This is a review and detailed measurements of the Leema Acoustics Element stereo DAC and analog input preamp. It is on loan from a member and costs US $2,195.
It is a substantial unit with controls that feel good. What sets this DAC apart from others like it, is larger number of digital input and importantly, analog input:
For people like me who are forced to use a pre-amp because we have an analog source (reel to reel in my case), this is a highly desirable feature.
As sent, the unit is rated for 230 volts so I powered it with my lab AC generator set to that. Initially I just plugged it into our 120 volts mains and everything seemed to work as far as the display but there was no output. Took me about half of our to realize it needed 230 volt input.
I see reviews dating back to 2014 so it is an older design.
For reasons I won't get into, this is an abbreviated review.
Leema Acoustics Element Precision DAC Measurements
Let's start with our usual dashboard:
This is nothing to write home about in this day and age but it is at least not broken:
RCA output is about the same:
Dynamic range falls in the same category:
You may have noticed that the above is with Toslink input. I could not get USB input to work with standard class driver. It oddly doesn't expose any sample rates below 96 kHz. They do have their own driver so perhaps that fixes things (I did not try).
Leema Acoustics Element Analog Input Measurements
I was most interested in this mode of operation and was pleased with the results:
Distortion is vanishingly low at below -125 dB. Noise is what dominates SINAD:
This is good enough performance for any analog source you may want to use.
Conclusions
As a DAC, this level of performance is not competitive for any DAC above $150 so that is not the real story here. What is important is inclusion of analog input for those who need it. The convenience of that is very important to likes of me and eliminates the need to use an external pre-amp. Same remote can be used to control both digital and analog input, making for a very convenient solution.
On the basis of analog input and performance, I am going to recommend the Leema Acoustics Element Precision DAC.
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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/
It is a substantial unit with controls that feel good. What sets this DAC apart from others like it, is larger number of digital input and importantly, analog input:
For people like me who are forced to use a pre-amp because we have an analog source (reel to reel in my case), this is a highly desirable feature.
As sent, the unit is rated for 230 volts so I powered it with my lab AC generator set to that. Initially I just plugged it into our 120 volts mains and everything seemed to work as far as the display but there was no output. Took me about half of our to realize it needed 230 volt input.
I see reviews dating back to 2014 so it is an older design.
For reasons I won't get into, this is an abbreviated review.
Leema Acoustics Element Precision DAC Measurements
Let's start with our usual dashboard:
This is nothing to write home about in this day and age but it is at least not broken:
RCA output is about the same:
Dynamic range falls in the same category:
You may have noticed that the above is with Toslink input. I could not get USB input to work with standard class driver. It oddly doesn't expose any sample rates below 96 kHz. They do have their own driver so perhaps that fixes things (I did not try).
Leema Acoustics Element Analog Input Measurements
I was most interested in this mode of operation and was pleased with the results:
Distortion is vanishingly low at below -125 dB. Noise is what dominates SINAD:
This is good enough performance for any analog source you may want to use.
Conclusions
As a DAC, this level of performance is not competitive for any DAC above $150 so that is not the real story here. What is important is inclusion of analog input for those who need it. The convenience of that is very important to likes of me and eliminates the need to use an external pre-amp. Same remote can be used to control both digital and analog input, making for a very convenient solution.
On the basis of analog input and performance, I am going to recommend the Leema Acoustics Element Precision DAC.
-----------
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/