[Rayon]

The May is fantastic value for money in my estimation. I've had a lot of DAC's over the years, including Chord Dave/MScaler combo. The May is the best.

I also have never lived with Dave, but I have auditioned Dave with Utopia that I knew by the time of testing very well. I also tested Dave multiple times and spent several hours with it. To me Dave was "the most non-irritating" sound I had ever experienced. It felt very right, but at the same time it felt kind of a bummer when I was thinking to myself that this would be the end of the road. After some further reading, I ended up buying May KTE from classifieds, not Dave. I was super happy. To me May does something that Dave doesn't. It has this drag and the sound is somehow very intimate. May has the same effortlessness as Dave, but on top of that it sounds very organic and real somehow. Then when I plugged May to HQPlayer, that was the final blow as the soundstage just exploded on higher sample rates.

To me it's funny that TT2 and May are priced at same level while TT2 was completely unimpressive. It's a good DAC sure, but compared to Dave, I said to the dealer that they don't even belong on the same table (especially with Utopia, with HD800S the difference was less). May absolutely blows TT2 out of the water and IMO beats Dave as well. However in comparison with Dave personal preferences may start kicking in.

 

[Rhodey]

I also have never lived with Dave, but I have auditioned Dave with Utopia that I knew by the time of testing very well. I also tested Dave multiple times and spent several hours with it. To me Dave was "the most non-irritating" sound I had ever experienced. It felt very right, but at the same time it felt kind of a bummer when I was thinking to myself that this would be the end of the road. After some further reading, I ended up buying May KTE from classifieds, not Dave. I was super happy. To me May does something that Dave doesn't. It has this drag and the sound is somehow very intimate. May has the same effortlessness as Dave, but on top of that it sounds very organic and real somehow. Then when I plugged May to HQPlayer, that was the final blow as the soundstage just exploded on higher sample rates.

To me it's funny that TT2 and May are priced at same level while TT2 was completely unimpressive. It's a good DAC sure, but compared to Dave, I said to the dealer that they don't even belong on the same table (especially with Utopia, with HD800S the difference was less). May absolutely blows TT2 out of the water and IMO beats Dave as well. However in comparison with Dave personal preferences may start kicking in.

Interesting. I saw the TT2 and May as more side grades and preference.

 

[chesebert]

Measurements of the Bliss are up!

https://goldensound.audio/2023/02/06/holo-bliss-kte-measurements/

It's a seriously high performer. Having this much power, whilst also being on par with the very quietest amps using nested feedback opamps etc, AND having this level of performance in a discrete Class A design, is kinda crazy.
Well done Jeff!

Wow. That’s impressive. I’m interested to hear one now. Thanks for the work.

 

[Zachik]

Measurements of the Bliss are up!

https://goldensound.audio/2023/02/06/holo-bliss-kte-measurements/

It's a seriously high performer. Having this much power, whilst also being on par with the very quietest amps using nested feedback opamps etc, AND having this level of performance in a discrete Class A design, is kinda crazy.
Well done Jeff!

Are you going to post subjective impressions? Maybe in a video review?

 

[GoldenSound]

Are you going to post subjective impressions? Maybe in a video review?

Yep full video review is on the way

 

[Kamsang]

Yes, there is the subjective element when it comes to preferences. I'm using HQ Player 4 Desktop to upsample to 1.4MHz PCM with the May... And it does make a noticeable improvement. So I think the May is very hard to beat under these operating conditions.

Or sonnet pasithea

 

[Kamsang]

Yep full video review is on the way

Comparison too?

 

[chesebert]

Comparison too?

You are in HK, just go listen to one locally. If you have the option you always want to listen to a piece of gear before you read about it. Reading review ahead of time can sometime ruin an otherwise great experience.

 

[XVampireX]

Heh, even though I already have it for a while now and loving it all the way through...
It would still be nice to have a video in the style that he made the video for the May, though now we also know that he didn't keep it/buy it because he has a different amp that has a few more features, but the audio quality seems to be similar to the HM1, so for the price I'm betting he's going to say that Bliss is a steal.

 

[krude]

Bliss has landed ... too early for any conrete impressions but it is a great sounding amp, that I can say out of the gate : >

 

[Rayon]

Bliss has landed ... too early for any conrete impressions but it is a great sounding amp, that I can say out of the gate : >

Sensitive Utopia is peeking from the box, anxious to see all that power and wants to watch other headphones to try it first.

 

[XVampireX]

Utopia sounds great on it compared to everything else I've heard so far.
But I wanna hear my ordered Caldera on it as well

 

[damascato]

Bliss has landed ... too early for any conrete impressions but it is a great sounding amp, that I can say out of the gate : >

You'll see what happens after 150-200 hours!!!

 

[ericx85]

Measurements of the Bliss are up!

https://goldensound.audio/2023/02/06/holo-bliss-kte-measurements/

It's a seriously high performer. Having this much power, whilst also being on par with the very quietest amps using nested feedback opamps etc, AND having this level of performance in a discrete Class A design, is kinda crazy.
Well done Jeff!

Pretty convinced Jeff Zhu is a real life wizard

 

[Aeonyx]

I've decided to take the Susvara leap, and most likely going to order a Bliss/Spring 3 stack in the next few days, pending I don't change my mind and buy a Ferrum stack. Should be a fun upgrade from my SMSL SP400/M400 stack. Super excited.