Holo Audio Spring R2R DAC
Jan 16, 2017 at 10:11 PM Post #706 of 4,142
  Regarding MC21, are you sure you dont have it set to downsample 176 files to 96? Your PWD is correctly displaying 176?

 So I went into my JRiver MC21 settings as followed: tools>audio>options>dsp&output format and changed all of my output setting to 
"no change" to match the input settings. Now the Spring is displaying the correct format. 
 
I never went into this setting before, and as you mentioned above "176 was downsampling to 96" (it's the only 176 file I have) without me even knowing. Funny thing is, with the PWD showed 176 on the display window, but the Spring didn't?
 
Thank you for bringing this to my attention prior to going into JRiver settings, I appreciate it very much!
beerchug.gif

 
Jan 16, 2017 at 10:17 PM Post #707 of 4,142
Sweet! Glad you figured it out! Strange about the PWD though. What does the top window in MC show?

I am hoping to get my Spring soon!!!
 
Jan 16, 2017 at 10:43 PM Post #709 of 4,142
Sorry for not being more clear. I mean during playback, the top little window in MC that shows title, time remaining, etc. I believe it also shows the sample rate. I'm just perplexed about the PWD so I want to verify what it is MC thinks it's playing.
 
Jan 16, 2017 at 11:10 PM Post #710 of 4,142
Sorry for not being more clear. I mean during playback, the top little window in MC that shows title, time remaining, etc. I believe it also shows the sample rate. I'm just perplexed about the PWD so I want to verify what it is MC thinks it's playing.

Yes, the status bars shows everything you've mentioned.
I'm also wondering why the PWd showed the correct format? Maybe JRiver settings defaulted after removing the PWD and adding the Spring?

 
Jan 17, 2017 at 9:24 AM Post #712 of 4,142
  Yes, the status bars shows everything you've mentioned.
I'm also wondering why the PWd showed the correct format? Maybe JRiver settings defaulted after removing the PWD and adding the Spring?

Strange! So in order to get the Spring  to play at 176 do you have to go back into MC DSP settings and adjust the output format settings again?  I dont think MC would change its settings automatically when you removed the PWD.
 
Jan 17, 2017 at 10:26 AM Post #713 of 4,142
  Strange! So in order to get the Spring  to play at 176 do you have to go back into MC DSP settings and adjust the output format settings again?  I dont think MC would change its settings automatically when you removed the PWD.

No, I don't have to touch any settings anymore, whatever goes in comes out  after changing all of my output format settings to "no change". Don't know why the PWD recognized 176 when it should have down sampled to 96 due to the way the settings were.
 
Jan 17, 2017 at 11:46 AM Post #714 of 4,142
  No, I don't have to touch any settings anymore, whatever goes in comes out  after changing all of my output format settings to "no change". Don't know why the PWD recognized 176 when it should have down sampled to 96 due to the way the settings were.

Well just glad it got sorted!  So on to the real question...how does it sound????
 
Jan 17, 2017 at 12:41 PM Post #715 of 4,142
Quote:
  Well just glad it got sorted!  So on to the real question...how does it sound????

 
Yes, definitely glad everything is fine.
 
The immediate difference (and I mean immediate) I noticed was that imaging. 
The very first song I listened to was "Sugar" by David Sanborn (96kHz). To be honest, the first few notes of the song imaged so differently that I thought I had possibly crossed the L/R channels when changing out the DACs because I was so used to this songs presentation through the PWD-ll. Instruments separation was spacious and placed very well. The sound-stage was wider as well.
 
Continuing to listen last night for about 4hrs I found that when I turned the volume up to hear some favorite passages (horns) there were no sign of sibilance or spikes in the upper frequencies. The Spring stayed very well controlled. Not much more to say at this point with such little experience with the exception of I'm really looking forward to the Springs performance after sufficient burn-in time being I've heard some positive differences from the beginning.
 
EDIT: This was in NOS mode.
 
Jan 17, 2017 at 5:43 PM Post #716 of 4,142
Thank you very much for your reply.  I really appreciate it.  I've got another month or so to wait for my Spring L3.  :frowning2:
 
Jan 18, 2017 at 3:54 PM Post #718 of 4,142
I've just taken delivery of my Holo Spring DAC and thought I'd share a couple of early impressions on usability.  
(I'll refrain from sharing my thoughts on performance until it has had a chance to burn in)
 
As version 1.0 product, I feel that the Spring DAC suffers from a couple of quirks.
 
(1) The display is HUGE and ridiculously bright.  Forget about being able to read the display across the room.  
Your neighbors will be to clearly read "44.1K" or "DSD64X" on the display.
(2) The "Display Intensity" button seems like it doesn't do anything the first 8x or so pushes.  The first time couple of times I pressed the button, I thought it was broken!  After you smack it a doze times you can see the display actually dim.  Basically you have to hit the display intensity button like a 13 year old working a game controller.
(3) If you switch off the display entirely, there is no visual indication at all that the unit is powered on.  A small power light would be a welcome improvement.  
(4) The display only shows you the current input sample rate.  It does not display which oversampling mode is in use.   It would be nice to have a visual indication of whether the current mode is "OS", "NOS", "OS PCM" or "OS DSD".  
 
Jan 18, 2017 at 6:23 PM Post #719 of 4,142
  I've just taken delivery of my Holo Spring DAC and thought I'd share a couple of early impressions on usability.  
(I'll refrain from sharing my thoughts on performance until it has had a chance to burn in)
 
As version 1.0 product, I feel that the Spring DAC suffers from a couple of quirks.
 
(1) The display is HUGE and ridiculously bright.  Forget about being able to read the display across the room.  
Your neighbors will be to clearly read "44.1K" or "DSD64X" on the display.
(2) The "Display Intensity" button seems like it doesn't do anything the first 8x or so pushes.  The first time couple of times I pressed the button, I thought it was broken!  After you smack it a doze times you can see the display actually dim.  Basically you have to hit the display intensity button like a 13 year old working a game controller.
(3) If you switch off the display entirely, there is no visual indication at all that the unit is powered on.  A small power light would be a welcome improvement.  
(4) The display only shows you the current input sample rate.  It does not display which oversampling mode is in use.   It would be nice to have a visual indication of whether the current mode is "OS", "NOS", "OS PCM" or "OS DSD".  

What about the initial sound without burn-in right out of the box?
Did you notice any immediate differences from your prior DAC? 
By the way, I love the huge display! 
smile.gif

 
Jan 18, 2017 at 6:44 PM Post #720 of 4,142
  What about the initial sound without burn-in right out of the box?
Did you notice any immediate differences from your prior DAC? 
By the way, I love the huge display! 
smile.gif

 
I don't want to go into detail because on my sound impressions because I think it's premature to judge a component fresh off the delivery van.  
 
Before ordering my Spring DAC I spent 30 days evaluating Benchmark's brand new DAC3 (based on Saber's 9028 chipset).  Benchmark makes a great DAC so the bar has been set rather high.  
 
I will post my Level 1 feedback after I've given the unit a fair shake.  
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top