[oneguy]

Very nice sight to see!

 

[TimeLord]

  Southern California Head-Fiers!  Come to next weekend's CanJam SoCal in downtown LA to hear the Holo Spring in our high-end demo system with the best headphones from Audeze, Focal, Hifiman, MrSpeakers, and Stax!

 
 

   
I can confirm from personal experience that the GS-X MK2 + KTE Spring DAC is a stunning combination!

 
I heard the Holo with the GS-X MK2 at NYC CanJam. I concur that the MK2 is a very good amp. If you can get to LA, make sure to stop and hear this.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

Someone should try this experiment on the Holo Spring DAC. Run a 1-2hrs playlist with tracks from different albums then run the same playlist on another DAC, in my case a test Modi Multibit to hold me over until my next DAC purchase. (BTW, great value on that Mobi)

One of the findings I think that made the Spring Level 3 a great listening is it has some kind of built-in replaygain. When I played playlists previously on Sundays when it's about being in the house cleaning, lounging, relaxing, I never had to play much with the volume between tracks...something I didn't notice until plugging in the Modi Multibit. Today, I'm having to go over to the Freya to adjust the speaker volume with some songs being soft and some being loud -- a task I didn't have to do with the Spring DAC.

Is this the linear compensation the Spring DAC touts? Because if you think about it, part of the enjoyment of music is to be locked in the mood. Tough to do when the volume lowers and raises 10db between different albums. So with the replaygain implemented into the DAC, we're able to better focus on the music and the clean/clear audio the Spring produces.

 

[joseph69]

What is this "replaygain" implemented into the Spring?
I've never heard anything about it.

 

[guymrob]

Hey guys, came across what looks like a little baby of the flagship Holo Spring Audio DAC. The new DAC is named as 'Sabretooth' Check out the link below:
http://www.goshopping.com.tw/?app=Taobao&act=Pdetail&id=43699736922

Looks like it is a R2R design, probably no linear compensation but has almost the same USB XMOS chipset board. It also includes a headphone amps and a remote! Definitely half the price or even more than the flagship model!

 

[ZGojira]

Hey guys, came across what looks like a little baby of the flagship Holo Spring Audio DAC. The new DAC is named as 'Sabretooth' Check out the link below:
http://www.goshopping.com.tw/?app=Taobao&act=Pdetail&id=43699736922

Looks like it is a R2R design, probably no linear compensation but has almost the same USB XMOS chipset board. It also includes a headphone amps and a remote! Definitely half the price or even more than the flagship model!

 
The units named after prehistoric creatures were an old line of products before the Spring.
The Spring was supposed to be a "fresh start" for the designer.
 
The sabertooth was designed to stack with the mammoth balanced amp.
The T-Rex DACs were also known to be quite nice. 

 

[Superdad]

  What is this "replaygain" implemented into the Spring?
I've never heard anything about it.

That's because it does not exist (at least not in this DAC--or any other that I am aware of). 

 

[joseph69]

  That's because it does not exist (at least not in this DAC--or any other that I am aware of). 

Thank you.
I never heard anything about it, which is why I asked.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

I read a bit more on the r2r compensation.. interesting. I suppose that isn't replay gain after all.

Maybe the volume differences between albums are more apparent in SE vs XLR balanced throughout the system.

 

[bluesaint]

I just got my SU-1.  I was told by Tim that they had a beta firmware that supports DSD512 natively on SU-1 when exclusively used with KTE L3, anyone tried this?  

 

[Tboooe]

I just got my SU-1.  I was told by Tim that they had a beta firmware that supports DSD512 natively on SU-1 when exclusively used with KTE L3, anyone tried this?  

I am interested in this as well but as far as I can tell the beta is not publicly available.

 

[oneguy]

I just got my SU-1.  I was told by Tim that they had a beta firmware that supports DSD512 natively on SU-1 when exclusively used with KTE L3, anyone tried this?  

Now that sounds interesting.

 

[bluesaint]

ok tim just responded to me that it should be ready in a month.

 

[WNBC]

Are Mac users able to play DSD64 and DSD128 files with their SU-1 + Spring DACs or just Holo alone?  
 
I downloaded some free DSD files from 2L website.  The files play fine with Audirvana and I can see the files are truly DSD64 or DSD128 via the player but Mac Midi Audio Setup is outputing a max 24/352.8K, which is correctly displayed on the Spring LCD player.  Does not say DSD on the panel.  
 
Am I missing a setting on the Mac or am I limited to a max 24/352?  
 
Amarra 4 wouldn't even open the DSD files, but I can get Amarra 3 do play the files albeit with a bit of instability.  Using a trial version of Audirvana+ which seems to be pretty stable.

 

[sheldaze]

  Are Mac users able to play DSD64 and DSD128 files with their SU-1 + Spring DACs or just Holo alone?  
 
I downloaded some free DSD files from 2L website.  The files play fine with Audirvana and I can see the files are truly DSD64 or DSD128 via the player but Mac Midi Audio Setup is outputing a max 24/352.8K, which is correctly displayed on the Spring LCD player.  Does not say DSD on the panel.  
 
Am I missing a setting on the Mac or am I limited to a max 24/352?  
 
Amarra 4 wouldn't even open the DSD files, but I can get Amarra 3 do play the files albeit with a bit of instability.  Using a trial version of Audirvana+ which seems to be pretty stable.

Yes.
 
There is a setting in Audirvana+, which may be limiting your output to PCM. I have never had good experience using the auto-detect to recognize DSD-capable DAC (or in this case DDC). But once I force it to recognize the output as DSD-capable, it plays with no issues. I have used the same 2L samples.