[zoidbb]

...Why would the USB shell need to touch the frame? Have you even looked at the USB module? The shell comes into contact with the ground /on/ the PCB, which is itself ground to the chassis. You should /never/ rely on the USB port directly contacting the chassis when designing gear like this, because tolerances tend to leave gaps.


Further, the metal shell on the DAC-side connector isn't even relevant here since it isn't grounded through the USB cable. As per the USB spec, USB cables should ONLY ground on the host side. This is to prevent ground loops, amongst other issues. If you're using a cable that's grounded on both ends you're using a BAD cable.

The holes those screws are connected to are /not/ isolated, and I can't imagine Holo Audio would make such a gargantuan mistake as to depend on the ground from the USB cable when the USB cable isn't even supposed to connect devices to host ground.


Regardless, I've reached out to the manufacturer for clarify on this. We will see what they say. Meanwhile, please go learn the
USB cable spec.

 

[ExtremeBoky]

The shell comes into contact with the ground /on/ the PCB, which is itself ground to the chassis.

NO! The USB shell comes in contact only with a part of the USB PCB ground fill (1/4, due to ground segregation on the USB PCB module). However, the whole ground fill is ISOLATED from the rest of the May DAC ground - HENCE:

1. the term used to describe the above: galvanic isolation, ground isolation, or separate points of ground common returns.
2. my statements from earlier: the USB module ground fill must find a low impedance path to the Vbus common, to drain the noise. It needs to do this because the galvanic isolation was implemented in the first place, to COMBAT people like you who do not care and think that noise fed to the USB card is okay!!!!

To ensure 2. above, there is a:
a) requirement for a very low noise steamer' liner power supply
c) requirement that a steamer has a separate low noise voltage regulator, to create low noise and low impedance Vbus, which in return powers up the USB module inside May DAC.
d) requirement that a USB cable has (ideally, but expensive...) a split data path, and Vbus path... to ensure the noise can couple from the USB module back to the streamer common of that Vbus voltage regulator via a low impedance path (that is different from the shield surrounding D+ and D- of the digital data stream). You really need to know electronics to understand this.

The holes those screws are connected to are /not/ isolated

NO! They ARE isolated. Have a look yourself !!! The copper circles are NOT touching the USB module ground fill:

Regardless, I've reached out to the manufacturer for clarify on this. We will see what they say. Meanwhile, please go learn the
USB cable spec.

You have to stop thinking that I do not know crap!!

The USB cable shells are connected together at either end via USB CABLE most of the time... however, the USB shell on the USB module/card is NOT touching the may chassis, the USB module ground fill is not connected to May DAC ground. Hence:

a) it does not really matter if the USB cable connector shells are connected together, or not. The ground loop is not possible irrelevant of the USB cable used!!! The analogy is the ground lift on the amplifiers.
b) the idea behind the galvanic isolation is preserved and correctly executed THROUGHOUT.

 

[Rayon]

Fox has landed:

 

[ericx85]

Fox has landed:

Enjoy! I keep A/Bing with my AK4499 dac once in a while. Trying to convince myself that a "proper" OS dac should sound better. Even on 16/44 the May sounds better in what most would consider a flawed/broken approach with NOS. The vocals on May just sound so stupid normal as opposed to where you almost always get hit by glare/sheen when vocalists kick it up on chip dacs, like it just sounds so "processed" to me. The icing on the cake is you can do a much better job with OS by using software thatll do it better than any chip dac does on its own and that software will get to shine with the may since it can do pure NOS vs the half/sorta NOS a lot of dacs have been offering lately.

 

[Rayon]

Do you people use May with HQPlayer+NOS or just plain NOS? At first I fell in love in HQPlayer combo, but the more I switch back and forth, the more the plain NOS starts to call my name. I feel like if I let my old ideas go and let May's NOS mode guide me in reorganizing my music library, I will end up with something beautiful.

 

[Lucky87]

Anyone order a NEW May KTE recently wondering the overall wait time?

There site says up to 4 weeks out

Thanks

 

[ItHz]

I ordered mine near the end of June and it arrived 3.5 weeks later.

 

[Rayon]

I just noticed that if in Roon I select "Device Setup" -> "Volume control" -> "Device volume", I can select volume and Roon's transport still shows that it's going to DAC as bit perfect (while when using DSP volume that naturally turns on the DSP...). According to this page "Device Volume" would mean that Roon just passes metainformation to the DAC that this should be run @ 99% volume or something:

https://help.roonlabs.com/portal/en/kb/articles/audio-setup-basics#Volume_Control_Mode

Changing volume level from 100% to 99% didn't sound like it affected sound quality much (but volume control works!), but changing from "Device Volume" @ 100% to "Fixed Volume" sounds like something happens to the SQ. However there is so long time between switching that it can be placebo as well. @GoldenOne have you played with May's internal volume control? Also I wonder if "Device volume" @ 100% would already be modifying the sound somehow? To my ear it sounds like the sound is losing some openness when switching to Device Volume (even though it's 100%), but I'd like to understand what's happening behind the curtains to check if my listening tests can be verified with some technical explanation.

 

[GoldenSound]

I just noticed that if in Roon I select "Device Setup" -> "Volume control" -> "Device volume", I can select volume and Roon's transport still shows that it's going to DAC as bit perfect (while when using DSP volume that naturally turns on the DSP...). According to this page "Device Volume" would mean that Roon just passes metainformation to the DAC that this should be run @ 99% volume or something:

https://help.roonlabs.com/portal/en/kb/articles/audio-setup-basics#Volume_Control_Mode

Changing volume level from 100% to 99% didn't sound like it affected sound quality much (but volume control works!), but changing from "Device Volume" @ 100% to "Fixed Volume" sounds like something happens to the SQ. However there is so long time between switching that it can be placebo as well. @GoldenOne have you played with May's internal volume control? Also I wonder if "Device volume" @ 100% would already be modifying the sound somehow? To my ear it sounds like the sound is losing some openness when switching to Device Volume (even though it's 100%), but I'd like to understand what's happening behind the curtains to check if my listening tests can be verified with some technical explanation.

I run the May with the non-volume-control firmware.
Unfortunately some linux based endpoints set device volume to about 40% by default, and I never use device volume anyway (if wanting to do digital attenuation it's better to do it in roon or HQP) so I put the non-volume-control firmware on to guarantee bit perfect passthrough

 

[Rayon]

I run the May with the non-volume-control firmware.
Unfortunately some linux based endpoints set device volume to about 40% by default, and I never use device volume anyway (if wanting to do digital attenuation it's better to do it in roon or HQP) so I put the non-volume-control firmware on to guarantee bit perfect passthrough

Yeah. The more I listen to it, the more I lean towards thinking that already switching to "Device Volume" -setting will activate something and May will start pushing data through some internal chip even though it's in NOS mode. Probably otherwise switching from 100% to 99% volume would take time as it would need to switch modes. It just makes me wonder how many people are using it in Device Volume mode @ 100% not noticing that they are not using May at it's best. It was kind of sneaky.

As to my ear Fixed Volume sounds better, maybe I'll keep it there. Would had been nice to be able to control volume inside May digitally without noticeable quality loss, but I guess one can't have everything. And this is what I bought anyway.

 

[Louisiana]

Mano Ultra mk2 via HDMI (i2s) with PLL on. Works like a charm.

Can you tell me more about the device?
What OS are you using, and cause I'm using HQPlayer, what sample rates can the Mano do?
On the Magna HiFi page it says the limit is 192kHz.

 

[Rayon]

Can you tell me more about the device?
What OS are you using, and cause I'm using HQPlayer, what sample rates can the Mano do?
On the Magna HiFi page it says the limit is 192kHz.

Personally I would suggest to try May somehow both with 192kHz and then 768kHz (or even 1.536mHz if your setup supports it) and see if the difference matters to you. I'm planning to use really old and cheap Intel NUC as a satellite and it can support up to 1.536mHz. Personally I've found the difference big enough so that I couldn't settle to 192kHz. It feels like the space / potential is bigger. Different material/filters/dithers/noises shapers/modulators use this space/potential differently, but I want it to be there. Also with higher sample rates you can use wider variety of options inside HQPlayer. For example noise shapers that push errors to higher frequencies benefit from more ultrasonic room. It may be that you end up noticing that you don't hear any difference and it doesn't matter to you, but after all we are talking about 5000$ dac that is often paired with quite high end headphones and amps. I wouldn't want to cap that potential if it can be solved with cheap Intel NUC / fitlet

 

[ZzZzZzZ]

Is this a new Streamer/DDC from Holo Audio?

 

[dudeX]

Is this a new Streamer/DDC from Holo Audio?

Interesting find. Now where is the Holo Audio Bliss amp? ...

 

[Rayon]

Did my first review ever: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/holo-audio-may.26003/reviews