Holo new Green/Cyan DAC+Headamp

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by VincentS, Nov 14, 2017.

  1. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    I agree that the Enthusiast Edition doesn't make a lot of sense. An appeal of the Cyan is using it as an all-in-one box with headphones. You can do that with PCM but with DSD you need to use an external headamp. If you had to do that, better to just use the external headamp all the time.
     
  2. VincentS

    VincentS New

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    Cripes - this is one amazingly solidly built unit.

    I had seen the stats but until you get it in your hands the weight per inch is a surprise. My questyle 600i which the AVSource guys like a lot is nowhere this weight. It feels heavy at 3.2 kg - the Cyan is 5.5 kg.

    The front volume knob is very smooth. The rear connectors seem solid and spaced to take larger cable/connectors diameters for those of us who do that - the rca outs although not spaced as widely as on my Aries Mini could just take my DHLabs Silver Sonic Ultimate interconnect ends and most will be narrower than these.

    The rubber feet seem a bit light on for kit in this price range and I have no idea what internal vibration isolation there might be inside. Opening up a piece of expensive new kit is not for me.

    Front lights - ok you will seldom need your glasses for this - letters so tall, fat and clear you can read them from across the room. Using the remote you can set the brightness in gradations from very bright to off. That is - apart from the separate green Lo/ high gain light and the red nos/ os light - don’t find how to turn those very small lights off or down during my initial play.

    Remote is also tank like in build - a very seductive piece of metal.

    No obvious ventilation points - this unit is well sealed. Mine came with a generic power cable and USB cable which I wasn’t expecting and I have an arsenal of power cable snakes and better USB cables which I will use.

    I will put it on a warm-up or burn in cycle for three to four days. During that time I will try to locate an online manual. It seems happy driving both the balanced and single ended headphones output at once which will help for burn in.
     
  3. Arun Kumar

    Arun Kumar Friend

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    Have you tried it out yet? Any initial impression?
     
  4. VincentS

    VincentS New

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    There seems to some confusion about this standard unit and DSD and even what the market positioning of this device is.

    The standard usd $1,000 unit is referred to as the PCM unit but it will decode DSD music up to DSD256. It converts the DSD signal into PCM and then does the D-A conversion which is the path take by many DACs which state they can do DSD.

    (Just to make it a bit confusing the so called DSD module has the extra goodies to do DSD natively and up to DSD512 taking up some of the space where the headamp is in the standard unit.)

    It has one of the best possible range of inputs to connect to you music server, streamer or whatever

    Ok so who is the standard unit relevant for - people who do not have a large proportion of DSD music and want an R2R DAC with the added choice of oversampling or no oversampling and especially those who enjoy headphone listening. YMMV and we all have individual tastes but it’s simply about listening to possible contenders for your next purchase.
     
  5. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

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    The original Holo "native DSD" Spring did DSD using PCM conversion. Will be interesting to see what has Jeff added to the DSD module, or is it just more marketing wank again.
     
  6. VincentS

    VincentS New

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    I have struck a technical issue with my Cyan - will be sending details to Holo for them to see what troubleshooting steps I have missed or if it is user error. Pity as after four days of warm up - burn in I was looking forward to a quality listening session. The early snippets of listening I did using a variety of headphones were very positive.
     
  7. captkirk

    captkirk Khan's BFF

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    ...ok, I'll bite, though you may want to just include what's happening in your post to begin with. Otherwise it's just noise.

    So, what's the "issue"?
     
  8. VincentS

    VincentS New

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    Ok now that it has had burn in time (and I have learnt not to bump the front volume button as it does not unmute even if the volume level is changed or even if the mains power is cycled on/off - it must be depressed again) I finally got some listening time in.

    My ongoing main use will be as a DAC and headamp solution. Headphones I currently own provide a mix of darker and laid back through to more analytical :

    • Audeze LCD2 pre fazor

    • Focal Elear

    • AKG702

    • Sennheiser HD800 with SDR mod


    I had a listen through all of these using the same test tracks. Powerwise the Cyan handles them all well. I play fairly loud and the volume control was generally around the 62 out of 99 on the digital volume readout when using single ended out for the HD800 or the AKG both of which are known as hard to drive. The other two were fine with less volume setting required. Of course I don’t know if the volume really goes to 99 but that is it’s max setting. I have one more powerful head amp but I don’t think the Cyan headamp output could be considered weak or an afterthought. Not sure what the exact power output is from the specs but that info will emerge.


    I was using the low gain setting for all headphones. My AKG and LCD have aftermarket better cables and the LCD is terminated with an Eidolic rhodium plated TeCu XLR end. I will re-terminate two of the others to balanced in late January which will enable a more direct comparison and a better comment on the Cyan’s balanced out versus single ended but based on preliminary listening the balanced seems much superior.


    Each of these headphones has strong merits when powered well - but as we all know present a bit differently.

    • The AKG was verging on the too bright in this pairing, not my usual finding as at least two of my three other desktop headlamps are a bit warmer.

    • The HD800 pairing worked very well - bass had more bite than I expected.

    • The LCD planars of course have that special planar bass and were fast as you would expect and my LCD’s have a silver cables with cyro treatment so are less dark than the standard issue - paired well

    • The Focals were not as good for critical listening but they did come across as the toe tapping party mode enjoyable one of the four - the HD800 sounded too staid in some songs such as a rocking Georgia on my Mind or The Boy in the Bubble from Graceland in comparison to the Focals.

    Although not tested back to back, the USB cable I was using tonight, although good, did not create as good a sound as my best USB cable used during burn in - will have to compare later. I also have an iso-regen with LPS1 power supply but this is a finesse point.

    When I get some more time I can try to assess the impact of upgrading USB cables or using the iso-regen as well as trying coax cables instead of USB. After that I will experiment a bit more with NOS versus OS.

    Unfortunately I don’t have the advantage of Torq or others who have done their own live recordings giving them a reference to know exactly what the reproduction should sound like - so I look forward to seeing comments from those who do have this special capability or who have trusted ears.
     
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2017
  9. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    What other headamp do you have? Can you compare the Cyan DAC output into the other headamp, vs using the Cyan's headamp?
     
  10. Jokko

    Jokko Friend

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    Any pyrates had ears on this? Interesting alternative to ADI-2 DAC / dac1541, no?
     
  11. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

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    I need some liquid nitrogen.
     
  12. JeremiahS

    JeremiahS Almost "Made"

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    I do not know about the ADI-2 but it's better than the DAC1541, both sound and build quality, when used as combo unit. However you need to check first whether the NOS sound fits to your liking.

    Regards,
    Jeremiah
     
  13. mscott58

    mscott58 Friend

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    "...it's better than the DAC1541..." - standalone and unsupported expressions like this make me wish we still had the "dislike" button.

    @JeremiahS can you please provide more detail and color in terms of your experiences and impressions linked to your above statement? Thanks
     
  14. Cellist88

    Cellist88 Friend

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    Also can the halo cyan work as a digital preamp for dac out?
     
  15. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    No digital outputs
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  16. JeremiahS

    JeremiahS Almost "Made"

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    I'm sorry, my English is not very good and in the past I got the ambience that we are not allowed to criticize some products. I don't want to offend the wrong people.

    But back to the topic if you ask me honestly the Cyan is in a higher step than the DAC1541. First keep in mind that we evaluated both units directly with headphones, namely HD660S, HD800 with Super Dupont mod, HD800S, Aeon Flow Open and HE1000 V2 and connection using optical input with Questyle QP1R as transport.

    First thing that is obvious is that the Cyan has more drive power than the DAC1541 with difficult headphones like the HD800 or HE1000 v2. In similar level of volume you can hear a bit more details with the Cyan while in the DAC151 you have to up the volume some more to hear the details that the Cyan can extract with lower volume.

    Second thing is the Cyan has an edge in layering and presenting body in vocal and instruments. The DAC1541 sounds a bit lifeless and thin in comparison. I think the DAC1541 still wins in overall detail extraction but the presentation is not very pleasant. With the HE1000 v2 for example with the wrong signal chain it can sound sharp and with badly recorded tracks esp. with female vocals it is almost unlistenable with the DAC1541 while the Cyan the sharpness is not as obvious and better controlled.

    I hope we can do more trials in the future to evaluate both units as DAC only, it would be interesting.

    Hope this helps.

    Regards,
    Jeremiah
     
  17. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    This sounds reasonable, esp. if running in NOS mode.
     
  18. mrflibble

    mrflibble Friend

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    This isn't Head-Fi :) I believe that SBAF welcomes constructive and substantiated criticism of a product. After all, no Hi-Fi component is perfect (probably) and many listeners have different audio preferences. And your English is fine.
     
  19. Maxx134

    Maxx134 Dunning–Kruger effect poster boy

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    I disagree to a certain extent.
    The Dislike button produce a negative vibe not in line with a "SBAF" to me.
    Also,
    I have grown a disliking to long winded writings that are of little use in the end.

    I can appreciate when someone just tells it like it is ...
    "This one is better than that one"...
    Yet I understand the balance of have some brief reasoning.

    The second post by JeremiahS was great, direct and to the point.



    If your under 50 you have trusted ears.
    The talent of discernment is another story.
    Just need to follow your gut in what you like and what you think is better.
    Extra info of cable/usb/settings/headphone/etc info, is besides the main point.
    Just tell us what you think of the dac if you like it and what you think is positives/negatives would be great.
     
  20. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

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    The emotional response engendered by a particular piece of music regardless of any piece or combination of gear in the playback chain is always potentially sufficient to make my ears un-trusted vis-a-vis sound quality. I feel blessed that this is so.
     

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