Review and Measurements of JDS Labs EL DAC

[gwertheim]

You guys do know that numbers only tell you so much and the rest is your senses and individual ears. You can look at charts til ur eyes bleed. Your heart and mind tell you the truth when it comes to music and sound

 

[jasonq997]

You guys do know that numbers only tell you so much and the rest is your senses and individual ears. You can look at charts til ur eyes bleed. Your heart and mind tell you the truth when it comes to music and sound

How does one's heart come in to play when evaluating a piece of technology like a DAC?

 

[gwertheim]

Music is about passion, the feeling of a piece of music when you know it's not sounding right to you

 

[NTomokawa]

You guys do know that numbers only tell you so much and the rest is your senses and individual ears. You can look at charts til ur eyes bleed. Your heart and mind tell you the truth when it comes to music and sound

This is Audio Science Review, right?

 

[NTomokawa]

Music is about passion, the feeling of a piece of music when you know it's not sounding right to you

There's a very well defined boundary between "this sounds great" and "this is measurably accurate". Listen, I love the occasional vinyl and cassette tape through a tube amp, but I'm never going to delude myself (or anybody else) into believing that it's "more accurate".

 

[gwertheim]

Yes it is but numbers are only part of the story. Personal preference comes into play also since everyone perceives music differently

 

[NTomokawa]

Personal preference comes into play also since everyone perceives music differently

And some people do prefer objectively less accurate systems, such as vinyl, cassette tape and tube amps. The important part here is to know that "it sounds great" has nothing to do with "it measures great".

This is why "audiophile" snake oil lives on, and gets worse day after day.

 

[gwertheim]

I might be new to the whole audiophile thing and all the charts.

I am also a cook/baker. You can measure every recipe down to the gram and break the finished dish down to figure out what tastes good but I rely on my own senses tell me whats right and what the customer would like

 

[gwertheim]

To each there own, all I'm saying there's more to which one is the best than what is on paper

 

[jasonq997]

I might be new to the whole audiophile thing and all the charts.

I am also a cook/baker. You can measure every recipe down to the gram and break the finished dish down to figure out what tastes good but I rely on my own senses tell me whats right and what the customer would like

Apples and oranges. DACs are all meant to cook the exact same recipe fed to it. The goal of this process doesn't involve adding other ingredients than what the recipe at hand calls for.

 

[RayDunzl]

Here at my place the music comes on little discs or through the ether.

It just passes through the gear, hopefully, unmolested.

 

[kanade96]

Sorry for the off-topic but, will using coaxial input for the EL DAC eliminate any chance of buffer underrun/overrun, thus eliminating any potential popping or crackling sound?

I've been spending days to troubleshoot this problem with USB input and one of the solution which the JDS Labs suggest to fix this problem is "using modes other than USB". Fortunately, my motherboard has a gold plated (not sure if that'll make any difference) coaxial output which, I'm thinking of buying a single RCA-RCA coax cable to test it out.

 

[Veri]

Sorry for the off-topic but, will using coaxial input for the EL DAC eliminate any chance of buffer underrun/overrun, thus eliminating any potential popping or crackling sound?

I've been spending days to troubleshoot this problem with USB input and one of the solution which the JDS Labs suggest to fix this problem is "using modes other than USB". Fortunately, my motherboard has a gold plated (not sure if that'll make any difference) coaxial output which, I'm thinking of buying a single RCA-RCA coax cable to test it out.

Buy a coax cable surely doesn't hurt to try. What sample rate are you using btw? Lower is easier to get stable.

 

[kanade96]

Buy a coax cable surely doesn't hurt to try. What sample rate are you using btw? Lower is easier to get stable.

I've already lowered to 24/44.1 though, I still heard popping noise.

 

[chrisliuboy]

Anyone happen to have the link to buy the sticker??? Thanks much~

 

[flipflop]

Anyone happen to have the link to buy the sticker??? Thanks much~

It's an engraving. They give you the option to engrave their products, with metal enclosures, with your own text or picture.

 

[chrisliuboy]

It's an engraving. They give you the option to engrave their products, with metal enclosures, with your own text or picture.
View attachment 20375

What the....that's awesome!

 

[Zilfallion]

What the....that's awesome!

Oh, it's fantastic, and they do it free too. I got my Element's knob engraved. And bought an extra knob, engraved with a different image. The extra knob did cost an extra fifteen dollars though.

 

[amirm]

Sorry for the off-topic but, will using coaxial input for the EL DAC eliminate any chance of buffer underrun/overrun, thus eliminating any potential popping or crackling sound?

It shifts the problem to your S/PDIF from the computer is well buffered or not. Certainly worth a shot.

 

[confucius_zero]

Since we have the dynamic range numbers of USB, do we have the dynamic range measurements of the EL DAC with spdif?