Holo Audio May DAC Speculation

[shwnwllms]

For folks that have upgraded from the Spring 3 KTE to the May, is the price increase worth it? I've decided to sell my tube amp since I haven't had as much time to listen to my desktop setup in general, so pairing down my setup to just the absolute "must haves" and moving forward with my Ferrum stack instead. I love love love my Spring 3 KTE. I didn't realize until recently that the May has native Oversampling, which the Spring series does not. I don't use HQPlayer so I'm only using NOS right now. I like the idea of being able to do Oversampling & NOS on the unit itself but obviously the cost is 2x Spring 3 KTE roughly so wanted to get opinions

I can’t speak personally to the differences as I went straight to the May KTE. However, the May’s onboard oversampling is crap compared HQP anyway. Even if you weren’t planning on upsampling via HQP NOS is the way to go, built in oversampling is not great. Yes May has onboard oversampling built in but that’s not what you’re paying for. It’s the dual mono separate power supply mostly as that is where the bulk of the cost (and effect on sound quality comes from)

How is the OOR with your ZMFs? I just bought a Pendant SE. My V550 Pro certainly drove my VO fine, but SS + ZMFs was missing some of the magic only tubes can deliver.

 

[SlothRock]

I can’t speak personally to the differences as I went straight to the May KTE. However, the May’s onboard oversampling is crap compared HQP anyway. Even if you weren’t planning on upsampling via HQP NOS is the way to go, built in oversampling is not great. Yes May has onboard oversampling built in but that’s not what you’re paying for. It’s the dual mono separate power supply mostly as that is where the bulk of the cost (and effect on sound quality comes from)

How is the OOR with your ZMFs? I just bought a Pendant SE. My V550 Pro certainly drove my VO fine, but SS + ZMFs was missing some of the magic only tubes can deliver.

Thank you, this is super helpful! I think I’ll probably be good sticking with the Spring 3 in this case then. I was mostly interested for the oversampling option but not worth the $$ additional to me if it’s not stellar.

I love the OOR with ZMF’s!! I think the tube vs solid state for ZMF’s depends on the headphone, at least for the ones I tried. I prefer my VC’s on a tube amp because it helps draw out the mids and bumps up the bass intensity over SS. My atriums I preferred on the OOR though. The mids were already very well balanced and the bass already slams so when I paired it with the Euforia, I actually felt it pushed both those too forward for my liking and made some vocals a little sharp for me. Atrium was definitely a much better match for the OOR in my opinion, but I know many would disagree so ymmv.

I’m parting with my tube amp because, while the difference is there, it’s not enough for me to get the usage out of it that it deserves. Additionally, I’m pretty sure I’m going to eventually get either the upcoming Atrium closed or Caldera closed to replace the VC as my closed back and those will both work better on the OOR from my experience

 

[EMINENT]

For folks that have upgraded from the Spring 3 KTE to the May, is the price increase worth it? I've decided to sell my tube amp since I haven't had as much time to listen to my desktop setup in general, so pairing down my setup to just the absolute "must haves" and moving forward with my Ferrum stack instead. I love love love my Spring 3 KTE. I didn't realize until recently that the May has native Oversampling, which the Spring series does not. I don't use HQPlayer so I'm only using NOS right now. I like the idea of being able to do Oversampling & NOS on the unit itself but obviously the cost is 2x Spring 3 KTE roughly so wanted to get opinions

I know this won't help, but i'll add that May's OS is decently mediocre but nowhere near nos + hqp imo. At least with the little amount of time I heard it on the first day. Haven't listened since.

 

[SlothRock]

I know this won't help, but i'll add that May's OS is decently mediocre but nowhere near nos + hqp imo. At least with the little amount of time I heard it on the first day. Haven't listened since.

I would definitely like to try HQ player but can’t figure out a way to get Apple Music to route through it. Not even sure that’s possible at this current stage.

 

[tdx]

To add to this discussion, I just switched from the Spring 3 KTE to the May KTE. Using HQplayer on both. I love the Spring and do miss the preamp a little bit, but if you have a high end chain you will definitely hear the difference in SQ. I got a sweet deal on the May and if i hadnt (or if I was using lesser equipment) I would have been more than happy with just the Spring. But yeah, the May def is better.

 

[Tobes]

For folks that have upgraded from the Spring 3 KTE to the May, is the price increase worth it?

IMO, totally worth it.
I was able to compare the Spring 3 KTE with the May L2 in my system and I think the May is on another level in terms of focus, refinement and space/dimensionality.
I know some believe them to be 'close', but I honestly didn't hear it that way - particularly true if you also listen on speakers.
May KTE should be even better, but I couldn't attest to the value there.

 

[genefruit]

I would definitely like to try HQ player but can’t figure out a way to get Apple Music to route through it. Not even sure that’s possible at this current stage.

It can and is being done by others. See https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/19715-hq-player/?do=findComment&comment=1106370

 

[shwnwllms]

I would definitely like to try HQ player but can’t figure out a way to get Apple Music to route through it. Not even sure that’s possible at this current stage.

Since Roon doesn’t support Apple Music (since it’s not running iOS) you would need an NAA endpoint

Here’s a couple more technical in depth options

(Or switch to Tidal / Qobuz)

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/us...usic-youtube-music-deezer-soundcloud/155479/3

 

[EMINENT]

I would definitely like to try HQ player but can’t figure out a way to get Apple Music to route through it. Not even sure that’s possible at this current stage.

You may just need to experiment. Only way to know if it's worth it is to just download it, select a decent flac file and try some different filters. That's what I did. It's free for 30 mins. at a time. Alternatively, if you use Roon, you can try it's own OS to kind of see what to expect.

 

[incredulousity]

If anyone with May KTE/Spring 3 KTE 120V version has replaced the stock fuse, could you please share the size and spec of the fuse? I can’t find the info online.

(I’m away from my stack and can’t look myself before the PC sale on SR Purples ends.)

Thanks

 

[EMINENT]

If anyone with May KTE/Spring 3 KTE 120V version has replaced the stock fuse, could you please share the size and spec of the fuse? I can’t find the info online.

(I’m away from my stack and can’t look myself before the PC sale on SR Purples ends.)

Thanks

From the website:

Info on Red Nano Fuse type used in KTE May model:

Single crystal nano fuse
Specification: 5X20mm @2A(220v) or 4A(110v)
Withstand voltage: 250V (T) slow speed
Features: This product is complicated in process, special materials can not be made, this fuse is 100% pure handmade!
Tip: Input in different directions, the tone is different. Can try different directions
This fuse structure is relatively complicated, it is handmade, so the cost is not cheap, the structure is crimped, the contacts are firm and reliable, plated 24K gold, non-chemical gold. The fuse is made of imported single crystal silver-copper alloy. After nano-processing, note that the fuse is directional after nano-processing. The inner filling of the quartz sand is filled with nano-graphite, and the graphite has ultra-high conductivity and high anti-interference characteristics. The sound is beautiful, soothing and strong in layering. This is the flagship
product of high-end fuses so far.
Fill the fuse with 2 heads of quartz sand for good shock absorption and arc extinguishing. In the middle is graphene, which has the advantages of ultra-high conductivity and anti-interference. The fuse is a single crystal silver-copper alloy containing 10% precious metal, treated with nanographene, and stranded with a single crystal silver.
The fuse cap is stamped from 99.99% 4N copper, one end is plated with 24K gold and one end is plated with sterling silver. Increasing the conductivity and the speed of the power supply make the fuse and the socket highly accessible.
The fuse is firmly pressed by a large one and two small caps made of 4N copper. This process protects the fuse in the middle of the fuse. The fuse and the cap are in good contact and the contact is firm, which can prevent the microphone effect. Reduce the oscillation of current passing, making the sound quality more pure and the image more stable.
The inside is filled with two quartz sands, and the middle is filled with nano graphene. Graphite has super high conductivity, high anti-interference and other characteristics, and the sound is beautiful, soothing and strong. It has great benefits for sound quality and security, but it can only be handmade.
The ceramic tube has anti-resonance and eliminates the effect of the microphone sound.
The fuse is made of a single crystal silver-copper alloy, and a very fine single crystal silver wire is wound to correct the sound. After nano-treatment, it has excellent two-end extension, transient response, dynamic and musical sense.

Fuse Type for L1 and L2 May :

Shurter Gold fuse type

2A SB 5x20mm (220v) and 4A SB 5x20mm (110V)

May’s input and output interface:

• Digital input interface includes
• Enhanced USB (ground isolation) + Titanis 2.0 circuit + KYCON industrial High retention USB Connector (improved impedance spec) – Proprietary inhouse firmware w/ ultra low latency performance. Ultra low noise voltage regulation
• RCA coaxial
• BNC coaxial
• AES/EBU
• optical fiber/Toslink
• I2S (HDMI) – improved ultra high performance 4way custom circuit (NOT traditional LVDS chip anymore) backwards compatible
• I2S-2 (HDMI) – improved ultra high performance 4way custom circuit (NOT traditional LVDS chip anymore) backwards compatible
• All digital input interface supports DSD (DOP mode).
• Analog Output interface: single-ended, balanced.

 

[incredulousity]

Thanks!

 

[Timbuk2]

Erm. Lol

Erm, as in ermine, or the white winter coat of a weasel? Asking for a friend...

 

[Timbuk2]

Not sure about the hows and whys of 32 bit 'upscaling' - but I'm on board with the benefits of frequency oversampling as mentioned above.
FWIW here are the HQPlayer filter settings I'm using - I've been mainly doing pcm O/S and use the same filter for both 1x and Nx sources. Per Jussi's recommendation I've set DAC bits to 20.
Playing around with SDM upsampling to see if I like it more.

Thanks for sharing the filter settings, will check that out when I resume HQP testing... I have no idea why there's a sound difference upscaling to 32 bit either. I use Audacity to convert my CD rips to signed 32 bit 48Khz. To my ears, it's an improvement over the 16 bit original. Maybe the larger sample size smooths out the jaggedy edges somehow... The down side is it can double the file size, but fortunately hard drive space is cheap. It's an easy experiment to test the difference, but HQP allows much more flexibility without taking the extra disc space.

 

[Timbuk2]

Listening right now to the May in NOS mode, no external O/S, sounds very good and I wouldn't criticise anyone using the May this way.
I know the technical arguments against pure NOS, it shouldn't sound good but it does.

It's wicked good!