[alxw0w]

Is there a standby mode to reduce energy consumption?

Unfortunately no

 

[LXMc]

Question for those who are using the Cyan 2 through Windows (11). I'm on the latest driver version from Kitsune, 5.68, and there's an output option but one side is greyed out and the other side doesn't appear to affect anything (either through standard playback or ASIO playback). The blue volume icon does mute the signal but that's it. Any idea if there's a way to get this working? I'm curious because with the higher voltage output on the cyan than my previous dac I'd like to get a little more play on my amp volume pots.

I had seen some brief discussion about a fixed and non-fixed volume firmware but I haven't been able to find any mention on Magna or Kitsune sites - my firmware (revision) from driver appears to be v31.44.

 

[flyte3333]

I've been loving Cyan2 so much - this is my first Holo Audio DAC. And wow.

I have an opportunity to get a used Holo May, so will be selling my Cyan2 to fund this upgrade.

Anyone in Australia interested, send me a PM - I purchased locally from Indie Hifi, so there is still over 2.5 years of official local warranty remaining, with the original invoice provided of course.

 

[up late]

deleted

 

[Sound Dragon]

It’s here!!!! Will take a few days with it and add some pithy comments soon. I am so excited.

 

[dericchan1]

It’s here!!!! Will take a few days with it and add some pithy comments soon. I am so excited.

Not much surprises really. It sounds great!!! Congrats

 

[EMINENT]

It’s here!!!! Will take a few days with it and add some pithy comments soon. I am so excited.

Hilo.

Please share assessments with and without audio rock.

 

[BShaw]

Well my Cyan arrived today after just about 5 weeks wait. I bought the Red a few weeks before, so tonight they both got their first audition. Running HQP PCM768, with DAC correction on. It's following a Gustard R26 that's been in place for over a year and a half, and is a helluva decent DAC. I bought the Cyan largely because I intended to run DSD, but for now I wanted to hear how the Red/Cyan2 combo sounded compared to the Gustard, which I know very well. I really didn't know what to expect, and thought it might be hard to even discern a lot of differences between the 2, at least in PCM.

I was taken by surprise. I cued up If You Look Far Enough-Arild Andersen/Ralph Towner/Nana Vasconcelos, very pretty and beautifully recorded. Holy Moses, on every metric this thing is in a different league: realism, dimensionality of the soundstage (depth mostly), and a full and natural overall presentation. The Gustard is no slouch, and it sounds much more flat and less nuanced than the Holo. It's like being used to viewing photographs in 1000 possible tone gradations and now there are 2000 or more. I wonder how much the DAC correction feature is increasing the performance, because I just can't believe it's this good without some Jussi magic pushing it to this point.

The other thing I observed is it seemed as if the noise floor of my system dropped by a good margin, something I haven't experienced in a while, maybe since installing a Puritan PSM156, or when I did FMC mods a couple years ago, that "didn't know it was there until it left" thing. I don't know if it's really a shift in noisefloor but that's how it feels, the way sounds just float up out of the background, and are clearly separated and everything has it's place in the space, nothing is crowded together at all.

This hefty little box(es) is quite an achievement, with a genuinely "refined" sound. To think, I unpacked it so carefully in case it ended up going back in the box! To anyone on the fence, I assure you the hype is not hype, this is a superb piece of gear and shockingly good at its selling price.

 

[Sound Dragon]

Hilo.

Please share assessments with and without audio rock.

Good thing the rock is not in the signal path. Its mere presence however makes the sound a bajillion times better according to my unscientific observations.

Really liking this Dac a lot. Out the box and not even broken in, it beats the Dac inside the DMP-A6 handily. Too soon for more than that, but it is a great start. Going to leave it playing with signal going through it for the next few days to see how either it or I adjust over time.

 

[TheRealDz]

Good thing the rock is not in the signal path. Its mere presence however makes the sound a bajillion times better according to my unscientific observations.

Really liking this Dac a lot. Out the box and not even broken in, it beats the Dac inside the DMP-A6 handily. Too soon for more than that, but it is a great start. Going to leave it playing with signal going through it for the next few days to see how either it or I adjust over time.

This is great to hear. Mine came in yesterday - almost exactly a month to the day from when I ordered it. I was able to plug it in this morning; it generally sounds good, but I am still developing my opinion.

 

[LoryWiv]

Well my Cyan arrived today after just about 5 weeks wait. I bought the Red a few weeks before, so tonight they both got their first audition. Running HQP PCM768, with DAC correction on. It's following a Gustard R26 that's been in place for over a year and a half, and is a helluva decent DAC. I bought the Cyan largely because I intended to run DSD, but for now I wanted to hear how the Red/Cyan2 combo sounded compared to the Gustard, which I know very well. I really didn't know what to expect, and thought it might be hard to even discern a lot of differences between the 2, at least in PCM.

I was taken by surprise. I cued up If You Look Far Enough-Arild Andersen/Ralph Towner/Nana Vasconcelos, very pretty and beautifully recorded. Holy Moses, on every metric this thing is in a different league: realism, dimensionality of the soundstage (depth mostly), and a full and natural overall presentation. The Gustard is no slouch, and it sounds much more flat and less nuanced than the Holo. It's like being used to viewing photographs in 1000 possible tone gradations and now there are 2000 or more. I wonder how much the DAC correction feature is increasing the performance, because I just can't believe it's this good without some Jussi magic pushing it to this point.

The other thing I observed is it seemed as if the noise floor of my system dropped by a good margin, something I haven't experienced in a while, maybe since installing a Puritan PSM156, or when I did FMC mods a couple years ago, that "didn't know it was there until it left" thing. I don't know if it's really a shift in noisefloor but that's how it feels, the way sounds just float up out of the background, and are clearly separated and everything has it's place in the space, nothing is crowded together at all.

This hefty little box(es) is quite an achievement, with a genuinely "refined" sound. To think, I unpacked it so carefully in case it ended up going back in the box! To anyone on the fence, I assure you the hype is not hype, this is a superb piece of gear and shockingly good at its selling price.

Hi @BShaw, sounds like a winner for you, congrats and enjoy! BTW are you using the Red as streamer or as DDC out to Cyan 2?

 

[StaxEnjoyer]

Question for those who are using the Cyan 2 through Windows (11). I'm on the latest driver version from Kitsune, 5.68, and there's an output option but one side is greyed out and the other side doesn't appear to affect anything (either through standard playback or ASIO playback). The blue volume icon does mute the signal but that's it. Any idea if there's a way to get this working? I'm curious because with the higher voltage output on the cyan than my previous dac I'd like to get a little more play on my amp volume pots.

I had seen some brief discussion about a fixed and non-fixed volume firmware but I haven't been able to find any mention on Magna or Kitsune sites - my firmware (revision) from driver appears to be v31.44.

Thats a good question. I have the same greyed out bar for the volume control just like you. It seems to be locked shut with no option to turn it on. This driver is also used on different Holo Audio product like the spring or may dac. Im not sure if the spring or may let you control this feature. If there is a way for you to contact kitsune audio they might help you with this question. Im running the Asio 5.57.0 version

 

[Bkido]

Question for those who are using the Cyan 2 through Windows (11). I'm on the latest driver version from Kitsune, 5.68, and there's an output option but one side is greyed out and the other side doesn't appear to affect anything (either through standard playback or ASIO playback). The blue volume icon does mute the signal but that's it. Any idea if there's a way to get this working? I'm curious because with the higher voltage output on the cyan than my previous dac I'd like to get a little more play on my amp volume pots.

I had seen some brief discussion about a fixed and non-fixed volume firmware but I haven't been able to find any mention on Magna or Kitsune sites - my firmware (revision) from driver appears to be v31.44.

To control the volume in the operating system is suboptimal because this can only be achieved with DSP volume control which lowers dynamic range and in many cases also no longer plays bit perfect. So if not absolutely needed, I wouldn't use software volume control.

 

[BShaw]

Hi @BShaw, sounds like a winner for you, congrats and enjoy! BTW are you using the Red as streamer or as DDC out to Cyan 2?

I’m using it as a streamer via USB. Actually struggled for a few hours last night setting it up because the DAC wasn’t playing or getting information. I went through everything over and over, then figured I’d swap out the brand new, very lovely made in England cable for the 47 cent printer cable in the box, and it worked perfectly. Very strange to have a brand new cable like that fail, makes me wonder because the usb out on the red is really difficult to unplug.

 

[TheRealDz]

Out of curiosity, how many hours of burn in did it take for the Cyan 2 to reach peak performance?