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HOLO Audio Spring DAC - R2R DSD512


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35 minutes ago, beerandmusic said:

yea, raat is roon....don't know about the others, what are they for?

 

that's what it is

https://www.ravenna-network.com/using-ravenna/overview

sistema:

Server HDPlex (i7-6700-WS2016) HQPlayer con Ramdisk + HQPDcontrol > Macmini (roon core+Qobuz) o HQPlayer Client + Qobuz > HDPlex NAA (celeron G1840T-WS2016) NAD con Ramdisk, o miniPC Fitlet con immagine di Miska > Denafrips Ares2 , SPLvolume2 > Monitor KH+sub

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Guys and Gals - Hi

 

As this thread is about the Holo Spring, I have started a separate thread for Holo Cyan Impressions.

 

Mine shipped today (HK to Australia - no idea how long it will be) and I look forward to hearing impressions from Holo users about the Holo Cyan on that thread.

 

Vincent

Sydneysider

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Are the prices in the website $1099 & $1199 pre-order only prices? Will it change once this hits production?

https://kitsunehifi.com/product/holo-audio-cyan/

 

As interested as I am with the product I have to ship it to US to a friend and I know I can't pick it up in the next few months (unless I get lucky) and try to save customs fee. If it's the final price I would rather wait for now and order it when I go to the US.

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Email Tim.  He responds very promptly and be of great help.  ;)

 

Ryzen 7 2700 PC Server, NUC7CJYH w. 4G Apacer RAM as Renderer/LPS 1.2 - IsoRegen/LPS-1/.2 - Singxer SU-1/LPS1.2 - Holo Spring Level 3 DAC - LTA MicroZOTL MZ2 - Modwright KWA 150 Signature Amp - Tidal Audio Piano's.  

.

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5 hours ago, TubeDriver said:

Has anyone tested whether the Holo Spring inverts absolute polarity?  In my system, while it sounds very good, it does have a sound (especially with bass response in room) that reminds me of my older DAC when absolute polarity was reversed?  Just wondering...

 

I think not, but hard to tell with a lot of out-of-phase recordings. And even worse when they use many microphones, some in phase and others not.

 

Roch

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18 hours ago, elcorso said:

 

I think not, but hard to tell with a lot of out-of-phase recordings. And even worse when they use many microphones, some in phase and others not.

 

Roch

 

Yea, I know it is a bit of a fool's dream to think about absolute phase considering what can happen with multi-miked recordings.  That said, I prefer to set up my system component chain such that absolute phase does not invert from from source to speaker. Just something about the way the Holo Spring sounds makes me think it might be inverting (but I DO like it and it replaced a DAC that cost more than 2x more)?  I do have a friend who can test this but not sure what I can make this happen.  I just though someone here might have already tested this...

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I have an opportunity to hear this DAC, Kitsune edition,  in my room but have a few questions. I currently have an Yaggdrasil and I don't use a pre-amp. Volume is controlled digitally via XXHighEnd playback software. Can the HOLO DAC be run without a pre-amp? Anyone tried it? Thanks in advance for replies.

System: Fedilizer Pro>Pareto Audio Server with both Audiolinux (Roon) and W10 (Audirvana Studio) OS's, currently using W10 (control via remote desktop with laptop)> Original (2015) Sonore Signature Series, BNC/SPDIF > Yggdrasil A2 > Pass Labs XA100 Monoblocks > Triton Reference Speakers (modified) >Tweeked CiscoSG110D-08 LAN Switch. Cabling: Canare LV-77S SPDIF, Kimber KS2026 XLR interconnects, Kimber KS3035 Speaker wires.

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1 hour ago, Bimmer100 said:

FYI. I have posted our new drivers for the HoloAudio Spring Dac. Improved performance with dsd and pcm.

version v4.35 available for download on our website now.  Please let us know tour thoughts on this new driver!

 

 

 

Thanks, Tim!

 

Is this different than than the 4.36 driver some of us have been using on the SU-1 thread? That one appears to be an improvement over the Holo Spring driver we had to use previously for native DSD512 support.

 

 

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44 minutes ago, pkane2001 said:

 

Thanks, Tim!

 

Is this different than than the 4.36 driver some of us have been using on the SU-1 thread? That one appears to be an improvement over the Holo Spring driver we had to use previously for native DSD512 support.

 

 

Very similar driver. But the singxer driver is for the Su1. And the Holo Audio driver is for the Spring Dac or the Cyan.  You can use both of these drivers at the same time so you can do an a/b comparison of be su1 via Hdmi i2s(with Singxer v4.36)or the usb Input of the spring Dac (with Holo v4.35) versions are different so both can be loaded at same time without conflict. The v4.35 has the improved latency and real-time feedback. Dsd is slightly improved as well as pcm. Go ahead and compare two new drivers and you likely will find the difference is the Version number only. Both are nicely improved for audible improvements.

 

the Cyan will have a nice improvement with these. My wife has really enjoyed the Cyan pcm and we have used our Utopia, z1r’s, he1000v2, echobox nomad iems, fidue a83 and surprised how nice the amp is even with sensitive iems.  I’ve yet to get a little time with the dsd module. I’m putting together the enthusiast edition Cyan with photos and specifications. It will have our kitsune badging and both ladder Dac modules, upgraded fuse and a few extras. 

 

Personally I’m excited about these new drivers since I can run both the KTE Su1 ddr (Hdmi i2s) and the spring Dac (usb) simultaneously without the hassle of uninstalling or reinstalling drivers.  

But a slight improvement can be heard. Personally I don’t believe the singxer drivers were as “dramatic” or improvement  as some have said/commented. But believe there is a small improvement on my system. Who knows, maybe it is a dramatic improvement depending on source and hardware in the usb chain. 

Imho if your usb chain is well sorted than these drivers should be very little difference. Like if you are using an uptone isoregen or iFi igalvanic 3.0 along with KTEsu1 ddr or with lps1 and Jcat Femto USB card etc. all these things can help. 

 

I want to test more with HQ player since there is still a known bug with dsd native sometimes not being iniated or started when Roon and Hq Player are connected and attempting dsd512 native.  I only have his issue when using HQ player with Roon. But if using Roon alone and internal DSD native within roon than there is never issues. I’m wondering if maybe some of my settings within Hq player might be causing this. I would like to pin point the issue and wondering if others have experienced this glitch? 

 

When I use Jriver and native dsd512 it never has any issues.

 

To reiterate, it only happens when HQ player and Roon are connected. All DSP in roon is disabled. HQ player is set to do dsd512, however I don’t have my specific settings handy at this moment. I know I’m using poly-sinc-xlr-2s

 

 

 

Tim Connor

KitsuneHifi.com / HoloAudio USA

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38 minutes ago, GUTB said:

When are the DSD Cyans going to ship?

Some have shipped already. 

But as you know, it’s the holiday season and many won’t see the Cyan until after Christmas due to the massive rush in the postal service.  We can only do our best and get them out without compromising quality. We have already sold a tremendous amount :)

Tim Connor

KitsuneHifi.com / HoloAudio USA

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13 minutes ago, Bimmer100 said:

Some have shipped already. 

But as you know, it’s the holiday season and many won’t see the Cyan until after Christmas due to the massive rush in the postal service.  We can only do our best and get them out without compromising quality. We have already sold a tremendous amount :)

 

Thanks :) 

 

I'm super pumped for mine...

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11 hours ago, Bimmer100 said:

Go ahead and compare two new drivers and you likely will find the difference is the Version number only. Both are nicely improved for audible improvements.

Thanks, Tim! That is very helpful.

 

11 hours ago, Bimmer100 said:

Personally I don’t believe the singxer drivers were as “dramatic” or improvement  as some have said/commented. But believe there is a small improvement on my system. Who knows, maybe it is a dramatic improvement depending on source and hardware in the usb chain. 

 

Totally agree. I heard a difference, and spent some time switching between the drivers trying to ensure it wasn't all in my head. In the end, I did prefer the new Singxer driver to the old Holo Spring one, but only by a small margin. The new driver seems to manage timing and buffering better, as even with the tiniest buffer size I don't hear any dropouts or stutter. This happened consistently with the older driver when using some of the more aggressive settings.

 

If the new Holo driver has similar improvements, it is definitely worth switching to it, especially at the exorbitant price of $0 :) 

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14 hours ago, Bimmer100 said:

FYI. I have posted our new drivers for the HoloAudio Spring Dac. Improved performance with dsd and pcm.

version v4.35 available for download on our website now.  Please let us know tour thoughts on this new driver!

 

 

I've been very happy with my level 1 Spring DAC. One thing I felt was that DSD doesn't sound as good as PCM in my system, just a little less lively when upsampling from PCM files. Likely I didn't set up HQP right.  But, can't wait to try the new driver. Thanks!

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9 hours ago, pkane2001 said:

Thanks, Tim! That is very helpful.

 

 

Totally agree. I heard a difference, and spent some time switching between the drivers trying to ensure it wasn't all in my head. In the end, I did prefer the new Singxer driver to the old Holo Spring one, but only by a small margin. The new driver seems to manage timing and buffering better, as even with the tiniest buffer size I don't hear any dropouts or stutter. This happened consistently with the older driver when using some of the more aggressive settings.

 

If the new Holo driver has similar improvements, it is definitely worth switching to it, especially at the exorbitant price of $0 :) 

Question: I use Singxer Su-1 --> I2S to DAC. Will it work correctly to have the Singxer & HOLO drivers installed on my Win10 PC simultaneously and just use the driver selection dropdown in HQPlayer to switch back and forth for comparison? Or shall I uninstall the Singxer driver before trying out the new one from HOLO?

 

Thanks,

Desktop: HQ Player --> Singxer SU-1 --> Matrix X-Sabre Pro --> McChanson SuperSilver UltimatE

Headphones: Audeze MM-500, Meze Audio Elite, Focal Utopia 2022, Focal Bathys (Wireless)

Portable Gear: Hiby RS6, xDuoo XD05 Bal 2, FiiO BTR7, Creative BT-W5, FiiTii HiFiDots TWS

Nearfield Active Speakers: Audioengine HD3 

Power Conditioning: Furman Elite-15 PFi

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4 minutes ago, LoryWiv said:

Question: I use Singxer Su-1 --> I2S to DAC. Will it work correctly to have the Singxer & HOLO drivers installed on my Win10 PC simultaneously and just use the driver selection dropdown in HQPlayer to switch back and forth for comparison? Or shall I uninstall the Singxer driver before trying out the new one from HOLO?

 

Thanks,

I couldn't get the old Holo and new Singxer driver to co-exist. I had to uninstall one, then re-install the other to compare them. Not the best way to do a comparison, but I was curious. Don't know if the two new drivers can coexist. Sounds like they might, according to Tim.

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6 minutes ago, LoryWiv said:

Question: I use Singxer Su-1 --> I2S to DAC. Will it work correctly to have the Singxer & HOLO drivers installed on my Win10 PC simultaneously and just use the driver selection dropdown in HQPlayer to switch back and forth for comparison? Or shall I uninstall the Singxer driver before trying out the new one from HOLO?

 

Thanks,

I have just installed the new driver without un-install the Singxer driver, and was able to play the Holo driver, but not able to select the Singxer driver via HQPlayer drop down menu.

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6 minutes ago, elan120 said:

I have just installed the new driver without un-install the Singxer driver, and was able to play the Holo driver, but not able to select the Singxer driver via HQPlayer drop down menu.

 

I think this is because SU-1 gets a driver started automatically, when it first connects over USB. HQPlayer can't switch which driver is talking to SU-1. It's probably the last installed driver, as that's the one Windows associates with SU-1 VID/PID. I also found that after reinstalling the driver, I had to sometimes switch SU-1 off and on again to make the new driver recognize it.

 

What I think Tim was talking about is using the Singxer driver talking to SU-1, while using new Holo driver talking to Holo Spring/Cyan. That would work, since these two devices have different VID/PID and can both be running at the same time.

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4 minutes ago, pkane2001 said:

 

I think this is because SU-1 gets a driver started automatically, when it first connects over USB. HQPlayer can't switch which driver is talking to SU-1. It's probably the last installed driver, as that's the one Windows associates with SU-1 VID/PID. I also found that after reinstalling the driver, I had to sometimes switch SU-1 off and on again to make the new driver recognize it.

 

What I think Tim was talking about is using the Singxer driver talking to SU-1, while using new Holo driver talking to Holo Spring/Cyan. That would work, since these two devices have different VID/PID and can both be running at the same time.

This sounds like the case here...on the other hand, the hew Holo driver playing upsampled DSD512 seem to be quite good.  I will need to take some more time to see whether it is same or better than the Singxer driver.

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35 minutes ago, pkane2001 said:

I couldn't get the old Holo and new Singxer driver to co-exist. I had to uninstall one, then re-install the other to compare them. Not the best way to do a comparison, but I was curious. Don't know if the two new drivers can coexist. Sounds like they might, according to Tim.

They are signed drivers which means one device per driver...

my setup is HoloAudio drivers via usb on spring Dac 

and singxer drivers via usb on su1

 

 

coexist? Sure I guess. But you can swap the driver for each device. However I doubt you can compare each driver as having any difference in sound quality whatsoever. However they are slightly improved from previous version

Tim Connor

KitsuneHifi.com / HoloAudio USA

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