WEBVTT 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:08.599 there's not a lot of companies out there that everything they make and I look at 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:11.320 I go God damn that is genuinely like 00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:14.799 excellent and JDS Labs who make the product we're about to look at here 00:00:15.440 --> 00:00:22.039 this the element 4 they're brand new 00:00:18.680 --> 00:00:24.359 headphone DAC amp combo unit thing if 00:00:22.039 --> 00:00:30.080 you're not familiar this thing make your headphone sound good and power your 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:31.679 headphone good this is no exception I I 00:00:30.080 --> 00:00:34.800 hope I mean I haven't experienced it yet but look at it here I mean you can see 00:00:33.399 --> 00:00:39.440 it on the box where does it say on the box look look you see this boom sound as 00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:44.680 science their whole stick is making audio equipment that is genuinely 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:49.239 awesome not only just to look at I mean damn that looks good but to use and 00:00:47.800 --> 00:00:53.359 apparently their customer service is phenomenal although I've only ever talked to them like one time now if 00:00:51.960 --> 00:00:58.760 you're not familiar or you haven't guessed what this is meant to do it's a 00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:05.080 headphone amp and Dack so you take this bad girl with this included USBC cable 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:06.520 Wong you plug it into your computer it's 00:01:05.080 --> 00:01:13.640 going to show up as an audio output device and then you plug in a pair of headphones and you listen to it it has 00:01:10.479 --> 00:01:15.720 apparently 3.2 watts of output power now 00:01:13.640 --> 00:01:21.119 that might not sound like a lot of Watts uh in the context of normal stuff like 00:01:18.600 --> 00:01:25.720 uh I don't know like a CPU you know that might be hundreds of Watts but three 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:28.880 watts of audio like right next to your 00:01:25.720 --> 00:01:30.560 head like this that is a lot of Watts 00:01:28.880 --> 00:01:34.079 especially if they're like in your headphones in your ears 3 Watts there 00:01:32.920 --> 00:01:39.200 you're going to blow your freaking eardrums out the wazu let's look at the 00:01:36.759 --> 00:01:43.759 back we've got the USBC that is just a data connection it's not USB PD I think 00:01:42.040 --> 00:01:47.399 no there's no way uh with audio equipment the power supply situation is 00:01:46.240 --> 00:01:50.920 very important and we'll get to that in a second we've got RCA outs because you 00:01:49.399 --> 00:01:54.439 can use this not only for your headphones but if you had uh a set of 00:01:52.600 --> 00:01:57.439 speakers with an amplifier you can switch between the headphone output 00:01:55.880 --> 00:02:00.479 which is out there on the front we've got an optical toss link input if you 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:05.759 have a fan player maybe or like a I don't know a 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:08.520 fancy record player might have toss link maybe they don't I don't know Blu-ray 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:13.360 player that that's something that could have toss link we've got a mode button 00:02:10.520 --> 00:02:18.160 this switches between the USB and toss link input and then a power button and 00:02:15.879 --> 00:02:23.400 our DC input which is actually never mind it is not DC now curiously this 00:02:20.480 --> 00:02:28.879 isn't really like a traditional AC to DC power supply It's actually an AC toac 00:02:26.440 --> 00:02:34.519 Transformer so it takes 120 volt AC because we're in North America and 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:36.720 outputs 17v AC which is maybe a bit 00:02:34.519 --> 00:02:42.360 strange if you're used to like you know normal Electronics usually it's a DC 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:44.000 input uh but with audio equipment 00:02:42.360 --> 00:02:47.840 specifically you don't really want to rely on a third party power supply 00:02:45.879 --> 00:02:51.440 manufacturer who might have like varying quality control stuff so instead of 00:02:49.640 --> 00:02:55.400 doing that they take an AC input and then convert that to the DC power for 00:02:53.280 --> 00:03:00.000 all the amplification and the digital to analog conversion inside the unit that 00:02:58.440 --> 00:03:04.080 way they can build the electronics exactly how they want and do all the QC 00:03:01.760 --> 00:03:08.120 in-house a little bit easier it's also the same reason why your receiver just 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:11.599 takes 120 volt instead of having a big power supply outside they do that stuff 00:03:09.920 --> 00:03:15.640 inside where they have control apparently some people were not stoked 00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:20.319 that it has USBC and doesn't do USBC power but I can understand you need to 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:25.560 have really clean power to have the level of like signal to noise ratio that 00:03:22.640 --> 00:03:29.000 these things have um and I imagine doing that over USB is exceedingly more 00:03:27.879 --> 00:03:33.360 difficult than when you have a very controlled sour like this I remember when they released the first element 00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:39.239 everyone was like tripping over this knob The Twist motion ooh it's nice it's 00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:43.080 not the nicest knob I've ever knobbed in my life you know they like really fancy 00:03:41.480 --> 00:03:48.720 receivers you like turn them and it's like soft like it's not not soft but I 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:52.840 feel like there's an inconsistent resistance a little bit 00:03:50.840 --> 00:03:57.519 it's a good knob I mean in the nobless world we live in the bar is very low and 00:03:54.920 --> 00:04:02.640 I will I would happily accept this knob I would knob this knob 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:06.879 regularly I think the kind of weird feel that I'm getting from it actually might 00:04:04.640 --> 00:04:11.920 make sense because it allows you to be like a little bit more precise like it 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:15.560 stops Now by default when you click the knob it switches between the 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:19.120 quarter-inch headphone output on the front using the headphone amp and the 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:22.919 RCA outputs here so if you have a set of speakers with a separate amp you just go 00:04:21.280 --> 00:04:28.400 boom now I'm speakers boom now I'm headphone really nice feature there's 00:04:24.759 --> 00:04:31.960 also an OLED screen you see that 00:04:28.400 --> 00:04:33.840 look it's a our sponsor Greenman gaming 00:04:31.960 --> 00:04:38.720 Monster Hunter Wilds is coming on February 28th but you can reserve your 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:43.360 copy today at Greenman gaming and get 16% off you can track and defeat 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:47.600 powerful creatures craft new weapons and armor and explore highly detailed 00:04:45.320 --> 00:04:51.560 everchanging environments and Greenman gaming is an authorized and trusted 00:04:49.560 --> 00:04:55.479 seller of PC game keys where you can get great discounts on some of the hottest 00:04:53.240 --> 00:05:01.039 titles while still directly supporting their developers and Publishers so don't 00:04:58.039 --> 00:05:02.720 wait get 16% off Monster Hunter Wilds by 00:05:01.039 --> 00:05:11.240 clicking our Link in the video description I think this is a 3ish foot 00:05:05.520 --> 00:05:12.400 USB a Toc cable now I feel like for most 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:17.759 people who are going to have this at their desk this is fine but if you rock 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:19.240 a laptop especially a Macbook like I was 00:05:17.759 --> 00:05:25.639 planning to plug into this that's a problem do I have a 00:05:22.400 --> 00:05:29.039 dongle a no way it's almost like I use a 00:05:25.639 --> 00:05:30.240 Macbook I'm used to this look at that 00:05:29.039 --> 00:05:34.840 baby now for the price of this device which 00:05:32.120 --> 00:05:39.680 we'll get into in a little bit JDS y'all best be including one of these dongles 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:43.800 in the Box all right all right for test 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:48.000 listening we've got the Sennheiser SL 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:51.440 drop hd8 XX headphones these are like a 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:53.440 slightly costed down version of the 00:05:51.440 --> 00:05:56.800 hd800s which is the headphones I have at home so this is perfect I guess while 00:05:55.240 --> 00:06:02.440 we're here we can talk a little bit about the nerdy stuff for the Nerds this 00:05:59.840 --> 00:06:08.000 has the screen has Gorilla Glass that's random but I like it the big new thing 00:06:04.880 --> 00:06:11.400 with this is the parametric EQ it has a 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:13.720 10 band EQ which is super cool but you 00:06:11.400 --> 00:06:17.599 don't have to run software on it what it is is a tool that runs in your web 00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:23.400 browser like a website and then when you connect your amp to the website it 00:06:20.759 --> 00:06:28.039 flashes the settings whatever you set to the device over basically a USB serial 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:32.440 connection so once you've made that profile or changes or whatever you want 00:06:29.639 --> 00:06:35.639 want uh you can take this amp somewhere else plug it in and it'll still have all 00:06:33.960 --> 00:06:40.560 the settings saved and you don't have to run any software on your computer which 00:06:37.400 --> 00:06:41.960 is so nice it also has automatic gain 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:47.160 control like I mentioned earlier when it automatically switches you can hear the 00:06:44.280 --> 00:06:52.599 relay supposedly perfect Channel balance all the way down to minus 127.5 dbfs 00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:56.080 it's got preamp outputs which means you can control the volume of your speakers 00:06:54.599 --> 00:06:59.879 when you're in speaker mode if I switch it there see we're in RC output I can 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:03.639 change the volume of my speakers on here it's 00:07:01.960 --> 00:07:11.120 got the super nice knob which is customizable and it supports up to 32bit 00:07:05.960 --> 00:07:13.599 384 khz PCM with their fancy UAC 2 setup 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:19.280 oh and the 10 band EQ specifically is supported from 44.1 to 192 khz they can 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:23.319 do two bands at higher rates if you're a super nerd that cares a lot about like 00:07:21.560 --> 00:07:29.120 signal to noise ratio and stuff like that this is well beyond the audible 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:30.280 range of a person but if you do care you 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:38.199 can check out out the audio science review which they already did of this thing and it rided very very well let's 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:41.680 um listen to some music I 00:07:38.199 --> 00:07:41.680 guess these 00:07:42.120 --> 00:07:49.919 um wow I don't know if I've ever listened to these headphones like this 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:52.720 before it's reallying 00:07:49.919 --> 00:07:57.720 loud wow I just can't believe that this has so 00:07:54.400 --> 00:08:01.599 much like range like you can play all 00:07:57.720 --> 00:08:04.199 the way up to like obscenely loud on 00:08:01.599 --> 00:08:09.879 these headphones and it doesn't sound it it doesn't sound distorted or 00:08:07.159 --> 00:08:14.120 crushed or anything it sounds it's too good it might actually just be too good 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:18.400 it actually literally says in the instructions the element 4 can amplify 00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:22.560 headphones to Dangerously loud audio listen safely to conserve your hearing 00:08:20.199 --> 00:08:26.240 hearing l.org that's so funny the cool thing about 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:30.520 having the screen on here is a I mean you can see your uput game but it also shows you the sampling rate that you're 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:37.200 using right now so right now we're on 44.1 khz in theory we can go higher than 00:08:34.959 --> 00:08:43.240 that I don't know how to change that on macOS though if I hold the whoa look at 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:49.399 that oh my God there's all these options we've got UI settings DSP config USB 00:08:45.800 --> 00:08:51.800 audio class mute inactive USB s SPD mode 00:08:49.399 --> 00:08:59.279 uh DAC configuration satisfactory reset DAC configuration what's that Max sample 00:08:55.800 --> 00:09:03.560 rate yeah okay oh see so by default it 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:05.680 it it's 192 khz USB audio class ah this 00:09:03.560 --> 00:09:10.560 is a cool one so if you have something like a Nintendo switch which uses UAC 1 00:09:09.040 --> 00:09:14.640 if you have a device that only supports UAC 2 then it wouldn't work with your 00:09:13.040 --> 00:09:18.120 Nintendo switch however JD has thought about this and they have two different 00:09:16.079 --> 00:09:23.160 modes so if you have a device that only supports UAC 1 you can go into the 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:25.800 settings here you can change it to UAC 1 00:09:23.160 --> 00:09:31.760 damn son this thing's cool connect to device oh here we go JDS Labs connect 00:09:28.920 --> 00:09:37.760 look at that that that's so cool okay so I have the old version of this thing the 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:39.800 element 3 boosted and you can't change 00:09:37.760 --> 00:09:43.800 the settings anyway other than using the knob and it's a really small screen so 00:09:41.760 --> 00:09:47.959 while you can do it it is a little bit tricky so being able to change all of 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:53.079 those settings or at least it seems like a fair number of them in here is really 00:09:50.560 --> 00:09:58.640 nice and you can share your profile that's so smart you can even save your 00:09:56.320 --> 00:10:01.680 profile to your account oh my God these guys they think it's things and so if I 00:10:00.200 --> 00:10:04.480 get the link and then you can send that to your friend if you like made a cool 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:09.760 profile for your headphones and your friend has the same headphones you can send it to him and try it out or if you 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:13.880 had speakers same deal it's a little tricky on title to actually find clips 00:10:11.560 --> 00:10:18.560 that are 192 khz so almost everything I found so far is 24bit 44.1 khz but I 00:10:16.959 --> 00:10:23.680 want to try something that's 192 even though I'm not going to be able to tell the 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:26.959 difference uh apparently Africa by Toto 00:10:23.680 --> 00:10:29.800 is yeah it is it totally is look it 00:10:26.959 --> 00:10:36.360 switched like actually completely maxed out it it's it's loud but it's still not 00:10:34.040 --> 00:10:40.800 painfully loud if that gives you an idea of how hard these headphones are to 00:10:38.079 --> 00:10:45.399 drive this is the first headphone amp that I've used that has actually been 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:48.880 like okay this is like really enough to get these to the point that I would is 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:53.120 uncomfortable to listen at like it's uncomfortable it's not painful but it's 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:58.760 not a listening level I would like B Shamir to come come come do a listen and 00:10:56.959 --> 00:11:01.880 they actually sound not bad outside of the headphones I can't hear a thing 00:11:00.279 --> 00:11:06.240 you're saying I said they sound not bad outside 00:11:04.519 --> 00:11:10.360 of the headphones yeah no they sound really good I only use airpods this is 00:11:08.440 --> 00:11:14.639 this is like much better try try and like turn it up sure like it's actually 00:11:12.560 --> 00:11:18.920 kind of crazy how loud they get and without being distorted that is a good 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:22.680 KN by the way wow that's crazy it's really just as good but loud yeah 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:27.079 there's a really cool piece of software called sonar Works sound ID they 00:11:24.680 --> 00:11:31.880 basically do pre-made calibration profiles for headphones to try to get 00:11:28.760 --> 00:11:35.240 them to be flatter which not always the 00:11:31.880 --> 00:11:36.480 best for everyone but for a Creator or 00:11:35.240 --> 00:11:40.639 like somebody who's doing audio mastering if you can make your 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:44.399 headphones flatter that's good the nice thing about it is for these headphones 00:11:42.360 --> 00:11:48.480 specifically or or the hd800s which is what these are based off of they're a 00:11:45.880 --> 00:11:53.880 little spicy in the highend and there's a little bit of um base lacking one 00:11:52.120 --> 00:11:58.720 might say and you can tweak it a little bit with sound ID but I don't want to 00:11:56.600 --> 00:12:04.040 have to run the software so if I could get there profile in JDS Labs core which 00:12:01.680 --> 00:12:08.079 is the online EQ thing that would be pretty sick I was expecting that you 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:14.600 would have to like edit the profile and then flash it like wait a sec and then 00:12:10.920 --> 00:12:17.839 it would be active I can live edit 00:12:14.600 --> 00:12:21.279 this yo that's so cool there's a second 00:12:17.839 --> 00:12:24.600 of it like cutting out but it's almost 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:26.240 instantaneous a dude dude H God damn it 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:30.560 I'm going to have to buy these now I'm going to have to buy this now here let's 00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:33.880 look at this frequency response they even have a Q setting which is like the 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:39.160 width of the frequency range you're adjusting in that band so let's say that 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:47.040 the um hd800s according to this graph has a bit of a bump at 1,000 htz you can 00:12:43.399 --> 00:12:48.680 more specifically Target 1,000 is htz if 00:12:47.040 --> 00:12:52.040 you're really trying to like tune a pair of headphones properly you would use 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:55.120 like a hat with little microphones inside to actually measure what the 00:12:53.480 --> 00:12:59.839 frequency response would be like that would be a far more proper way to do 00:12:56.600 --> 00:13:02.800 this than me janky looking at this graph 00:12:59.839 --> 00:13:08.240 but dude this is so cool I already feel like I'm I'm vibing with a little more 00:13:06.079 --> 00:13:12.959 bass this is definitely not the way to do this um but I toned down you know 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:17.079 looking at a graph of like somebody else's headphone frequency response I 00:13:15.639 --> 00:13:24.160 don't even know if it's normalized like all this stuff it's not the proper way to do this um but I was just kind of 00:13:21.079 --> 00:13:26.800 ballparking it it toned down the top end 00:13:24.160 --> 00:13:30.839 brought the the subbase up a little bit I I think it does sound better and 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:34.560 and the fact that it just works instantly like it's a there's a touch of 00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:38.920 a cutout but it's fast enough that you can hear the difference immediately and 00:13:36.760 --> 00:13:44.360 kind of give yourself a reference and and really allow you to tune your 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:48.079 playback to what you would prefer I said earlier that they like have stuff that's 00:13:45.920 --> 00:13:52.480 reasonably priced and they do JDS Labs makes a lot of really awesome products 00:13:50.120 --> 00:13:58.320 and they do make ones that are a little bit more on the um affordable range of 00:13:56.240 --> 00:14:03.160 things their most popular ones the atom daging amp you can get for 150 for the 00:14:00.560 --> 00:14:08.759 DAC and 130 for the amp not nearly as powerful but still really good wow the 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:11.000 El amp is on sale too but the element 4 00:14:08.759 --> 00:14:13.839 which comes with both integrated in it's exactly what you're looking at here this 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:18.360 is 550 us compared to some of the other 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:24.000 things that have this much output power it's not really egregious considering 00:14:21.199 --> 00:14:28.360 that and the feature set um it is genuinely really awesome seems like 00:14:26.600 --> 00:14:32.560 sounds great doesn't sound distorted audio is such a subjective thing but 00:14:30.160 --> 00:14:36.399 this is designing a device that is supposed to take the subjectiveness out 00:14:35.160 --> 00:14:41.759 of it it's supposed to just be objectively excellent and honestly I use 00:14:39.199 --> 00:14:47.199 their atom Dack for my main speakers because I like having discrete output 00:14:43.839 --> 00:14:48.600 devices um and it's great too but having 00:14:47.199 --> 00:14:51.560 one unit with all the stuff packed in there it's pretty damn impressive it's 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:57.199 not cheap but if you have expensive headphones and you care about your audio sounding like it's supposed to sound 00:14:54.759 --> 00:15:01.240 like and you like being able to EQ like I just showed you without running 00:14:58.360 --> 00:15:07.199 software this might be a very good option for you assuming you can stomach 00:15:03.839 --> 00:15:09.120 the cost it's a premium product and it's 00:15:07.199 --> 00:15:15.079 not trying to hide that but my God is it ever good you know what else is 00:15:10.920 --> 00:15:18.120 good me at asking you to hit subscribe 00:15:15.079 --> 00:15:20.680 and hit the like button and listening to 00:15:18.120 --> 00:15:25.120 music I'm just going to I'm just going to do this a little bit more we should 00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:28.160 just have the outro of this video just be like 30 seconds longer than it 00:15:26.759 --> 00:15:30.959 actually is and just be listening to Tunes