Why Geshelli Labs J2S DAC is so universally liked?

Geshelli Labs is a young company in the USA that quickly gained a good reputation. One of their most popular and successful products is J2S DAC. The price of this one will vary from two hundred sixty dollars to more than seven hundred dollars depending on the selections you make during the purchase process.

Build and Features

Unlike most products with modern industrial design and/or flashy displays, Geshelli Labs opted for a simple aluminum casing that is sealed by pieces of acrylic panels on both front and back. This undoubtedly makes for a device with a strong Do It Yourself vibe. There’s a twist hiding here though – both aluminum and acrylic can be selected in many different colors. Moreover, instead of aluminum, you can opt for a wooden box instead. Those again come in several different finishes. All of this makes for a quirky but personalized visual experience that is bound to divide opinions. Functionality-wise, there is nothing to complain about the design here.

The back panel hosts optical, coaxial, and if you include it in your build – a USB input too. What’s more interesting is that there are separate optical and coaxial inputs on the front panel too. This may be useful in some situations.

Analog outputs come in two variations – as single-ended RCA or balanced XLR. Finally, the unit is powered by the 12V DC which means that there is an external power brick. This also leaves room for upgrades with aftermarket power supplies of a higher quality. Another point of potential upgrade is op-amps that are easily exchangeable thanks to DIP8 sockets. Two dual op-amps are used for balanced outputs and the third one for single-ended outs.

Finally, there’s an option to choose your J2S with either an AK4493 or a more expensive AK4499 DAC chip. I opted for the latter, paired with USB input, and regular TI OPA1656 opamps in all sockets. All of this was put in an aluminum box for a total price of 480 USD before shipping and taxes.

Sound

While Geshelli Labs J2S with options mentioned in the previous paragraph doesn’t lack clarity, this is also not one of those DACs that prioritize etched tone edges or sparkly highs. It sounds revealing yet very natural and smooth at all times. Bassline is well judged between speed and weight. The midrange is also well-judged between clarity and full-bodiness. High frequencies are on a more refined side rather than trying to impress you with some fireworks. All of this makes for a revealing sound with clean tones and good detail retrieval, that is also mature and refined in a way that will never jar your ears.

The soundstaging abilities of J2S are quite decent. While the soundstage is not super big, it is skillfully layered and tones are well separated. The background is deep and dark, adding to good back-to-forth layering.

Dynamics are decent, especially microdynamics. This is one speedy and nimble-sounding DAC. Big dynamic swings are as good as you can expect at this price but will not match the sheer dynamic scale and slam of something like the upper market’s Gustards (X26, R26, etc.). Those are three times the price however so it’s not something I’ll hold against J2S.

Upgrades

I started by adding a better power supply. For this, I used an appropriately priced iFi iPower X 12V. The soundstage gained a bit in size and empty space between tones felt slightly bigger too. Not a huge difference but I appreciated it nonetheless.

Next, I tried changing opamps. There are many options you can go for here but I especially liked how J2S sounds with Sparkos SS3602. The soundstage felt even bigger and airer with these. Midrange gained a bit more prominence and forwardness that I found pleasant and enriching. Because of this, I felt that the tone timbre became better too.

Comparisons

Topping E70 Velvet costs roughly the same as Geshelli Labs J2S with AK4499 and TI opamps. In that configuration, Geshelli Labs has a slight advantage in overall clarity and layering. It simply sounds cleaner and pinpoints better. Topping has a warmer midbass that sounds less precise too. Finally, J2S is a bit smoother and more refined in the upper registers. While Topping has an objectively better design and a slightly richer feature set, when it comes to sonics that goes to Geshelli Labs.

Topping D70 Pro Octo is a slightly pricier but better-looking device with a more premium build. I’ll leave the importance of this to you while I focus on the sonic differences. Out of the box, the D70 Pro Octo sounds more revealing of midrange and high-frequency details. The soundstage on Toppign is slightly wider too. J2S counters that with smoother and more organic sound, but generally speaking it can’t fully match the skills of D70 Pro Octo. Things change once you start upgrading J2S. Add iFi iPower X power supply and now we have a fairly equal fight of two equally capable DACs. J2S now matches Topping’s soundstage width and roughly equals detail retrieval. Topping still holds a slight advantage when it comes to crunchy and textured midrange details. J2S creates slightly better soundstage depth and smoother tonality. At this point, we are talking about two equally good-sounding devices with slightly different qualities.

Once Sparkos op-amps are added to the mix, the J2S midrange is infused with a new dose of texture richness that fully matches D70 Pro Octo. But the soundstage is now bigger and more airy with J2S. With the already existing advantage in terms of smoothness. this is when J2S takes the lead on all fronts.

This fully pimped version of J2S is easily on a level where it can exchange punches with the like of Topping D90 III Sabre or SMSL SU-10.

Conclusion

Geshelli Labs J2S is a very skilled DAC with a mature sound profile. It sounds great and very competitive out of the box, but there are few options for further tuning that can bring it head to head with the best DACs below one thousand dollars. There’s a lot to like here and if you’re not bothered by its looks and styling, it should be high in your wishlist. This is especially true for those located in the US, that are not prone to big shipping and tax charges.