Happening: Holo Spring 3 vs. Yiggy vs. Codex vs. 2Qute

[holzmann]

Thanks, these brands are impossible to demo in my area.

 

Could either of these muster decent ''meat'' or were they more the ''shouty'' type?

 

Hardly shouty but I would say the Tekton and Evoke speakers could muster more bass. They were each sublime in their own right in this setup.

[holzmann]

I own the Holo, Level 3 DAC. While I applaud your efforts, I will respectfully disagree that I2S is the superior input. I have tried my Holo with the Singxer and I2S and preferred the USB input coupled with the Regen. I have had the 2Qute in my system as well(along with the Hugo). I have not yet heard the Yiggy.

 

The beauty of the Holo is that when using HQPlayer, I can easily try 44.1, 384, DSD 256 or DSD512 on each track. I find it interesting to hear the differences and how I might prefer 44.1 to 384 on a certain track but maybe the opposite on another. I have just started to listen to DSD512 through HQPlayer and am pretty darned impressed.

 

Regards,

 

Randy

And several of the people there yesterday spent a different Sunday afternoon (3 weeks ago) just auditioning the Holo through different inputs and using the Singxer USB>I2S was the input they agreed upon. Different strokes but keep in mind these decisions are being made after 4+ ears have had a listen and some consensus has been made. Yesterday we had some 12 ears doing some very concentrated listening.

 

None of us had an agenda and many brought their own DAC to the party. One person brought both the Codex and the 2Qute. One person brought the Yiggy. The Holo was already in-store.

[RKlein]

And several of the people there yesterday spent a different Sunday afternoon (3 weeks ago) just auditioning the Holo through different inputs and using the Singxer USB>I2S was the input they agreed upon. Different strokes but keep in mind these decisions are being made after 4+ ears have had a listen and some consensus has been made. Yesterday we had some 12 ears doing some very concentrated listening.

 

None of us had an agenda and many brought their own DAC to the party. One person brought both the Codex and the 2Qute. One person brought the Yiggy. The Holo was already in-store.

I don't disagree with your above remarks. There are many who like the Singxer. I'm not one of them. I don't know if it was possible to do this, but I do think it important to listen to DACS that have been on for at least 24 hours.

 

Actually, I am envious that you were able to listen to the different speakers that your group had on hand...

 

Regards,

 

Randy

[holzmann]

I don't disagree with your above remarks. There are many who like the Singxer. I'm not one of them. I don't know if it was possible to do this, but I do think it important to listen to DACS that have been on for at least 24 hours.

 

Actually, I am envious that you were able to listen to the different speakers that your group had on hand...

 

Regards,

 

Randy

 

The Holo had been plugged in for weeks. The Yiggy was brought over connected to a APS so it was never disconnected from power either. Only the Codex and the 2Qute were cold in this regard.

[mozes]

Thank you for the great write up, I was listening to the Yiggy yesterday and it is a great well balanced dac.

 

 

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[Laowei Steve]

Am I correct to assume you were primarily listening/comparing the Holo DAC in NOS mode?

 

 

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[rajacat]

Thanks for sharing. It seems that the Yiggy and the Holo are very close in performance. It would probably come down to personal taste, individual speaker characteristics, general system synergy and room acoustics that would determine which was the most pleasing to you.

 

I do like the Holo's versatility because of the separate R2R network to handle DSD.

[bibo01]

Yes, they were volume level matched to the best of our abilities.

 

Thanks. Do you mean by ear?

Sorry to insist...

[willsw]

It was an imperfect, non-scientific comparison. Levels were matched by ear, balanced outputs heard via a Jensen balanced>unbalanced converter, a variety of inputs used on different DACS. I do think, however, that the consistency in impression over the several different sources and source paths, and then also through different speakers, does give legitimacy to the impressions.

 

One listener who had spent a few hours with headphones and the Spring on another day did prefer the spdif (I don't know if optical or coaxial) input via a Peachtree X1 to i2S via the Singxer.

 

The Spring was only listened to in NOS mode, and we did not play any DSD. This session was aimed at broader impressions; certainly the Spring offers many input and output options to be played with and listened to. Our loan time is up with the unit, unfortunately.

[Middy]

Thank you it's great to hear group impressions of dream Dacs... I hope it was a fun get together regardless.

 

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[holzmann]

Thank you it's great to hear group impressions of dream Dacs... I hope it was a fun get together regardless.

 

Sent from my SM-G900F using Computer Audiophile mobile app

 

Tons of fun and always super informative. If you ever find yourself in DC, to say hi to willsw at Urban HiFi.

[rajacat]

I wonder how the Holo sounds with the copper transformer? Silver has its own sound which is thought by many to be more precise and detailed whereas copper is regarded as more organic and warm.

It would be interesting to compare a copper tranny Holo that has all the mods (Jensen PS caps, fancy fuse, upgraded IEC and silver wire) that the Level 3 has except, of course, the silver tranny.

[Norton]

Interesting. How are you connecting the BDP1 and Holo via I2s?

[classfolkphile]

I wonder how the Holo sounds with the copper transformer? Silver has its own sound which is thought by many to be more precise and detailed whereas copper is regarded as more organic and warm.

It would be interesting to compare a copper tranny Holo that has all the mods (Jensen PS caps, fancy fuse, upgraded IEC and silver wire) that the Level 3 has except, of course, the silver tranny.

 

 

Seconded. An interesting comparison nonetheless. Thank you.

[Middy]

Just a small note..I know you guys probably know about Balanced Isolation Transformers. ..Especially the Topaz Elgar in the US...A small DC Bias filter really helped in conjunction for Transformer hum and SQ of the B.I.T.

Just something to consider if you are thinking of splashing out on a silver core when a clean signal from the mains may help more.....

I got this cheap and works well..

 

http://www.atlhifi.com/shop/fully-assembled-devices/dc-blocker-trap-filter-assembled-in-case/

 

US cheap DC blocker...

https://emotiva.com/products/accessories/cmx-2

 

I hope this helps or food for thought..

 

Happy xmas

Dave

 

 

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[jmdesignz2]

It was an imperfect, non-scientific comparison. Levels were matched by ear, balanced outputs heard via a Jensen balanced>unbalanced converter

 

Interesting but there are decibel meter apps on phones and a few dB here or there can skew things quite a bit.

Not to mention that even the best Jensen balanced>unbalanced converters will affect the signal with a HF roll off, phase shift etc.

[willsw]

Interesting but there are decibel meter apps on phones and a few dB here or there can skew things quite a bit.

Not to mention that even the best Jensen balanced>unbalanced converters will affect the signal with a HF roll off, phase shift etc.

Yes, as I said, it was an imperfect comparison in all sorts of ways. Everyone was aware of these various points of possible mis-representation during the event. There were two people there who had owned Yggys for quite a while who didn't find anything off about how it sounded through the Jensen, and earlier in the week I had listened to the Spring through single-ended outputs and through balanced>Jensen output and found the balanced to be preferable. No doubt it had an affect on the sound, but it seemed more fair to the DACs to run them in as best a mode as we could, given our lack of a balanced preamp.

I suppose this little get-together's impressions can either be considered worthwhile even with its flaws due to the variety of ways things were listened to and compared, or they can be easily dismissed as being uselessly subjective for all of the bad practice going on in the comparisons.

[Ralf11]

who bought what afterwards?

[4est]

I wonder how the Holo sounds with the copper transformer? Silver has its own sound which is thought by many to be more precise and detailed whereas copper is regarded as more organic and warm.

It would be interesting to compare a copper tranny Holo that has all the mods (Jensen PS caps, fancy fuse, upgraded IEC and silver wire) that the Level 3 has except, of course, the silver tranny.

This is a power transformer, and I doubt the typical sonics apply to them as compared to IC or speaker cabling.

[dtb300]

I suppose this little get-together's impressions can either be considered worthwhile even with its flaws due to the variety of ways things were listened to and compared, or they can be easily dismissed as being uselessly subjective for all of the bad practice going on in the comparisons.

Sitting and listening to music is always a worth while endeavor.

 

Looks like a nice demo was planned/done, not optimal, but a starting point, then you take the unit home and listen.

[jmdesignz2]

Yes, as I said, it was an imperfect comparison in all sorts of ways. Everyone was aware of these various points of possible mis-representation during the event. There were two people there who had owned Yggys for quite a while who didn't find anything off about how it sounded through the Jensen, and earlier in the week I had listened to the Spring through single-ended outputs and through balanced>Jensen output and found the balanced to be preferable. No doubt it had an affect on the sound, but it seemed more fair to the DACs to run them in as best a mode as we could, given our lack of a balanced preamp.

I suppose this little get-together's impressions can either be considered worthwhile even with its flaws due to the variety of ways things were listened to and compared, or they can be easily dismissed as being uselessly subjective for all of the bad practice going on in the comparisons.

 

Good comparison despite those. BTW -can you post a pic of the Jensen unit used? Or make/model? Thanks

[willsw]

Good comparison despite those. BTW -can you post a pic of the Jensen unit used? Or make/model? Thanks

One of these: PC-2XR | Jensen Transformers

Used with 8" low-capacitance, shielded RCA cables from the PC-2XR to the preamp.

[doukhobar]

One of these: PC-2XR | Jensen Transformers

Used with 8" low-capacitance, shielded RCA cables from the PC-2XR to the preamp.

 

Decware also makes the ZBIT which is of similar design also with Jensen transformers, also also a gain attenuation knob so you 'ride the gain'! By ear, of course ;-)

 

The Decware Zen Balancing Act - Model ZBIT

[sheldaze]

who bought what afterwards?

 

AFAIK no one bought anything. There was certainly some renewed interest in speakers. But in general, everyone left happy with what they have. Think of it as a meeting of like-minded individuals, who were simply sharing some different sound signatures. And I think it was already mentioned, a few weeks prior, people did bring their headphone rigs to allow for a more referential listening experience to the unknown sources.

 

Though I found it a bit disturbing how the Chord sounded one way on headphones and a very different way on speakers.

[barrows]

In my experience, volume matching is very important. I could not determine much about differences between DACs which were close in performance without precise volume matching. You need a decent voltmeter, and a test track from one of the Stereophile test discs for this. Once you match volumes precisely, then it is possible to determine differences reliably.

Listeners have been shown to "prefer" the sound of even a 1dB gain, so level matching via listening is inadequate.