This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of the JDS Labs Element IV (4) stereo DAC and headphone amplifier with support for parametric equalization. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $499.
The Element IV implements their large and joyful horizontal volume control. It also has a small OLED display that shows inputs, sample rate, volume, etc. It auto shuts off after you make adjustments.
It implements one of my favorite features in headphone amplifiers: auto gain setting. Below 0.0 dB, it runs in low gain mode. Turn up the volume beyond that and it will switch to high gain. The switching is not transparent but not glitchy either. Adjustment of the volume control likewise is accompanied with faint ticks. Again, not annoying.
As with their other designs, it is powered by an AC transformer:
It does NOT work with usb-c alone (I tried). On off and RCA/Headphone switches are in the back as you see. A little less convenient to use than front controls. Note that only optical Toslink is provided which it calls S/PDIF. That is technically correct but I kept cycling through the input selection looking for Toslink. Speaking of that, pressing the volume control selects inputs.
The main differentiator here beyond the volume control is implementation of Parametric EQ. For people who don't have access to the same in software/player, this is a critical feature. It did not have time to test it. Company did and reassuringly showed that it has no impact on performance.
JDS Element IV DAC Measurements
I set the volume to max and measured RCA output. With my Analyzer in "floating" input, there was fair amount of USB induced noise. Through grounding the analyzer, I got 90% of that out. I had this issue before with other JDS products so company sent its USB isolator which it calls Synapse. Inserting that in the USB path eliminated all noise resulting in same measurements as company has published:
Distortion is vanishingly small at -130 dB, with SINAD then being noise dominated. Performance is good enough to land in our "very competent" ranking of all DACs tested:
Here is the same zoomed:
Noise performance is excellent, but shy of state of the art:
This shows up in IMD test:
Linearity is excellent as well:
Multitone is state of the art:
As is 50 Hz into 600 ohm load:
There is some random noise/jitter though:
Filter response is the typical we expect with excellent attenuation above 24 kHz:
Wideband response is excellent and again, just shy of state of the art:
JDS Element 4 Headphone Amplifier Measurements
I made a pair of measurements: one with volume at 0 dB and hence low gain, and another at max volume and hence, high gain:
That is a ton of power, especially into 33 ohm. Distortion is extremely low and no clipping at either impedance. So if you are hearing distortion, it is in the headphone, and not the amplifier.
You do get clipping as you push the amp even more, below 32 ohm:
There is still plenty of power available. As noted, output impedance is essentially zero so no concern there.
Volume control is implemented actively so channel balance stays perfect at all settings:
Finally, noise performance at 50 mv is very good:
Ranking well above average:
JDS Element IV Listening Tests:
My Sennheiser HD650 is out on loan so I tested with the Dan Clark E3 which is low impedance and rather insensitive. The Element IV drove it harder than I had ever heard. I did not even dare to use the last few dBs of the volume control as the impressive bass was starting to resonate things in my ear canal that should never resonate!
The fidelity was incredible with track after track. You should have no trouble driving just about any headphone with Element IV with superb sound quality.
Conclusions
JDS delivers "A-" performance when it comes to DAC's objective performance. But then goes to A+ on the headphone amp which is incredibly powerful. It gives you delightful control in the form of that large rotary volume control. And of course, equalization. The entire package is incredibly appealing and quite unique.
I am happy to recommend the JDS Labs Element IV (4) DAC and headphone amplifier.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
The Element IV implements their large and joyful horizontal volume control. It also has a small OLED display that shows inputs, sample rate, volume, etc. It auto shuts off after you make adjustments.
It implements one of my favorite features in headphone amplifiers: auto gain setting. Below 0.0 dB, it runs in low gain mode. Turn up the volume beyond that and it will switch to high gain. The switching is not transparent but not glitchy either. Adjustment of the volume control likewise is accompanied with faint ticks. Again, not annoying.
As with their other designs, it is powered by an AC transformer:
It does NOT work with usb-c alone (I tried). On off and RCA/Headphone switches are in the back as you see. A little less convenient to use than front controls. Note that only optical Toslink is provided which it calls S/PDIF. That is technically correct but I kept cycling through the input selection looking for Toslink. Speaking of that, pressing the volume control selects inputs.
The main differentiator here beyond the volume control is implementation of Parametric EQ. For people who don't have access to the same in software/player, this is a critical feature. It did not have time to test it. Company did and reassuringly showed that it has no impact on performance.
JDS Element IV DAC Measurements
I set the volume to max and measured RCA output. With my Analyzer in "floating" input, there was fair amount of USB induced noise. Through grounding the analyzer, I got 90% of that out. I had this issue before with other JDS products so company sent its USB isolator which it calls Synapse. Inserting that in the USB path eliminated all noise resulting in same measurements as company has published:
Distortion is vanishingly small at -130 dB, with SINAD then being noise dominated. Performance is good enough to land in our "very competent" ranking of all DACs tested:
Here is the same zoomed:
Noise performance is excellent, but shy of state of the art:
This shows up in IMD test:
Linearity is excellent as well:
Multitone is state of the art:
As is 50 Hz into 600 ohm load:
There is some random noise/jitter though:
Filter response is the typical we expect with excellent attenuation above 24 kHz:
Wideband response is excellent and again, just shy of state of the art:
JDS Element 4 Headphone Amplifier Measurements
I made a pair of measurements: one with volume at 0 dB and hence low gain, and another at max volume and hence, high gain:
That is a ton of power, especially into 33 ohm. Distortion is extremely low and no clipping at either impedance. So if you are hearing distortion, it is in the headphone, and not the amplifier.
You do get clipping as you push the amp even more, below 32 ohm:
There is still plenty of power available. As noted, output impedance is essentially zero so no concern there.
Volume control is implemented actively so channel balance stays perfect at all settings:
Finally, noise performance at 50 mv is very good:
Ranking well above average:
JDS Element IV Listening Tests:
My Sennheiser HD650 is out on loan so I tested with the Dan Clark E3 which is low impedance and rather insensitive. The Element IV drove it harder than I had ever heard. I did not even dare to use the last few dBs of the volume control as the impressive bass was starting to resonate things in my ear canal that should never resonate!
The fidelity was incredible with track after track. You should have no trouble driving just about any headphone with Element IV with superb sound quality.Conclusions
JDS delivers "A-" performance when it comes to DAC's objective performance. But then goes to A+ on the headphone amp which is incredibly powerful. It gives you delightful control in the form of that large rotary volume control. And of course, equalization. The entire package is incredibly appealing and quite unique.
I am happy to recommend the JDS Labs Element IV (4) DAC and headphone amplifier.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
