[FooFighter]

You don't want to over/up-sample whats already over/up-sampled, that creates artifacts. Using NOS allows cleaner up-sampling for more powerful external up-sampling solutions like HQPlayer and PGGB.

But that's the point I wanted to make.
There's NO built-in upsampling in Spring.
So again: what's the difference?

 

[mudguardiain]

Don't worry. According to my experience, at 160 hours of proper burn in, you are nowhere near to stabilize sound. At about 300-400 hours I noticed that everything was quite stable without any further big ups and downs. And after another 200-300 hours there will be last few slight improvements audible. Patience is the key word here.

And important note. You HAVE TO PLAY MUSIC to count hours of proper “burn in”. It is not enough just to let unit ON. However, it is not needed to have amp on, just source and dac. DAC have to do some “work”, to do some conversion, otherwise burn in process will by extremely long (and this device has very long burn in period even with proper burn in).

My Spring has undergone quite a bit of improvement over the last 2-3 days, playing music overnight with amp off & listening to quite a lot during the day. The over riding impression is how real the music sounds. the dac is becoming more coherent with everything beginning to play well as a whole. Plenty of detail but never forced or distracting, everything very natural. I have not heard a large amount of other days & to be honest I don't think I need to, the Spring is playing music how I wish to listen to it, highly engaging & life like. I do not not have the option for upscaling with my Melco but don't feel like I am missing anything anyway. Since having the Melco upgraded during some repairs, the addition of minim server has given the sound much better air & spatial presentation. Will be interesting to see how much more the Spring evolves, think it will be in my system for a long time to come.

 

[davide256]

But that's the point I wanted to make.
There's NO built-in upsampling in Spring.
So again: what's the difference?

A powerful up sampler algorithm can create more separation between instruments... musical lines become clearer. But there can be a trade off
if the recording isn't the greatest... midrange can sound thinner and overall sound can become edgier. Having a DAC that gives you the most possible
with no up sampling is a good thing for your less than perfect recordings.

 

[FooFighter]

A powerful up sampler algorithm can create more separation between instruments... musical lines become clearer. But there can be a trade off
if the recording isn't the greatest... midrange can sound thinner and overall sound can become edgier. Having a DAC that gives you the most possible
with no up sampling is a good thing for your less than perfect recordings.

You still don't get my point.
I am aware of what upsampling can do.
To make my question more detailed:
Which audible / design difference is between Holo Audio Spring "OS" setting set ON THE SPRING DAC ITSELF vs "NOS" setting if there's no circuit connected to either OS or NOS?
That's what I am wondering about.
Or is there an implementation difference on the Spring DAC?

 

[kingoftown1]

The Spring 3 doesn't have an internal oversampling option.

 

[FooFighter]

The Spring 3 doesn't have an internal oversampling option.

So there's no menue item selecting OS in Spring 3?
Just watching GoldenOne's review again I think I now understand where I have read it before: the option was inside up to Spring 2 and now has been completely removed also from the menue.
Sorry for the confusion

 

[duranxv]

With the Spring 3 KTE, any reason to go above 24 bit / 96khz? I see it can go up to 32 bit 384khz, but I'm wondering if that's overkill.

Also, any particular ASIO buffer size I should utilize? Any reason to go above 512 samples if I'm trying to keep latency lower?

 

[davide256]

With the Spring 3 KTE, any reason to go above 24 bit / 96khz? I see it can go up to 32 bit 384khz, but I'm wondering if that's overkill.

Also, any particular ASIO buffer size I should utilize? Any reason to go above 512 samples if I'm trying to keep latency lower?

The mfrs web site states that it will do up to 1536/32 on USB/ i2s. Good resampling algorithms include a predictive algorithm that improve results with increased re-sampling rate and high number of taps. I play PGGB converted files at 7xx/24 and 512K taps feeding a Chord Mojo, the difference is large from 3xx/24 for instrument separation and clarity of background instruments. Haven't had a DAC/USB endpoint yet that would do 1536/24, but those that have support boast of further improvements from the increase in
up-sample rate.

 

[davide256]

BTW, has anyone seen any review comparisons of the different Spring 3 levels?

Wondering what you get for sonic gains as you step through level 1, level 2 and KTE edition. The level 1 is about the same price as a Denafrips Pontus, wondering if performance wise they are close. While I liked the Denafrips Ares II, it was unsuited for external up-sampling, applied linear interpolation even in its "NOS" mode, which
appears part of the design for Pontus as well

 

[koso]

My Spring has undergone quite a bit of improvement over the last 2-3 days, playing music overnight with amp off & listening to quite a lot during the day. The over riding impression is how real the music sounds. the dac is becoming more coherent with everything beginning to play well as a whole. Plenty of detail but never forced or distracting, everything very natural. I have not heard a large amount of other days & to be honest I don't think I need to, the Spring is playing music how I wish to listen to it, highly engaging & life like. I do not not have the option for upscaling with my Melco but don't feel like I am missing anything anyway. Since having the Melco upgraded during some repairs, the addition of minim server has given the sound much better air & spatial presentation. Will be interesting to see how much more the Spring evolves, think it will be in my system for a long time to come.

I am quite sure there will be another improvement in about next two weeks.

 

[Marutks]

My Spring 3 KTE DAC arrived today.

 

[JeffMann]

My Spring 3 KTE DAC arrived today.

I noted that you purchased it from Wildism Audio. For USA audiophiles, are there different buyer options for purchasing this DAC that will offer a price discount and/or a speedier delivery time?

Jeff.

 

[Delta9K]

For USA audiophiles, are there different buyer options for purchasing this DAC that will offer a price discount and/or a speedier delivery time?

In the United States/North America Kitsune Hifi is the distributor for HoloAudio USA. Tim at Kitsune is a great guy, and if you have questions regarding delivery options or more it's best to reach out to him directly. There are contact options on the website (kitsunehifi.com).

 

[kingoftown1]

There's a Spring 3 KTE w/ Preamp on TMR for $3299

 

[soulrider4ever]

There's a Spring 3 KTE w/ Preamp on TMR for $3299

Thanks for this heads up! I picked it up - might be selling my Spring1 L2 if I feel it’s worth the upgrade!