HOLO Audio Spring DAC - R2R DSD512

[occamsrazor]

TWO things have changed since release about two months ago....

1. Firmware update to support DSD512 native with i2s or USB input only(by request of the users on this very forum) You're welcome

2. We offer a 240V model for Australia.

The specs have been final, the only thing we are waiting on is the Windows 10 Signed driver, which is out of our control on release date. But we finally firmed up the date as microsoft gave us their blessing and we will have the final driver for windows available early October. Otherwise we have offered DSD512 native in windows with an evaluation driver from now until this date the Signed drivers are released. So Linux/Mac/Windows all support up to DSD512 native and DSD256 over DOP. Nothing is written in sand, this has been officially announced several weeks ago.

 

I'm admittedly a newbie when it comes to DSD (my current DAC is PCM only) so I could well be wrong but from what I had read Mac OSX didn't support Native DSD, only DoP. With the exception of certain DACs such as Exasound who have their own Mac drivers. So I'm wondering how this DAC manages DSD512 support on Mac.

[occamsrazor]

All the previous posters are right in some ways just saying different things.

 

The main point is Mac doesn't do Native DSD so requires DoP. The problem with DoP is it requires a lot of overhead... of around 2 steps of magnitude. So a typical DAC that accepts 384khz PCM can only do DSD128 using DoP even if it can do higher with Native DSD.

 

The iFi Micro has relatively unusually high PCM rate of 768khz, so it can accept DSD256 over DoP from a Mac.

 

So if Holo Spring is limited to 384khz PCM it would also be limited to DSD128 over DoP on Mac. Unless they use some special Mac driver to enable Native DSD like Exasound does. But there's nothing to suggest that is the case.

 

To do DoP at DSD512 would require something crazy like PCM input at 1536khz.

 

Err... I think... please do correct me if any of that is wrong....