Popular Post sledwards Posted March 16, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted March 16, 2021 Thought I would report on my short time with the May (KTE version) so far. I have had it in my system for about a week now, and yes, it took about the quoted 6 weeks to arrive. The May is replacing a Matrix Audio X-Sabre Pro MQA, a DAC I was hoping would be my last (for a while anyways). For initial evaluation, I just swapped the two DACs and ran the May in NOS mode. A little about my digital front end. I use a dedicated HQPlayer server running HQPe (Ubuntu 20.04). It is an i7-8700K machine with an RTX-2080 graphics card for CUDA offload. I am upsampling all music to DSD256, ASDM7EC modulator and typically use the sinc-L filter. I also run convolution using 384 kHz filters generated using Acourate, hence the reason for the RTX-2080. My NAA is a passively cooled i5-9400T in a HDPlex v3 chassis, with JCAT net Femto and USB XE cards. Power is supplied by the HDPlex 300W, 4-output supply. The NAA runs HQPe, bootable image on a USB stick. Currently, I am using the Singxer SU-6 to convert USB to i2S input to the May. For the analog downstream portion of my system, I run direct connect to my power amplifier (Neurochrome Modulus-686) and use the wonderful 64-bit HQPlayer volume control which integrates well with Roon. Speakers are GR- Research NX-Oticas, with 2- triple OB 12-inch servo subs and 2 sealed PSA 15-in powered subs. You can never have to much bass. I split the balanced output of the May and send it to a Mini DSP 4x10 for control of all 4 subs. The sound…aMayzing (sorry about that, could not resist). After reading all the reviews and testimonials, I could not have wished for more. I listen to a lot of acoustic guitar, and I have never heard the resonance, timbre and decay of acoustic strings sound so life-like; almost spooky. When strings are strummed, the individual notes are easy to resolve without smearing. It’s so clean, I find myself increasing the volume beyond levels I had previously thought were comfortable limits. I will continue my evaluation by changing HQPlayer settings (high rate PCM and different filters) and modes. What I have tried so far is to remove the Singxer SU-6 from the audio chain and let the USB XE talk directly with the May. To be honest, I actually preferred the sound a bit more with the Singxer in circuit. A little more sparkle on the top end and transients seemed a bit more lively. I would only be guessing as to why I heard the difference, but one thing that does differ are the cables in use. While the same USB cable is used in both configurations, the i2S cable is not present in both. The cable I am using is a Phasure HDMI^2. Those who are patiently waiting will not be disappointed. Questions and comments welcome. Regards, Steve Diavolo, StreamFidelity and Flextreme 1 2 Link to comment
sledwards Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 1 minute ago, Quadman said: Great write up Steve, one of the first I read that actually use HQP and send up a sampled stream to the dac. Most reviewers just NOS or play with the dac's internal up sampling. Say what was the shipping of your dac to the US? It shipped by DHL and took about 5 or 6 days to North Carolina. Diavolo 1 Link to comment
sledwards Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 22 minutes ago, lpost said: What USB output are you using? When I try 1.5M/16 I get a very strained etched sound. 1.5M/20 is unlistenable and drops out. Completely different than using the same USB port at 768K/20. I am seeing the same behavior from my JCAT USB-XE card. Switched to mobo USB and 1.5M sounds nice. Link to comment
Popular Post sledwards Posted April 8, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted April 8, 2021 3 minutes ago, Foggie said: I was just curious how some are doing multi subs without pre when going dac direct. I personally wouldn't be interested in getting a multi chnl dac "just because". I split the balanced output of the May and send the mains to my 2-channel power amp and the subs subs to a Mini DSP 4x10. I setup 4 powered subs using REW to create PEQ curves for the Mini DSP, where I also set appropriate LPFs and delay. I then use Acourate to create convolution filters for HQPlayer. For those who appreciate bass, the final result is jaw-dropping. I have abandoned the use of a preamp for three different DACs now. HQPlayer volume control thru Roon meets my needs. Foggie and fds 1 1 Link to comment
sledwards Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 14 hours ago, Quadman said: Here's your heat source. 4 Transistors biased into class A. Facing down near back of dac, but heat rises. Quadman. Any chance that the bottom cover has some sort of thermal interface material located over the top of those 4 transistors, with the intent being to have a thermal conduction path to the bottom cover? Link to comment
sledwards Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 I hope that’s an illusion and I am looking at a clear conformal coating. Those can’t be cut-outs. Link to comment
sledwards Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 1 hour ago, Schafheide said: I have had my gorgeous May KTE for about 125 hours. Can anyone advise if it is worth experimenting with the orientation of the fuse? I'm not sure it's considered to be PC speculating on the orientation of one's fuse? Diavolo 1 Link to comment
sledwards Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 Uhh, just a bit of humor. Link to comment
sledwards Posted May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 7 minutes ago, Quadman said: The thinness and 2D images do nothing for me so I run back to DSD512, which has body, soul, 3D images, huge walk around stage and so much musical joy I’ve had my May for about 2 months now and have fully explored the high rate stuff. The PCM 1.44/1.53 is good, but if you have the horsepower, DSD1024, AMSDM7 512+fs, poly-sinc-short-mp is the best I’ve heard yet. Checks all the boxes; defined bass, beautiful stage, no fatigue whatsoever. I will get around to trying PGGB, but I seriously doubt it will surpass what I am hearing now. Link to comment
sledwards Posted May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 6 minutes ago, Quadman said: I'm a little short of horse power (10700K), but when no drop outs occur it sounds wonderful and I can't wait for 12th gen CPU which should handle 1024 with no cuda on a lot of modulators. Must be my RTX2080 running Cuda, because my server processor is only an i7-8700K. I also run convolution at he same time. CPU load is high, 2 cores at 98%, 2 at about 57%, but temps are no concern, water cooled. Link to comment
sledwards Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 9 minutes ago, MichaelHiFi said: Can I ask what bit rate limit you have set? HQP crashes when I try to go DSD1024. Link to comment
sledwards Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 Equivalent setting for desktop. Currently I am running 21-bits, but I am not sure it matters for DSD upsampling. Link to comment
sledwards Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 55 minutes ago, mrkoven said: i did have all those cables. last year started with a supra USB for ~$50. then curious -> aq diamond -> sablon -> FTA callisto. and now have the sigma. i got the May after the sigma so i cant speak to any differences on the May. Any chance that you still have any of those cables around, maybe the Supra? Sure would like your impressions between it and something that costs half the price of the May. Link to comment
sledwards Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 1 hour ago, GoldenOne said: 4) Non-Intel, firmware 30.12. Works fine up to 768khz, and APPEARS to work fine for 1.536mhz, but it sounded sibilant, and when measuring, there was odd, seemingly random distortion content which was not present normally. Same experience here with the USB XE card. Sold it and have not looked back. NAA with a decent power supply sounds just fine at high rates. toddrhodes 1 Link to comment
sledwards Posted September 12, 2021 Share Posted September 12, 2021 8 minutes ago, michaelvv said: I'm using hqplayer Embeddded + Jussi NAA Image , here i my settings , can't see where to crank up volume.... Assuming you are using a preamp, then you want to enable the 'fixed volume' option and set the value to -3dB. Link to comment
sledwards Posted November 18, 2021 Share Posted November 18, 2021 Not sure how you are changing the volume, but the May does not have a volume control. Link to comment
sledwards Posted November 19, 2021 Share Posted November 19, 2021 17 hours ago, camott said: However, I am now trying DOP and so far my upstream HQPlayerDesktop (M1 Mac) has performed just as well as with DSD native, 96k > DSD256 ECv2 and no more static pop! Try the SDM Pack = DOP setting. If there is no sonic cost to DOP unpacking then this just might do it. Nice fix! I had your exact behavior with my May KTE and DoP did the trick. My "pop" was more like an annoying "click", and only coming thru the left channel for some reason. Now when the music is paused, display switches from DSD255X to 705.6 PCM. From all the reading I have done, using DoP does not result in any audio quality issues. Link to comment
sledwards Posted November 19, 2021 Share Posted November 19, 2021 49 minutes ago, camott said: Yes my pop/click only comes through the left channel as well. So definitely the same thing. And I also see the 705.6 PCM in display when paused - because that's the actual wrapper format. When music starts streaming, the May sees that it's actually DOP content inside the PCM and changes the display to DSDxxx. But yeah, DOP is working just fine. Given that the May supports all of the different DSD rates, it's not really a concern using DOP for any of them. Glad it's working for you too! (The fact that DOP works suggests it's not an upstream source issue with DSD native. My only guess is that the issue lies with Linux Alsa driver or on the May itself - what platform/driver is your endpoint?). I am running an Intel i5-9400T processor; HQPlayer embedded image (USB boot stick) for NAA functionality. Needed to run NAA from embedded image because NAA standalone image would not recognize my JCAT NET Card FEMTO Link to comment
sledwards Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 37 minutes ago, MichaelHiFi said: I have DAC bits set at 20 as the default. DAC bits only apply when upsampling to PCM. Regarding your question about dropouts when upsampling to DSD1024 with ASDM7 modulator. You are most likely running up against hardware limitations. What filter are you using? Link to comment
sledwards Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 22 hours ago, Quadman said: Anyone here using the May with ubuntu 20.04, HQPlayer and roon and up sampling to DSD512 or 1024? I am thinking of trying ubuntu and I am curious of any issues or tips you may be able to share with this setup. Thank you. Yes. I run embedded, i9-12900K, ASDM7ECv2, poly-sinc-gauss-xla, DSD512. Machine is water cooled. CPU temps max out at about 60C. I offload convolution and filters to RTX-2080 GPU. I do use a DIY NAA. i5-9400T, HDPLEX PS and chassis. Once you get thru Ubuntu installation and rocm, things work great. I am running the latest version of embedded (amd vers 117) pavi 1 Link to comment
Popular Post sledwards Posted August 13, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted August 13, 2022 Account Closed, barrows, James Stephens and 1 other 4 Link to comment
sledwards Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 @miska I clearly see the improvement in the progression you have shown, but still am having a hard time understanding the significance in varying high-frequency response over say, 50 kHz as related to audible results. Could you plot the three charts form 0 to 50 or 100 kHz? Or is the comparison not relevant over that range? Steve Link to comment
sledwards Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 7 hours ago, Quadman said: Me, I am firmly in the 1024DSD w AMSDMEC7 +512fs camp, last night mostly with Sinc S. The Holo May is absolutely incredible at these rates. Listening to your combination now and it is definitely a step up from 512DSD with EC7v2. I like the sinc-S and the sinc-M sounds great too. Link to comment
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