HOLO Audio MAY DAC

[Extreme_Boky]

13 minutes ago, GoldenOne said:

I have several higher end power cords here and have done comparisons. But I just use them for aesthetics. 

Sweet! 

[BrownMagic]

11 minutes ago, James Stephens said:

FYI May needs 500 hours before it is broken in.

500 hours of being turned on or music played through?

[Extreme_Boky]

36 minutes ago, Roasty said:

Yep same power cords, same xlr, same USB cable. Wavelight can't do 768, so listening done at 384.

 

XLR to Denafrips Athena to Apollon stereo 1et400a, and then Susvara. 

 

Anyways, like I said, they're both excellent. In the end it's just down to sound preferences. I'll be keeping both, since I have two listening rigs. 

 

Without going into too much detail.. For me, the May sounds clean, detailed, accurate. The wavelight has the more enjoyable low end, and sweeter lusher highs, as well as a sense of more "meat" throughout the range. 

 

 

 

Since you already like NOS sound that doesn't require crazy high frequencies (read: noise) AND maximum core voltages (read: noise^2), try running the CPU at the lowest possible switching frequency, off the battery power supply if possible.

[James Stephens]

18 hours ago, BrownMagic said:

500 hours of being turned on or music played through?

Hello there. Music needs to be played through the DAC.

 

The 500 hours comes from Tim at Kitsune (says someone elsewhere in the forum). I would say that is on the money.

 

.. now there is of course the R2R section used for PCM and the separate resistor ladder network used for DSD … you will need to break in both!

 

Best,

James

 

 

[BrownMagic]

2 hours ago, James Stephens said:

.. now there is of course the R2R section used for PCM and the separate resistor ladder network used for DSD … you will need to break in both!

I don’t have any DSD content. How does one then break in the DSD ladder? And if I am only going to use the PCM, do I still need to care about the DSD ladder?

[James Stephens]

49 minutes ago, BrownMagic said:

I don’t have any DSD content. How does one then break in the DSD ladder? And if I am only going to use the PCM, do I still need to care about the DSD ladder?

 

Hi there, you could feed PCM content to the the DAC running in OS DSD mode to break it in but you certainly don’t need to.

 

[drjimwillie]

Hi @GoldenOne

Thank you very much for the time and effort to put together those two incredible reviews on the May. 
Will you please say a few more words about the difference between the L2 and the KTE?

when you say all else is the same but it is 2% snappier, are you saying that it is 2% snappier on percussive elements only or is it on everything?

Could you tell the difference if listening to a quartet?

could you tell the difference if listening to rock?

I listen to everything, but mostly rock.

Thank you 

DJW

[drjimwillie]

I own the Spring one level two DAC. 
I am interested in the trade in for the May. I read some thing and someone made a comment about the importance of having the original box. What happens if you do not have the original box and has anyone traded their spring in for the May and not had the original box?

Do you ship the spring to California or to Hong Kong?

if shipping to Hong Kong, how much did that cost you, please?

 Thank you 

DJW

 

[TA75]

Update around 350 hours of break-in on the kte.

 

For me, the sound has completely changed from the first week. The detail retrieval, soundstage portrayal, texture/flesh produced by this dac is simply outstanding. The soundstage compared the tt2 is not even in the same league. Especially in the depth and width. I'm hearing everything from way behind, I look up to examine whats happening with the sound coming out of the speakers but then I realize, what speakers? The May has pulled a Houdini act and made them completely disappear.. Its honestly night and day in this regard compared to the Chord. Big big difference. Really deep and wide soundstage. The chord was very good, but this is just a no contest. Both in size and in precision. 

 

The music has weight. It is so much more texutred and such ultra realism to each sound. I am rediscovering my collection and updating my library enthusiastically every day, it is really a joy listening to music coming out of this dac.

 

I would highly advise anyone wanting to test changes like usb/power cords to wait to at least 300 hours to start changing things around. The difference in my system was massive and is getting better every day.

[GoldenOne]

1 hour ago, drjimwillie said:

Hi @GoldenOne

Thank you very much for the time and effort to put together those two incredible reviews on the May. 
Will you please say a few more words about the difference between the L2 and the KTE?

when you say all else is the same but it is 2% snappier, are you saying that it is 2% snappier on percussive elements only or is it on everything?

Could you tell the difference if listening to a quartet?

could you tell the difference if listening to rock?

I listen to everything, but mostly rock.

Thank you 

DJW

I could only tell the difference when listening to percussive elements or electronic type music. 
With things like vocals, strings, or other more 'continuous' elements I could not tell a difference.

And to be clear, the difference is very minor. It's not at all something I'd be able to pick out without the two side by side and listening careful. You're not 'missing out' by going L2. But if the $800 jump isn't an issue for you then there is a slight improvement to be had

[YALA]

I ordered and received my holo may kte a month ago now. Thanks to Anadialog for his advice. Thank's to my very professional seller "magnahifi in europe (thank's to Jos)". I find it much better than the dac of my tweeked oppo 205 (better than suggested by anadialog). Before, I had a Denafrips terminator, the holo is far better. I was interested in terminator plus and mola mola tambaqui. I had a demonstration of the tambaqui dac at home on my own system. It's a good dac but I opted for the holo and I don't regret it because for me it is better on my system for a little over half the price. I am connected with I2S from my oppo to the dac using an hdmi to i2s adapter. I am using an primaluna evo 400 tube préamp, two emotiva xpa-1l power amps and focal 1038-be2 speakers. I will soon be getting two tube power amps and new speakers. What more can I say, I am absolutely delighted with this dac and now I think I will stick with it. If in addition he has to improve with the burn-in ... I found the dac I needed and I'm really happy.

[John Hughes]

5 hours ago, YALA said:

I ordered and received my holo may kte a month ago now. Thanks to Anadialog for his advice. Thank's to my very professional seller "magnahifi in europe (thank's to Jos)". I find it much better than the dac of my tweeked oppo 205 (better than suggested by anadialog). Before, I had a Denafrips terminator, the holo is far better. I was interested in terminator plus and mola mola tambaqui. I had a demonstration of the tambaqui dac at home on my own system. It's a good dac but I opted for the holo and I don't regret it because for me it is better on my system for a little over half the price. I am connected with I2S from my oppo to the dac using an hdmi to i2s adapter. I am using an primaluna evo 400 tube préamp, two emotiva xpa-1l power amps and focal 1038-be2 speakers. I will soon be getting two tube power amps and new speakers. What more can I say, I am absolutely delighted with this dac and now I think I will stick with it. If in addition he has to improve with the burn-in ... I found the dac I needed and I'm really happy.

I'd love to hear more about a comparison between the Tambiqui dac and the May.  I know Twittering Machines did a bit of a comparison in their review, but love to hear more perspectives. 

[Extreme_Boky]

11 hours ago, YALA said:

 I am connected with I2S from my oppo to the dac using an hdmi to i2s adapter. 

Can you please tell me which HDMI to I2S adapter are yoou using? I'd assume the OPPO HDMI output connector is the "HDMI OUT (Audio Only)"?

 

[happybob]

On 6/21/2021 at 10:49 AM, GoldenOne said:

I could only tell the difference when listening to percussive elements or electronic type music. 
With things like vocals, strings, or other more 'continuous' elements I could not tell a difference.

And to be clear, the difference is very minor. It's not at all something I'd be able to pick out without the two side by side and listening careful. You're not 'missing out' by going L2. But if the $800 jump isn't an issue for you then there is a slight improvement to be had

GoldenOne - thanks so much for this great review of the Holo May DAC! You've contrasted it with the Chord Dave + MScaler and also discussed it's use with HQPlayer processing, but I'm wondering if you've ever tried the Chord Dave (with MScaler) that has had the internal SMPS replaced with a Sean Jacobs DC4 LPS? I have this SJ DC4 Dave mod and find that it's **A LOT** better than the stock Dave. Not sure though how this compares to the Holo May. Perhaps you don't review or even discuss "mods" like the SJ DC4. But enough folks are using this mod (quite easy to do, maybe 30minutes although not cheap) that it really does seem to be the "best" implementation of a Dave and may best the Holo May, or maybe not... 

 

And along these same lines, I think I've seen some comments by you in the PGGB thread (the upsampling program that uses potentially billions of taps, not just millions). This too has taken (for me and many others) the Dave to an entirely new level and eliminates the need for MScaler altogether (except for streaming music). How might it work with the Holo May? Perhaps you've already commented on this?

 

p.s. I'm so impressed by your reviews and MQA work that I became one of your patrons. Thanks!

 

[YALA]

Let us remain objective in our statements and in our comments. I benefited from a demonstration of the tambaqui at home on my own system, few sellers offer this possibility and I would like to congratulate and thank this wonderful representative in France. It's a good product but the test was only possible on the coaxial output of my oppo 205. The tambaqui is configured in i2s psaudio mode and my hdmi to i2s converter box could not be used. On the holo, the i2s pinout can be programmed to have it configured with the box. Normally the i2s input is better. I was able to try the tambaqui for two hours while I have been using the holo for a month. Simultaneous testing (A / B) is more appropriate. After the pandemic, I will request a new tambaqui test with my new power amps and new speakers. So if the tambaqui turns out significantly better, I will take it. For the moment, with my system and in i2s, the holo remains for me the best.

[YALA]

Let us remain objective in our statements and in our comments. I benefited from a demonstration of the tambaqui at home on my own system, few sellers offer this possibility and I would like to congratulate and thank this wonderful representative in France. It's a good product but the test was only possible on the coaxial output of my oppo 205. The tambaqui is configured in i2s psaudio mode and my hdmi to i2s converter box could not be used. On the holo, the i2s pinout can be programmed to have it configured with the box. Normally the i2s input is better. I was able to try the tambaqui for two hours while I have been using the holo for a month. Simultaneous testing (A / B) is more appropriate. After the pandemic, I will request a new tambaqui test with my new power amps and new speakers. So if the tambaqui turns out significantly better, I will take it. For the moment, with my system and in i2s, the holo remains for me the best.

[YALA]

I connected my denafrips terminator to my oppo 205 using a converter box that can be bought for cheap (ebay ... HDMI / MHL to I2S IIs HDMI IIS I2S dual Mode digital Audio I2S / optical / DSD /Coaxial). With the holo, I use a different box received from my supplier but it has the same features. The two boxes work very well on the hdmi audio outputs of my oppo 205 and my zappiti pro 4k multimedia player. You can also use normal hdmi outputs.

[Blake]

@YALAWhy would you put a cheap $40 generic Ebay DDC in your audio chain, when you spent so much money on a nice DAC like the May?

[YALA]

It isn't a DDC, it is just an hdmi to i2s converter and it works very fine.

[GoldenOne]

42 minutes ago, YALA said:

It isn't a DDC, it is just an hdmi to i2s converter and it works very fine.

That is a ddc

[Extreme_Boky]

11 hours ago, YALA said:

I connected my denafrips terminator to my oppo 205 using a converter box that can be bought for cheap (ebay ... HDMI / MHL to I2S IIs HDMI IIS I2S dual Mode digital Audio I2S / optical / DSD /Coaxial). With the holo, I use a different box received from my supplier but it has the same features. The two boxes work very well on the hdmi audio outputs of my oppo 205 and my zappiti pro 4k multimedia player. You can also use normal hdmi outputs.

Thanks for that info. 

 

As with any digital circuitry, those converters will benefit a lot from a very low noise power supply. I strongly suggest that you consider a low noise linear power supply + regulator. Or - a battery supply. Those converters you mentioned have a single rail +5 V DC input - getting a 6V battery pack would be ideal in this case. You'll like the resulting sound improvement a lot - guaranteed!

[John Hughes]

27 minutes ago, Extreme_Boky said:

Thanks for that info. 

 

As with any digital circuitry, those converters will benefit a lot from a very low noise power supply. I strongly suggest that you consider a low noise linear power supply + regulator. Or - a battery supply. Those converters you mentioned have a single rail +5 V DC input - getting a 6V battery pack would be ideal in this case. You'll like the resulting sound improvement a lot - guaranteed!

Yers, this is very true.  I have added even inexpensive linear power supplies to HDMI to AES converters and it improved the sound.  Here is a Link to one of the more reasonable and well made vendors. (Sorry for the long URL.

 

https://www.jameco.com/shop/StoreCatalogDrillDownView?isModiftHistory=true&langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&modifyType=1&uid=ic5b8ww5&history=ic5b8ww5|subCategoryName~AC-to-DC%2BLinear%2BRegulated^category~4535^categoryName~cat_45^prodPage~25^page~SEARCH%2BNAV

[YALA]

I use a large battery with two usb outputs to power the hdmi / i2s converter with +5v. I have to recharge it on average every three days.

[YALA]

I know it is a DDC but not in the sense of a reclocker such as the denafrips ddc gaia which does have an i2s output but which does not convert an hdmi signal. If you know of any other high end hdmi / i2s converter, let me know because I'm a buyer.

[barrows]

7 hours ago, YALA said:

I know it is a DDC but not in the sense of a reclocker such as the denafrips ddc gaia which does have an i2s output but which does not convert an hdmi signal. If you know of any other high end hdmi / i2s converter, let me know because I'm a buyer.

HDMI is a terrible digital source for audio, with very high jitter.  A good interface for using HDMI for audio should be a re-clocker if it is to have any chance of providing reasonably low jitter to the DAC.  Of course, with the May's PLL the source jitter is less of an issue-but I would hesitate to say that it is not an issue at all.

Here is some info on why HDMI is a poor source for digital audio content:

 

https://www.audioasylum.com/messages/pcaudio/82566/hdmi-has-the-highest-jitter-of-any-interface