JDS Labs Element
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Mudokon
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Has anyone received a shipment notification yet? It's June 30th.
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Most preorders shipped today. Elements with special requests (DAC line output, etc.) will ship tomorrow.
s0ckpupp3t
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canthearyou
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Mudokon
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The instruction manual is up in PDF format: http://www.jdslabs.com/pdf/instructions-the-element.pdf
canthearyou
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neurofone
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Mine will arrive tomorrow !! It will be paired with my SE846 IEMs.
Llloyd
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Mine is coming today as well. I'll post some initial impressions.
Schopenhauer
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Llloyd
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Smooth, clean, pretty nice detail for the price point. The design is great which can't really be appreciated on my mess of a desk. Volume @ 9 o'clock on low gain seems to be a little louder than my normal listening volume for the TH-900, so it seems to me The Element would have no problem driving any headphone.
I was a little upset to see the wall wart in the box since it doesn't really fit anywhere in my desk setup. It just takes up too much space since I already have two fish tanks in my office. I had to do some silly stuff to get it plugged in. I would describe the sound as more closed compared to my normal setup, which is ~10x more expensive so that's to be expected. Some people may find they prefer that sort of sound though because it does have its place. I could see LCD owners in particular liking the Element.
So it seems like a good place to start for LCD2 / HE-5xx and comparable headphones. The USB cable seems to have a ground loop which I found very cool and will probably switch out with my primary DAC's standard cable.
As far as size, this thing is much bigger than I expected which explains the power of the amp. It's about the size of 2 galaxy notes side by side or whatever other big phone (iphone 6?) you can think of if you're not familiar with that. This makes the volume knob quite large. The knob feels very, very satisfying with no resistance or noise.
Impressions
It's hard to go into detail with the mids / highs / lows because with this price point it's a little hard for me to compare down from my current setup as opposed to across from other pieces of gear, so I can only really compare to from memory which I will do briefly due to the lack of immedate results. I would say vs something like the Bifrost / Asgard (both original versions) I previously owned, I would put this slightly below that in terms of pure sound. Where I'd describe the Asgard as slightly thin and with an air in its soundstage, I would describe The Element as intimate and full. Just different flavors there.
Overall I would probably rate them equally considering the great design of The Element, super clean dac, price point, and the fact it's all in one with a small desk footprint is a big plus to me. I bought this specifically for school / work, as well as for late night tv / music / film when I'm lounging in the other room. Seems perfect for that. OFC it's not going to bring the most out of any mid-high range and up headphones, but neither is anything close to this price range that I'm aware of.
All said and done I applaud JDS for this product. It's a wonderful design with sound anyone but the most demanding audiophiles will be pleased with. For the majority of head-fi users, I would recommend as an all in one. A nice clean neutral sound that is sure to satisfy most. Unimposing. Judging from the gear that I've heard, it's a great buy at the price point. Great job guys.
I was a little upset to see the wall wart in the box since it doesn't really fit anywhere in my desk setup. It just takes up too much space since I already have two fish tanks in my office. I had to do some silly stuff to get it plugged in. I would describe the sound as more closed compared to my normal setup, which is ~10x more expensive so that's to be expected. Some people may find they prefer that sort of sound though because it does have its place. I could see LCD owners in particular liking the Element.
So it seems like a good place to start for LCD2 / HE-5xx and comparable headphones. The USB cable seems to have a ground loop which I found very cool and will probably switch out with my primary DAC's standard cable.
As far as size, this thing is much bigger than I expected which explains the power of the amp. It's about the size of 2 galaxy notes side by side or whatever other big phone (iphone 6?) you can think of if you're not familiar with that. This makes the volume knob quite large. The knob feels very, very satisfying with no resistance or noise.
Impressions
It's hard to go into detail with the mids / highs / lows because with this price point it's a little hard for me to compare down from my current setup as opposed to across from other pieces of gear, so I can only really compare to from memory which I will do briefly due to the lack of immedate results. I would say vs something like the Bifrost / Asgard (both original versions) I previously owned, I would put this slightly below that in terms of pure sound. Where I'd describe the Asgard as slightly thin and with an air in its soundstage, I would describe The Element as intimate and full. Just different flavors there.
Overall I would probably rate them equally considering the great design of The Element, super clean dac, price point, and the fact it's all in one with a small desk footprint is a big plus to me. I bought this specifically for school / work, as well as for late night tv / music / film when I'm lounging in the other room. Seems perfect for that. OFC it's not going to bring the most out of any mid-high range and up headphones, but neither is anything close to this price range that I'm aware of.
All said and done I applaud JDS for this product. It's a wonderful design with sound anyone but the most demanding audiophiles will be pleased with. For the majority of head-fi users, I would recommend as an all in one. A nice clean neutral sound that is sure to satisfy most. Unimposing. Judging from the gear that I've heard, it's a great buy at the price point. Great job guys.
canthearyou
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I cancelled my plans to go to Traverse City. This way I can be here when it gets delivered tomorrow.
canthearyou
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Of ********* course USPS would fail yet again! What a completely worthless business! Now my amp is stuck a few miles from my house until Monday. I am gonna ruin that workers day as soon as they open the doors on Monday! Don't offer 2 day Priority if you are unable to deliver.
Mihaidmg
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Mine will get delivered on 6, 3 more days. I am so excited. Well i wanted DAC ouput too, but i didn't saw any feature for that on JDs website, i only could choose what type of plug do i need for power 
. Well i allready have a soundcard for desktop , so is not that a big deal. Thanks for review Llloyd
. Well i allready have a soundcard for desktop , so is not that a big deal. Thanks for review Llloyd
HotIce
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I wish AC powered devices like this, had an DC port with an optional battery pack attaching to it, so that people can move around without being anchored by an outlet cable.
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