An exploration of Chord DAVE, MScaler, Qutest, and Holo May, HQPlayer

[Tubewin]

The May finally arrived. Ordered on 8/18/21 and was shipped on 9/23/21. Not too bad. Haven't listened to it yet. Just had it setup. I have to admit I was frightened when it didn't turn on when I pressed the power button. But after pressing and holding the power button for 2-3 seconds it turned on. I will update with some listening impressions after some time has passed. Really glad it arrived in one piece (technically two). I'm always a little nervous when it comes to international shipping. The aesthetics and build quality is stunning.

 

[gancanjam]

The May finally arrived. Ordered on 8/18/21 and was shipped on 9/23/21. Not too bad. Haven't listened to it yet. Just had it setup. I have to admit I was frightened when it didn't turn on when I pressed the power button. But after pressing and holding the power button for 2-3 seconds it turned on. I will update with some listening impressions after some time has passed. Really glad it arrived in one piece (technically two). I'm always a little nervous when it comes to international shipping. The aesthetics and build quality is stunning.

Congrats ! I will be ordering this as well

 

[Mrc4U]

The May finally arrived. Ordered on 8/18/21 and was shipped on 9/23/21. Not too bad. Haven't listened to it yet. Just had it setup. I have to admit I was frightened when it didn't turn on when I pressed the power button. But after pressing and holding the power button for 2-3 seconds it turned on. I will update with some listening impressions after some time has passed. Really glad it arrived in one piece (technically two). I'm always a little nervous when it comes to international shipping. The aesthetics and build quality is stunning.

Congratulations! I shared your nervousness. I thought I'd forgotten to turn on the toggle power switch on the back of the DAC.

You're in for a treat!!

 

[Tubewin]

Congratulations! I shared your nervousness. I thought I'd forgotten to turn on the toggle power switch on the back of the DAC.

You're in for a treat!!

ty

 

[Rukley]

Does anyone know if the Chord Qutest / TT2 pair well with something like the SPL Phonitor X / XE. Considering getting this setup but can't decide what amp would pair best with the Qutest and would like to just get one I can still use after I eventually upgrade to the TT2.

Ive seen the Anni but don't think it would be worth it as the Qutest will be a stepping stone.

Will eventually probably get a tube amp like the Feliks Euforia or the Woo Wa22

 

[gancanjam]

As much as I am itching to buy Holo May + HQPlayer, this is what stopping me from pressing the button yet,

1) Have some key questions on HQPlayer to Signalyst as the info in the internet is abysmal even on basic topics such as right version/right requirements etc., but after multiple mails , they are non responsive to reach out to me and it seems they are doing great without the obligation to respond to customers, good for them. Even if they don't mean it that way, at least that's how a customer can see it unfortunately

2) Holo May team posture looks like " hey I am too busy" which is not very inviting to any customer, but they did got back to me after while with a generic details through email and hoping I will get a chance to talk for few mins on specific topics before I can purchase as this is not a $10 phone charger purchase. Will see if I get a call back or not

3) Used FS for Holo May market is also ridiculous and does not give any incentive to go towards that ! seems people cash in on the long wait times, so if Holo May KTE is $5500 then FS will be for $5450 am not kidding it's like resale value is $99 % . We should be better off waiting for 5 weeks and get a new one with purchaser being registered owner of the product to get upgrades and support i.e. if at all they respond on time of course, remember they are too busy I remember when I wanted to upgrade my HE1000 V1 to SE, I was not able to as I was not the first registered owner.

The message from both which can be perceived by many like, "hey I have proved enough by building great products, no need to interact with me and there is enough aficionados giving testimony so have trust and get the product, am busy right now"

Kitsune and Signalyst HQPlayer have spectacular products but can focus bit more on customer engagement as many may take longer turnarounds of customer support personally and can even be an ego issue. If Pre-sales response is not up to the mark then the audiophile community might really have to worry about the post sales support in case something wrong happens to those equipment.

We do understand they are not corporates but a smaller niche firms with great minds but hope if someone seeing this thread can send a constructive feedback to them so that they can do even better than now . This was my first hand experience and not sure if other had similar experience, will see if I can get some interactions and close in on it

 

[MarkusBarkus]

I do not use HQ, but read the interesting and informative HQ threads on AS. "Miska" seems very responsive to customers, questions, etc. Might be worth your time to check one of those threads...

 

[Tubewin]

Anyone know of a indepth tutorial on how to use HQ player with a PC? The struggle is real.

As much as I am itching to buy Holo May + HQPlayer, this is what stopping me from pressing the button yet,

1) Have some key questions on HQPlayer to Signalyst as the info in the internet is abysmal even on basic topics such as right version/right requirements etc., but after multiple mails , they are non responsive to reach out to me and it seems they are doing great without the obligation to respond to customers, good for them. Even if they don't mean it that way, at least that's how a customer can see it unfortunately

2) Holo May team posture looks like " hey I am too busy" which is not very inviting to any customer, but they did got back to me after while with a generic details through email and hoping I will get a chance to talk for few mins on specific topics before I can purchase as this is not a $10 phone charger purchase. Will see if I get a call back or not

3) Used FS for Holo May market is also ridiculous and does not give any incentive to go towards that ! seems people cash in on the long wait times, so if Holo May KTE is $5500 then FS will be for $5450 am not kidding it's like resale value is $99 % . We should be better off waiting for 5 weeks and get a new one with purchaser being registered owner of the product to get upgrades and support i.e. if at all they respond on time of course, remember they are too busy I remember when I wanted to upgrade my HE1000 V1 to SE, I was not able to as I was not the first registered owner.

The message from both which can be perceived by many like, "hey I have proved enough by building great products, no need to interact with me and there is enough aficionados giving testimony so have trust and get the product, am busy right now"

Kitsune and Signalyst HQPlayer have spectacular products but can focus bit more on customer engagement as many may take longer turnarounds of customer support personally and can even be an ego issue. If Pre-sales response is not up to the mark then the audiophile community might really have to worry about the post sales support in case something wrong happens to those equipment.

We do understand they are not corporates but a smaller niche firms with great minds but hope if someone seeing this thread can send a constructive feedback to them so that they can do even better than now . This was my first hand experience and not sure if other had similar experience, will see if I can get some interactions and close in on it

Holo has been really busy lately. When I first inquired about the Holo May, they responded by the next day. It takes a few days now for a response. It's probably because they are about to release a new product (possibly the Bliss). I never got the impression that they were too important or my questions too insignificant to be answered. I think it's just Tim answering everyone's questions. I can't speak for HQ Player's customer service since I have not reached out to them. I do want to try HQ player with the May, but as of now I'm content with NOS. Going to burn it in for a month straight before commenting on how it sounds. But for sure, it's a major upgrade for me.

 

[sajunky]

I do want to try HQ player with the May, but as of now I'm content with NOS. Going to burn it in for a month straight before commenting on how it sounds. But for sure, it's a major upgrade for me.

Maybe you need HQPlayer, as this one is not NOS. Misleading marketing.

 

[gancanjam]

Holo has been really busy lately. When I first inquired about the Holo May, they responded by the next day. It takes a few days now for a response. It's probably because they are about to release a new product (possibly the Bliss). I never got the impression that they were too important or my questions too insignificant to be answered. I think it's just Tim answering everyone's questions. I can't speak for HQ Player's customer service since I have not reached out to them. I do want to try HQ player with the May, but as of now I'm content with NOS. Going to burn it in for a month straight before commenting on how it sounds. But for sure, it's a major upgrade for me.

May be due to Bliss, Kitsune is ignoring customers. No wonder there is a saying "Ignorance is Bliss" LOL .. Have never heard about it, is this an upgrade to May DAC or is it an amplifier ?

 

[Tubewin]

May be due to Bliss, Kitsune is ignoring customers. No wonder there is a saying "Ignorance is Bliss" LOL .. Have never heard about it, is this an upgrade to May DAC or is it an amplifier ?

Holo Bliss is a headphone amplifier. I had the impression it was their no holds barred amplifier designed with the Susvara in mind.

 

[arnaud]

Maybe you need HQPlayer, as this one is not NOS. Misleading marketing.

Is there an explanation that doesn’t require EE degree to understand this point?

For instance, is there a forced upsampling before conversion (and if so, why does the built OS filter subjectively degrade the sound then)?

Or is this about the mechanism you mentioned to get true 24 bit worth of dynamic range from the ladder? (which then is a very different story for me from an oversampling filter upstream).

 

[sajunky]

Is there an explanation that doesn’t require EE degree to understand this point?

For instance, is there a forced upsampling before conversion (and if so, why does the built OS filter subjectively degrade the sound then)?

Or is this about the mechanism you mentioned to get true 24 bit worth of dynamic range from the ladder? (which then is a very different story for me from an oversampling filter upstream).

Upsampling? Not I am aware of. I don't know what you mean by 'forced'.
It is DSP filtering, making it a fake NOS.

I didn't say anything about "true 24-bit dynamic range". There seems to be scrambling technique in place aimed for error randomization. It decrease quantisation noise making more clean FFT picture, but these are static measurements. Dynamic ladder resolution can only suffer in result of such operation. Sonically brings it close to Delta-Sigma converters (smoothed sound). It may cause intermodulation products heard as "sea waves" as reported by some users.

 

[arnaud]

Isn’t that exactly the same thing as usual approach to stack converters in parallel, a potentially expensive (but good on marketing side) way to reduce quantization noise in the same manner?

It seems to me you’re picking something and turning into an issue / misleading advertising, basically throwing the baby with the bath water.

I can only speak of direct experience but the May (or Spring for that matter) NOS does not sound anything like sea turtles walking on the beach or whatever you are tagging to someone else reporting as supposedly issue.

When I mean NOS, it’s about the Non Oversampling aspect, as I certainly from experience don’t seem to appreciate OS filters in general despite the benefit re. requirement on the reconstruction filter. You’re raising what, to my ears, is a non issue and adding catchy / click baity “fake NOS” when there’s nothing about OS filtering in what you’re discussing.

I’d say, if you’re not being plain disingenuous, you then certainly must have an axe to grind against this particular manufacturer to have such firm belief the product is misleading / poor sounding (despite you absolutely never having heard one right).

I shall stop here before @Currawong gets all mad at me for awakening the devil, I just thought we ought to address your new crusade on the May before you get a chance to mislead too many other people.

arnaud

 

[sajunky]

Isn’t that exactly the same thing as usual approach to stack converters in parallel, a potentially expensive (but good on marketing side) way to reduce quantization noise in the same manner?
[...]
When I mean NOS, it’s about the Non Oversampling aspect, as I certainly from experience don’t seem to appreciate OS filters in general despite the benefit re. requirement on the reconstruction filter. You’re raising what, to my ears, is a non issue and adding catchy / click baity “fake NOS” when there’s nothing about OS filtering in what you’re discussing.

An approach to stack converters in parallel brings real benefits, errors are averaged. There is no "sea waves" in results. It is not the same as error scrambling which seems to be used in Holo Audio.

NOS DAC do not use oversampling nor digital filtering. The one with digital filtering is not NOS. Music had been mastered in studios. There is no need for additional filtering before conversion.

I’d say, if you’re not being plain disingenuous, you then certainly must have an axe to grind against this particular manufacturer to have such firm belief the product is misleading / poor sounding (despite you absolutely never having heard one right).

I am not against Holo Audio, but I am against false or misleading marketing. They claim it is R2R DAC, but is not, as a secondary compensation ladder is attached. It should be called a ladder DAC They claim it is NOS, but is not, as digital filtering is in place. I can't advise how it should be called, as nobody else do the same.