Article: Holo Audio Spring Level 3 Kitsune Tuned Edition R2R DAC Review

[tboooe]

Hi @ted_b, I sent you a PM regarding the 3.4 driver and SU-1.

[ted_b]

Replied.

 

Tommy can't get the new XMOS 3.4 driver (from Holo Audio) to be seen by the Singxer (as I can). Anybody?

 

Have you tried Singxer's driver on their site (3.2)?

[ted_b]

Resolved. Yea!

[Forehaven]

Ted, do you know if Singxer's going to be able to do DSD512 via I2S?

[tboooe]

thank you @ted_b for the help last night. I must say I am very impressed with the Singxer SU-1. Right out of the box, it has a very tight and dynamic sound with lots of inner detail and nuance. I am hoping it softens just a tad as it burns it. That is the main difference between the SU-1 and my Mutec MC 3+. The Mutec is just a tad smoother sounding, perhaps because of its reclocking. Speaking of clocks, one thing I want to try out is the clock output of the SU-1.

 

Looking forward to your thoughts on HQP converting PCM to DSD native and played through the SU-1. Thank you for taking the time to do this review.

[ted_b]

Ted, do you know if Singxer's going to be able to do DSD512 via I2S?

 

I do not know. They have DSD256 printed on the front of their unit.

[ted_b]

thank you @ted_b for the help last night. I must say I am very impressed with the Singxer SU-1. Right out of the box, it has a very tight and dynamic sound with lots of inner detail and nuance. I am hoping it softens just a tad as it burns it. That is the main difference between the SU-1 and my Mutec MC 3+. The Mutec is just a tad smoother sounding, perhaps because of its reclocking. Speaking of clocks, one thing I want to try out is the clock output of the SU-1.

 

Looking forward to your thoughts on HQP converting PCM to DSD native and played through the SU-1. Thank you for taking the time to do this review.

 

Thanks for the nice note. Yes, the I2S is a detail wonder, and could be, in certain systems, a tipping point toward a little too front row-ish for some....but definitely give the unit a couple hundred hours to settle in more, anyway.

 

Report back on any playing with clocks.

[tboooe]

Ted, do you know if Singxer's going to be able to do DSD512 via I2S?

 

I have heard from a reliable source that the Su-1 hardware is capable of DSD512.

[ted_b]

Yiggy in the system and warming up with a PCM playlist of everything from redbook to 24/192. The microRendu (as NAA) saw the Linux Schitt USB 2.0 driver instantly. If anyone believes the Yiggy's sweetspot is x, let me know. I may start some serious listening tonight (Tribe is on now and up 2-1 , so no late baseball).

[Forehaven]

I do not know. They have DSD256 printed on the front of their unit.

 

I see now. Thx

 

,I have heard from a reliable source that the Su-1 hardware is capable of DSD512.>

 

That would be great if so.

 

I decided to give this setup a try. Ordered the Level 3 with fuse upgrade and the Su-1. I'll have that and a uR to compare to. Fun times ahead.

[Pixelplay]

Yiggy in the system and warming up with a PCM playlist of everything from redbook to 24/192. The microRendu (as NAA) saw the Linux Schitt USB 2.0 driver instantly. If anyone believes the Yiggy's sweetspot is x, let me know. I may start some serious listening tonight (Tribe is on now and up 2-1 , so no late baseball).

I am really impressed with the attitude that you are taking in exploring some of the current dac's. Its a journey of discovery for all of us.

 

Thank you!

[One and a half]

Yiggy in the system and warming up with a PCM playlist of everything from redbook to 24/192. The microRendu (as NAA) saw the Linux Schitt USB 2.0 driver instantly. If anyone believes the Yiggy's sweetspot is x, let me know. I may start some serious listening tonight (Tribe is on now and up 2-1 , so no late baseball).

 

The Focusrite and Mutec threads have a consensus that the AES3 input of the Yggdrasil is the sweet spot.

[Dmitre]

You can start following this thread (in Russian, learn Russian )

HOLO Audio Spring DAC - R2R DSD512 - Цифровые источники - DA Stereo

 

It's promo tour of HOLO Audio Spring DAC (Jensen, Silver Trafo, AN Trans) in Russia.

 

It's compared against

— Berkeley DAC 1 and Wadia 15 — HOLO Audio Spring DAC - R2R DSD512 - Цифровые источники - DA Stereo

— Naim DAC with Teddy PSU

— Today it will fight against Metrum Pavane

 

Various listeners will review it in their own system Hilo DAC, Rokna DAC

[Pixelplay]

You can start following this thread (in Russian, learn Russian )

HOLO Audio Spring DAC - R2R DSD512 - Цифровые источники - DA Stereo

 

It's promo tour of HOLO Audio Spring DAC (Jensen, Silver Trafo, AN Trans) in Russia.

 

It's compared against

— Berkeley DAC 1 and Wadia 15 — HOLO Audio Spring DAC - R2R DSD512 - Цифровые источники - DA Stereo

— Naim DAC with Teddy PSU

— Today it will fight against Metrum Pavane

 

Various listeners will review it in their own system Hilo DAC, Rokna DAC

 

Thanks Dmitre, I have been google translating it over the last couple of days however it does not always get it right. Are you able to give us a snapshot of the outcomes with each dac. Your input would be most valuable and I would like to thank you in advance for your time and help. PS I have the version 3 kitsune Holo

 

Cheers, Greg

[clipper]

Yiggy in the system and warming up with a PCM playlist of everything from redbook to 24/192. The microRendu (as NAA) saw the Linux Schitt USB 2.0 driver instantly. If anyone believes the Yiggy's sweetspot is x, let me know. I may start some serious listening tonight (Tribe is on now and up 2-1 , so no late baseball).

 

I mostly listen to the Yggy with a Singxer F-1 USB to S/PDIF converter and an iFi SPDIF Purifier.

 

To me this sounds better than using the Yggy's USB input and even sounds better (to me) than using the Yggy's AES input with a Berkeley Alpha USB.

 

Source file wise, I think the Yggy sounds good with everything: redbook, high res PCM, even DSD converted to PCM by HQPlayer.

[Bimmer100]

http://bwstube.com/image/79014067.png

 

I talked to a guy yesterday who owns this exact system and unfortunatley lost his contact information. He mentioned he was on this thread. Maybe someone can tell me who he is so I can get back in touch. He told me his exact sound system is the one at the top of this page.

 

 

BWS components anyhow. looks like a nice setup!

 

hope to reconnect. my contact list was wiped when my phone had been replaced the other day.

 

 

----

 

on another note! nice review Ted. I'm looking forward to hearing more on comparing to many other dacs. We encourage all our customers to compare and try all the other competition! There is a lot of value with this dac in our opinion. we don't do discounts or special pricing though. Ted didn't get any special discount. He got one of the early models without the fancy fuse, so in a way he paid a little less. but in a way he paid the same! He just loved the dac so much he wanted to keep it. Now we have to get new demo dacs!

[Distinctive]

Various listeners will review it in their own system Hilo DAC, Rokna DAC

Do you know if it is the Rockna WaveDream Signature Balanced?

[Dmitre]

Do you know if it is the Rockna WaveDream Signature Balanced?

 

As I know it Rokna with new chips, not licensed MSB.

[Distinctive]

As I know it Rokna with new chips, not licensed MSB.

Yes, probably the RD-0 ladder (proprietary Rockna) but what I meant was if it was the balanced version with lower noisefloor that will be used. This implies use of fully balanced amps connected to the DAC.

[granosalis]

Thanks Ted,

this is a very interesting discussion, for both the Holo DAC and SU1.

I have the singxer on my system from more than one month now.

I always thought that the USB port was an excellent interface ... to connect mice and keyboards :-) ... but today things have changed.

My DAC is Bel Canto DAC 3.7 without USB In, so using a USB (or ethernet) to SPDiff convert is a must for me.

I tried many USB converters but I decided to use Bel Canto ref Stream (Ethernet rendered) because this solution has proved to be clearly superior to every other USB to SPDiff converters I have tried before.

 

So how the SU1 works compared to Bel Canto Ref Stream?

I was very impressed by what I discovered.

- Test #1

I'm usually use my Mac Book Pro (late 2011) for audio with both Audirvana + or Linn controller with minim server and Bubble upnp on my Qnap NAS.

So the first test was made comparing these two different configurations:

A. Mac Book Pro with Audiorvana + to Singxer SU1 (Oyaide continental) to Bel Canto 3.7 (Oyaide coaxial BNC).

B. Mac Book Pro with Linn Kazoo controller to Bel Canto Ref Strean (LAN network with In-akustik CAT6 Premium cable and GISO DS ethernet isolator) .

 

The test results showed no significant differences, the two system was sounding so close that was difficult to identify them.

This was the first time that an USB converter was comparable to my network reference, that by the way costs much more than the SU-1 ($2,495 Vs $399,00).

 

Last week I read your review and I was intrigued to try XMOS Windows ASIO drive in my Dell XPS 13 Laptop.

I have downloaded the SU-1 package from Kitsune HiFi that includes drivers.

 

- Test #2

A. Mac Book Pro with Linn Kazoo controller to Bel Canto Ref Strean (LAN network with In-akustik CAT6 Premium cable and GISO DS ethernet isolator).

B. Dell XPS 13 with Foobar (XMOS Asio Drivers) to Singxer SU1 (Oyaide continental) to Bel Canto 3.7 (Oyaide coaxial BNC).

The first thing I said was "WOW !!!".

 

Witht the XMOS drivers in place (for sure also different software and different computer) the Singxer SU-1 was beating the streamer by far.

More transparency, more details and more tree dimensional soundstage. The difference was not subtle - I can not go back.

I must also mention that while I was using the Ethernet GISO isolator on the streamer, no kind of USB purifiers has been used with the SU-1. So I think there may be room for further improvement.

 

Best Regards,

Giuseppe

[tboooe]

Thanks Ted,

this is a very interesting discussion, for both the Holo DAC and SU1.

I have the singxer on my system from more than one month now.

 

Best Regards,

Giuseppe

Giuseppe, thank you for the feedback. I too have an SU-1 for 3 days now. May I ask how long it took for the SU-1 to break in? So far, the music sounds very good even only after a few days.

[granosalis]

Giuseppe, thank you for the feedback. I too have an SU-1 for 3 days now. May I ask how long it took for the SU-1 to break in? So far, the music sounds very good even only after a few days.

 

I held the SU1 with computer in repeat for about a week before serious listening, after this period I did not appreciate any changes. Also in my case the device was already playing well after a couple of days. I believe that long break-in periods are unnecessary.

[Rexp]

The most informative review on CA I've ever read, thanks Ted! Perhaps you could do a separate review/thread on the Singrex SU-1, very interesting...

[HDgeorge]

Great review Ted.

 

I would like to ask which is the Holo Audio's website and how can we find info about European version units?

 

Any contact info about Holo Audio in China? Or Europe?

[firedog]

Ironically, the American distributor will sell you a European unit if you ask for one.