Holo Audio May DAC
I decided to try a reference-level R2R DAC instead of my Qutest, which is the only DAC I’ve ever owned. I also didn’t want to spend more than I needed to. I chose the May based on the stereophile and stereotimes reviews. Both experienced reviewers were blown away. Terminator was similarly esteemed, though. Between the Terminator and the May, I like the design of the May better.
One of the distinctions between the Terminator and May seemed to be the anti-jitter tech in the May. That was part of my decision as well. I can’t imagine you could go wrong with either. Unless you have bad OCD, I can’t imagine either choice would lead to serious regrets. |
I read the same Stereophile review. Also, there is a good review by the Hans Beekhuyzen YouTube channel. I was in the market for a reference DAC, so I bought the V2 Holo May. I have had it about a month, and I couldn’t be more pleased. It shows zero evidence that I can hear of any digital artifact. It sounds very natural and musical and has only continued to improve since I first started using it. It has a huge power supply and I noticed I got a larger, more realistic soundstage and punchier bass with it. I am feeding it FLAC files from a laptop via USB going through an Intona Isolator & Impedance Controlled USB cable. I got the Intona before the May arrived, and I noticed that it alone improved the sound from my previous DAC. In the latest edition of Stereophile, the Recommended Components has been updated to include the Holo Audio May and the Denafrips Terminator. They rank the May at A+ and the Terminator at A. The May replaced the Denafrips Ares in my system, and I can confirm that the Denafrips provides a very nice sound, though the Ares is no match for the May. |
@duckworp there is really no way to know but to buy/borrow and try in your own system, and compare a vs b and with extended listening, with listening levels carefully equilibrated i have been through just over 20 dacs in the past 8 months since the pandemic has had me at home more than ever there is just no way to know by reading reviews and hearsay on boards like this ... few reviewers compare dacs head to head and even then it is not in your system, it is their taste, their ears, their cables, their streamer, their room ... the utility of the reviews and forum second hand hearsay/touts is to identify what may be worth trying if there seems to a groundswell of positivity ... no more no less when you get into dacs it is about the presentation, the timbre, the imaging/space, the clarity with transients etc etc... system matching is key the holo may is the hot new dac... six months ago it was the dena term... six months before that it was audio mirror tubador... before that it was the mhdt orchid... before that it was the ps audio ds... before that it was the schiit yggy .... you follow? ... the merry go round continues and never stops... be patient, wait and they will show up used (and broken in), then buy a well cared for piece and experience it yourself |
I can’t decide between the Holo Audio May Dac and the Denafrips also. How did you decide on the Holo Audio over the Denafrips Terminator? The review I read https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-40-denafrips-terminator-ares-ii-page-2 compares the two directly and the reviewer seemed to prefer the Denafrips in OS mode to the Holo and the Brooklyn Bridge. In NOS mode he was more split. Also the Holo is sold through a retailer in Europe (Magna) and US (Kitsune) whereas the Denafrips comes direct from Singapore which implies better value as no retailer margins to eat in to the price. How did you decide to go with the Holo Audio May? |
@falconquest Sorry to torture you. I can't help myself! ;) 2nd day impressions: All tracks played from Tidal on ROON. Bill Evans Sunday at the Village Vanguard is sounding like I've never heard before. Those familiar with this recording will know how truly live this is. Lots of ambient sound of folks in the club and very realistic sound. With the May DAC and its huge soundstage the music surrounds me. I can hear Bill's feet on the piano pedals and the thump of the bassist's hand when he hits the wood of his stand up bass as though it's in the room with me. I keep turning around to see if someone came in the room as a result of things I had not heard before, at least not with such realism. Radiohead's OK Computer (OKNOTOK Version), opening track Airbag, is a difficult track to play without sibilance in the high frequency sounds (cymbals) in particular. The Mytek Brooklyn did a great job of settling this down, but the May DAC does it with much more authority and clarity. This track is much better resolved with the May, with a liquid sound that does not fatigue or irritate. I'm hearing things I hadn't heard after several thousand listenings. Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways - False Prophet is one of my favorites from this record, and the vinyl pressing I have sounds the best that I've heard. The Tidal version through the May is as close to the vinyl sound as I've heard. Sounds a little better in OS mode to my ears. NOS sounds less lively to me. Anything to complain about? Not yet, but even as natural as this DAC sounds I can tell it hasn't yet fully relaxed and opened up. It needs to be broken in and I only have about 12 hours on it so far. I can tell it's getting a little better each listen so that's pretty fun to hear. @redwoodaudio I have yet to break out the ganja on this one, but it's in the cards, probably over the weekend. Cheers |
2nd day impressions: Not sure if it was a little more burn-in, some better recordings, or some premium ganja that was on hand, but the May DAC sounded TREMENDOUS last night. Listened to some Miles Davis "In a Silent Way", some Radiohead "Paranoid Android", some Sacred Spirit tribal music -- it all sounded incredible. Massive wraparound soundstage, rich thick tone, capturing all the air in the recordings. Totally engaging. |
redwoodaudioProbably just showing up the recording equipment of that era, as the they changed from Germanium transistors (yuk) to early Silicon not much better. "Silicon transistor was made commercially available by Fairchild Semiconductor in 1958".Cheers George |
I got mine today and have had it running for a few hours now. I am always leery of posting impressions of something I've had so little time with as I'm certain to have some bias in my excitement to try something new. That said, it sounds wonderful. The Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ that it replaced was no slouch in my opinion, but the May is so many steps above the Brooklyn it's really hard to believe. Huge soundstage, detail and liquidity of sound. I've only played CDs through it so far but it is very impressive. I'm going to play some stuff through my Innuous Zenith Mk3 after this. This is fun! |
Just got my May Level 2 yesterday. Plugged it into my Torus TOT Max conditioner. Currently streaming ROON from my remote laptop through wifi to mesh endpoint then via ethernet to my HifiBerry Digi + outputting via coax to the May in NOS mode. Mfr recommends 500 hours of burn-in. It sounded great right away, though, and I'll be running it constantly for the next week or two. Initial impression compared to my Chord Qutest is smoother sound, extremely large soundstage with huge center images, no loss of detail but maybe some loss of crispness at the edges. Bill Evans' piano on Classic Trio 1959-1961 sounded a little harsher at loud volume but also bigger/fuller than Chord. Almost everything else I played great through and through. |
I placed an order for the Holo May KTE this morning after a few days of mulling it over. It measures superbly. Some R2R designs don't measure well at all. I want the simplicity and naturalness of the R2R topology, but not the jitter or added distortion. The May KTE DAC fit my requirements perfectly. |
let us know snackey 10 days isn’t much time, wonder about break in but like u say, better than nothing there are just sooo many very good sounding dacs at reasonable prices nowadays - i have been thru a bunch last 6 months, they are really 'your choice of flavor', so many are really outstanding good news for us |
I'm considering buying the May KTE DAC as well. It would help if they at least offered a 30 day trial. It's a lot of money to spend on a DAC without listening to it first. If it's not better than my Matrix XSabre Pro MQA DAC than I'd like the option to return it because spending the $3k price difference would make little sense otherwise. I'm following this thread. I await your review! |
I placed my order for the KTE version this morning. It will be a few weeks before it arrives and I will happily share my impressions of it once I have it and have enough time to break it in and assess its SQ. In the process of searching for my next DAC (I currently own a Brooklyn DAC+, and before this I had a Manhattan II) I was prepared to spend as much as $15K for one of the super DACs. Herb Reichert's review of this DAC really opened my eyes to the value versions of the high end and high priced DACs. I had also been considering a Denafrips DAC for a while. The Holo Audio DACs seem to fit a very similar niche, but I like the aesthetic style of the Holo Audio better. The price is also lower, even if that was not a major motivator. I mentioned that I used to have a Manhattan II. The reason I don't still have it is because one of the channels went out and when I sent it back to the retailer they told me it would be at least a month or two to get it fixed or replaced. In the meantime they sent me a Brooklyn to use, and after giving it some listening time I found that I liked the Brooklyn better. I decided to keep the Brooklyn until I could find my next major upgrade. The Holo Audio May is what I've decided on. The risk is pretty low all things considered and I have confidence that at the very least it will be a lot of fun to hear this new DAC. If I don't like it I can always sell it and return to my original plan of buying one of the bigger names. Let the fun begin! |
denafrips dacs are excellent, but a little bright amongst the r2r crowd, and according to my research, so is the holo springs unit (based on that i have ruled it out for my own use)Never found that with a borrowed Holo Spring L2 in NOS, when it was switched to DSD or OS it did get slightly less body to the mids, but still not bright. Cheers George |
you can’t really know unless you hear it in your system denafrips dacs are excellent, but a little bright amongst the r2r crowd, and according to my research, so is the holo springs unit (based on that i have ruled it out for my own use) - note also that there are various versions of the holo springs unit, they may have their sq differences too, dunno ... gets a lil complicated and hard to sort out as i was researching the smoother school of r2r is sonnet/metrum, as well as border patrol and mhdt (though you can alter the tilt of their units with tube selection) audio mirror is another one out there, but i have not had one in hand yet to assess good luck |
