Holo Audio Spring 3 DAC

I'm just passing 320 hours with the Spring 3 KTE. Wow, other reviewers were serious this DAC keeps reviewing itself with a long burn-in period.  About 120 hours  the process seemed to go sideways a bit. Then closer to 180 hours it really started opening up again. 

The clear articulation without being overly revealing or bright is amazing.  

@dw8083 I'm not sure how many hours I have on it at this point, but it seems like it settled after about 2 to 3 weeks of use.  Really happy with the sound.

Right now I have my eye on an Innuos Zen Mk3 to pair with it.

The analog Devices 1955 DAC has a nice smoothed detailed presentation. It's a great chip however the ESS Sabre chips are better. 

I've had a Lavry Engineering DAC with the 1955 and because of my engineering connection,s an Analog Devices engineering demonstrator. Both sounded terrific. 

Also own a PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell DAC and OPPO Sonica with the ESS Sabre implementation.  The ESS Sabre chip is generally a better Delta-Sigma foundation.

None of them hold a candle the PS Audio DirectStream DAC, and the Holo Spring 3 KTE is even better yet.  The DSD DAC's FPGA chip implementation has substantially great capability for all the crazy filtering PCM data requires.

Listening & measurements have shown the May is better but VERY narrowly on the margins. It's biggest benefit is ditching all the crazy complicated filtering since it's a 24 bit R2R DAC. Talk about digging into detail and immediacy of presentation!

If you're buying a Spring 3, only get the KTE version with it's hand selected DAC module and USB interface from the MAY. Also the built on preamp option is terrific as the max gain is only 6 db, enough to compensate for the 6db drop of DSD over PCM specification. 

Haven't heard these DACs, but based on the number of threads asking for comparisons between the Spring 3 and the May, if you're one of those people who will buy the Spring for price and then constantly flog yourself thinking how much better the May would have been - bite the bullet and get the May. It ends up cheaper and better for your mental health.  This doesn't happen with brands like Bricasti, where the increments are 5k and 10k, but here you have a $2500 difference, assuming you go for the top-end May.  I think the better comparison may be the Spring vs. the level 1 or 2 May.  I think that's why I haven't seen anyone with the L-1 or L-2 May dacs.  The owners knew that they would be beating themselves up because the KTE is better. Think about what kind of person you are before buying.