++Holo May. I have auditioned many DACs and is why I own a May. This includes offerings five times its price point. It is the best bargain in my journey thus far. The only knock is that is gets hot, class A hot.
DAC recommendation in 5 to 10K range
I recently get to the point that I want to try a new DAC in $5 to $10K range and would like to know if there are recommendations I should try and audition.
My current DAC is a Denafrips Terminator, to me, Terminator is an overall fun DAC that provide good clarity, energy, and scale. It has strong macrodynamic focus with good impact and punch, as well as solid resolving power and texture, but I feel drawback is lacking micro dynamic capability, tonality is not organic, neither is presentation, treble is not that refined, and can sometimes get too hot and gritty. What I hope in my next DAC is a balanced DAC that lean a bit more toward the relaxed and slightly sweeter smoother side of things, great organicness, great placement accuracy and depth in overall stage, great coherency and liquidity, as well as having great impact and punch.
Showing 3 responses by izjjzi
@elan120 Do yourself a favor and try to hear the Holo May KTE. Search YouTube for reviews. You will find head to head commentary on most of what has been suggested here. I have heard the MSB Discrete as well and it is decent but for me it was not as good as the May. It came close when you add the optional power supply, but that will put you north of your max price. Also had the X1 head to head in my home and it decently images but is far from an analogue sound. We found it sterile and far less engaging in comparison despite the separate power supply. Save yourself 5k and purchase decent cabling. I promise you will be as shocked as we were. The best part is that I think (at least the last I knew) there are no Holo dealers, point being you will find many "popular" brands suggested here because many have a stake in the game. I am NOT accusing anyone in this thread of this. It is only a note of caution based on my year here. Regarding the ALL CAPS post in this thread... my comment is that I have heard the Aqua La Scala and it was one of the best for the price, but I still preferred the May. I have not heard the lavoice. There are diamonds in the rough and the May is hands down one of them. I am only taking my time to write this because it took me a year to select a DAC and I had 20k to spend on one. To date I only spent 1/3 of my budget for my entire system and if I had blindly went with the majority of suggestions here would have spent about 1/3 more than my total budget. I immersed myself in hifi for a year and almost drown. Multiple trips to dealers, countless reviews, and an amazing local audiophile circle of new friends who have the means and connections to cycle through tons of high end gear. My posts no longer come from that of a newbie. Sure, it has only been a year but I will argue and back everything I write with hands on experience. Did I want to spend money on a "remote" product? Absolutely not, but after research and the opportunity to hear it at a friend's house against a few others I was sold - jaw on the floor for the price, sold. I ask anyone here with suggestions if they have experience with the May KTE vs their recommendation? I would love to know and compare notes. Lastly, when you get to 5k and points north, many pieces will sound really good. It comes down to system synergy and audible preference. I have often found differences subtle, but those subtleties stack over long listening sessions. Point being that I recommend spending as much time as you can with each and try to avoid quick back and forth comparisons. Best of luck! |
@tahsin1022 Please show me a review where someone prefers the terminator plus over the May KTE. Not being snarky, I would love to see one because I have not yet come across such. Thank you. @elan120 This is one of the best DAC reviewers I've found. He reviewed many of the DACs mentioned in this thread in a way that you will not see anywhere else and with actual music samples demonstrating, yes demonstrating the differences between them. He did like the Terminator Plus, but at the end of the day, the May KTE remains his reference piece. |