So recently acquired a used Holo May KTE (1 month old turned on all the time) for demo, pitting it against the usual suspect (the whole Chord Dave / M scaler gang with Wave cable + power supply)
3 days in so far, have put up Chord combo on classifieds, more so because of the cash back temptation then sound quality, but still could go both way, although if someone grab the chord combo that extra cash will go towards more fun both in this hobby and other hobbies.
Always interested from others re this comparison so thought I'll put some notes down on my own.
Couple things re my setup and comparison case:
- Feeding both setup with Antipodes K30 server. Tried PC vs K30 to Holo May and K30 has quieter background and better separation so K30 has to be in the chain to be fair for both setup.
- Antipodes K30 running Roon server but HQP upsampling up to 1.5mhz to Holo May NOS via direct USB, without HQP upsampling no comparison required, 15 mins listening in Chord combo wins. Tried BNC into Holo May vs. USB but still HQP needs to be in for Holo setup for my taste, otherwise presentation is too forward for my liking.
- Antipodes K30 USB to Antipodes S20/S60 (USB / SPDIF reclocker) to BNC input into M scaler, via Squeeze on K30 as player. After much testing, this was before acquiring Holo May, this is the best setup for Chord so kept it this way.
- Both using WA33 standard edition (KR audio 2a3s / Tak rectifier) XLR to Hifiman Susvara
Comparison using a popular track familiar with most. Fleetwood Mac's The Chain off Rumours album (Qobuz 96khz).
- First couple seconds especially (0.16 to 0.20) with guitar strings on left hand side, Holo May presents a more textured grainer presentation vs. Chord a much more smoother presentation. This is the addictive bit with Holo May, where I can hear grain? in sound which my brain equates to Vinyl sound but I've never heard proper Vinyl setup before so don't read too much into it. I am into photography so Holo May = film picture with it's grains etc which creates nostalgia feel. Overall more emotional from the picture but when zoomed in it's a grainy mess. Chord = super high resolution digital picture, ability to zoom in to admire the detail.
- Holo has an expansive soundstage throughout the track, but less quiet background. Expansive soundstage could just be more background noise creating perception of wider soundstage? Chord combo super quiet background, but left / right sound stage perceived to be smaller.
- Separation goes to Chord. Male / Female vocals at the start (0.30-0.35) of the track, Holo May definitely present them closer together and harder to pick out. Might interpret as just one singer if not paying attention. Chord clearly distinguish male / female vocals. Everything is also super separated when tracks start to get busy, but Holo presentation is warm / analog in that sense so rock tracks like this might benefit with a more congealed presentation vs spreading things out.
- Staging still investigating. Holo presentation is more brash (relative to Chord), therefore much easier for my brain to pick out where things are, because it's more obvious i.e. drums moving (2.49 - 2.55), I hear more of the drums + background noise (bloom?) relating to that instrument making the whole presentation of that drum bigger and easier to pin point. Chord more refined drum sound don't bleed / bloom into others (sharper and smaller?).
Relatively new to this hobby, about 1.5 years experience so take the above with bit of salt etc and hopefully the things called out above don't contradict each other. I climbed the chord ladder relatively quick from Qutest to current setup over a few months, so still plenty to learn.
But overall impression (probably much easier to write), is that Holo May has a more analog presentation (detecting grainy texture of instruments / vocals, not sure whether it's part of the track or part of Holo R2R implementation). Busier tracks where there are alot of things going on with Rock albums etc Holo might have an advantage if preferring a more congealed put together presentation. However quieter tracks especially orchestral / opera, where soundstage is less important because only 1 opera singer or 1 string playing, I get much more emotional attachment with the Chord setup, probably because of the sharper presentation with less background noise, so with eyes closed you can see deeper into the music (like digital photography you can zoom in to admire the detail) with my headphone setup. Holo setup when I close my eyes to try to zoom into specific instrument / vocal I get less enjoyment as it's more smeared out. All relative as both setup is top of the line and aiming for different presentation.
Anyway, more fun to be had as I do more comparison with both setup. Have to say learn more about audiophile terms actually having 2 DACs I can compare to, so if nothing else this is making me understand / appreciate more about these terms (staging/ soundstage/ timbre etc).
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