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HOLO Audio MAY DAC


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Yes, I need to get this thing set up soon, as there are too many things going on and I have knee replacement surgery set for less than 4 weeks from now...so I need all variables to stop soon.  🙂  Plus, it will sound even better on pain pills.  😎  (Just kidding....those things mess me up).  I mainly need to have one more night of serious Holo Spring listening before I can properly start any comparison, or at a minimum appreciate the finer things in the May even better.  And this is a demo machine so, albeit cold, it's at least been broken in.  Stay tuned.

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Dear Diavolo

Re "utter nonsense".

First of all, Kitstune say that the KTE fuse is better SQ than the L1/L2 fuse ( and presumably you love the May KTE?).

Secondly (you may not believe what I am about to say, but, nonetheless, this is how I heard it). Using an "audiophile fuse" in my Auralic G2 gave (for me) SQ improvement. Reversing the fuse was immediately obvious. However, when I tried the same make of fuse in my Yggy and my Blue Hawaii SE, there was no improvement. Subsequently I sold the Aries G2 and bought an Aries G2.1 - the fuse had no effect on it's SQ. Take this as you will.

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Ipost

I will eventually try flipping the fuse, but it won't be until the May has at least 500 hrs on it. I was hoping that those of you that have had your May's for some period have already tried this? Either way, one run's out of superlatives describing the SQ of the May KTE. This topic really does annoy some folk!

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Yes, for me, some KTE things are technically really difficult to understand...

The KTE approach might be listenable…but beginning from the stickers on the transformers,

via the Fuse theme (incl. directionality in an AC environment), over on board soldered silver cables in front of plugged in, plugged out transformers, and Voltage switches…

In my opinion, the deal is not the KTE thing, the deal is the engineering and the separate and oversized PSU.

Does the KTE upgrade make a sonic difference, yes, it might be audible, is it worth the additional money…difficult…

Papas Gear...

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Toni-Mang

I agree with you. For most of us the technicalities do not matter - but for some these technicalities do reinforce their decision to purchase this  DAC. I am certain that my May KTE sounds better than my Yggy. Surely, this is all that matters? But, I think most of us purchased the May KTE because we are on the inevitable upward spiral, seeking equipment which will bring us closer to SQ Nirvana.

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Anyone else experienced a delay like this  ? ,..This past Monday Tim forwarded a tracking number for my KTE May dac , according to the DLH tracking information my dac hasn’t moved out of a Hong Kong service centre since Saturday April 24th ,,... jeesh ,,.5 weeks was a tough wait and now ,...

DLH just haven’t picked it up yet ,,

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Yes. The shipper generated a label last Wed, but it wasn't picked up until Monday this week.  It just landed in LAX on its way to SEA and then my place.  It has been 8 weeks and 2 days since I ordered it. I suspect that there have been a great many orders for a small team to handle and that they are overwhelmed trying to get boxes built and out the door, all while Jeff is readying the Spring 3.  I will freely admit that this process has tested my patience and there have been some words exchanged. All I can say is that it better damn well deliver when it gets here. And I mean out-of-the-box without resorting to  ensuring my a/c fuse is aligned with a meridian...

 

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9 minutes ago, scintilla said:

Yes. The shipper generated a label last Wed, but it wasn't picked up until Monday this week.  It just landed in LAX on its way to SEA and then my place.  It has been 8 weeks and 2 days since I ordered it. I suspect that there have been a great many orders for a small team to handle and that they are overwhelmed trying to get boxes built and out the door, all while Jeff is readying the Spring 3.  I will freely admit that this process has tested my patience and there have been some words exchanged. All I can say is that it better damn well deliver when it gets here. And I mean out-of-the-box without resorting to  ensuring my a/c fuse is aligned with a meridian...

I just spoke with Tim , I had contacted DHL and the response from the representative advising me to contact the shipper ASAP alarmed me ,.

I then sent off an email to Tim , he responded calming my fears ,..lol 

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6 hours ago, Hiker said:

Anyone else experienced a delay like this  ? ,..This past Monday Tim forwarded a tracking number for my KTE May dac , according to the DLH tracking information my dac hasn’t moved out of a Hong Kong service centre since Saturday April 24th ,,... jeesh ,,.5 weeks was a tough wait and now ,...

DLH just haven’t picked it up yet ,,

Mine was similar. I received tracking info from DHL and it appeared to sit waiting for pickup for a few days. I think I received the tracking info from Tim on the day I received it.

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21 minutes ago, scintilla said:

And I mean out-of-the-box without resorting to  ensuring my a/c fuse is aligned with a meridian...

I thought you already had one? Apparently not. Mine sounded good out of the box but has some very rough patches on it's way to ~500 hours. Now at 1000 hours it sounds great all the time but don't give up on it too soon as I suspect some have and sold it.

 

If I were to do it again, I would probably give it power and signal and not listen to it for a few weeks.

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I live in an open loft where I also work.  My system is right next to my desk, which makes the dac a convenient tax write-off.  I listen to SomaFM Groove salad all day while I work because it doesn't distract me. My system plays 18 hours a day.  It won't take long to break in and I probably won't notice it either because I will be working. By the time I get to a full-on listening session it should be cooked in already.

 

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It does.  I am doing 256x ASDM7, ext2 into a D90 and it sounds a lot better than it has any right to for an AAC+ stream (even Roon sneers at me with a highly judgmental "low-quality" label) . But as I mentioned many pages back, taking the 48k digital output from my Accuphase T-1000 into HQP and up to DSD is simply unbelievable.  That's a treat that I think will really test just how much better the May is than the Topping, because it already has an image that extends all the way to the sides and also has depth and big bass.  I have a hard time imagining how much better it can actually get... stay tuned. Perhaps I need to get to Office Depot and pick up a box of magic red rubber dots to stick all over it just to make sure that I can really hear the improvements... 😬

 

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I should play around more with the input capabilities in HQP. I'm sure FM does sound way better moving the noise way out. It's tough to beat the convenience of internet radio though. Try 5EC too. I like it a bit more than 7-nonEC. I can't do 7EC.

 

Be sure to try PCM too. I like it better than DSD 90% of the time with the May. It's vastly easier for the HQP machine too, bonus. I go between poly-sinc-lp, ext2 and sinc-m. If I need or want to reduce the dymamics or the highs are too hot, DSD is the ticket (with the May). Think late at night or badly mastered 80s tracks of my wasted youth.

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I will set HQP to native and listen that way for awhile.  My mid-2012 iMac i7 can do 128x 7EC but not 256x.  I anticipate having a new iMac later this years once the new flagship is introduced and we are certain to have that box work with the additional cores in the second-gen M chip.  I am only doing 2-channel convolution so I may be able to explore the higher rate DSD with EC modulators on that new machine. It's taken a lot of years, but I feel like the May is the last step to having my system idealized for my needs. If it would just get here.

 

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Oh yeah, native NOS also rolls the highs off in a very pleasant way...when needed. I do detect a loss of clarity overall without any upsampling/noise shaping but I could easily live with the May NOS with nothing but native rates.

 

I'm sure the new M2 chip will kick some DSD butt. They just entered mass production this week apparently.

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I actually meant [source] rather than "native."  Although I probably will want to hear what a NOS dac sounds like with native rates just so I know.  I have some curiosity due to the cult that built NOS dacs from the old philps 1541 gold crowns and carried on at great length about them like they were gluten-free dieters on a mission to evangelize the merits of no wheat, gluten free muffins.

 

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Single-ended or balanced? It's a bit hotter than my departed but well appreciated DirectStream. Balanced with both.

 

I've not listened to Kerosene Hat for a good number of years. I wonder how it will go once the Trinity Sessions SACD is over?

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Balanced.  But I believe that it is the 6db attenuation for DSD that I was hearing rather than the overall gain.  In source going to 768 is sounds louder than the DSD and about the same as the Topping. I got to see Dvid Lowery last year right before covid shut the world down.  He recorded a local band at his studio in GA and then came here to headline a show with them.  They opened, then there was a Camper set and finally Cracker.  He is an amazing guy.  Learned, talented and a showman too.  I doubt many people know what a polymath he is in the music world, but he teaches mathematics at the university, has a PhD and also has a record company and a recording studio.  One very busy man.

 

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35 minutes ago, scintilla said:

My L2 is playing Groove Salad after a quick swap out for the D90.  A bit lower gain structure than the D90 but so far it is sounding smooth and very nice. Will spin some vinyl this weekend to test it out. Just got a new 180g pressing of Kerosene Hat.

Well I got Gentlemen's Blues. Does that mean I need to procure Kerosene Hat 180g which is backordered? Guess I'll have to spin err, stream from Qobuz to the May and find out.

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200-400 hours had some rough patches - same soundstage shrunk and upper-mid lower treble was irritatingly harsh on some tracks. 500 and beyond just seems to get more sublime.

 

It seems as though passing through 1000 has been just a bit more relaxed but the 'bad' sounds are far behind at this point.

 

Have faith, press on.

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I don't remember the May sounding that bad. But then I was constantly screwing with setup, cables and a newly minted Kinki Studio integrated not to mention the music server. But through all that pain and frustration, when it was playing, it was playing VERY WELL.

 

I'm probably at close to 400hrs. As I rotate power cables I can tailor the sound to my liking. The May is getting a LessLoss C-Marc intropic, while the Kinki enjoys a Triode Labs Obsession. 

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