HOLO Audio Spring DAC - R2R DSD512

[Bimmer100]

11 hours ago, ted_b said:

Tim,

I'm VERY interested once the room is done, but by then others will hopefully have chimed in.  Nice work by you, Jeff (of course) and others.  What are the PCM/DSD rates available?

 

Really wish ASR 7 page "review" thread would have had at least some words about sq. 

Let’s just say it won’t dissapoint! I’m confident in saying that. I’m loving this dac and truly excited to get it to you if you would like to test it. Then you can give your feedback.

 

 

[Bimmer100]

10 hours ago, rickca said:

ASR review says $4K.  I guess the Kitsune edition will be more.

Price for the L1 is actually just a bit little under 4K.

and L2 is just a over 4K and KTE is Under 5K a bit.

 

final prices will be up late this month 

[Le Concombre Masqué]

if anyone wants to dump a Merlot for it would not measure good per ASR's criteria, I'll come pick it in the trash bin

[Milt99]

To be accurate, the much reviled(here) Amir did not do the measurements.

It was done independently by a member in China who also measured the Spring LVL 2.

He did a few more measurements requested by forum members

 

I point blank asked him about the SQ, he replied that he really liked it and was seriously considering buying the demo unit.

IMO, this could be serious competition for the Terminator.

I would say that Holo Audio has come up with a winna

 

[Bimmer100]

On 12/10/2019 at 5:42 PM, Milt99 said:

To be accurate, the much reviled(here) Amir did not do the measurements.

It was done independently by a member in China who also measured the Spring LVL 2.

He did a few more measurements requested by forum members

 

I point blank asked him about the SQ, he replied that he really liked it and was seriously considering buying the demo unit.

IMO, this could be serious competition for the Terminator.

I would say that Holo Audio has come up with a winna

 

If Amir was to contact me I could arrange for him to test it too. I believe he is a local member of the audio club here. Pacific Northwest Audio Society. 
 

hopefully will have the KTE May early Jan.

[WolfX-700]

On 12/11/2019 at 9:42 AM, Milt99 said:

To be accurate, the much reviled(here) Amir did not do the measurements.

It was done independently by a member in China who also measured the Spring LVL 2.

He did a few more measurements requested by forum members

 

I point blank asked him about the SQ, he replied that he really liked it and was seriously considering buying the demo unit.

IMO, this could be serious competition for the Terminator.

I would say that Holo Audio has come up with a winna

 

 

The measurement was done by me and you asked me if I liked the sound. I said, yes, I like it (because I heard it).

But you ask me how it sounds, and I think my expression is that I think my evaluation of sound will be affected by such excellent measurement results.

I did say that I should consider buying a May. In fact, the consideration is not because of sound, but because it is an art-like engineering implementation. I really respect such engineering implementation and the effort behind it.

[analogue]

Haven't gone thru this thread, nor am that knowledgeable about the HOLO r2r dac.

So here are some questions:

 

Is the "base" dac of the HOLO sourced from an OEM? E.g., Soekris?

Is there any similarity (OEM or otherwise) to DENAFRIPS (also a discrete r2r dac, AFAIK).

[Bimmer100]

53 minutes ago, analogue said:

Haven't gone thru this thread, nor am that knowledgeable about the HOLO r2r dac.

So here are some questions:

 

Is the "base" dac of the HOLO sourced from an OEM? E.g., Soekris?

Is there any similarity (OEM or otherwise) to DENAFRIPS (also a discrete r2r dac, AFAIK).

We do not source our dac module from anyone. We have designed them completely from scratch. Our own design and implementing unique tech like our linear compensation. There is a specific Parallel resistor networks for pcm content with its advanced architecture as well as a dedicated resistor network for dsd content. There isn’t really anything like it. 
so I hope this answers your question. And no, not really anything similar between them other than they are discrete. 

[Milt99]

9 hours ago, Bimmer100 said:

If Amir was to contact me I could arrange for him to test it too. I believe he is a local member of the audio club here. Pacific Northwest Audio Society. 
 

hopefully will have the KTE May early Jan.

 

Tim, I don't know if Amir would solicit a loan from you but I'm positive if you contacted him he would be happy to measure the May.

He seems to be really into this as are the forum members & it wouldn't hurt sales

Plus it would be great to see the production version of the May.

Forum members, including myself, like to see the insides of the gear as well.

I think your products have a distinct advantage over Denafrips with you being located in the US.

Best of luck with the new product, it measures superbly, looks great & exudes quality & great design, imo.

[Bimmer100]

7 minutes ago, Milt99 said:

 

Tim, I don't know if Amir would solicit a loan from you but I'm positive if you contacted him he would be happy to measure the May.

He seems to be really into this as are the forum members & it wouldn't hurt sales

Plus it would be great to see the production version of the May.

Forum members, including myself, like to see the insides of the gear as well.

I think your products have a distinct advantage over Denafrips with you being located in the US.

Best of luck with the new product, it measures superbly, looks great & exudes quality & great design, imo.

Milt, the May that was measured was a Level 2 May dac. There is no difference from the retail dac other than the chassis color. So that is what you can expect for Level 2 May dac. 
the KTE version will have a couple other changes to it. As does the L1

 

all the retail versions come in the classic black and copper finish. 
 

the demo models are that champagne and red color to distinguish them “not for resale”. Basically we were playing with colors and didn’t want the handful of chassis to go to waste so made them into demo models but they have the full on retail electronic components if you will.

 

 

[Milt99]

Thanks, Tim.

I figured as much.

Clever idea making unique demo units never seen that before.

 

Sorry but I likely would pass on the May in the demo finish compared to the Spring.

Yeah, I love excellent SQ but I also love understated gear design.

I'm superficial that way 😎

OTOH with a decent discount...

[Bimmer100]

57 minutes ago, Milt99 said:

Thanks, Tim.

I figured as much.

Clever idea making unique demo units never seen that before.

 

Sorry but I likely would pass on the May in the demo finish compared to the Spring.

Yeah, I love excellent SQ but I also love understated gear design.

I'm superficial that way 😎

OTOH with a decent discount...

Yea, personally I don’t care for the champagne and red either. And will not be any option for anyone who wants one. As they simply are not available! Only black and copper!!

[exdmd]

The Holo Audio May is the only DAC under $5000 USD that would tempt me to switch from Yggdrasil, but I am in no hurry. I am more concerned it would be a side grade rather than an upgrade so would need some really compelling side by side reviews. I also don't have the Unison USB receiver board in my Yggdrasil yet, will get one in January. It would be a well considered decision, as investing the money in RAAL SR1a phones instead while keeping the Yggy is another option. I am quite impressed by the engineering tour de force the May represents. Truly art and a labour of love.

[ted_b]

1 minute ago, exdmd said:

The Holo Audio May is the only DAC under $5000 USD that would tempt me to switch from Yggdrasil, but I am in no hurry. I am more concerned it would be a side grade rather than an upgrade so would need some really compelling side by side reviews.

As I pointed out in my now old Holo Spring Level 3 review here, buying a Holo (Spring or now May) gets you TWO dacs for that price (i.e two discrete paths).  You already own a great PCM dac (the Yiggy) but owning a May will likely get you a great PCM dac and a great DSD dac, and there are LOTS of DSD recordings you are missing out on (or converting down to lossy levels).  My $.02

[barrows]

1 hour ago, exdmd said:

I am more concerned it would be a side grade rather than an upgrade so would need some really compelling side by side reviews

I would recommend to not rely on other's impressions or reviews.  I suspect @Bimmer100 offers the ability to return a Holo DAC if one is not satisfied (if he does not, that is a shame as hearing the product is really the only reliable way to know for sure if it is for you).  An in home test, in one's own system is the only way to fairly judge a DAC, as the differences between DACs, while very meaningful in an audiophile sense, tend to be on the subtle side (as compared to speakers or headphones, for example).

[Foggie]

@Bimmer100 Has there been any discussion in designing an Ethernet input to the Holo DACs?

[Bimmer100]

9 minutes ago, Foggie said:

@Bimmer100 Has there been any discussion in designing an Ethernet input to the Holo DACs?

There has been discussion of a DDC with Ethernet however cannot really say much more. But it won’t be anytime soon. We have this May dac to finish up with the KTE model and next will be working on the Serene flagship headamp/preamp. More will be announced at that launch most likely.

[Miska]

8 hours ago, exdmd said:

The Holo Audio May is the only DAC under $5000 USD that would tempt me to switch from Yggdrasil, but I am in no hurry. I am more concerned it would be a side grade rather than an upgrade so would need some really compelling side by side reviews. I also don't have the Unison USB receiver board in my Yggdrasil yet, will get one in January. It would be a well considered decision, as investing the money in RAAL SR1a phones instead while keeping the Yggy is another option. I am quite impressed by the engineering tour de force the May represents. Truly art and a labour of love.

 

Also depends how you use it. Yggdrasil doesn't give you much flexibility, you can send it up 4x PCM and that's it, always goes through their DSP. With Holo Audio DACs you can run standalone with on-board DSP if you want, or alternatively run the DAC in bit-perfect NOS mode and run the DSP elsewhere.

 

For me, reason to use Holo Audio DACs is the NOS mode and the performance available thanks to the feature.

 

[Milt99]

Although I'm out of the audio gear market for a couple years having overshot my wad in the last 18 months,

I'm strangely drawn to statement gear especially at un-insane prices.

I did research Denafrips on audition\return policy, not happening.

The May is the new R2R Sheriff in town and most fortunately Kitsune is 25 miles from where I live!

 

That said, I am curious about these R2R implementations. Never heard one.

A WAG thinks that it lends itself to DSD. No subjective or objective proof.

Excellent audio gear can and has been a story of wild diversity of design.

Not married to any particular one. It's like judging a DAC solely by the chip or a speaker by the driver material.

It's immaterial, imo

[Miska]

9 hours ago, Milt99 said:

That said, I am curious about these R2R implementations. Never heard one.

A WAG thinks that it lends itself to DSD. No subjective or objective proof.

 

Here you at least have an option to use both and switch at will.

 

(same with Denafrips too)

[matthias]

14 hours ago, Miska said:

 

With Holo Audio DACs you can run standalone with on-board DSP if you want.......

 

Miska,

do you know if the May uses the AK4137 SRC chip as well for on-board DSP?

Thanks

 

Matt

[Miska]

20 minutes ago, matthias said:

Miska,

do you know if the May uses the AK4137 SRC chip as well for on-board DSP?

 

I have no idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if it does.

 

[matthias]

42 minutes ago, matthias said:

 

Miska,

do you know if the May uses the AK4137 SRC chip as well for on-board DSP?

Thanks

 

Matt

 

@Bimmer100?

Thanks

 

Matt

 

[juanitox]

is anyone have compared the Holo spring 2 with  T+A DAC8 DSD  or Denafrippss dacs in DSD 512 ?   seems iinteresting to know which one  is the Nemesis

[Milt99]

7 hours ago, juanitox said:

is anyone have compared the Holo spring 2 with  T+A DAC8 DSD  or Denafrippss dacs in DSD 512 ?   seems iinteresting to know which one  is the Nemesis

Give me $20K & I'll do the most thorough comparo you've ever seen