NOS DACs

No worries/hurries on my account. Of course, I already know what it sounds like!

Congrats on the new house!

 

So you, Hands & Luckbad all have the Holo Springs currently?

To top it off you all had the Sonic Frontiers SFD-1 MKII as well?

 

I had the Level 3 Spring DAC on loan for several days about two weeks ago. I was slower than I expected in formally writing up my listening notes and impressions. I don't have it on hand currently.

I've not heard the Sonic Frontier's SFD-1 MKII in years though, so I can't really say much about that (beyond remembering I enjoyed it at the time).

 

Im sure its worth the wait. You guys are very thorough... but my Pavane is a bit scared of your impressions. Its here shaking in its boots because it knows it is holding my money.

 

wisdom... However, I simply want a good solid state amp for my HE-6 and the Pavane is very expensive so if a DAC gets real close for a lot less it may go. Once I land that solid state amp I amp pretty much set. I have been after one for a while.


Edit: who am I kidding I am a bit out of hand... My new toy syndrome is a lil too much

 

I don't have really high end dacs, but I listened to the holo spring dac level 3 at new york audio show at the headamp booth. I have to say I was floored, and the person running the booth, also agreed. Coming from that and listening to the mytek manhattan II dac....both with HE1000, I prefered the holo. Mind this is just a rough impression cause of show conditions.

 

I think you will find the consolidated review very interesting. I am not going to spill any bean here but the thorough review of @Torq is already excellent and it would be very interesting to add @Hands and @Luckbad to @Torq's write-ups. The wait for this review will be worth it.

 

Has @Torq already auditioned the Pavane?

 

Yes, and iirc he liked it a lot. Made the cut, I think. It is in the thread at hf.

 

Thanks. I like @Hands comparisons too, but Torq seems to finagle longer auditions...

 

You have most likely tried them already but when I had the HE-6 I thought it did very well out of the two different Audio-gd amps that I tried. Not quite speaker amp levels but much more versatile.

 

I'm pretty sure @gbeast has his latest boner pointed at the Wells Audio Milo. But if he can only not take a hit on another piece of gear, and ride out the storm, the Pavane/Milo combo for an HE-6 could be super killer...

 

Actually to end it all I'd just get the he-9. Better versatility and lower distortion.

Whatever though, I am still curious of the Halo. I'd like to see it compared to the menuet but fat chance. The Musette was nice but didn't work with my gear. When I had it I was told in a pm that an external power supply mitigates it's weeknesses but just figured I'd go to the top.

Some don't like MHDT but I really liked the Stockholm V2 DAC. It was the first one I heard that lifted that digital wall but it broke and I moved on to the musette which didn't synergize as well with my system because it had a warm lower midrange or felt slow there. But I didn't want delta sigma anymore after that.

 

Since @Hands has been very busy, he deferred to me to kick off the detailed commentary/thread on the Holo Audio - Spring DAC - Level 3, so that thread is now posted here.

 

That looks promising. Has anyone had a chance to try it yet?

 

Yarp. I've owned two of the Starting Points Systems DAC 3s. In my now-reduced work setup, I'm using one.

Nice organic sound. Not terribly detailed or dynamic, but it's fun to listen to and not grainy or harsh at all.

 

Good to read from someone who has heard it, @Luckbad . I have wondered about that DAC.

The link to ebay in the page that @landroni 's link points to is a "Buy it Now" ebay listing for $485. Looking at the Sold auction listings the average selling price is approximately $150. (Add $19 to ship to the USA.)

 

He needs to start adding reserve prices. If he charges less than ~$160 he doesn't make money. It's a small but rather capable DAC and does a pretty solid job of reclocking/jitter reduction (good enough that optical sounds good). @Hands had or has the previous version of the same.

If you can snap it up for under $200, definitely give one a go. The power comes from its internal batteries charged by USB, but I bought an external power supply anyway. http://www.mouser.com/Search/m_ProductDetail.aspx?r=709-GST18A15-P1J

 

He doesn't have a reserve price but he has a starting price on the auctions. I just took a look at his current listings. They start at a range from $170 - $175. He had lower starting prices when I looked at the Sold Listings. Often there was only one bidder.

Thanks for the info and the external power supply link. I will probably end up trying one of these DACs.

(He still sells some with "Mini TDA1543" on the faceplate. They are referred to as DAC 2 in the listings.)