Holo Audio May DAC

@nquery

One other factor is that my amp is single ended and after some reading and talking to others about the Holo architecture and such, I am convinced that I am not getting the most out of the Holo May. The May actually only uses the output of one side of the R2R ladder for RCA outs, and Jeff Zhu even says the balanced outputs sound better.

The other change I made (and mentioned above) was to get a quality Balanced XLR to Single Ended RCA transformer (cinemags) and see if that improved the sonics on my SE amp. I think there is an incremental improvement but haven’t really A/B’ed it yet.

I read your comments on singled ended and only using one side of the May DAC. Did you notice any improvement? Maybe this is also why you experienced that the soundstage vs Lampizator is less holographic?

Also you said that the May is not very forgiving to lesser sources. I am using my system for both TV/streaming consumption as well as Tidal HiFi Music streaming. Would you say the Holo Audio product is not very suitable for TV, Youtube consumption? I am considering the new Spring 3, as dac/preamp in my system, but a little hesitant to order for it’s supposedly unforgiving nature.

@dvdboulet
Holo Audio just recently announced their new Spring 3, which apparently uses the exact same DAC module that is also used in the May DAC, albeit the May has two and is in dual mono, so the sound staging is improved a little on May. But tonally they are pretty close. Tim of Kitsune apparently says it is 95% of the May, according to this forum post: https://forum.hifiguides.com/t/holo-audio-may/22104/132

This seems to be an even better value proposition for people who cannot afford the May stack, especially with the optional preamp module for those looking for a decent preamp/volume control to start with as well. Also read what Jeff Zhu has to say about it, especially with respect to digital volume control as well:

Spring3 PLL is nearly the same design as our flagship dac, the May. The main difference between Spring3 and May is that May uses our latest technology and cost is no object, therefore has better components. For Spring3, it uses the latest technology as May. But the main goal is to get high performance at reasonable cost, and I believe we absolutely achieved this goal. Although it’s price is higher than Spring2. I think the performance/cost ratio is higher than Spring2. It’s not much behind May! The pre-amp module inside is a very decent way to control volume, really one of the best ways. I think the digital volume is terrible, especially for this level of DAC. So I never added digital volume control on Spring and May, only on Cyan which is our entry level product. Digital volume is very easy and has very low cost added, albeit compromised. The reason we don’t use it is that ‘free digital volume’ will lead customer to use it and not realize it is not ideal for use with our higher end dacs. I don’t want misguide the user to use our DAC is that way. I think they will be most pleased with our fully balanced, discrete analog volume control for a low optional upgrade price

Source: https://www.kitsunehifi.com/product/spring-3-dac/

@nquery
Thx for sharing your experience, seems to make sense the difference is only subtile. Could you maybe comment more on the "less forgiving nature" of the May dac. Are you also using it with lesser quality sources like Netflix/Youtube etc?

I think that Jeff Zhou’s comments are true in general, but the May (and likely Spring 3) are in fact ideal candidates for digital volume control under the right conditions.

I don’t have any experience with that other than putting a Topping Pre90 with stepped attenuator in my desktop setup between my Merason Frerot Dac and Heed Elixir integrated amp with Alps Blue Velvet volume control. The level of dynamics that you are missing with either using the digital volume control in Roon or using the Alps volume control is very noticeable in my setup, especially because I listen at low volumes a lot it that system. I always thought this was mainly due to the Fletcher–Munson curve, but volume controls have a big impact as well. GoldenSound made an interesting video on his channel as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD2Fj1tTu8Y

@dvdboulet

very interesting about that analog pre-amp volume control as an option on the Spring 3. I’m curious why they don’t offer a similar optional upgrade for the May? After all, if someone wants "their best" DAC, but also wants this feature, why make it only available on a lesser-model (if I understand the hierarchy of their somewhat confusing line of products). I totally get and agree with not providing a digital-volume control.

I think they don’t offer that on the May because that is a no compromise piece and therefore also focussed on a different crowd. From the reaction of Nquery you can already tell that the difference between SE and Balanced is very small. Maybe the separated power supply design will have a bigger influence on sound than the second Ladder Dac. Depends also on how revealing your system is in the end. It is actually quite common for companies to make a flag ship product and than trickle down that tech also to a lower priced product, to also serve a different part of the market. They assume that most customers that will buy a May Dac already own a very nice preamp and would rather see them buying the Serene preamp as well. So different customers/different markets I guess. It is the early adopters and flagship product customers that usually pay the biggest part of the development cost.

In the end I will probably go with the Serene preamp instead of the Spring 3 with volume control in my system. I want to keep the flexibility to use a different DAC and digital front-end for lesser quality sources like cable set top box, Apple TV (Netflix/Youtube), etc. I will probably use the new Bluesound Node for that purpose over its eArc HDMI port. Maybe will upgrade to the matching Spring 3 dac for HiFi streaming purposes only, when they start to pop up at the second hand market next year. Although the Spring 3 comes with the optional preamp/volume control, it does not have any analogue inputs.