Holo Audio Bliss

[Zachik]

Question to Bliss owners:
The "Line Output" (on the rear panel) - is it a pass-through or volume controlled?
If the latter, I am curious why they did not name it "Preamp Output"?!

Yes it is affected by the volume pot - many people use Bliss in their speaker set up as a pre-amp.

Thanks!

Can one change (using the remote) the line output to full line level? or are these ALWAYS pre-amp (volume controlled)?
What happens when Bliss is OFF? Would these pre-amp (labeled line output) jacks become muted?

I am thinking of connecting a tube amp to these outputs, and wanted the tube amp to receive full line level (like a pass-through)...

 

[incredulousity]

Power needs to be on for outputs on Bliss to be live. There is no pass through.

 

[chesebert]

Let me remind you that Topping A90D scored 92 SanduCoins. The build quality is the most serious complaint that lowered the overall score.
Oh those audiophiles!
It seemed to me that women are a different world, it is sometimes difficult to understand them. But no! Audiophiles are definitely a different universe. They have two goods that are completely different in quality, they can differ by 2 points out of 100 possible. The devil will break his leg, understanding all this.

Well, the truth is that most youtubers that pretend to "review" audio gear don't know what they are doing or they are full of s or shilling for some sponsor/dealer.
Developing your own listening skills and taste is the only way to survive in this hobby - otherwise the box pushers will eat you for lunch.

 

[dfiled]

There are some reviewers whose opinions I trust (eg Wave Theory and Golden Sound).
Most I don’t. But when making buying decisions, “developing your own listening skills” would make sense if it were possible to test gear such as the Bliss before buying, but of course that usually isn’t an option. So some of us have no choice to rely to some extent on reviewers who have earned out trust when choosing gear.

 

[Chronos]

Just got my Bliss and am having volume issues. Essentially I have to listen to it whether on Hi-Z or Low-Z at max volume with my Abyss 1266 TC. Yes I recognize my DAP is a bottleneck as a source but I could use my Cayin N8ii at 75 - 85 volume with the Cayin IHA-6 amp and set the IHA-6 amp to High gain 60-70% volume and be fine.

Does that mean the Cayin IHA-6 is more powerful than the Bliss or am I doing something wrong?

My connection is with the N8ii 4.4mm balanced line out to Bliss XLR input with a iFi cable. I can turn the gain up on the DAP but I didn’t have to before so didn’t expect to have to on the Bliss.

 

[Solasuke]

Just got my Bliss and am having volume issues. Essentially I have to listen to it whether on Hi-Z or Low-Z at max volume with my Abyss 1266 TC. Yes I recognize my DAP is a bottleneck as a source but I could use my Cayin N8ii at 75 - 85 volume with the Cayin IHA-6 amp and set the IHA-6 amp to High gain 60-70% volume and be fine.

Does that mean the Cayin IHA-6 is more powerful than the Bliss or am I doing something wrong?

My connection is with the N8ii 4.4mm balanced line out to Bliss XLR input with a iFi cable. I can turn the gain up on the DAP but I didn’t have to before so didn’t expect to have to on the Bliss.

It means the output voltage of your DAC is too low, so it is your source. Bliss is made to partner with the May which has an output voltage of 5.8V. The typical output voltage of any given DAC is usually about 4V, which does translate to a quieter source.

Bliss is definitely not lacking in power, and is definitely more powerful than an IHA-6 amp, but power doesn’t necessarily equal volume.

You could perhaps try the RCA inputs, I don’t know whether that would make a difference.

 

[GoldenSound]

Just got my Bliss and am having volume issues. Essentially I have to listen to it whether on Hi-Z or Low-Z at max volume with my Abyss 1266 TC. Yes I recognize my DAP is a bottleneck as a source but I could use my Cayin N8ii at 75 - 85 volume with the Cayin IHA-6 amp and set the IHA-6 amp to High gain 60-70% volume and be fine.

Does that mean the Cayin IHA-6 is more powerful than the Bliss or am I doing something wrong?

My connection is with the N8ii 4.4mm balanced line out to Bliss XLR input with a iFi cable. I can turn the gain up on the DAP but I didn’t have to before so didn’t expect to have to on the Bliss.

It means the output voltage of your DAC is too low, so it is your source. Bliss is made to partner with the May which has an output voltage of 5.8V. The typical output voltage of any given DAC is usually about 4V, which does translate to a quieter source.

Bliss is definitely not lacking in power, and is definitely more powerful than an IHA-6 amp, but power doesn’t necessarily equal volume.

You could perhaps try the RCA inputs, I don’t know whether that would make a difference.

4V vs 5.8V is only about a 3dB difference so shouldn't matter much.

The IHA-6 isn't more powerful, but if you had it in high gain then it would need to be turned up much less. The IHA-6 has gain of 7dB in low gain or 20dB in high gain. The Bliss gain is displayed on the front and can go upto +12dB. (0dB is not the max)

The 1266 does need a fair bit of voltage though, I have to turn the bliss up with them a fair bit too. But don't worry, volume control position is no indicator of power/headroom, it's just a factor of gain. In fact due to this myth some manufacturers even deliberately put very high gain on their products to make them SEEM more powerful even if actually they can't even be turned up fully with any real headphone as they'd run out of power or go into protection.

 

[Chronos]

4V vs 5.8V is only about a 3dB difference so shouldn't matter much.

The IHA-6 isn't more powerful, but if you had it in high gain then it would need to be turned up much less. The IHA-6 has gain of 7dB in low gain or 20dB in high gain. The Bliss gain is displayed on the front and can go upto +12dB. (0dB is not the max)

The 1266 does need a fair bit of voltage though, I have to turn the bliss up with them a fair bit too. But don't worry, volume control position is no indicator of power/headroom, it's just a factor of gain. In fact due to this myth some manufacturers even deliberately put very high gain on their products to make them SEEM more powerful even if actually they can't even be turned up fully with any real headphone as they'd run out of power or go into protection.

Thanks so much for your insight, I was actually hoping you would weigh in since I had read your measurements on these 2 amps but was confused on my situation. I guess essentially it was just a gain difference throwing me off.

 

[RustyGates]

Just got my Bliss and am having volume issues. Essentially I have to listen to it whether on Hi-Z or Low-Z at max volume with my Abyss 1266 TC. Yes I recognize my DAP is a bottleneck as a source but I could use my Cayin N8ii at 75 - 85 volume with the Cayin IHA-6 amp and set the IHA-6 amp to High gain 60-70% volume and be fine.

Does that mean the Cayin IHA-6 is more powerful than the Bliss or am I doing something wrong?

My connection is with the N8ii 4.4mm balanced line out to Bliss XLR input with a iFi cable. I can turn the gain up on the DAP but I didn’t have to before so didn’t expect to have to on the Bliss.

Seems like Bliss maxes out at 6.5W or 18Vrms into a 50ohm load. Bliss has 12dB gain, so you need 4.5V at the input to max the Bliss out into the 1266.

 

[jlbrach]

the formula s/powerman which is 6/16 and about 2.3 watts into the abyss TC drives them without issue....does a terrific job so I do not see how the Bliss could have any issues

 

[Chronos]

So I did some digging and it seems like I wasn’t using the Line out on the DAP properly and was amping the headphones out circuit instead. It’s all fixed now and I’m listening to the 1266 TC with the DAC at 4v output and Bliss at Lo-Z -4 to 0 gain.

Thanks for all the help! Much better and can truly appreciate the amp and headphones now.

 

[ketosus]

Another review... what's your opinion on his opinion?



https://soundnews.net/reviews/ampli...the-holo-audio-bliss-kte-headphone-amplifier/


must be hard to get excited about another amp when owning the primavera

Sandu Vitalie seems pretty enthusiastic in his review about the Bliss KTE though Gold Award & 94 out of 100 points.

Sorry but I don't buy soundnews.net scores because Flux Volot has 93 points and it has nothing to do with Holo Bliss with 94 points.
Holo Bliss is 2 levels above Volot. A nice BLISS review but .... but the score is not the best.

 

[gk2013]

Sorry but I don't buy soundnews.net scores because Flux Volot has 93 points and it has nothing to do with Holo Bliss with 94 points.
Holo Bliss is 2 levels above Volot. A nice BLISS review but .... but the score is not the best.

This point has been made before.

 

[ketosus]

Just ordered the Audiomagic Masterpiece M1 fuse for my Bliss. Hopefully this is the last piece of the puzzle and its gonna complete my journey towards perfection with my Bliss KTE.

What size M1 fuse did you order 2.5A or 3.15A ? THX

 

[shafat777]

What size M1 fuse did you order 2.5A or 3.15A ? THX

4A just like it says on the website and manual