[luisdent]

Quote:

less that .5 ohms
 
I shall wait for reviews myself, no disrespect to this product but the FiiO is $60 less than this, so if there is some consensus that the differences is slightly in favor to the C5 then I will go for the cheaper amp

 
Understandable, but so far things seem to indicate the C5 is better audio quality while the e12 is more powerful.  A review over at headphonia says this:
 
"Perhaps a good base of a comparison is with the popular JDSLabs C241 amp where the C421 outclasses the E12 in overall refinement and soundstage image, but the E12 definitely has the upper hand in power output. I’m still waiting for JDSLabs’ C5 to arrive and compare it to the E12."
 
And on the jds blog he says in a comment on the c5 page that it should sound as transparent as the o2! :-o

 

[xuan87]

Quote:

 
Understandable, but so far things seem to indicate the C5 is better audio quality while the e12 is more powerful.  A review over at headphonia says this:
 
"Perhaps a good base of a comparison is with the popular JDSLabs C241 amp where the C421 outclasses the E12 in overall refinement and soundstage image, but the E12 definitely has the upper hand in power output. I’m still waiting for JDSLabs’ C5 to arrive and compare it to the E12."
 
And on the jds blog he says in a comment on the c5 page that it should sound as transparent as the o2! :-o

Dont really see the point of reviewing a transparent amp lol. It's like reviewing how transparent a window is. People are more interested in reviewing stained glass windows.

 

[miceblue]

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Just going off specs, is the general consensus that this amp will out preform the new FiiO E12? I like the digital stepped attenuation, and the stronger bass boost for when I really want that extra kick. I also like the output impedance, should play nice with most of my stable, does anyone know the output impedance on the E12?

less that .5 ohms
 
I shall wait for reviews myself, no disrespect to this product but the FiiO is $60 less than this, so if there is some consensus that the differences is slightly in favor to the C5 then I will go for the cheaper amp

This may not be the appropriate thread to discuss this, but is there any advantage to having a less than 1 Ω output impedance? Usually the "magic number" for the damping ratio is 8, and with an output impedance of 2 Ω, like the C5 has, the "magic number" 8 damping ratio is met for 16 Ω earphones. I am quite certain JDS Labs purposely designed the C5 to have a 2 Ω output impedance for 16 Ω earphones since the C5's digital volume control was specifically addressed for earphone users.

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

Quote:

 
Understandable, but so far things seem to indicate the C5 is better audio quality while the e12 is more powerful.  A review over at headphonia says this:
 
"Perhaps a good base of a comparison is with the popular JDSLabs C241 amp where the C421 outclasses the E12 in overall refinement and soundstage image, but the E12 definitely has the upper hand in power output. I’m still waiting for JDSLabs’ C5 to arrive and compare it to the E12."
 
And on the jds blog he says in a comment on the c5 page that it should sound as transparent as the o2! :-o

yea, I follow headfonia too and will wait for reviews
 
the last statement is intriguing but even the 02 is $45 less, I don't want to start a ruckus but at that point, if it is indeed comparable to an 02, then I am paying for the portability, a bass boost and a better volume control for low volume use, 2 of which I don't really care much for, logically the only thing I can base my purchase with is the value of the sound quality

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

Quote:

This may not be the appropriate thread to discuss this, but is there any advantage to having a less than 1 Ω output impedance? Usually the "magic number" for the damping ratio is 8, and with an output impedance of 2 Ω, like the C5 has, the "magic number" 8 damping ratio is met for 16 Ω earphones. I am quite certain JDS Labs purposely designed the C5 to have a 2 Ω output impedance for 16 Ω earphones since the C5's digital volume control was specifically addressed for earphone users.

nah just less is better(aren't you in engineering btw?)
 
side note:maybe something for the technical guys can cross off their list to whine about

 

[putente]

Is the current pre-order price it's final price?

 

[xuan87]

yea, I follow headfonia too and will wait for reviews

the last statement is intriguing but even the 02 is $45 less, I don't want to start a ruckus but at that point, if it is indeed comparable to an 02, then I am paying for the portability, a bass boost and a better volume control for low volume use, 2 of which I don't really care much for, logically the only thing I can base my purchase with is the value of the sound quality

Well you need to understand that the O2 and the C5 are designed with different goals in mind.

The O2 amp is designed to be audibly transparent, cheap, can be diy by anyone, and can power all headphones with the exception of certain types like the akg k1000. Because of that, the parts are cheap and of lower quality, uses an analog volume pot, 2 9V batteries and is more transportable than portable.

The C5 is designed to be highly portable, to have little channel imbalance (the channel imbalance in the O2 is quite bad), and to be totally transparent. So because of the higher quality parts used, and the digital volume pot, it is more expensive.

Sound quality wise, both are 100% neutral, with O2 having more power to power the demanding headphones, and with the C5 having less channel imbalance. So depending on your needs, one may be better for you than the other. Personally, i have a O2 and ODAC on my desktop, and will be using the C5 as my portable amp. I dont have any pockets that can carry the O2.

 

[adamlr]

Quote:

 
No, open source means anyone can do anything they want with it if that's what the author permits:
 
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/
 
"No Derivative Works — You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work."
 
Making design alterations for a smaller odac would be altering or transforming the work.  If they had permission that wouldn't matter, but I was talking to john at jds, and he hasn't heard anything lately from nwavguy... :-/

thank you for clearing that up =]
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Dont really see the point of reviewing a transparent amp lol. It's like reviewing how transparent a window is. People are more interested in reviewing stained glass windows.

well all transparent amps inherently sound the same - they dont sound like anything, supposedly disappearing from your rig audibly. i think the differences are mainly in features (and the c5 has many) and power/voltage/current abilities. this looks to be a pretty impressive little amp!
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I dont have any pockets that can carry the O2.

i actually tried putting it in my pocket while i did the dishes... doesnt work...

 
 
 
the c5 looks amazing! i have absolutely no use for it but i still want one! i think jds forgot to write its size on the site, anyone know the numbers?
"Dimensions (excluding switches): 99.5 x 49.0 mm"

 

[RoMee]

Yay, I can finally sell my no bass E12. 
 
The red looks great but it doesn't match any of my stuff. 

 

[BB 808]

From the JDS Labs website:
Dimensions (excluding switches): 99.5 x 49.0 mm

 

[juntom10]

Ahhhh red looks so nice..... hmmmmm!!!!!

 

[jseaber]

Really pleased to see the initial feedback, thanks guys!
 
Quote:

Is the current pre-order price it's final price?

Yes.
 
 

 
I'm surprised, I thought there will be a all-black version, since John once mentioned that it's cheaper and the quality is better for black than for silver.
 

 
We did black samples, and the appearance just didn't "pop" like these three (more of a matte black). Our anodizer says that's the nature of black anodizing on this type of finish. Black can still be done if you insist.

 

[putente]

John, are the silver faceplates anodized too or just raw metal? I quite like their color and can't stop to wonder how good a C5 in that case finish would look like! 

 

[Gorillaz]

sorry if this has been answered, I am working and I really can't go through the whole thread now, is this going to be a neutral amp? as neutral as the O2 but pocketable if this word exist, please let me know before i spend my money in something else but tell me the TRUE, is this a neutral amp, I need it to be NEUTRAL.

 

[burrrcub]

Preordered to replace my C421.  I'm sure I won't be able to tell the difference but new toy nonetheless