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Holo Audio Spring DAC LEVEL 3 Vs. iFi Audio Pro iDSD DAC and Music Streamer

I want to up grade my DAC's and I'm looking at Holo Audio Spring DAC LEVEL 3 and the iFi Audio Pro iDSD DAC and Music Streamer . Both are the same price ($2499),both can be tube or SS I believe. Both have received stunning reviews. Which one would be better with tube amps, which one better with solid state? Has anyone heard one or both. Is one more analytical then the other? Image, sound stage and depth, which should sound better with Martin Logan's electrostatics? Am I missing something, are there other DAC / Streamer's under $2500 I should know about?
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Showing 1 response by soix

soix
10,179 posts
 
A couple other options you may want to consider or compare to the Holo and iFi DACs:

SW1X DACs have gotten good feedback here and they offer a trial period, which is really nice.  Uses a tube and reported to have excellent tone and soundstage, but maybe not the last word on upper-octave detail if that's important. 

In solid state the Metrum Onyx is worth a look.  Probably trades some tonal bloom for added detail up top compared to SW1X.  I think HiFi Heaven may offer a trial period that you could take advantage of. 

Both of these are R2R non-oversampling (NOS) DACs, which some find more "natural" sounding while others consider them to be less accurate than the more common delta sigma/OS DACs.  As always, it comes down to what sounds best to you in your system, which is why I think a trial period is critical.  Best of luck. 




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