saint Louis). I did not know this prior to initially coming across them. The first time I was aware of their existence was from articles that popped up when doing a search for "best DAC and amp 2021" early last year. Both the Element II and Atom DAC/Amp regularly came up in such articles. Then I came across Amir’s review for the Element II and did further research on the various options and realized in the process they were located here locally. I still would have went with them regardless of them being local or not, but of course I can't help but be a bit proud that we have a well-regarded audio company right here in the Saint Louis area.
Also am very happy to have come across AudioScienceReview, which is an invaluable resource of information. Thanks Amir and the community here for all the insight.
Here’s a bad photo of my Element III nestled in-between my PS5 and Brother laser printer:
The auto gain switching is very nice. JDS Labs says in their instructions that most people will find -50 to -20 dB to be suitable listening levels. I'm often in the -3.5 to -1.0 dB range lol. And I have put it up to 1.5 dB a couple times so far to see what it's like. It's very loud and I like it (though I wouldn't want to listen above 0.00 dB for too long lest I do further long-term damage to my ears).
I don’t mind the dead zone/progress bar that takes two seconds to get past when you transition from low to high gain. I like that it serves as a cautionary warning that you’re heading into potentially-harmful listening levels. But it’s great that firmware 2.1.0 gives the option to shorten this transition for people that would prefer that.
The perfect channel matching is appreciated but less important to me since it really only is noticeable when you are listening at lower volumes which I don't often do.
When I first saw the li'l OLED screen on the unit in photos on JDS Labs’s website I thought it was a complete gimmick. But it's incredibly useful to know precisely what dB volume I'm at. Also although I'll rarely use it going forward it is nice/easy to make settings adjustments with it as well.
Yes the unit is pricey. You could get a Topping EX5 for $100 less. Or you could get a JDS Labs Atom DAC+ and Atom Amp+ for $240 less. With the former you lose the the large rotary knob (which indeed feels fantastic to turn) and auto gain switching. With the latter you again lose the large rotary knob, have two separate units (stackable, but still) and two large power adapters instead of just one, and have to manually set the gain. Personally I just preferred the large knob above all else, but some might not care about that aspect. As a loud volume liker auto gain switching is also nice to have (though most probably wouldn't want to listen above 0.00 dB).
Also with regards to JDS Labs's customer service reputation, I can now give some anecdotal evidence:
I emailed them at 11:31 a.m. on a Sunday (February 6th) with a few questions about the unit. I got a detailed response back shortly after. I emailed them a second time with a couple more questions and feedback at 3:37 p.m. on February 16th and received a detailed response shortly after. I haven't had all that many customer service experiences in my life, but like anyone I've had a few and certainly never have encountered a better experience than I did here.
A caveat I'll freely admit to: JDS Labs happens to be located in Collinsville, IL, which is 15 minutes from where I live (downtown Saint Louis). I did not know this prior to initially coming across them. The first time I was aware of their existence was from articles that popped up when doing a search for "best DAC and amp 2021" early last year. Both the Element II and Atom DAC/Amp regularly came up in such articles. Then I came across Amir’s review for the Element II and did further research on the various options and realized in the process they were located here locally. I still would have went with them regardless of them being local or not, but of course I can't help but be a bit proud that we have a well-regarded audio company right here in the Saint Louis area.
Also am very happy to have come across AudioScienceReview, which is an invaluable resource of information. Thanks Amir and the community here for all the insight.
Here’s a bad photo of my Element III nestled in-between my PS5 and Brother laser printer:
Attachments
Glad to come across this thread. This came up on my radar today, as I am looking to replace my venerable Arcam rPAC on my work-from-home desktop system.
Requirements are (a) integrated DAC (b) headphone support (c) RCA out to support small powered Audioengine A2 speakers (but most time I am on headphones). Any other suggestions welcome too!
Requirements are (a) integrated DAC (b) headphone support (c) RCA out to support small powered Audioengine A2 speakers (but most time I am on headphones). Any other suggestions welcome too!
I‘ve learned a ton about digital audio and digital volume control the past week and time to apply!
With the Element III, @amirm measured dynamic range (DR) at max volume to be 114 dB. I assume that this is at the max of low gain (1.0x), which is 0 dB on the display. Is it also true at max of high gain mode, or +13.5 dB?
Regarding digital attenuation, if I set volume to -34 dB, does this mean I now have 80 dB of DR? Can I perform simple summing in this way?
With the Element III, @amirm measured dynamic range (DR) at max volume to be 114 dB. I assume that this is at the max of low gain (1.0x), which is 0 dB on the display. Is it also true at max of high gain mode, or +13.5 dB?
Regarding digital attenuation, if I set volume to -34 dB, does this mean I now have 80 dB of DR? Can I perform simple summing in this way?
Is there any benefit to download and install the JDS drivers in Win10?
PS: Oh at the end of the manual, it says no drivers required. But the optional ones allow for ASIO: ".. Alternatively, you may install the optional XMOS drivers in Win 10/11 and use an ASIO capable app to achieve bitperfect sampling rate changes .." - nah, don't need that, the Win10 ones work fine.
PS2: I'll need to read up on the 2nd and 3rd harmonics adjustments. I don't know what to use them for, and wonder why one of them comes preconfigured outside of the 0 zone... especially because there *are* harmonics, always, anyway. Wish they'd provide more of an explanation somewhere.
PS3: Their service is indeed fantastic. I sent a question about some settings and got a response within less than an hour! (And it was not a robot answer).
PS: Oh at the end of the manual, it says no drivers required. But the optional ones allow for ASIO: ".. Alternatively, you may install the optional XMOS drivers in Win 10/11 and use an ASIO capable app to achieve bitperfect sampling rate changes .." - nah, don't need that, the Win10 ones work fine.
PS2: I'll need to read up on the 2nd and 3rd harmonics adjustments. I don't know what to use them for, and wonder why one of them comes preconfigured outside of the 0 zone... especially because there *are* harmonics, always, anyway. Wish they'd provide more of an explanation somewhere.
PS3: Their service is indeed fantastic. I sent a question about some settings and got a response within less than an hour! (And it was not a robot answer).
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Some early impressions:
1. Wish I didn't have to fiddle with the back of the unit to switch from RCA to headphone output. Many similar units auto-detect when the headphones are plugged in. But maybe in that case it is harder to implement memory for either volume level, which is neat.
2. Wow the settings font is microscopic
does anyone consider 50+ year old eyesight anymore? I have to wear reading glasses to interact with it (which hopefully I don't need to do often). I don't often need reading glasses...
3. Also, there's not a lot of explanation about several of the settings. One wonders what the intent was or the design purpose was motivated by?
4. Very petty, but there seems to be enough room for a 3.5mm headphone plug as well. I have plenty of converters around, so no biggie.
5. This certainly drives the Beyerdynamic DT1990 super-nicely! It doesn't allow one to experiment with equalization, but maybe the harmonics filters allow for fun experimentation when it comes to "sweetening" the sound? Not that the DT1990 sound harsh to me.
6. It chews up 8W while doing nothing, which seems kinda hefty... but come on it amounts to $15 a year if u leave it on the whole time...
1. Wish I didn't have to fiddle with the back of the unit to switch from RCA to headphone output. Many similar units auto-detect when the headphones are plugged in. But maybe in that case it is harder to implement memory for either volume level, which is neat.
2. Wow the settings font is microscopic
does anyone consider 50+ year old eyesight anymore? I have to wear reading glasses to interact with it (which hopefully I don't need to do often). I don't often need reading glasses...3. Also, there's not a lot of explanation about several of the settings. One wonders what the intent was or the design purpose was motivated by?
4. Very petty, but there seems to be enough room for a 3.5mm headphone plug as well. I have plenty of converters around, so no biggie.
5. This certainly drives the Beyerdynamic DT1990 super-nicely! It doesn't allow one to experiment with equalization, but maybe the harmonics filters allow for fun experimentation when it comes to "sweetening" the sound? Not that the DT1990 sound harsh to me.
6. It chews up 8W while doing nothing, which seems kinda hefty... but come on it amounts to $15 a year if u leave it on the whole time...
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Listening impressions:
Been using it all week. While I work from home office I spend a lot of time listening to mostly relaxing music (and I admit it is often Spotify).
I can't really say it's "opened a whole new world of transparency against a completely black background etc" but it certainly doesn't sound any worse than my old, trusty Arcam rPAC or Audioengine D1. But it's good to know I am now on a later DAC generation and that power is not going to be an issue driving pretty much any headphone (which maybe can happen with USB powered DACs). I haven't played around with any of the config options.
Just comes to show these devices are all very, very capable, and have been for 10 years...
Sure looks pretty and I love the look of my workstation. I think I could have stayed happy with the two DACs above and my Shure SRH1540 or Grado 225e... but hey, sure am enjoying the new DAC with the new headphones :-D
Been using it all week. While I work from home office I spend a lot of time listening to mostly relaxing music (and I admit it is often Spotify).
I can't really say it's "opened a whole new world of transparency against a completely black background etc" but it certainly doesn't sound any worse than my old, trusty Arcam rPAC or Audioengine D1. But it's good to know I am now on a later DAC generation and that power is not going to be an issue driving pretty much any headphone (which maybe can happen with USB powered DACs). I haven't played around with any of the config options.
Just comes to show these devices are all very, very capable, and have been for 10 years...
Sure looks pretty and I love the look of my workstation.
I think I could have stayed happy with the two DACs above and my Shure SRH1540 or Grado 225e... but hey, sure am enjoying the new DAC with the new headphones :-D
confucius_zero
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I also own this and enjoy it a lot.
Thanks for the head's up on this issue. I was about 3 more sleeps away from pulling the trigger and buying one.
@pablolie
Yep, thanks for the heads up. I was about to pull the trigger on one for use in the not-at-home office a few days a week with a Macbook Pro. I am wondering what your Element 3 issue is. Please report back on your findings & hopefully it gets resolved. I have a couple weeks until I make a decision. Was hoping the Element3 would have no problem driving a DCA Closed X I just ordered.
Yep, thanks for the heads up. I was about to pull the trigger on one for use in the not-at-home office a few days a week with a Macbook Pro. I am wondering what your Element 3 issue is. Please report back on your findings & hopefully it gets resolved
. I have a couple weeks until I make a decision. Was hoping the Element3 would have no problem driving a DCA Closed X I just ordered.
confucius_zero
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customer service is very responsive, constructive and helpful. Lets wait and see what they say.
Absolutely - I am sure I'll fix it when I get enough time. It's just odd because I am just using the standard Windows driver... but I am sure I'll get it fixed. I am not returning the unit.
Absolutely - I am sure I'll fix it when I get enough time. It's just odd because I am just using the standard Windows driver... but I am sure I'll get it fixed. I am not returning the unit.
Hey pablo, I recall you emailed and have not heard back. We'll be glad to exchange. While I have not known this to happen, it would be helpful to rule out hardware. This could also be a USB cable issue.
Edit: It's worth mentioning that 100% of Element III boards undergo AOI as well as XRay inspection of critical ICs. Yield has been nearly perfect, with only a couple boards caught in final assembly with bent relay pins (not uncommon).️
Firmware v2.2.0 was released last week!
| v2.2.0 03-25-2022 |
|
*The Knob Button ‘Toggle Output’ option requires the latest bootloader, dated 14-Mar-2022. If you own an Element III from the first batch and wish to try this feature, please reach out and we’ll be glad to enable this capability for you. You may still install v2.2.0 on an Element III built prior to March 14th and the Toggle Output option will be hidden.
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shaungudgud
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So I've had the element 3 for about 3 weeks. Perfect amp for me, great channel balance, has an intangible sound quality, and aesthetically very pleasing. Some cons are that you will get some slight noise on iems, single ended only, and as with all dac/amp combos, you can't upgrade without significant investment.
A note on the channel balance, this is a feature you can't come back from. Going from perfect channel balance to just "good" channel balance is going to be disappointing. You will literally hear every spot where the channel balance is less then spectacular. . . .
A note on the channel balance, this is a feature you can't come back from. Going from perfect channel balance to just "good" channel balance is going to be disappointing. You will literally hear every spot where the channel balance is less then spectacular. . . .
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To me, I think the only way you can at least be partly sure in what you say there is if your headphone itself has perfect channel balance, does it and how do you know it does or doesn't? Or you may be noticing a massive difference if your previous amp you were comparing it to had severe channel balance issues. Otherwise it might be some psychological bias coming into play.
shaungudgud
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Yeah it’s just one of those you notice more after switching. I suppose I’m just perturbed about the THX amps not having stellar balance because that setup would have saved me a 100$ at least.
My use case is I switch between 2 different iems, 2 headphones one 300ohm and the others way less. I’m planning on some powered speakers next so I wanted the amp to be user friendly.
I think at 450$ this amp is hard to beat. The dx5 has better performance but the jds element just fit better in my ecosystem.
Well I agree it would be comforting to know that your amp is not causing any channel balance issues vs your previous amp......and using IEM's suggests that you'd be operating at the bottom of the volume pot, which is where most amp channel balance issues would reside, so for sure digital volume control is useful for that.......my analog volume pot on my JDS Labs Atom Amp has imbalance right at the very bottom, but it is at the very bottom, but I've measured it everywhere else & it's fine.
As you say, the Topping EX5 is also a stellar DAC/amp, and probably better measuring along with the same digital volume control, but your Element II there is A-Ok!
Something super strange just happened, I'm on the latest firmware revision (2.2.0) and while watching a clip in MPC-HC for a split second the volume felt like it was raised to the maximum at high gain or something because it was loud enough that it startled me. I usually listen at -54.0 DB with my KSC75 (using them for work calls) and when it happened I didn't notice the volume change on the OLED display or anything but it almost looked like the Element III soft-rebooted or something, is this something that has happened to anyone else? I've listened to this amp basically every day for the past few months since I use it during work and have had zero issues.
Is there some kind of log I can view if I had the JDS Labs Audio Device Control Panel running at the time? I'd like to see if I can nail down what happened.
Is there some kind of log I can view if I had the JDS Labs Audio Device Control Panel running at the time? I'd like to see if I can nail down what happened.
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Veri
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I would contact jseaber/jds labs support if I were you.
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