JDS Labs Element IV DAC & HP Amp with EQ Review

[AdamG]

Bait someone else.

Let’s try and lighten up the mood a little…

 

[pablolie]

The Element needs 17V AC from the included transformer to function.

It cannot be powered off USB alone.

USB-C PD can support 20V and I think it's about 5A. Enough juice for any preamp or headphone amp.
It's everywhere with laptops etc these days.

 

[NTK]

From JDS Labs' blog:

Introducing Element IV and Core™ – JDS Labs Blog

blog.jdslabs.com

 

[staticV3]

USB-C PD can support 20V and I think it's about 5A. Enough juice for any preamp or headphone amp.
It's everywhere with laptops etc these days.

USB-C PD does not support AC at any voltage.

The Element simply cannot be powered off USB, no matter which flavor.

 

[pablolie]

USB-C PD does not support AC at any voltage.

The Element simply cannot be powered off USB, no matter which flavor.

My point was simply that, power requirement wise, it easily could. And 60w USB power supplies can be minuscule these days.

 

[staticV3]

My point was simply that, power requirement wise, it easily could.

That would require a full redesign of the Element's PSU, going from AC supply to DC.

Might as well be a different product at that point, plus I'm sure nobody in the industry wants to rely on the oft finnicky PD trigger mechanisms for their product to function.

Plus the absolute pain that would be explaining to their customers that their USB-C PSU only supports 9V or supports 20V but only at 2A and that's why the Element shuts down, or supports 20V, but only using PPS which the Element can't trigger, etc etc.

 

[Billy Budapest]

oh awesome a vendor pitch. so not a way to to convince anyone. there's a venn diagram there but I won't bother.

It’s not a vendor pitch. It’s basic information that explains the difference between PEQ and Graphic EQ. Not sure where all your hostility is coming from.

 

[cinemakinoeye]

$500 and still uses a wall wart? Nice performance, but I'll pass.

The use of a separate power supply strikes me as a positive design decision made to keep the device small. Why is the separate 17VAC 1.4A Power Supply a show stopper?

 

[Cogito]

The use of a separate power supply strikes me as a positive design decision made to keep the device small. Why is the separate 17VAC 1.4A Power Supply a show stopper?

As I mentioned before, I absolutely hate cheap, outlet hogging, wall warts. The $399 Cambridge Audio's MXN-10 streamer unit is a great example of a small device with a compact and well-designed internal power supply. A $9.00 wall wart connected to a $500 piece of kit just seems a bit underwhelming.

 

[JimmyBuckets]

I can't believe we are still talking about the wall wart .

 

[pablolie]

That would require a full redesign of the Element's PSU, going from AC supply to DC.

Might as well be a different product at that point, plus I'm sure nobody in the industry wants to rely on the oft finnicky PD trigger mechanisms for their product to function.

Plus the absolute pain that would be explaining to their customers that their USB-C PSU only supports 9V or supports 20V but only at 2A and that's why the Element shuts down, or supports 20V, but only using PPS which the Element can't trigger, etc etc.

100W or even less than 50W is way plenty to satisfy the function. Not arguing with the design principles here, I do own a JDS Labs Element III (unlike others yapping around here), and am very happy with it. But claiming this can't be done with USB from a power budget perspective is inaccurate.

 

[unpluggged]

Not arguing with the design principles here

Yes you are.

I do own a JDS Labs Element III

And? How this fact is supposed to prove your point?

others yapping around here

How very kind and polite of you.

 

[Bob from Florida]

@jseaber
Have you considered Bluetooth control of the equalizer via an app for a smart device?

 

[pablolie]

Yes you are.

Thanks for admitting your inability to grasp basics. I can safely ignore you now. Have a great weekend.

 

[unpluggged]

@jseaber
Have you considered Bluetooth control of the equalizer via an app for a smart device?

Is there Bluetooth?

 

[Bob from Florida]

Is there Bluetooth?

Adding it would be part of the consideration.

 

[Roland301]

Yes I was wondering about this as well. I wonder how it would fare without the isolator? Would the issues be audible or just measurable? I expect it would not be audible.

It would depend on the setup and connections. Most low-mid price DAC/amp setups aren't isolated and can result in measurable noise coming from USB connection.
Hopefully with ISOUSB211 and other true USB 2.0 HS isolation chips being on the market now, galvanic isolation will be more common.

It's typically only audible if using very sensitive headphones, or an amplifier with very high gain.
Combo units would probably be less susceptible due to being a single device with shared internal ground.

 

[Soria Moria]

Any plans of ever adding crossfeed? A Fletcher Munson loudness curve like RME has?

 

[JimmyBuckets]

Any plans of ever adding crossfeed? A Fletcher Munson loudness curve like RME has?

I think if enough people ask for it, they would add it. CORE is still a beta last I checked, and JDS was smart enough to leave a fair amount of headroom in the DSP system for future improvements. There a lots of people that are bemoaning the "wall wart" but saving in places that don't effect performance (like "higher end" DAC chips) means we can maximize components of real value, like more powerful DSP engines and keep the price in check. If you haven't read the blog post it is quite informative.

 

[CedarX]

JDS was smart enough to leave a fair amount of headroom in the DSP system for future improvements.

Link please.
AFAIK, Element IV has no HW-DSP, and relies on the XMOS XU316 computing power to process library-based PEQ filters. I don’t think there is a guarantee they could implement a lot of new DSP things… especially if the corresponding libraries don’t exist at XMOS (no offense to the smart folks at JDSLab).