HoloAudio May Dac, New King of dacs? Stereophiles review on it?

thynames
While I stated this in my post,...


I bought the 105 for SACD and DVD-A, which sounded good, not fantastic. The redbook sucked, which is why I bought the HD CD-1 and the AA DDP-1, which significantly improved on the 105 playing redbook

There was nothing better in my price range to play SACDs/ DVD-As

hth

I have always preferred attenuation through a robust system (Aesthetix Callisto eclipse)

You need to do some homework, most "good solid state dac's" have output stages that will be more "robust: and will have more current drive than most any tube preamp, and many solid state preamps also.

Cheers George

I just got an Ayon Stealth and am amazed by he improvement.  I also have the Oppo/Modwright 105d and am surprised by the improvement.  I just run DSD direct and love the Oppo presentation.  I have always preferred attenuation through a robust system (Aesthetix Callisto eclipse) then the cheaper implementations that are usually accompanied in the DAC

It was faulty or something, I had the "Spring L2" lent to me for 2 very enjoyable weeks, it’s a great dac especially in NOS mode, and this new "May" dac is said to be a magnitude better again, and the bench test measurements back it up.

Cheers George

So you owned something that you KNEW sounded awful for a while? Wow!! Why? What did you replace it with that did not sound awful?

Stereophile also raved about the Holo Spring. I owned the Kitsune Spring for a while and thought it sounded awful, so I'm not giving any more credibility to this review.

GFi, et all

I chased my tail with dacs, and dac/pres for years. However, I wanted to experience SACD and DVD -As, and bought a Oppo 105 some 5 years ago. Although the SACDs and DVD-As sounded ’better’ I wasn’t hearing SOTA sound. At that time I was only using it for them, as redbook did not sound good through it. Instead I played redbook through a Pioneer PD 65 that had a level 3 mod (including outboard PS) from Musical Concepts as a transport, but about 2 years ago it died and lasers were no longer made.


At that time I was using the PD 65 as a transport into the dac from a Audio Alchemy DDP- 1 (dac/pre). I hunted around and finally settled on a Marantz HD CD 1, which is built like a tank and had current outputs which significantly improved redbook playback. Now, I don’t recall why, but I was on ebay and came across LPMs that were essentially drop in replacements for the 105s crappy OEM power supply, well known to be its Achilles Heel. Also available was a DIY kit to replace the OEM IEC with a Furutech Rhodium + heavy gauge silver tail that connected direct to the OEM board, and a jumper to bypass the 110/220 switch. It was <$200 and happily, I was amazed at the improvement. Fortunately, the designer provided excellent step by step pictures and no soldering was required. While I had the top off to do this I perused the OEM PS and noted it would be easy too, and ordered one: he had various versions from < $200- > $300. I settled on the < $200 version.


Once this was broken in I compared redbook through the 105 v through the Marantz via AA DDP-1 which was used as both a preamp and a dac. This progression then went to 105 direct using its VC, bypassing the Marantz and DDP-1: Oh my!  I’ve been playing music this way for ~ 2 years, and am very satisfied, and only spent $995 for the 105, purchased new from Oppo, and ~ $400 for the simple DIY upgrades. Thankfully, my digital quest is over and my wallet is the better for it. Instead, I upgraded from my Emerald Physics KCIIs to EP 3.4s which are amazing. A friend who is a lead and bass guitarist, who has played in bands came over and after a couple songs asked if we were listening to just the 3.4s. Alas, the current EP line has been discontinued, but I think they have new versions on the wings


hth

How about the Metrum Adagio or the new Sonnet Morpheus. Both of those R2R DACs have volume control

I was just stating more that the measured specs were "so good for R2R" on the Holo May Dac as John Alexander found and raved about, that really all it needed to top it would have been a volume control, to make it the complete R2R dac package. I already have the MSB discrete R2R with volume.  

Cheers George

just got the morpheus... interesting to compare it to the metrum jade which i love

cees went, started sonnet, now back at metrum with the investor spat sorted out... interesting to see how the two companies will run and interact, as both evidently are commercializing his innovations

as for the holo springs ... well it may well be the king of dacs -- THIS WEEK -- lol...

seriously though... there are just so many really good dacs these days, and the trickle-down effect has ridiculously good sound now available at $1000-1500 - I feel it is hard to justify going to 5 grand and up... much less 10k

@georgehifi 

wish it had a volume control though 

How about the Metrum Adagio or the new Sonnet Morpheus. Both of those R2R DACs have volume control, which is adjusted by changing the reference voltage so outside of the signal path and without losses. Have you heard either of them?

No doubt. Holo Audio does great R2R DACs for the money. Hands down. Especially this one, the Kitsune modified. A US based company (the Kitsune that is)