HOLO Audio Spring DAC - R2R DSD512

[barrows]

1 hour ago, TubeDriver said:

My Holo Spring popped its fuse overnight at some point last night.   It is connected to a 15A Bryston Balanced Power Supply with series mode surge protection.  It has a 2A fuse but I notice that Kitsune USA is selling a hifi fuse for the Holo Spring with a 4A value?  My unit is running at 120v, does anyone know what the correct fuse value is?

 

I notice the DAC operation data on the website lists 220v at 2A, so I would think it should be a 4A fuse for 120v operation?  Have I been using an undervalued fuse for a year now?

 

2A 250v slowblow?  4A 250 slowblow?   Thanks.

If 2A 250V slow blow is correct for 220/230 VAC operation, then you should use a 4A 250V Slow Blow for 115/120 VAC operation.  Although that seems like a really high fuse value for a DAC?  Ask Kitsune to confirm.

All AC input fuses are always going to be slow blow (type "T") types to account for high inrush currents.  In audio components, fast blow fuses are usually only used on internal amplifier rail fuses to protect the output devices under an output short or overload condition.

[elcorso]

It is  4A 250V fast blow for 115/120 VAC operation.

Audio Horizon Platinum Reference fuse from factory in mine.

 

No manuals, no power cord from factory.

 

Roch

 

[TubeDriver]

32 minutes ago, barrows said:

If 2A 250V slow blow is correct for 220/230 VAC operation, then you should use a 4A 250V Slow Blow for 115/120 VAC operation.  Although that seems like a really high fuse value for a DAC?  Ask Kitsune to confirm.

All AC input fuses are always going to be slow blow (type "T") types to account for high inrush currents.  In audio components, fast blow fuses are usually only used on internal amplifier rail fuses to protect the output devices under an output short or overload condition.

 

Thanks for the reply.  I did contact Kitsune but it make take a couple days to hear back.  Looking at the Holo Spring transformer, it has two taps and both sec 1 and sec 2 are rated at 2A for 115v.   So I guess it should be a 4A fuse (the max rating for the transformer)?   So I was able to use an underrated 2A fuse (what came new with the unit) for about a year with no issues.  My guess is that the 2A fuse was inserted in China for 220v use and it was never changed out for 120v use in the USA?  So possibly other folks in the USA have underrated fuses too?   Which might explain in part why the 4A Audiophile fuses Kitsune sells sound better?   It will be interesting to see if I hear any difference between the normal 2A fuse and the normal 4A fuse once it warms up?

[TubeDriver]

12 minutes ago, elcorso said:

It is  4A 250V fast blow for 115/120 VAC operation.

Audio Horizon Platinum Reference fuse from factory in mine.

 

No manuals, no power cord from factory.

 

Roch

 

 

 

Yup!  Thanks.  My Holo Spring came with a 2A fuse.  I got it brand new, direct from Kitsune.  Hoping a 4A fuse will sound a smidge better!

 

[barrows]

5 minutes ago, TubeDriver said:

 

 

Yup!  Thanks.  My Holo Spring came with a 2A fuse.  I got it brand new, direct from Kitsune.  Hoping a 4A fuse will sound a smidge better!

 

A Synergistic Blue 4A fuse will sound better!  

[Bimmer100]

Please contact me again about that fuse. Depending on when you bought it and what model, that may of been a possibility. But reach out to me again with our contact form. It seems if you sent a message it may of been stopped with captcha or wasn’t completed. I’m happy to help with that.

 

for the record, the dac has a massive O type transformer. Only the Kitsunehifi models have dual switching trafo. 110/220.

and yes. 2A SB 5x20mm is for 220v and it will actually run with this fuse. But barely, and only with stable power. But it will blow eventually with the right conditions. But with average power usually will blow fairly soon. 

 

For 110v the correct fuse is indeed 4A SB 5x20mm

this is with worst case scenario a fuse that will also blow and protect the dac but under very unlikely conditions a fuse ever will blow unless it’s either incorrect value or serious power issues

but that is what fuses are for. 

 

Hopefully will hear from you soon,  tubedriver. I don’t know your name so can’t look up your order. Otherwise I would of contacted you directly.  I want to be sure you are taken care of. 

[TubeDriver]

On 11/13/2018 at 10:20 PM, Bimmer100 said:

Please contact me again about that fuse. Depending on when you bought it and what model, that may of been a possibility. But reach out to me again with our contact form. It seems if you sent a message it may of been stopped with captcha or wasn’t completed. I’m happy to help with that.

 

for the record, the dac has a massive O type transformer. Only the Kitsunehifi models have dual switching trafo. 110/220.

and yes. 2A SB 5x20mm is for 220v and it will actually run with this fuse. But barely, and only with stable power. But it will blow eventually with the right conditions. But with average power usually will blow fairly soon. 

 

For 110v the correct fuse is indeed 4A SB 5x20mm

this is with worst case scenario a fuse that will also blow and protect the dac but under very unlikely conditions a fuse ever will blow unless it’s either incorrect value or serious power issues

but that is what fuses are for. 

 

Hopefully will hear from you soon,  tubedriver. I don’t know your name so can’t look up your order. Otherwise I would of contacted you directly.  I want to be sure you are taken care of. 

 

I resent you a message with my name.  I have ordered some ceramic body fuses since the glass bodied one I currently have is brightish sounding.  My Holo Spring has it's own dedicated 15A AC line along with it's own Bryston BIT-15 balanced power supply so it gets clean power.  Maybe that is why the 2A fuse lasted so long?  It has been used daily since Nov 2017 when I purchased it direct from you.

[TubeDriver]

On 11/13/2018 at 10:20 PM, Bimmer100 said:

Please contact me again about that fuse. Depending on when you bought it and what model, that may of been a possibility. But reach out to me again with our contact form. It seems if you sent a message it may of been stopped with captcha or wasn’t completed. I’m happy to help with that.

 

for the record, the dac has a massive O type transformer. Only the Kitsunehifi models have dual switching trafo. 110/220.

and yes. 2A SB 5x20mm is for 220v and it will actually run with this fuse. But barely, and only with stable power. But it will blow eventually with the right conditions. But with average power usually will blow fairly soon. 

 

For 110v the correct fuse is indeed 4A SB 5x20mm

this is with worst case scenario a fuse that will also blow and protect the dac but under very unlikely conditions a fuse ever will blow unless it’s either incorrect value or serious power issues

but that is what fuses are for. 

 

Hopefully will hear from you soon,  tubedriver. I don’t know your name so can’t look up your order. Otherwise I would of contacted you directly.  I want to be sure you are taken care of. 

 

Tim, I received your email.  Thanks for the continuing support of the products you handle,  long after the original purchuse!

[Veri]

Hey guys. I have a spring coming soon, very hyped. Was hoping someone could clear something up

 

In the DAC, there are two power transformers. There's the copper or silver toroidal transformer, and there's another Talema transformer. Why two? What is the point?

[oneguy]

29 minutes ago, Veri said:

Hey guys. I have a spring coming soon, very hyped. Was hoping someone could clear something up

 

In the DAC, there are two power transformers. There's the copper or silver toroidal transformer, and there's another Talema transformer. Why two? What is the point?

If memory serves me well, one for powering the DAC and the other for keeping it warm while in standby mode. 

[asdf1000]

2 minutes ago, oneguy said:

If memory serves me well, one for powering the DAC and the other for keeping it warm while in standby mode. 

 

Yup, it's there on the website too

 

[Miska]

I'm not sure about Holo. But for example in my own DAC designs I've always had two; one for digital +3.3 and +5V power, and another for analog +-12/15V power...

[matthias]

58 minutes ago, Veri said:

Hey guys. I have a spring coming soon, very hyped. 

 

Do you get a Spring1 or Spring2?

 

Matt

[drjimwillie]

There is a new ASIO driver for the Spring 2. Can I use it on my original Spring. 

 

If if I am interested, can I upgrade my DAC, I have a level 2. 

[josephs]

I wonder if it'll be possible to upgrade the original KTE Spring to the Spring 2

[Bimmer100]

A few quick responses.

thr new v4.55.0 driver is only for spring2 and not for spring 1. So please do not use this driver since it will not work. 

 

And at this time there is no upgrade for spring1 to spring2. We continued to bring out spring2 as an evolution of the spring1. They are very similar in performance. And we are using components that should not have supply issues like with the spring1. We are confident this is every bit as good as the spring1 was and have some new features that our customers had asked for. Such as the remote control (L2 and KTE models only) and also less hot analog outputs. Spring1 is 5v/2.5v for XLR/RCA and Spring2 is 4v/2v for XLR/RCA. So those with sensitive preamps it will be a better match to use spring2. Really little difference but small change for those who requested this. The new display has more data, or 3 information areas to show sample rate, digital input and mode(NOS or OS etc) 

the dac module is improved slightly to support dsd1024 and pcm1.536M however will require a fairly fast computer to upsample to these rates as one may imagine. The same src is used as spring1.

the usb module is improved quite a bit as far as firmware goes. It has over twice the efficiency as the standard firmware and optimized for the new dac module. 

The overall spring1 vs spring2 comparisons are marginal and was not released to be considered an upgrade of the spring1 but rather a continuance or an already great dac with a few improvements. Personally I would not strongly recommend anyone to “upgrade” from spring1 to spring2 since it’s a somewhat small difference imho. Otherwise we would of changed the name if we felt it was a big enough difference or improvement from the spring1. We do have a few units that will be available to those who would like to review the spring2, just contact me about this directly. Our May dac will be a step above and our official flagship dac due for release in the near future. The May will be a two chassis design and having the most advanced architecture for the dac module, also most advanced power supply circuit. Abother notable feature will be the high spec preamp and headamp that is based on our Azure which has 8amp modules and over 400transistors. as well as some new innovations that may come as a surprise. This will be an exciting release.

 

 

and lastly one commmented about psu with the spring as having two transformers. The second one is specifically when in standby (spring1) or mute (spring2) - this mode swaps from otype to sealed trafo and turns off the output stage. Essentially mute and standby are the same and save a small amount of power yet keeps the dac module at ideal thermal stability. The otype is a much better transformer and capable to handle the dac when under load. The sealed transformer is enough for sitting idle. It’s not a common feature you will find in other products so wanted to clarify on this.

 

hope this helps answer everyone’s questions.

 

[Veri]

On 1/9/2019 at 12:03 PM, matthias said:

 

Do you get a Spring1 or Spring2?

 

Matt

Spring 2. It just shipped but will report back when I receive it! I've no experience with spring 1 though so my opinion might not be that valuable in this specific topic of spring 1 in terms of comparisons.

[4est]

5 hours ago, Bimmer100 said:

and lastly one commmented about psu with the spring as having two transformers. The second one is specifically when in standby (spring1) or mute (spring2) - this mode swaps from otype to sealed trafo and turns off the output stage. Essentially mute and standby are the same and save a small amount of power yet keeps the dac module at ideal thermal stability. The otype is a much better transformer and capable to handle the dac when under load. The sealed transformer is enough for sitting idle. It’s not a common feature you will find in other products so wanted to clarify on this.

 

hope this helps answer everyone’s questions.

 

Forgive my ignorance, but this seems like an atypical arraignment as you have noted. May I ask why not simply remove power form the output stage as opposed to swapping transformers? I assume there is sound reasoning, I just don't see it.

[josephs]

7 hours ago, Bimmer100 said:

A few quick responses.

thr new v4.55.0 driver is only for spring2 and not for spring 1. So please do not use this driver since it will not work. 

 

And at this time there is no upgrade for spring1 to spring2. We continued to bring out spring2 as an evolution of the spring1. They are very similar in performance. And we are using components that should not have supply issues like with the spring1. We are confident this is every bit as good as the spring1 was and have some new features that our customers had asked for. Such as the remote control (L2 and KTE models only) and also less hot analog outputs. Spring1 is 5v/2.5v for XLR/RCA and Spring2 is 4v/2v for XLR/RCA. So those with sensitive preamps it will be a better match to use spring2. Really little difference but small change for those who requested this. The new display has more data, or 3 information areas to show sample rate, digital input and mode(NOS or OS etc) 

the dac module is improved slightly to support dsd1024 and pcm1.536M however will require a fairly fast computer to upsample to these rates as one may imagine. The same src is used as spring1.

the usb module is improved quite a bit as far as firmware goes. It has over twice the efficiency as the standard firmware and optimized for the new dac module. 

The overall spring1 vs spring2 comparisons are marginal and was not released to be considered an upgrade of the spring1 but rather a continuance or an already great dac with a few improvements. Personally I would not strongly recommend anyone to “upgrade” from spring1 to spring2 since it’s a somewhat small difference imho. Otherwise we would of changed the name if we felt it was a big enough difference or improvement from the spring1. We do have a few units that will be available to those who would like to review the spring2, just contact me about this directly. Our May dac will be a step above and our official flagship dac due for release in the near future. The May will be a two chassis design and having the most advanced architecture for the dac module, also most advanced power supply circuit. Abother notable feature will be the high spec preamp and headamp that is based on our Azure which has 8amp modules and over 400transistors. as well as some new innovations that may come as a surprise. This will be an exciting release.

 

 

and lastly one commmented about psu with the spring as having two transformers. The second one is specifically when in standby (spring1) or mute (spring2) - this mode swaps from otype to sealed trafo and turns off the output stage. Essentially mute and standby are the same and save a small amount of power yet keeps the dac module at ideal thermal stability. The otype is a much better transformer and capable to handle the dac when under load. The sealed transformer is enough for sitting idle. It’s not a common feature you will find in other products so wanted to clarify on this.

 

hope this helps answer everyone’s questions.

 

"Personally I would not strongly recommend anyone to “upgrade” from spring1 to spring2 since it’s a somewhat small difference imho."

 

As an owner of the KTE Spring DAC the statement above are simply words of a truly honest dealer who is not just looking to take the consumers money as far as I'm concerned. 

What more could one ask for? Nothing, as far as I'm concerned. Thank you for the clarification.

 

[matthias]

36 minutes ago, josephs said:

"Personally I would not strongly recommend anyone to “upgrade” from spring1 to spring2 since it’s a somewhat small difference imho."

 

As an owner of the KTE Spring DAC the statement above are simply words of a truly honest dealer who is not just looking to take the consumers money as far as I'm concerned. 

What more could one ask for? Nothing, as far as I'm concerned. Thank you for the clarification.

 

 

Please compare to this remark as well:

Matt

[Bimmer100]

Please note. This is a new product and we had report yesterday of some bug/glitch related to volume control within the operating system. One user had reported this glitch where volume has remained at 100% within the operating system control. We were able to recreate the issue and addressed this immediately. We are testing and finalizing a new firmware for the usb module to address this issue. Should be available on our website today or tomorrow. Some users may want to load this firmware whom already taken delivery of their spring2. Instructions will be avail on our website on how to do this.

 

best

-Tim

[mevdinc]

Do you have a planned release date for the upcoming May DAC?

[Bimmer100]

@mevdinc

 

the best I can tell you is 2019 and likely midyear. 

[Miska]

I've been testing the Spring 2 L2 DAC with HQPlayer and with some interesting results.

 

If you wanna see some clean Jtest24 figures, here's one! Spring 2 running at DSD256, balanced output to the analyzer.

 

Source is my regular Xeon E5 workstation, running Ubuntu Studio 18.04 with it's normal graphical desktop etc.

 

IMD figure at DSD256 is also pretty amazing 0.00002%.

 

[pkane2001]

1 hour ago, Miska said:

I've been testing the Spring 2 L2 DAC with HQPlayer and with some interesting results.

 

If you wanna see some clean Jtest24 figures, here's one! Spring 2 running at DSD256, balanced output to the analyzer.

 

Source is my regular Xeon E5 workstation, running Ubuntu Studio 18.04 with it's normal graphical desktop etc.

 

IMD figure at DSD256 is also pretty amazing 0.00002%.

 

 

That looks great! Can you post one with a wider frequency range, say 20-20KHz?