[Louisiana]

Might be off topic here, but would very much appreciate your finding in ha3a vs feliks euforia comparison.. like technicalities, soundstage and overall tonality. Are you using stock or upgraded tubes?

Upgrade tubes, in both devices.
In my opinion, the Cayin is more detailed, and the Euforia is simply more "romantic", plus it brings more life to stringed instruments and vocals.

Do you have a certain cans/headphone that you like on ha3a more than euforia or vice versa?

I use the Cayin primarily with planar headphones, and the Euforia with my dynamic ones
Hifiman HE1000se, LCD4 and Caldera sound wonderful on the Cayin.
My Atrium and Verite don't sound bad either, of course, but I personally like them much better on the Euforia.


Another topic:
Today I tested the I2s input of the Spring, and for my taste I see absolutely no advantage over USB.
I actually wanted to place the Red right next to the Spring and connect both via I2s, but I didn't like the overall picture and it just didn't make sense.
So the Red moves down into the cupboard and takes the place of the Raspberry Pi.
My current setup looks like this:

I placed the Cayin on the base form my ddHifi Rack, cause i don't need it anymore - and i like the look

 

[joseph69]

May I ask the sonic difference between the OG KTE and Spring 3 KTE? I am always curious. I am a happy owner of OG KTE for years.

Hard to tell because I also switched to the Red from the ultraRendu and eliminated my Singxer SU1 DDC when I bought the new Spring 3 KTE. If anything the Spring 3 KTE may have a blacker background. I also use USB with the new Spring 3 KTE--whereas I used to use I²S with my original Spring KTE. Also keep in mind--I owned my original Spring KTE for ~5yrs, as well as the Singxer and ultraRendu--and I've only owned my Spring 3 KTE and Red since June '23 and I also need to compare output options with the Red too. In any case--although totally different configurations, both sounded/sound excellent which is why I bought another Spring DAC knowing I couldn't go wrong. Hope this helps.

 

[Jay Smith]

Hard to tell because I also switched to the Red from the ultraRendu and eliminated my Singxer SU1 DDC when I bought the new Spring 3 KTE. If anything the Spring 3 KTE may have a blacker background. I also use USB with the new Spring 3 KTE--whereas I used to use I²S with my original Spring KTE. Also keep in mind--I owned my original Spring KTE for ~5yrs, as well as the Singxer and ultraRendu--and I've only owned my Spring 3 KTE and Red since June '23 and I also need to compare output options with the Red too. In any case--although totally different configurations, both sounded/sound excellent which is why I bought another Spring DAC knowing I couldn't go wrong. Hope this helps.

Thank you.

 

[Chronos]

Could you comment on the blackness levels between the Spring 3 KTE and the May KTE. I have heard the Spring 2 and May Level 2 on youtube, same system and songs; and it was clear the May had better separation, decay and blackness. However, this was the Spring 2 and not the Spring 3 KTE. Do you feel it was worth the upgrade from the Spring 3 KTE to May KTE? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I had Spring 3 KTE and have May KTE. May is superior for black background, fine details across the entire band, separation, and is overall technically better. Maybe slightly more neutral than Spring but pretty much same house signature, smooth, emotional, laid back, and amazing at female vocals. I think the Spring3 bass rumbles a bit more but it’s too close to tell. Goldensound thinks it’s the opposite. You will get more details in the bass with May and I think imaging is better.

Overall it’s not a huge jump, but enough to note the differences.

 

[azabu]

I had Spring 3 KTE and have May KTE. May is superior for black background, fine details across the entire band, separation, and is overall technically better. Maybe slightly more neutral than Spring but pretty much same house signature, smooth, emotional, laid back, and amazing at female vocals. I think the Spring3 bass rumbles a bit more but it’s too close to tell. Goldensound thinks it’s the opposite. You will get more details in the bass with May and I think imaging is better.

Overall it’s not a huge jump, but enough to note the differences.

Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you.

 

[De7mi]

In the end, there will always be something better - it's your wallet that decides what you're happy with.

New Spring 3 KTE owner, and 100% happy.
I bought the Cyan2 4 weeks ago and was so impressed that I upgraded to the Spring 3 - its my endgame in this DAC game.





Holo Red is incoming on tuesday.

How would you describe the difference between cyan2 and spring 3 ? And is it worth the jump?

 

[Louisiana]

How would you describe the difference between cyan2 and spring 3 ? And is it worth the jump?

The Spring 3 definitely does everything better than the Cyan2 - whether it's worth the extra price is up to you to decide
In my case, an absolute YES, as I no longer think about upgrading and just enjoy my music.
I have been looking for an upgrade for my R28 for a long time, and have also reported on my way to a perfect DAC here in forum.

During this time I tested many DACs, and the Cyan2 was the first one I thought of: Wow!
As the device improved from week to week, I started to think about how much better the Spring 3 could be, and as I thought about it more and more, I decided on the Spring 3 KTE.
The price of the Spring 3 is absolutely at the limit of what I'm willing to spend, so the DAC issue is now completely closed for me
Holo Audio convinced me so much that I also bought the Holo Red.
Now I'm saving up for the BLISS, and then I'll have peace of mind for the next 10 years

 

[suno23]

The Spring 3 definitely does everything better than the Cyan2 - whether it's worth the extra price is up to you to decide
In my case, an absolute YES, as I no longer think about upgrading and just enjoy my music.
I have been looking for an upgrade for my R28 for a long time, and have also reported on my way to a perfect DAC here in forum.

During this time I tested many DACs, and the Cyan2 was the first one I thought of: Wow!
As the device improved from week to week, I started to think about how much better the Spring 3 could be, and as I thought about it more and more, I decided on the Spring 3 KTE.
The price of the Spring 3 is absolutely at the limit of what I'm willing to spend, so the DAC issue is now completely closed for me
Holo Audio convinced me so much that I also bought the Holo Red.
Now I'm saving up for the BLISS, and then I'll have peace of mind for the next 10 years

Bliss is bliss!

 

[De7mi]

The Spring 3 definitely does everything better than the Cyan2 - whether it's worth the extra price is up to you to decide
In my case, an absolute YES, as I no longer think about upgrading and just enjoy my music.
I have been looking for an upgrade for my R28 for a long time, and have also reported on my way to a perfect DAC here in forum.

During this time I tested many DACs, and the Cyan2 was the first one I thought of: Wow!
As the device improved from week to week, I started to think about how much better the Spring 3 could be, and as I thought about it more and more, I decided on the Spring 3 KTE.
The price of the Spring 3 is absolutely at the limit of what I'm willing to spend, so the DAC issue is now completely closed for me
Holo Audio convinced me so much that I also bought the Holo Red.
Now I'm saving up for the BLISS, and then I'll have peace of mind for the next 10 years

Great that you enjoy it ! I’m the opposite from you! I have Bliss and RED and looking for a Dac now haha. But I’m in between Wandla and Cyan 2 or just save up more and get spring 3.
Do you feel like spring 3 is too smooth? I like some energy in my Dac tbh.

 

[Chronos]

Great that you enjoy it ! I’m the opposite from you! I have Bliss and RED and looking for a Dac now haha. But I’m in between Wandla and Cyan 2 or just save up more and get spring 3.
Do you feel like spring 3 is too smooth? I like some energy in my Dac tbh.

What headphones?

 

[De7mi]

What headphones?

Modhouse Tungsten DS and he6 OG 6 screws.

 

[creativepart]

New Spring 3 KTE owner here. Just hooked it up and it has me scratching my head about a few things.

First, I'm feeding it via a SoTM SMS200 Ultra Neo network streamer. The only output of the SoTM is USB. I'm running Roon on a M1 iMac and also running HQ Player 5.x on the same device. USB cable from SoTM to the Spring 3 is Audioquest Diamond. The Spring is replacing a Chord Hugo TT2 DAC.

The sound at PCM 352..8 is very good. That's not the issue. The issue is, if I change HQP to 768 the output is broken and stuttering. I expected more via the USB input. DSD at 48x128 works well but DSD 256 doesn't work at all. I set it at DSD512 and it rebooted the computer and the SoTM.

It's a used Spring 3, and I'm assuming it's working normally. Should I be seeing higher res output? The Hugo TT2 had no issues with PCM 768 via USB. Could this be a resource issue from my M1 iMac? OR..... ?

PS. I don't feel a complelling need to run above PCM 352.9 all that much. It's just a matter of expectation. I see folks running PCM 1,500 on these boards.

 

[suno23]

New Spring 3 KTE owner here. Just hooked it up and it has me scratching my head about a few things.

First, I'm feeding it via a SoTM SMS200 Ultra Neo network streamer. The only output of the SoTM is USB. I'm running Roon on a M1 iMac and also running HQ Player 5.x on the same device. USB cable from SoTM to the Spring 3 is Audioquest Diamond. The Spring is replacing a Chord Hugo TT2 DAC.

The sound at PCM 352..8 is very good. That's not the issue. The issue is, if I change HQP to 768 the output is broken and stuttering. I expected more via the USB input. DSD at 48x128 works well but DSD 256 doesn't work at all. I set it at DSD512 and it rebooted the computer and the SoTM.

It's a used Spring 3, and I'm assuming it's working normally. Should I be seeing higher res output? The Hugo TT2 had no issues with PCM 768 via USB. Could this be a resource issue from my M1 iMac? OR..... ?

PS. I don't feel a complelling need to run above PCM 352.9 all that much. It's just a matter of expectation. I see folks running PCM 1,500 on these boards.

it could possibly be the USB board in the Spring 3....I recently purchased one thru classified and it was a ONE owner DAC so the warranty was still in place since it is less than 3 years old. My USB wouldn't lock onto the signal at ALL. They sent me a new USB module and it was very easy to swap out with provided instructions.

 

[idairyou]

it could possibly be the USB board in the Spring 3....I recently purchased one thru classified and it was a ONE owner DAC so the warranty was still in place since it is less than 3 years old. My USB wouldn't lock onto the signal at ALL. They sent me a new USB module and it was very easy to swap out with provided instructions.

You also might want to hook the Spring directly to your Mac, and make sure it is just the USB board and not an issue where your streamer and DAC are not playing well together for some reason.

 

[Louisiana]

@creativepart
I also run HQPlayer on an M1, no problems with PCM up to 1536.
Which filters do you use?

Right now i use sinc-MG: