Another new DAC: Audio Mirror

I have the Holo Audio Spring 2 with the Kitsune edition for almost a 8 months now and  I cannot be more happier with this DAC. I would say it compares to any of the more expensive DACs in the market (Denafrips Terminator or APL) which I have heard. I am sure the Audio Mirror 111 is a great DAC but I have not done a comparison. I have no need to since I love my Holo Audio Spring 2. This is a very musical DAC with analogue like qualities. The Terminator and APL may be a tad better in resolution and detail but at twice and four times the price.

I have found this thread very interesting. I would like to circle back to the discussion about Holo Audio. I have the Kitsune edition level III DAC with the Singxer SU-1 DDC. This DAC sounds fantastic! I can't compare it to analog because I have none but I bet it would give a lot of analog systems a run for their money. It is smooth without glare and plays very deep. It would be very interesting to compare this to the tricked out AMT III. Anyone else have experience with the top of the line Kitsune level III DAC that could compare?

This little guy bested any audiophile fuse I tried in my linear tube audio 

https://www.mouser.com/Littelfuse/Circuit-Protection/Resettable-Fuses-PPTC/RHEF-Series/_/N-bm931?P=1...

audio123 - Vlad is the designer. If he is saying it's okay to jump out the fuse, he is probably right. I may give it a try one day. If I do, I will report if a short wire is better than the SR Orange fuse I am currently using. I remember trying jumping a fuse with a thin silver wire once and was disappointed but never tried a solid thick wire. I bet a few extra gauges make a difference there.

I am a little confused Vassilis?...i ran this idea about jumping out the fuse thru Vlad and he said there was nothing to worry about as far as his dac was concerened and he jumped it out...plus its connected to a very expensive power conditioner/surge protector...so explain to me how in the Gods green earth is this little Dac going to burn my house down.....i run 4 space heater thru out my home ..and your telling me my dac(read above) is gonna light it up like the 4th of July!!!....WOW...

How important is the sound for you? Is it so important that you could risk a fire burning down your house? If that's the case, feel free to jump out the fuse. You may get a slight improvement over a good quality fuse. 

For the rest of us, some of the best fuses are nearly as good as no fuse. I am using the SR Orange fuse in my DAC. And it's amazing. Highly recommended. 

No...the fuse is still intact...just ran a wirwe to jump it out and bypass the fuse..and with a jumper you can cut it at any time and your back to using the fuse!!...once you hear it jumped out....you wont want to go back...plus all my components are pluged into difffrent AC SURGE PROTECTORS...and we lost electric to many times to count...with surges coming on and off...NO DAMAGE!!

Yes, normally there would be a fuse between the hot leg of your AC cord and the DAC circuitry, but if you want to live dangerously, you can directly connect the + leg of the circuit to the hot tab of your IEC outlet, bypassing the normal fuse position. 

Certainly, the best sounding fuse is no fuse, but if you get an AC surge, then some other component in the DAC is going to overheat and blow.  

audio123

" had Vlad jump out the Fuse(big inprovement)"

Do you mean he removed it?

Thanks everyone for their support. It was this thread (thanks rja!) that directed me towards this purchase. I am in the process of upgrading my system, starting from the source. 

Audio123, I am considering an isolation approach similar to your own. 

Mesch.....Great Call...I got the  Miflex Kpuc cap's ,,Naked Vishay resistors and had Vlad jump out the Fuse(big inprovment)...Dac is sitting on a sanwiched plater with vibrapod cones inbetween and the DAC is sitting on the Vibrapod isolation feet(a heck of alot cheaper than the
 IsoAcoustics GAIA Isolation/antivibration feet and maybe just as good?)...your going to LOVE the Miflex caps...Great organic sound...very wide soundstage and so smooth and fatigue free ..you will think you have a $5000 turtable rig! and will listen for hours with a BIG ASS GRIN!...Even some poor recorded cd's are once again listenable!! and the best part is the over $300 you saved with miflex caps..which is huge...when you maxing out a $1500 stock Dac(That by the way sounds great STOCK!!)...Burn those miflex caps for a good 4 days and she will open up and grab a glass of "HENNY" and get ready...the AUDIO SKY is about to OPEN UP...TRUTH!! and ENJOY!!









Goo

Mesch I was so happy with mine stock but the not knowing got the best of me. Luckily for you, you went right to the top. 

congrats @mesch hope you love it.  Please do report back regardless of your agreement...

I have decided on this DAC. I am going to have the Milflex caps, Vishay resistors, and USB power supply installed.  I will receive delivery in January, at my request. Vlad is great to work with. 

This dac will certainly grow on you over time. I'm still getting more and more impressed and I've had it for months. It just makes beautiful music. 

Appreciate terry... the dac is really settling beautifully. The soundstage with the new caps is very impressive - the whole dac for that matter 😊

jmolsberg mine was a little grainy for a while too,but it very slowly faded away.It seems to be very sensitive/responsive to tube and cabling changes.Fun to play around with:-)A belated Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Happy Thanksgiving all! 
I def think those duelunds take longer to break-in.... while I haven't left them playing 24-7, they are getting a good 8-10 per day and finally starting to show me some much missed layering. They sounded good out the gate but the soundstage was pretty pretty weak. 

^ will do man - thank you 

Hey jmolsberg as you already know.. give it at least 3 days of non stop signal (I would even say 4 days)....Then your going to hear it shine!!..After the first 2 days i was ready to send it back and ask Vlad..."What the hell happened to my DAC"?......then the audio sky opened up(4days) and beautiful anolog Music came shining down...TRUTH!......

I just got it hooked up this afternoon. fed ex dropped the ball by two days. 
I can tell instantly there is some extra special magic going on in the midrange. I'll keep y'all posted as I accumulate some necessary hours. Just like musichead reported, the character of the dac is still there, although a little grainy at the moment 😊

Greetings jmolsberg....any thoughts on your Maxed out AMT 3 you care to share over the stock verson?

Yep on that break-in. Honestly, I can't wait to hear how much better it is over the stock version, which is just incredible. I love how analog, refined, and non fatiguing the tubadour iii is! 

Yep Yep....Was just throwing out a different option   (Price Wise)......Dueland caps are very special...and your in for a very cool Audio Treat....Like all good Caps...give them 50 to 100 hrs before they settle down and make there magic!!!...Its Krazy how good this DAC is...sooo anolg like its turntable SPOOKY!......Enjoy my Friend..and PLEASE give us sum thoughts....Peace

I hear ya! I knew the difference would be marginal at best but now I won't have to wonder. The even better news is he's listening to it now and shipping it tomorrow 😊

jmolsberg I lke all of your picks except 1 over 2(JUST for a MUCH cheaper Alternative...$300 to be exact)   ....Check out what Vlad has to say about the Miflex caps on His Latest Audiogon add for his AMT 3 SE DAC about the Miflex Kpuc cap vs the Dueland and the $300 savings (Answer to a Question about the Miflex KPUC Cap)...which is HUGE when your talking about a $1500 DAC...(also jumping out the fuse makes a very BIG change and Vlad will do it for free)...more audio food for thought  Right?...Can't go wrong either way...but  a $300 price difference is HUGE when the caps are not that far apart....I know...I got the Miflex and one of our audio members got the Dueland...and it was a super close shoot out!!..9 members were present and it was 5 to 4 infavor of the Duland caps(But most thought it was a dead Heat!)        I know  cal3713  wasn't all that impressed with the Polish Miflex cap...But Talking to DS recently.... he among others are using this that cap over the MUCH more expensive Dueland's   (Read  what Sonic Craft has to say about these caps)...And DS  uses this cap in his personal Preamp to listen and evaluate and Enjoy Music....as always in Audio__YMMV....But once again a BIG savings and more Audio foodie for thought!....Love Peace and Audio grease!!

^ I bet it will be great! And thanks for the recommends on the upgrading the DAC
hopefully turnaround will be quick - I miss listening to it and seeing it on the console 

Talking to Vlad...his new preamp should be out VERY soon....$1500 ...and Knowing Vlad could be another GIANT Killer...Keep your eyes on his website.......Love Peace and Audo grease to all of the AMT 3 DAC owners.....TRUTH!!

After a chat I went free usb

duelund
z-foil
furutech
iso feet 

Vlad did say the duelund caps are twice as much $$$ but don't offer twice the performance, however they are certainly a better cap and if it's in the budget  to do it. 

Vlad recommends free USB and.......

2,3, and 5 as the best bang for the buck. He also knows I am a modest spender. Anyway I can't lose!

Good recommendations @vassils.  I would have said 1,3,4,5... with 4/5 being very close.  I think the Duelund caps are the clear winner for most important.

the free upgrade, 1, 3, 5, 4 - in that order.

I am having Vlad upgrade mine 
what would you do? I don't see myself really ever getting rid of this dac - I absolutely adore how musical it is!

1. Duelund caps - (one of the best caps possible)
2. Miflex caps - (second best caps)
3. Z-foil Vishay resistors 
4. Furutech Gold IEC power inlet
5. IsoAcoustics GAIA Isolation/antivibration feet
I will include for free - upgraded low noise power supply for the USB.

yep ...i cant believe audio heads are spening 5k to 12k for a dac that will be obsolete in a year...2 at the max when they could have near SOTA for a fraction of what they wasted...i got the Mini Maxed out(Miflex caps...Z foil resestiors..and jumped out the fuse(big improvment)...for under what they paid for a great coax...i had sum of the big boy club dacs...and i am proud to say i would never go back!!.Yep Yep...it is that good....as always YMMY...but i serious doubt it..,,TRUTH!

Also, for people interested in tube rolling, I asked Vlad and got the following:

"My other favorite tubes are 6N1P(EV). The ones with “rocket” logo are in general better than others. There is been some hype about 6N5P triple mica.I tried them, to me they sounded same as 6N1P. It is hard to say what was the reason, because from batch to batch tubes differ and sound different. For example I had 6N1P EV sounding better than regular 6N1P and bought same tube again. Obviously different batch and the new batch was worse than regular 6N1P. Also ECC88 Tesla gold pins(old Tesla production) used to sound pretty good."

@musichead indeed. I think if you've either a) got a bright and detailed system, or b) love a natural, organic sound, then you should really audition this dac. It won't jump out and tell you how great it is, but the more carefully you listen, the more it rewards.

Unfortunately, I found the opposite to be true of the psa directstream. The more carefully I listened, the more I found that things didn't sound right. I honestly can't think of anything I preferred from that dac to the amt3.

Nice review musichead - it's a killer dac! I may maxout mine one day 

Well I did the upgrade from the standard version to the maxed out version with Dueland caps, etc. It's been running in for about 3 weeks now.

The DAC has been transformed, I'm very happy with the results. The character of the DAC didn't change it just got better in all of the parameters. I would equate it to a significant preamp or cartridge upgrade. The noise floor drops siginificantly, there is more depth to the presentation, more contrast (tonal and dynamics). It gells the performance better similar to a high end preamp or cartridge. The performance or musical expression is drawn out of the 1s and 0s making it sound very analogue and similar to my TT setup (DV XV1s, TW Acustic Raven, TW 10.5 arm, Tron Phono). Not one of my CDs sounds bright or has a fatigue factor. The detail isn't being drawn out and highlighted it blends into the body of each instrument, balanced. If you've listened to a really good TT setup you will know what I mean.

The DAC has pushed my system over a line. A much larger % of my CDs are just as good musically as my records, never thought that would happen. I've been doubling up on music that's important to me buying lots of CDs before they dissappear. Good time to buy!

This is an end game DAC for me that compliments the balance of my system. The standard version is also very good. To equate it in cartridge terms the stardard version is like a DV XX2MkII and the maxed out version like a DV XV1s. Both are very good and I could easily live with either but once you normalize to the upgraded version it would tough going back.

Thanks Vlad!

Congrats!It is a fine dac for sure.

This DS pre and AudioMirror DAC combination is a match in heaven!
I can bet you enjoy the sound like never before :).

This dac is soo much better than my directstream. Finally heard what my system (https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/7983) is capable of (and I’m in trouble with my girl). Love it, you should buy it.

Ron Bagel ,or name is not that credible as a reviewer 
music hall is junk compared. Actually Vlad is just coming out with a Sig series
with the best Duelund cast caps,naked Vishay on the usb 
furutech iec,Copper Silver rca better wiring under $2300 without  i2s or balanced 
outputs.

@audio123 That is most definitely a big plus for the miflexs...

another big plus for the Miflex is there price /performance...two Miflex KPCU =$140...2.Same value  Duelund CAST tinned copper=$440...thats a huge difference when your recapping a $1500 DAC!...just more audio food for thought!