JDS Labs Element
Apr 17, 2019 at 2:05 PM Post #631 of 636
Thank you for you feedback. I was the owner of the micro idsd BL for 1.5 years and a loved it. Well, I do no find it really V-shaped. May be the Element is midcentric, no?)

And yes, the bass is just awesome on the BL. I switched to the xDSD and miss the level of SQ and resolution of the BL now but I would not come back to the micro due to a specific scenario of usage.

Details retrieval and resolution wise – is the Element somewhere close to the micro or BL is superior?

Hi. to my ears the Element is 90% close to BL in detail retrieval. However that does mean much, so I would say BL is better - but please this is just my View!. I would like to see what other people say, maybe a poll of some sort? you should never make your buying decisions based on what I say! I give horrible buying advice, since I tend to buy unnecessary, and useless things, and advocate others to do the same. However I always use the items that I buy :)
 
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May 16, 2019 at 6:56 PM Post #632 of 636
Hmm, it looks like people are using tubes for these headphones, especially that produces fairly "warm" sound.

I'm ready to pull the trigger on either HD800s or T1 2nd gen but, at the same time, I don't think I can stretch my budget to get a decent tube amp to replace my Element.

Element or ifi nano/micro are great benchmarks. You could easily be hang out here until you save up enough for a tube set up you really want.
 
Sep 4, 2020 at 7:25 AM Post #634 of 636
I've owned this product twice, the first time was underwhelming because the detail retrieval on my first unit sounded really soft like you had to crank the volume really loud to hear any detail, had a diffused or subdued sound, I've seen 1-2 other comments of this around the Internet. I ended up selling that one and was rather disappointed considering I'm a fan of O2 and OL DAC. Recently my full-time DAC went in for repair, I picked up The Element dual RCA version for $250 on a used classified. This unit sounds really clean and detailed like a more grown-up version of the OL DAC / 02 combo. I use it with HD800, the treble can be a little edgy but overall its a great device I'll be keeping a while.
 

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