[arnaud]

X2

 

[Roasty]

only a few hours in.. but man.. the Holo May sounds pretty amazing so far.
i honestly cant seem to find a fault with its SQ. with the Susvara, the sound is superb.
will compare with the Wavelight after the May settles down.

No problems with USB input to dac. but having some issues with the Holo driver/firmware and AMD chipset, and some issues playback through Denafrips Hermes ddc and i2s.. checking on roon community and AS forum for an answer/solution.

 

[helljudgement]

Christmas came about a few months early.

Great photo. The dimensions look eerily similar. What is the lead time for May? Looking forward to your comparison!

 

[mantraone]

only a few hours in.. but man.. the Holo May sounds pretty amazing so far.
i honestly cant seem to find a fault with its SQ. with the Susvara, the sound is superb.
will compare with the Wavelight after the May settles down.

No problems with USB input to dac. but having some issues with the Holo driver/firmware and AMD chipset, and some issues playback through Denafrips Hermes ddc and i2s.. checking on roon community and AS forum for an answer/solution.

We made the same comparison last week and some weeks before, found a issue with Auralic Aries G2.1 because 2 USB with galvanic isolation are not the best in sound quality. (like a rolled-off on bass and hight and less dynamic)

The comparison with old version of Aries without Galvanic isolation showed a great performance of Holo May in the direction of analogical sound, hight freqency controlled and precise, soundstage wide and deep. Let me tell you that the only parameter where the Rockna wavelight sounds better was the bass, really extended and articulate a little bit more of Holo May.
The two DAC sound very good if you like more brightness on hight freq. but for the analogue taste and thikness the Holo May KTE is great.

 

[Roasty]

Great photo. The dimensions look eerily similar. What is the lead time for May? Looking forward to your comparison!

I paid on 22nd May. Tim at kitsune said to expect it probably 4 to 6 weeks later. I didn't even get a shipping notification lol I had one from UPS but I thought it was my HDPlex fanless case.

 

[Zurv]

Christmas came about a few months early.

How long did it take to make it to you? I'm 6+ weeks and still waiting for my Rockna... (dream tho..)

 

[helljudgement]

I paid on 22nd May. Tim at kitsune said to expect it probably 4 to 6 weeks later. I didn't even get a shipping notification lol I had one from UPS but I thought it was my HDPlex fanless case.

That's pretty fast. In contrast I placed order for rockna that same weekend and is only expected to receive later this month or early July.

 

[ThanatosVI]

We made the same comparison last week and some weeks before, found a issue with Auralic Aries G2.1 because 2 USB with galvanic isolation are not the best in sound quality. (like a rolled-off on bass and hight and less dynamic)

The comparison with old version of Aries without Galvanic isolation showed a great performance of Holo May in the direction of analogical sound, hight freqency controlled and precise, soundstage wide and deep. Let me tell you that the only parameter where the Rockna wavelight sounds better was the bass, really extended and articulate a little bit more of Holo May.
The two DAC sound very good if you like more brightness on hight freq. but for the analogue taste and thikness the Holo May KTE is great.

Thanks for your impressions.
By now I got several Impressions that assured me, that my choice Was the right one.

Looking forward to yours @Roasty

 

[dcguy73]

Thanks for your impressions.
By now I got several Impressions that assured me, that my choice Was the right one.

Looking forward to yours @Roasty

I appreciate these comparisons, but the Wavelight's sound is not set in stone. It has an upgradeable FGPA. When Rockna decides to release the next version of the firmware with the promised sound quality improvements, it may sound quite different.

 

[ThanatosVI]

I appreciate these comparisons, but the Wavelight's sound is not set in stone. It has an upgradeable FGPA. When Rockna decides to release the next version of the firmware with the promised sound improvements, it may sound quite different.

Yeah but if you still have the "old/current" Version, you can continue to use it.

So if I like how it sounds now(which I do), I can always return to this Firmware.

 

[dcguy73]

Yeah but if you still have the "old/current" Version, you can continue to use it.

So if I like how it sounds now(which I do), I can always return to this Firmware.

I myself would like to hear a fuller midrange and bass, but that's just me.

 

[ThanatosVI]

I myself would like to hear a fuller midrange and bass, but that's just me.

From what I read the Wavelight has an edge in the Bass Departement.
A more visceral presentation compared to the others in this class.

Often I read things along the lines of "The Wavelight is amazingly neutral (in a good sense) but the Bass Performance really stands out and is memorable"

 

[BlakeT]

Thanks for the feedback @mantraone.

I too look forward to the comparison from @Roasty. Should be very interesting just having more data points from end users. My DAC search was down to Rockna, the May and my Denafrips. I made my choice and I'm all set in terms of my DAC, but I still find it interesting to follow what other people are experiencing. There is no wrong choice at this level. All good options.

 

[dcguy73]

AlFrom what I read the Wavelight has an edge in the Bass Departement.
A more visceral presentation compared to the others in this class.

Often I read things along the lines of "The Wavelight is amazingly neutral (in a good sense) but the Bass Performance really stands out and is memorable"

I think you're right about the Wavelight being neutral.

It's my source. The USB sound implementation in the Euphony Summus is poor — for example, in terms of clearly presenting and delineating musicians in larger-scale music (at least to my ears and according to some other owners who I've read on the forums), possibly because there’s no galvanic isolation built into the port, and I'm pretty sure there's none in the Wavelight. I've found that adding the iFi iGalvanic 3.0 isolation device to my Summus reduces background noise and makes the sound a little clearer while smoothing out the highs a bit.

Also, I suspect that my Kitsune HiFi-modded Singxer SU-1 DDC may be a bit bright-sounding. I’ve thought about getting a Denafrips Iris to replace it, but I think I’ll wait until I have the option to upgrade my server's USB port to a galvanically-isolated I2S port, which is an option available in Europe but not yet in the US. Not to mention, someday the long-promised Wavelight server will come out!

 

[iFi audio]

I've found that adding the iFi iGalvanic 3.0 isolation device to my Summus reduces background noise and makes the sound a little clearer while smoothing out the highs a bit.

Yes, noise reduction via galvanic isolation means blacker background and less grit for smoother sound in general.