Holo Audio May DAC

I’ve got 98 hours on my May KTE and it’s really starting to blossom. I think this might just be the last DAC I ever own. Runs a bit hot, but I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. 

I thought my May DAC started to sound good at 100 hours, but the sound really does become exceptional after the reccomended 500 hours of break in.  Also keep in mind that DSD and PCM are handled by separate parts of the DAC, so if you just play 500 hours of PCM stuff through it, the DSD side won't be broken in at all.

I use a Luxman JPA-10000i power cord with mine, which has got to be one of the cheapest power cord options out there ($125 on ebay).

Speaking of power (cords), how many folks are running their May through a line conditioner or similar? Like some other posters elsewhere, I find that it sounds better plugged directly into the wall. The slight hint of grain/sibilance is removed. 

Hi @dvdboulet

I am very interested in how you use HQPlayer / roon to control the volume.

I have the LM845P and the May.

Do you set the volume on the LM to max and hope and pray that the digital volume control will never be set to max?

You use the pre-in on the LM amp so the LM volume pot is removed from the equation. And then you can set your max volume level in HQPlayer to prevent it from going too high. You can also set ’comfort level’ in Roon which requires manual override to go higher.

Alternatively/additionally, as mentioned before, I also bought a high quality passive transformer with stepped gain control to take the balanced outputs from the May into the SE input on the LM. Aside from slight increase in SQ, the stepped attenuator allows one to dial in max gain into the amp. Which in turn allows one to run HQP volume control at the top of the scale. But honestly, I don’t know if this is worth the extra $$ and box/cables. https://ampsandsound.com/products/black-box-xlr-to-rca-balanced-converter-with-input-transformers-an...

Bonus idea: I then installed free Ropieee.xl on an cheap rPi endpoint and added a $20 FLIRC IR usb plug. You can them use Ropieee remote function to send mapped Holo Remote control volume buttons to Roon/HQP. The funny thing is that I am not using this endpoint for NAA output like most - just as a way to add volume control via the Holo Remote control.

The end result is that I can actually control volume with the Holo May remote in a very well defined gain range. It provides for a nice integrated setup and one would be none the wiser that it wasn’t coming from some sort of pre-amp setup.

I sometimes question whether these extra 2 boxes are worthwhile ... but even without them, I already do some room correction in HQP and I do think HQP volume control sounds better than LM volume pot. And the most recent benefit is that HQP has added automatic loudness adjustments which increases the low shelf as volume is turned down - absolutely fantastic for low-level, late night listening. All in all, this is the best digital sound I have had in my system.