Holo Audio May... Subjectively

I placed an order for a Holo Audio May KTE on February 2nd, received it March 15th. I couldn't find a dedicated thread for this DAC so I figured it would be worth opening one up since there seems to be a lot of interest in other threads. Sooooo… Brief day 2 impressions. I’ve had music going through it since it arrived and I really enjoy the sound I’m getting out of it.

Caveat - I only have one other piece of gear to directly compare it to (DAC 768 in SPL Phonitor XE), and haven’t spent time with really any of the DACs that are regularly referenced around here. I wish I could, but won’t be able to help much in that fashion. I don’t necessarily have noob ears, but as far as range of gear experienced I guess I’m a noob in that aspect. This is my first time trying to characterize audio gear, so my language may be imprecise at times, just know I’m doing my best to represent what I’m hearing. So take all this with a grain of salt and hopefully I won’t get ripped apart.

I can tell you already that the break-in process is real. It sounds a little different now than when I first plugged it in. Actually, it seems to have backslid a bit. But don’t despair… Nothing is “bad.” The first thing I noticed when listening to the May was the way it got Timbre correct. Instruments actually sound like instruments, not representations of instruments. I first noticed this listening to the brass section on the Introduction to “Also Sprach Zarathustra.” The trombones had bite and edge to them when cranking out the notes. I played the trombone for years and it was eye opening for me to hear a trombone as I remembered it. The horns sounded real and not just… Horny or hornish. Otis Spann’s piano on “Hello Mr. Blues” had body and harmonic depth which put you right in the room with his upright. Decay and reverb seem to be more realistic. Cymbals sizzle instead of shhhhhh. I’ve picked up lots of little information in recordings that I never recognized before, breaths, squeaking of chairs, performers moving around on stage during a live show, etc. I’ve also been able to tease out parts of songs that were panned out to the sides that had never made themselves known before. Noticed these listening to some tracks on Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” The soundstage seems quite wide, and also has a sense of depth. The May so far has been really impressive.

Back to the break-in. Today it seems a little more glarey and bright. Notably more so than the first day or so. I’d imagine it’ll change again soon, and will keep running music through it for the next few weeks until I hit that 500 hour mark people talk about.

Hopefully this is sort of helpful to y’all. I’ll try and continue to refine my language and descriptions as I spend more time with it over the coming weeks.

 

Please keep it coming. Would be interested in knowing what you think after 2-4 or however many weeks.

 

Always interesting to know how long it lasts on various equipment.

Its really only capacitors that change in a meaningful way with usage - well, apart from tubes - so depending on the caps chosen it could be shorter.

 

With the Spring 2 KTE, I felt it got close to steady state in a couple of days. One question about your impressions: sample rates? I find that with the Spring 2 (and some other NOS DACs even more), 44.1 and 48 can be slightly smeared, while 88.2 and above are still tonally dense and "material" but have better defined boundaries/edges. I've been upsampling 2x all 44.1 and 48 tracks in Roon, even though that "cheats" NOS. OTOH, 88.2 and above on this DAC are the best I've experienced among multiple NOS and multibit DACs.

 

I’ll certainly keep y’all as updated as possible as it develops. I never really knew what to expect during burn-in on audio gear. I’ve read about it, but wasn’t sure what to listen for. Didn’t really have to listen too intently to pick up on the changes since first listening to the unit this time though. Night and day, no. But the glare that emerged, the brightness... It was notable. I also failed to mention that on some tracks there was even a sense of congestion within the layers.

 

Ive spent the bulk of my time listening at 96k and up. Some material was 44.1 and 48k though. I didn’t pick up on a smearing of the sound as you mention, however I was taking so much information in that I could and probably would have missed it if it was there.

 

Well, big ol' dacs are also often sensitive thermally - they sound different cold and at thermal equilibrium, and due to the size reaching equilibrium can take a while.

I can say at least Yggdrasil A2's warm-up time gets shorter with use, somehow.

 

Still enjoying it? I'm looking at maybe getting this or the rockna wavelight.

 

I've been meaning to update this thread, thanks for bumping it back to the top. I'm still really, really enjoying the May. I'm definitely pleased with the investment. The sound has changed since I first got it, and I'd have to describe it as more "in the pocket." I've got north of 650 hours on it now, and it seems to have settled into it's final sound. It's been running around the clock since I first plugged it in. I think it's mellowed a little bit, while tightening up at the same time. Transients seem more controlled, bass is tighter. Instrument separation is distinct even in busy passages. Dynamics are conveyed very expressively and don't seem squashed, throttled, or reigned in. Timbre and tone are even more on point than early on. Overall, I'd say that it has a relatively laid back, though extremely engaging presentation. It's easy to listen for hours without fatigue. I've not heard the Wavelight, or really many other DACs for that matter, but have read that it's a little forward. Someone described it as neutral-bright in it's thread I think. That differs from my experience with the May. Using that formula, I'd describe the May as neutral-warm. I don't think you could go wrong if you went with the May KTE though. Long break in, but it's worth it and a fun process along the way.

 

Like I said in the title “...Subjectively” this is my subjective experience with the May. This post was never conceived to objectively compare the May to other gear, just to convey my subjective observations. Like I said in my first post, I don’t have experience with a lot of other gear either. I also gave the caveat that my post may be of limited utility for someone asking the questions you’re asking. I’m just doing my best on my first gear post to be constructive and if possible, useful to others. For what it’s worth, I’m running the DAC in NOS mode and not doing any upsampling with it. I also stand by all the “superlatives” in my post in comparison to the DAC 768 if that helps.

 

^ Could you post very brief impressions about the few other DACs you have heard to help us triangulate? Even 1 sentence per will help a little.

We don't have a problem with your thoughts being subjective, just trying to figure out what "warm", "forward", or any other subjective term may be to you VS to any one of us individually.

 

@penguins thank you for trying to help this man out. @bobmysterious is trying to go out on a limb here and be helpful if he can. @jexby I totally get where you are coming from and as a person who totally sucks at writing gear comparisons I appreciate you trying to help bobmysterious along with how to do it.
@bobmysterious I'm jealous of your DAC and you can send it to me anytime so that I can do a review that is more shat upon than yours.

 

I came across this comparison this morning on Head-Fi:

“I had the Spring 2 KTE and now I have the Holo May KTE. In my system (Susvara and Niimbus US4 amp) the Spring 2 KTE sounded more natural, pleasing with authority bass, perfect midrange and holographic presentation, analog sound.

The Holo May in my system has a not so great tonality. The midrange and upper midrange is more forward, sounds more Hi-fi timbre, the bass is so accurate that loses the robustness that Spring 2 KTE has. The highs are almost the same.

Otherwise the May KTE is more technically correct, it is much cleaner sounding, it has perfect imaging, positioning of instruments were Spring 2 KTE was a little hazy in comparison (this becomes apparent only when competing to May or Chord Dave).

If the May KTE had the Spring 2 KTE timbre, it will be the perfect DAC for me. Hope it will come close with more burn in (around 300 h at this moment).”

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/holo-audio-spring-r2r-dac.810065/page-151#post-16306302

 

Let me have another shot at it. So the other gear I’ve owned in the past has been the Mytek Liberty, Audeze Deckard, and the Aqua La Voce S2. I owned the Audeze and Aqua about 5 years ago though, so I’ll leave them out. I currently still have the SPL Phonitor XE with the DAC 768.

The Liberty, *to me, seemed tilted in the overly bright direction. I felt that it was fatiguing to listen to for long periods of time. In busy passages it became congested and struggled with instrument separation. Dynamics seemed a little squeezed. Instruments sounded like representations of themselves, not the actual instruments. It also developed a noisy volume pot, so that and the above experiences led me to return it.

The DAC 768, *to me, sounded much more balanced than the Liberty. I felt that it was more in the neutral-ish range sound-wise. It was not particularly fatiguing to listen to for extended sessions. It was much less congested during busy passages than the Mytek. It still struggled at times, however. Highs, like cymbals, were better than the Liberty, but not as clear as the May. It’s dynamics felt fairly accurate and realistic. Timbre was realistic, though not in the May range. I still have this unit, and don’t plan on getting rid of it anytime soon. I could definitely live with it and be happy, but I kind of ruined myself with the May now.

As far as the Head-Fi review goes, I can’t really offer too much. I have no experience with the Spring 2. I do wonder if some of his observations are skewed in relation to burn in time. I feel the May is very natural, holographic, and tonally accurate. Take this with a grain of salt though as I’m just shooting from the hip.

Hopefully this is more helpful to y’all, it’s about the best I can do with the tools that I have. If anybody has questions I’ll do my best to answer them.

 

Are there any markings, labels, or other "obvious" ways to tell if a May or Spring is lvl1, 2, or 3/KTE without opening it to see the components inside?

 

Level 1/2 are marked on the serial number stamp, so factory direct. Level '3' / KTE however, is something in-house dependant on the retailer (Kitsune audio US, Magna Hi-Fi EU, Wildism Audio HK, ..).

 

My Spring 1 has a "Kitsune Tuned Edition" sticker on it.

 

Same on my Spring 2.

 

My May has the same stickers on it.