Holo Audio May DAC

Hard to say about the investment value, but I personally found the May much more compelling than the PS Audio DSD.  The only thing I preferred with the PSA was being able to use the Bridge II input, but that concern doesn't apply to you.

investment value? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

the correct verb, i think, is ’spend’...

I’ve had a DS for 3 years, fed I2S from Pink Faun endpoint. I recently upgraded the transformers and power supply and it made significant improvements to the very well behaved DS. Unfortunately, a simple mistake bumping the reset button on the external power supply zapped the analog board right channel. I’ll get it replaced but have decided based on all I’ve read to take a chance on the May KTE and sell the DS once she’s back from the mothership.

Of course the wait with Chinese New Year is going to be close to 2 months so I’ll enjoy breaking in the ’new’ DS all over again!

Thanks to all of those that have shared their experiences with the May, much appreciated.

Brett

Anyone know if the Holo DACs support discrete IR codes for programmable remotes?

I don't think the Holo Audio DACs use remotes at all.

The May has a remote, check the photos on the web page. 

The May and Spring2 L2 and up have remotes.

I’ve had my Holo Audio May KTE for four months.  This is a superb piece of gear.  If it disappeared tomorrow I would replace it without reading a single review of any other DAC on the market.  It is that good.  With absolutely no break-in it was better than anything else I’ve ever owned.  And my list of DACs includes units often mentioned on this forum.  The build quality is first class.  Four months later it surprises me every single day.  For those of you waiting delivery, rest assured it’s worth the wait.  Enjoy.  

@tarheeltraveler I'm in complete agreement with your comments.  I freaking love my Holo May KTE DAC more than any other and I'll never listen to a chip based DAC again.  Simply, it's a perfect piece and a daily joy.

Jon in Raleigh, NC 

I’m in love with mine as well.  I have about 650 hours on it and it’s just amazing.  A superb piece of gear 

I’ve had my KTE for 1.5 months and love it as well.  In my system, it exhibited great detail after 50 hours or so.  After 100 hours, the separation, extension, transparency, weight, attack and decay were on full display.  Playing with power cords has been interesting, as it doesn’t seem to like the Shunyata NR (Alpha and Sigma v1) in my system.  I ended up using my Paul Kaplan HE (3 amp fuse box version) with copper connectors, and the combination is perfect.  My Auralic is powered by the Sigma NR v1. 

the may certainly seems to be a unit that all love once they have them

i am curious to know if anyone with one has compared in their own system to a denafrips term or term +

similar upper tier r2r units with solid state output stage

Someone already compared these briefly, neither was necessarily better, based on the person who commented the May IIRC was more detailed and the Termy more "musical" relaxed? I might be wrong with the adjectives I did not pay too much attention whatever that meant... look on this thread or the Denafrips one

I have a Holo May KTE dac though my experience is what’s up stream of the dac will certainly make a difference and I’m not the only one .
Just in the past four years I’ve had PS Audio Direct Stream senior, Denafrips Terminator, Rockna Wave Dream , AudioByte Hydra Vox and now the Holo May KTE being fed by a 432 Evo Aeon server , this is by a large margin the best playback of well recorded music I have ever experienced in my home so far .

“It's made in China I think (or could be Taiwan?, and yes, I am very well aware that these are two very different countries. ;))”

The very different countries statement would be answered very differently depending on if you asked a Chinese or Taiwanese person. ;-)

 @jjss49 I’ve heard one person say the Terminator+ is a bit brighter. I think it was a person who owned both, but it may have been a reviewer. It was a while ago

Ron at New Record Day on YouTube definitely preferred the Holo May KTE over the Terminator and it’s his new reference DAC. He did both reviews back to back. One of the best reviews he's ever done.
https://youtu.be/HPtsWvhjLxA

As an aside, John Lavorgna added the May DAC KTE to his favorite DACS list. https://twitteringmachines.com/twittering-machines-favorite-dacs/

HoloAudio KTE May DAC ($4999.99)

The two-chassis KTE May DAC from HoloAudio was built to be a statement DAC and what a statement it makes. From my review — With the Holo Audio KTE May DAC we have a digital to analog converter that pulls off that rare feat of turning data into music without imposing the fingerprints of the process, which is all too commonly found with most DACs. That it does so at this level of sophistication at its price is remarkable.

@jcarcopo

thank you for your post

when i had the denafrips dacs (ares thru term, still kept a pontus for fun), i also felt the treble is a little too forward for my personal tastes, even though the overall musicality was very nice

it is good to know that the may is less forward than the denafrips voicing, i will look to try one at some point

as for ron at record day, i know he tries hard, produces quite good videos and they are complete and thoughtful, but i find his videos hard to watch from start to end... reminds me a bit of some ex colleagues and friends who were randomly way too chatty and far slow to come to the point... (i know this is as much a comment on my sensibilities as his...)

@jjss49 I think he’s improved a bit. 😁 He catches himself when says something dorky or goes off script and makes light of it. I only brought him up because I know he reviewed both DACS in question back to back, so I thought it was relevant. Since I own the May, my bias may be coming into play here since he was rather blunt about the May’s DAC incredible instrumental positioning, decay, depth, and soundstage advantage over the Terminator (or any DAC for that matter) assuming your speakers aren’t against a wall and poorly setup.  I do agree with his assertions. 

@in_shore Re: your comment that the Holo May KTE in combination with the 432 Evo Aeon have produced  "by a large margin the best playback of well recorded music I have ever experienced in my home so far" - I was wondering how much of that improved sound is due to the KTE vs the Aeon. The reason I ask is that  I have a 432 Evo Aeon coming for an in-home evaluation  this week (currently have a Innuos Zen Mk III). I just stumbled across this thread about the Holo May KTE and now I am very intrigued about it.  I'm not surprised to hear about the great playback you are getting, given the wonderful things I'm hearing about both products. I currently have a Lampizator Big 7 (about 6 years old) with DSD 256, and curious about improvements that could be gained with the May KTE. And wondering which component to prioritize for upgrading, the streamer or the DAC (Of course, in reality if I like the Aeon I'll get it and then have to consider how much more improvement I could expect with a new DAC). 

Also curious on anyone's experiences or thoughts about the KTE vs Lampizator. I'm actually very happy with the sound I'm getting with my current set up but the question is "What am I missing?". I would have been blissful in my ignorance, but hard to ignore what I'm hearing about the KTE now that I've discovered it. 

@hchilcoat My guess is that you're most likely to move sideways from the Lampi, regardless of the dac you try.  That's not to say sideways won't end up better for your particular preferences, but I doubt anything's going to absolutely blow away the Big 7.  

The thing that struck me most about the May KTE was how cleanly it reproduced every part of the frequency spectrum.  If you're finding your current presentation somewhat colored, or feel that a particular part of the audio range is being over/under emphasized, the May could be a wonderful sounding solution.

@hchilcoat , I was going to say similar as cal; that it’d be a lateral move, with preferential differences. 
Lampizator has that ‘lit from within’ character that you won’t get with Termi or the May, being ss. Also Lampizator has a vivid and alive house sound. The May might be smoother and ...mellower(?) according to descriptions.

I haven’t heard the May yet but I own a Lampizator Atlantic. Also bought the Termi, sold it, then rebought with new DSP board, sold it again. I still have the Atlantic and now also have a Bricasti M3. The Lampi’s speed and vivid presence is great for my system. I may buy the May but also do not want to live without a Lampi for either in system w/ preamp, or even more for DAC straight to amp listening. 

Hchilcoat I wasn’t too sure about the Evo Aeon the first couple months I owned it however thinking about it I believe it was simply a sonic change just logging hours onto it along with the new interconnects .
For me playback is the best I’ve experienced in my home with well recorded music I thought I was very familiar with I now find absolutely thrilling.
With well recorded vocals there is a true living presence of timbre something I never ever heard before however I want to point out that’s not because of the May dac my previous dac with the Evo allowed me to hear this more alive / human sound .

And finally I like to point out no one with any certainty can guess what your going to hear or think you are going to hear until you have said components in your own system.

@in_shore @jriggy @cal3713 THanks for the responses about the KTE being more of a lateral move from the Lampizator. The Big 7 is from 2015 so I only have DSD 128 running right now and not the latest PCM. But still sounds great. But not sure if having all the latest bells and whistles that are on the May KTE would matter especially if most of my music is with PCM, although having the option to upsample to DSD 512 or higher might be useful. I guess at some point I could try the KTE to compare and sell one of them. 

Seems like the 432 Evo might have a bigger impact on sound quality than changing the DAC right now. 

 Hchilcoat hang on to your Big 7 and see what the Evo Aeon brings to the table ,,I changed dacs for a couple reasons , personally I find the Holo May KTE a tremendous bang for the buck and it’s beautiful to look at too.

I have followed this discussion with considerable interest and I'm close to pulling the trigger on a May. But I am hesitating over the level of the May that would be best for me in my system. The primary difference between the Level 2 and Level 3 (KTE) versions of the May is the use of silver wire and transformers in the latter and it has been assumed by most that this would make the KTE the best. However, my experience with silver cable, some very expensive, has indicated that silver has a particular sound signature quite different that copper. Although silver is certainly transparent and detailed, it can also sound quite thin and even bright (I have experienced this sonic signature in a number of top tier audio systems). The reviews of the KTE May certainly don't comment on this silver signature but, on the other hand, I have not seen any direct comparisons with the Level 2 May. Any comments on this topic would be greatly appreciated. 

@cleopatra52 On the May (unlike the Spring), the transformers are the same copper model on all versions:  " Also each channel is individually powered by it’s dedicated Otype FLATWIRE transformer found in all three models."

Unfortunately I doubt you're likely to find many who've got experience comparing the different levels besides Kitsune and Holo themselves.  It's a challenge to hear any model here in the states, let alone two versions. 

Although we've got very different opinions of silver (I put solid core high purity silver wire throughout my system and find it increases the naturalness of the sound), I certainly didn't hear any thinness to the May KTE presentation.  There was a touch of brightness, but I believe that would have washed away with more burn-in.

Also, I feel a designer deciding to use silver internally in certain locations is little different than using silver ICs throughout a system. 

Cleo 52 if you have ever been diagnosed with audio OCD or experienced symptoms of OCD while obsessing over tweeks and or upgrades your not alone , the extra few hundred for the KTE model could end up being money well spent especially for your peace of mind ,....

In_shore can you tell me between the Audiobyte Vox stack and Holo KTE May which one you liked better. Can you describe the differences in tonality, soundstage, imaging, etc.

Like you I also had the PS Audio Directstream and Terminator Dac. I have an Audio Mirror T3 SE Dac that I like better but, I’m interested in either the Vox or May Dac.

Snopro to sum it up best i can , if you watched the YouTube video of New Record Day review of the KTE  that moment he paused over mentioning returning the Denafrips Terminator while listing to the May KTE dac in his system is very much similar reactions I had though my comparisons is with the AudioByte Vox dac .

As good as the Hydra Vox is for $800.00 more the Holo May KTE dac is overwhelmingly the bigger bang for the buck, sure 5k is a lot of money however I’ve never been so satisfied and content for a long , long while .
Finally it’s what’s up stream of the dac that really counts in my opinion. If you don’t think you can improve those 1s and 0s feeding your dac you should most definitely look into it .

Like many here, I’m intrigued by the KTE version of the May.  I’m generally happy with my current unit, but am considering an upgrade. 

Have any here compared the May KTE against something like the Mola Mola Tambaqui?  Completely different price points, but based on the views expressed here, I wonder if it’s a comparison I can make.  I’ll be auditioning the Tambaqui.  Just wish I could do the same w/ the KTE.

Has anyone had problems getting a response from Tim/Kitsune? I have emailed him twice with questions/lead time and have not received a reply. I actually live near him in Seattle and directly picked up some small products from him a few years ago - he was very helpful/responsive back then.

@nquery Yes, he’s very backed up I’m afraid. They are inundated with orders. This includes my query which is several days old and 2 reviewers seeking to review the May Dac KTE. Usually he’s about 2 days behind, but I fear he’s even more behind atm.

Lead time on regular May or Serene is at least 5 weeks as an estimate. Add another 2 weeks for KTE versions. Shipping time is 5-12 days later  This is what I agreed to when I ordered 2 weeks ago and may have changed. Also, there's no cancelations after 48 hours of placing your order.

Jon

@mgrifI I think it was Hans Beekhuyzen youtube review of the May that mentions the Mola Mola Tambaqui briefly, but don’t quote me.

Tim updated the contact page:

 Please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions, and if we don't reply within 5-10 business days, please message us again. We have a high volume of messages and do our best to get to each and every one!

Can recent buyers give an indication of shipping cost to the U.S. for the May? I contacted Kitsune 9 days ago but still no response (sounds like they are a bit overwhelmed at the moment). Also, can anyone verify that there is indeed a 15% restocking fee on the unit if returned within 10 days? Paying for shipping both from and back to China, if unit is returned, plus 15% restocking fee is a big cost to see whether this unit is for me.

I am intrigued but have been disappointed with two other well reviewed DACS in the past couple years so would like to get a handle on the return cost. Thanks!

I just ordered the Kitsune Holo May and paid over $200 for shipping.
I didn’t realize they were shipped from China, but I guess they are.
Tim at Kitsume told me they've had problems with their web site because of Microsoft glitches. This problem has been resolved, so you should try again. It's worth the trouble from what I've heard.
Good luck

Shipping to US is flat-rate $235. Mine arrives tomorrow.

The 15% restock is clearly stated in the T&Cs. 10-day satisfaction guarantee policy and will be subject to a 15% restocking fee. Unfortunately, I expect far more than 10 days for the unit to come into it's own. https://www.kitsunehifi.com/shop/guarantee-return-policy/

The cost to ship back plus the 15% restock will probably cost more than selling on the used market if you don't get on with it.

Sounds like this is too much risk for you to try at this point. Wait a year and there will be used ones on the market.

Mgrif are you considering one or the other ? The Mola dac is $14,000.00 the May KTE dac is $5200.00 landed on your door step ,..Spiff2001 perhaps I misinterpreted your comments,..I don’t view the dac as the component to make or break sound quality performance of a system, it’s what’s up stream of the dac that counts including the recording playback of itself that counts .
l mean I wouldn’t  build a system around a dac , for me it’s speakers and source first . 

in_shore, yes you did not misinterpret my comments. In my system, I have found the DAC to make a big difference in the overall sound. I have tried a couple highly regarded DACs in the ~5k price range and they were both very different from my current DAC and not preferable to me. Certainly upgrading another component in many systems can make a bigger difference but am pretty happy with speakers and source for now.

Thanks everyone for the shipping costs - just what I needed.

@in_shore 
yes, I am considering both DACs and realize they’re in different price classes.  However, based on this particular thread, it would appear that it’s fair to compare the two units as better examples of their respective topologies.  

I have an Auralic Vega G2.1 - and it’s quite good - particularly when served by the Aries G2 which I also have.  I’m just wondering if there are other solutions I should be considering.  Under consideration are the Tambaqui, the May KTE, Simaudio 680 among others.

Quick update on my burnin experience with my Holo May KTE DAC. I’ve hit peak performance at 3300 hours of continuous play. Basically December 23 until today, March 18, feeding it music 24x7. Maybe I’m an outlier, but that’s what it took. I will say that the sound quality, detail, tone, and soundstage today is nothing short of beautiful and astounding. There were lots of ups and downs along the way of those 3300 hours to get to this point. This is the longest burn-in I’ve ever encountered in 20 years. In suspect many people will give up and sell their DACs before they fully burnin. In any case, everyone’s experience may vary, but this was my experience. Throwing it out there for the benefit of anyone else that bought an Holo May KTE and isn’t hearing the magic and bliss yet. Hopefully you won’t need 3300 hours, but I did. I can say when it hits peak burnin it is the most beautiful and realistic digital source I’ve ever heard in my life and you will love it.

Sounded like bliss to me out of the box compared to any chip based DAC I've ever heard. It's not subtle either.  I'm not much for breaking in components, but then I've not encountered anyone who had a bad initial experience with their may.  

I am completely torn on a DAC purchase. I’ve pretty much narrowed down to the Holo May KTE or the Chord DAVE.   
Both have unique, custom DACs. Neither has MQA or is Roon Ready (compromises I’ve accepted). Both have outstanding measurements and reviews. The Chord is much more established and reputable and I love the look, but is much more expensive. The Holo is the latest technology and is more of a new guy on the block (and possibly flavor of the month).   
I considered the Weiss DAC501, Lampizator Big 7, and the DAC and streamer/DAC units from Matrix among others. I keep returning to the Chord and Holo based on reviews and feedback.
  
Help!

LOL Jeff you came to the wrong place to ask for help

I don't own the May but I wish I could, Chord would not be an option for me. The only alternative would be Terminator+

The May is enticing because of the low Impedance output buffer which allows you to go into an amplifier directly.

If you have the means I think just my opinion you should consider strongly the May

@audionutjeff, might want to look into a possible new version of Dave coming along in the near future. I seem to remember a comment that Chord might be working on a new Dave. 

Jriggy, this is exactly my concern!  DAVE is about 5 years old.  A new version is a good possibility and I would hate to buy one and see it replaced a few months later.  Current DAVE already stretches the budget, a new one would likely be more.  So Holo now, wait for a new DAVE, or something else....

The May is enticing because of the low Impedance output buffer which allows you to go into an amplifier directly.

does the may have remote controlled output volume adjustment capability?  i thought it was a straight dac (fixed output) only...

does the may have remote controlled output volume adjustment capability? i thought it was a straight dac (fixed output) only

 
To my knowledge it doesn't but there are other ways of implementing volume control upstream (or even downstream)

@jjss49 It does not.