Enjoying these videos with a bit of audio history thrown in too.

Fantastic, as usual! So informative and technical enough to not loose a novice. Thanks again for such a high quality video.

So analogous your summary, it's like comparing tube amps to solid state when matched with the best components, I did some web surfing on the topic and that's what I always walk away with and they are not cheap either

Thanks for this review... Saving up for a Spring 2 KTE or the new May Dac (lvl 2) from Holo.

Great review, thanks! The Spring2 KTE with pre is on the top of my list ATM. Only 1 negative review that I know of, and that review does bring up several unique and relevant points, but I’m just going to have to bite the bullet and find out for myself. Your review has given balance to my overall viewpoint. Thanks again!

Great Review Amos! :D

I think the Holo Audio DAC is really interesting. The ability to switch between DAC modes is unique in DACs AFAIK. It's one I considered, but wasn't able to audition before buying a DAC for my main system. In the end, I went for the Adagio by Metrum Acoustics and haven't regretted it for a second. Great video, thank you!

Super interesting, you got a new subscriber. 👍

I recently got the Spring V1 Level 3 and I like it a lot. I noticed when it is sufficiently warmed up it has less bass(but still plenty adequate). On the upper end it opened up the midrange and tweeter on my Polk 707's like no other DAC has before. Almost KEF LS50 territory. Soundstage and detail are fine, the overall sound is on the dry side.

Thks for the review and I've been intrigued by R2R dacs but can't seem to find many reviews. Wd love it if you could do a comparison between Holospring, Audio Gd and Denafrips Dacs. A review on the Soundaware D300 streamer will be interesting too, thks

@Currawong

5 жыл бұрын

I have to send the Holospring back unfortunately. I did review the R7 (R2R 7) so you can probably extrapolate the differences given that I compared it to the Yggdrasil.

@imosolar

5 жыл бұрын

Am interested in the Denafrips dac and is it roon ready?

Excellent and helpful review. Thanks. Any experience or thoughts on the HoloAudio May version?

Thank you for your review and I just got done adding a I2S card to my Oppo 203 from OPPOMOD this morning for my Spring 2 KTE. I've been listening all day straight from transport/CD from the Oppo 203 via I2S to the Spring 2 KTE and I am hearing a bigger more detailed sound stage. And I am able to play all of my SACD as well through it. I had to go out to the garage and unpack most of my CD's I converted to FLAC to give it a go. Now like most of anything audio the recording needs to be clean and well put to together. So I was listening to a CD from the 80's I knew sounded very compressed and guess what it still sounded bad. I have made so many audio upgrades this year but it has been worth it. Oppo 203 CD/i2s --> Holo Spring 2 KTE --> Audio Gd Master 9 --> Meze Empyrean (Norne Silver Litz Cable) = HEAVEN

amazingly thorough Tony Venice Florida

Can't wait to see what the SMSL D3 is going to be like

Around 1992 I gave my multibit Sony CD player to my x wife, along with some nice Paradigm 2-ways and stands. A few uears later, I needed a CD player again, nut all I could find was 1-bit units. I bought another Sony, took it home and played it, only to realize that the music had lost its depth. I was rather upset by this, because the engineerrs said "they sound the same" and "no one can hear a difference" between 1-bit and multibit CD players. But that's crap and it really bothered me to the point that I turned my back on music for many years. Fortunately, we have digital files and good sources now, so I am all in again. I don't think we should ever believe that "no one can hear the difference" again.

I was the most popular DAC in a blind listening session last August. Out of 9 others ranging from $800 to $6,200. Holospring was one of them.

@jeffkalina7727

3 жыл бұрын

@Art DIY Results are posted at AZAVCLUB.com. Line Magnetic was the winner.

Hi Amos, nice thorough job once again. Yeah hardware (and software) upsampling still has problems and DSD can be hit or miss. I have quite a few DSD recordings now (and LPCM) and I prefer 24/96 pcm over DSD (most of the time). I totally agree 16/44.1 still sounds very good given the right gear combination. The latter being the hard part. Your channel makes that process much much easier. Keep up the great work !

@Currawong

3 жыл бұрын

Nice to hear from you Peete! Drop me an email sometime.

@peetena1481

3 жыл бұрын

@@Currawong Will do. :)

I wanted the musical properties that people associate with these types of dacs so I tried a few including some of the schiit multibit dacs and I never thought my system sounded bad, like some would have you believe, but I didn't really think I was getting any musicality or smoothness benefits from them. I still would encourage someone to try it themselves if they are as curious as I was and have some extra money to play around with but it never worked out for me as I thought it would. The thing that did the trick was getting a tube amplifier, same highly resolving speakers and I even ended up going back to a modern delta sigma dac and I'm still the happiest I've been with my system. There are no right answers for everyone/every system and nobody could convince me otherwise, I've just had to many contradictory experiences to the majority of others.

@pbgalvin

4 жыл бұрын

I have digital music -> tube preamp (BAT VK-31) -> Kitsune' Holo Spring Level 3 -> SS Amp and it sounds fantastic...

@lumntoob999

4 жыл бұрын

@@pbgalvin awesome, sounds like a really nice system you have going on and most importantly you are happy with it. I love all types of gear doesn't matter if it's solid state or tubes, class A or class D, open baffle or sealed box, delta sigma or r2r, I just have yet to hear a r2r dac go into my system and add smoothness or holographics. I enjoy hearing new pieces of gear as much as I enjoy listening to the music so I'll probably end up trying more r2r dacs in the future.

@pbgalvin

4 жыл бұрын

@@lumntoob999 Of course the variations on setups and human ears are endless so it's a fun, endless game. Also of course depends on budget and what components you are comparing to. This DAC was a step up $ wise for me, certainly sounded better than previous gear so I'm happy...

@klepp19

4 жыл бұрын

I know what you mean! Im using a Cambridge 851N going to a C-j 3se then to Prima luna evo 200 amp. But I might try a Chord qutest to see what all the hype is about.😀

@file1man

4 жыл бұрын

So what tube dac did you buy?

06:55 I have heard live musical instruments many times (having played professionally) I have noticed a phenomena with the Yggdrasil that is only heard when you were right there with the musician in front of you. Acoustic instruments can sound a bit dry in reality when heard up close. That is how much music is recorded these days. Its capturing the room acoustics and the emotions of the musicians that must also be combined to give music its excitement. Well made recordings will capture those other elements. On the other hand, I hear good recordings of real instruments sound spot on with accuracy. Yet? There are other big variables, such as to what speakers and amplifier one listens with.

A couple of things to keep in mind about resistor tolerances; a one-percent tolerance is tested in the manufacturing process to ensure it's actual resistance is within one percent of it's rating. That doesn't mean that there will automatically be a one-percent error, and resistors can be hand selected for proper matching in high-end audiophile applications. Also, a one-percent tolerance band is much larger on the highest resistance (most-significant) bit than it is on the lowest resistance (least significant) bit, so the overall resolution will still be within one-percent across the board, and that is if they don't bother with screening the incoming resistor stock for highest accuracy.

Great job . I would love to have the DAC but as a Canadian 34% more on the cost kill my dream

Just bought a spring kte today will report back with my impressions.

@PreBlazed89

3 жыл бұрын

Please do! Considering the KTE aswell... :) Though i wonder how much the kte improves since the level 2 version is 800 euros cheaper.

@aceofspades6667

3 жыл бұрын

@@PreBlazed89 I've had it for about a week and love it... I ended up buying the Spring 1 KTE with singxer su-1 over the Spring 2. I got a much better deal used and though the KTE was a better performer over the Spring 2 Lvl 2. The main issue with the Spring 1 was the USB input underperformance heance the su-1 unit. Thus far I love the unit and it's worth every $/€ although if I was shopping the Spring 2 I'd stick with lvl 2.

Thanks for your review its very helpful. One thing that is important is that Holo has a trial period. I have a Denefrips Venus II going through Michi P5/S5 into Focal Sopra 3s and 2 Rel S812s. Just ordered the May KTE, Im hopping for the best as I feel my system will reveal it. Otherwise Im gonna need to save for a bit to get up to the next level of DAC $10-20k. BTW my system sounds amazing as is, so we will see

@petekutheis3822

Жыл бұрын

isnt it only like 5 or 7 days-----and it is said this unit dont sound good until 300 hours and great until 800 to 1000. I am wondering how the Venus II from denafrips is as it is over 2K less costly and have only heard ONE person in a comment trashing it because of some sort of error rate.

Very good review. Is DSD just using the AKM chip? Also, hope you get the chance to review the May. Awesome channel.

@denisovandrey6313

2 жыл бұрын

only if you want to convert PSM to DSD which I would not recommend. When it plays DSD he uses a separate discrete circuit.

Currawong, what would be your favorite R2R DAC up to 1k, when you would be looking for a warmer signature and an expansive soundstage?

Very good videos. I just found them and subscribed. I am in the market for a dac and I'm not very smart when it comes to all of the technical stuff. I picked up a cocktail audio x50 streamer and cd ripper that I like quite a bit so far but my dac is only 44k capable and I want to be able to take as much advantage as possible of its abilities. I know it has i2s hdmi output and from all I've read, it seems like that's a good thing and I'd like to find one at least with that input. Any advice would be greatly helpful. I'd like to stay around a grand or a little bit more hopefully. If it helps at all, I'm running a primaluna dialogue premium preamp and hp amp with focal Electra 1038 be speakers. Keep up the great videos. I'm skipping music tonight for your videos. 👍

How do you rate the Dena Ares II against this?

Great technical explanation! Is this similar to the Holo May KTE DAC? I recently got that one and am excited to try it.

@Currawong

3 жыл бұрын

I think so. Hopefully I can review that one as well.

As far as I’m concerned, anything but an R2R ladder DAC is just chip grade digital and brings no life into the music. R2R DACs come the closest to analog reproduction and in digital equipment, that is a compliment, not a jab. I still have a Revox B215 and NAD 6300 tape decks. These will receive a surgical instrumental reconstruction using highest grade component parts. The quality of the sound they produce will be improved and so will my pleasure level. Great equipment starts inside and built with a passion which rages as a wildfire. Each must assess their own needs and level of involvement. I am passionate about audio. Mediocrity has no place in it. Only the equipment which achieves you an eargasmic experience is worthy of your time. Each must choose their own path so I hope you find what makes you happy and share it with people you care about! What is worth having is also worth sharing! Stay safe mates!😊👍🏻😷

Resistors do come in 0.1% and 0.01%, plenty of stock at places like Digikey and Mouser. You can also custom ordered resistors with precision down beyond 0.001%, well within 16bit precision which would require 0.0015%. These are laser trimmed during manufacturing and can run you at 10$-20$ a resistor. They are also available in temperature compensated versions.

@Currawong

3 жыл бұрын

Good point. Cayin had to much to say about this with the release of the new R2R module for their N6ii DAP. More audio-grade resistors have become available more recently. This is a good thing for people who love R2R DACs. www.h-ear.audio/2021/05/14/cayins-new-r01-r2r-ladder-dac-module-for-the-n6ii-dap/

I own and love a few vintage theta dacs and compared to my bifrost or newer delta sigma dacs, i just crave the musical nature that these old dacs bring. Current dacs are fantastic and sound very precise but can often become less engaging with certain music genres. To each, their own. You got any nos dac lying around currawong? I just took in a teradak nos dac and quite blown away by the sound its producing.

@Currawong

5 жыл бұрын

I still have the Audio-gd R28 which I can switch into NOS mode. I need to get it hooked up again so I experiment with digital filters some more.

i just purchased a basic 20 dollar usb audio card with the phiips tda1305 DAC it has a presense like no other, and "surround-like" holography it out performs any sabre dac i ever heard, and for hi res i purchased a 50 dollar audio card with wolfson wb8741 and upgraded it with 3 discrete super fast 200mhz opamps the holography is from another dimension, the speakers disapear even they are not aligned to my ears or acustic treatment in the room, it also outperforms any akm, sabre dacs, and only with that extra speed can compete with oldschool philips dacs, both audio cards are just the dac chip and preamplificators, nothing fancy or complex, then "topology" and design its a mith

Very good review! Have you compared this to the R7?

@Currawong

5 жыл бұрын

No, unfortunately. The R7 I had here I sent to DacLadder (on Head-Fi) in the US. There have been quite a few changes since I reviewed the R7 (see my R2R 7 review) including firmware changes which will have altered the sound and performance.

@p0p0y2003

5 жыл бұрын

@@Currawong Thank you. Already watched your R7 review. Keep up the good work Sir! Is there an incoming Denafrips review?

Do you have an opinion on DACs based on R2R ladders in a chip, like the one produced by Analog Devices? The Audio Mirror Tubadour SE for example.

@Currawong

3 жыл бұрын

They can be very enjoyable to listen with, but so too can newer R2R DACs.

I am wondering about a better digital front. My Node 2 and my Teac UD 501 are musical to my taste. I have aSchiit Frya+ Preamp an Audiozen Amp and Casta B Speakers. Run Spotify and Tidal service. I sure am enjoying much more digital music now

Hiu Currawong. Trying to decide on a DAC upgrade from my Lindemann Limetree Network and am considering the newer Kitsune tuned Holo Spring 3. I run a Prima Luna EVO 300 Integrated amp with Klipsch Palladium P-37F horn-mounted speakers. The unit I felt I was gravitaing to is the Auralic Altair G1.1 (G2.2 and Vega more budget than I have) and have begun to wonder if, as a general rule, a sigmaDelta-based DAC sounds good/better with a tube-based pre-amp/amp versus a R2R ladder-based DAC with same tube amp. Also going for an combo DAC/streamer however can be swayed by DAC quality to seperate two. Also appreciate that streamers have as much, if not more, impact on sound quality than DAC. Looking for liveness and musicality and musical immersement/engagement. Not sure I woulkd enjoy music that is too flat and accurate. Thoughts please. Thanks & Regards Tony

What you choose beetween a used Holo Audio Spring 2 and a new Gustard R26 both at the some price 1600$ ?

Probably the same reason I like distortion pedals on my instruments.

@Currawong

5 жыл бұрын

That's not the same thing at all. Though if you want an ironic thought, I like quite a bit of guitar music, so buying a higher-quality DAC to hear music made from intentional distortion in electric guitar rigs better is quite funny in that respect.

@BlueSpirit.

5 жыл бұрын

@@Currawong certain frequencies and distortion, is pleasing to the ear. Many studies have been done. I love a good tube amp.

@Currawong

5 жыл бұрын

Likewise. The even-order harmonic distortion is what you're thinking of, which varying amounts of can be pleasant. Guitar amp distortion is from overloading the tubes IIRC.

0.01% resistors are on a market for about $1/piece. So, only 11 out of 24 bits must be compensated. From 1 compensation bit up to 8 (about). This is not a big deal and a rocket science. But requirements to power supply, conductors, biases, and electromagnetic noise are quite challenging.

I have an Audio GD Ref 5 from around 2012 featuring 4x Burr-Brown PCM1704U-K is that similar to what's being discussed here? I found the video super interesting just quite a lot went over my head!

@Currawong

3 жыл бұрын

Quite similar. Those old chips were resistor-ladder (R2R). They are no longer being made, which is why manufacturers are turning to making their own resistor ladder arrays.

@86Sheephead

3 жыл бұрын

@@Currawong interesting, thanks for the reply.

Does the resistance of those resistors drift over time?

@Currawong

4 жыл бұрын

Good question. The compensation set-up is supposed to account for that though, as I understand it.

would love to get your take on the dCS Vivaldi line.. Rossini, Bartok, etc... You should review them and provide some good in detail info.

@Currawong

3 жыл бұрын

So would I. Not sure if I can borrow them though. Japanese distributors aren't interested in loaning gear to reviewers who aren't going to review them in Japanese.

@Sams911

3 жыл бұрын

@@Currawong Oh... I didn't catch that you lived in Japan... at least you're having good Ramen! yeah, the dCS Rossini is beyond amazing, but the nerd in me wants someone to tear one down and tell me why?? I figured with you being a Brit (brave ASSumption on my part), you could hop over to the factory and get access to the technology first hand.

@Currawong

3 жыл бұрын

The local distributors only make money from local sales. I don't affect that so there is no interest in them loaning gear to me. The actual manufacturers are usually interested in having me review their gear, but they often can't send review units directly without going through their distributors.

I tried to follow your Streamer recommendation, Soundaway B300?? Sorry can you clarify please?

@Currawong

3 жыл бұрын

Soundaware D300REF.

I am curious to know your opinion on how it sounds compared with an Audio-GD R2R DAC.

@Currawong

4 жыл бұрын

That's a bit tricky, as the Audio-gd firmware can be changed to make the sound slightly different. However, one thing the Audio-gd DACs do better is high-res and DSD.

@fabferrari

4 жыл бұрын

Currawong , 99.9% of my music is red book format, so I may not make any substantial difference. I am struggling as on one hand I am very happy of my Audio-GD Master 19 but I have no possibility to test one of their DAC,s, and on the other hand Mr. Jeff Zhu from Holo Audio is almost my neighbor (he lives 300m away from me in Suzhou). So I can easily go and test a Holo Spring. Anyhow thanks a lot for your reply. I really appreciated that.

@xq0404

3 жыл бұрын

@@Currawong but Audio-gd DACs can only go up to 32bit / 384K

@Currawong

3 жыл бұрын

@@xq0404 Only? What difference does it make? A resistor ladder DAC of this kind is not accurate over 20-bit, and the difference between up-sampling (ie: using your own digital filters) to 384k or 768k is nothing -- in fact, it is possibly *less* accurate processing the higher rates.

Anyone compared the Spring 2 or 3 vs the Denafrips Pontus 1 or 2 ?

that dsd issue is a deal breaker

Have you requested the Line Magnetic DAC for a review?

@Currawong

3 жыл бұрын

I didn't even know it exists. Looks like it's quite an old DAC now.

@ajitmoses

3 жыл бұрын

@@Currawong A new version of the Line Magnetic DAC has been launched FYI. Thanks

I missed the streamer you are using. You said it, but I couldn't make it out.

Am I to undertand that under the non-oversampling mode, the DAC will play hi-res files directly including HQPlayer-upsampled 1.536M PCM and DSD1024 files theoretically? But none of them sounds as good or as natural as the CD quality files under the NOS mode.

@Currawong

3 жыл бұрын

That was my impression, yes. You could experiment with different HQPlayer filters though to see if you can find one you like.

@xq0404

3 жыл бұрын

@@Currawong Thank you so much. Would you compare the sound quality of hi-res files played directly under NOS vs. under the OS mode (AKM chip used) ? I also assme that native DSD files played directly under NOS do not sound as good as those played under OS mode?

R2R is great to play back older recordings, many of them are digitized in the 80’s using R2R ADC’s. Nowadays music will be recorded digitally using single bit Sigma Delta modulators. So using state of art R2R DAC’s to reconstruct this Sigma Delta modulation makes no sense.

@andrewg969

3 жыл бұрын

I’d have to disagree with your statement, as it has no basis in sampling theory. PCM is pcm no matter which method of digitization was used. The early ADCS were very high in jitter, linearity, and phase errors. The new ones are much more accurate, but usually use subpar digital filters, even at the professional level. These distortions don’t care about the topology of the dac used, as the sound signature is already in the digital bits. The only reason to use a delta sigma dac over an r2r, is if you’re listening to dsd recording made with a ‘new’ delta sigma adc (which are very rare).

Why? Same reason I still have Yamaha CD-1. There is something there even today's dac is missing. Notice I said missing not "have" because today's CD players (high end) have decimal point followed by several zeros following the noise level.

If the chips can fetch such a high price, why doesn't some company make them again? Sure the price would go down in response but at such a high price there's a long way to go down and still be profitable

Not sure what it sounds like. But it sounds expensive.

How does this Dac compare to the Chord qutest?

@Currawong

4 жыл бұрын

It's soft/warm-sounding compared to the Chord Hugo or Qutest, which is more precise, yet musical. The Spring2 is also best with CD Quality 44.1 material, but not so good with high res, and I didn't like it at all with DSD. The Chord gear is excellent with all, and fantastic with DSD (even if DSD itself is redundant).

@klepp19

4 жыл бұрын

@@Currawong cool thanks for your insight!😊

@fabferrari

4 жыл бұрын

Currawong Thanks a lot I am still on the verge to upgrade my DAC and I wanted to know an opinion right on this.

@Cocteau61

4 жыл бұрын

@@Currawong I found the Spring played native DSD better than any DAC I've tried - except the HoloAudio May. So did Todd Garfinkle of M-A Recordings who now uses the Spring converter to make LPs from his Koorg 2002 DSD files.

@Currawong

4 жыл бұрын

@@Cocteau61 Hi Herb, it's nice to see you here. It'd be interesting to compare what you find enjoyable when it comes to the playback of the same musical files through the same equipment with my own experiences and preferences. I've noticed some people like the smoothness of DSD, sometimes to a degree that I'd find to be totally unnatural or lacking in the subtle dynamics of the music itself.

Why doesn't anyone but Bryston put HDMI inputs on their DACs?

@46wireboy

3 жыл бұрын

It has something to do with paying out royalties to use the HDMI format. So pretty much it's only used in conjunction with video. Sad, really. Greed makes it not cost-effective.

@robertwear640

3 жыл бұрын

@@46wireboy Who doesn't get paid for their products or services? Look at Apple or any other company. They are all in business to make money. So add 2.00 to each machine to pay for HDMI. It's the only way a DAC can pass truly hi res content from another player without some kind of proprietary connector.

DAC, change more then any audio product. imo today. I'm on my 5th or 6th one it gets better and better old DAC are nice boat anchors or good for the office or a gift a 2k DAC 5years ago is not a 2k DAC today Maybe in one area of sound but not in 6 areas of sound But i like that Kismet stuff

It is easy to buy 0,1% tolerance resistors.

@Currawong

Жыл бұрын

They wont be accurate enough for even 16-bit audio though. You'd need 0.001%, which don't exist.

Tubadour 3 SE DAC beats HOLO Spring!

@lsantista1481

2 жыл бұрын

have you had the chance to compare them? Im also interested on the tuba. Would you say it beats the spring because you like the tube sound better or any other reason in particular? tks

Anything upsampled to DSD from DSD non native sounds robbed of dynamic range and bypasses PCM filtering. Usually loudness is damped by 3 to 6 dB down by default nevermind the upsampling software Usually applying an additional 3 to 6 dB down. All filters and EQ must be done upstream from the DSD dac. Lastly DSD upsampling to even 256 is absurdly inefficient and takes up massive storage. Upsampling anything not natively DSD adds no information, robs cpu/gpu power, takes up way too much memory, robs dynamic range, bypasses pcm and dsp... its just bad. Also anything upsampled beyond 48kHz moves all filter targets into ultra sonics and is inaudible so it does not matter what filter you use... however you should just use NOS mode/filter for 96 and above kHz to free up the signal path.... there is no roll off at these sample rates.

Your wrong about resistors .. Danafrips chip resistors in their ladder DAC's are laser cut to .01% accuracy .. So your wrong .. I know that their two top end Danafrips units use .01% chip resistors, I am not so sure about the lower end versions but, that being said, if your having resistors cut you cut them all as it is much cheaper to buy in larger quantities .. You should really check our what Danafrips says about this before putting out second hand information ..

@Currawong

4 жыл бұрын

Hold on, what specifically that I said is wrong? I didn't mention anything specific about Denafrips, because I don't know what they use. Regardless, there aren't any resistors available that will create a resistor ladder with even 16 bit accuracy. Compensation/correction must be used.

@all41n14lla

4 жыл бұрын

@@Currawong You specifically said in the video that only .1% resistors were available .. Not true .. Secondly, Ladders are voltage dependent so your wrong again regarding 16 bit accuracy as it applies also to resistor laser cutting .. I can order .001% tolerance resistors if I want to pay for that ..

@Currawong

4 жыл бұрын

The best regularly available resistors are 0.005% Vishay, at $93/resistor. I'll let you do the math. Basically, without paying the cost of a car for your DAC, you wont get an R2R DAC with 16-bit accuracy. Even then, the other components, such as the switches, will degrade accuracy significantly. The Denafrips, if it uses .01% resistors - that is 1/10,000, and you need 1/65535 to get 16 bit accuracy, not even considering the switches.

@all41n14lla

4 жыл бұрын

@@Currawong Not if you know someone with a 5W laser with a 1/10,000 beam width and a manual veneer control and a good HP micro milli ohm meter .. Easy to buy in China but not exportable due to restrictions .. So if you have a tech you can cut what ever value you need .. Do they have this ability or can tgey buy them from a cheap China source ? I don't have those answers but I do know I can buy just about anything in China .. Vishay isn't even close to being the only source of precision chip resistors .. I feel very sorry for profligate few who pay $93 / chip ..

@Currawong

4 жыл бұрын

Do you know someone in China with such a thing? Where does this info come from? I also just checked the Denafrips Terminator page and it states "The DAC core conversion module R-2R is constructed with 0.005% high precision, 10ppm low thermal effect precision resistors." so what you posted at first was completely wrong.

NOS mode is completely shit. R2R inherently is the opposite of analog/organic. The corrections in fpga and other techniques only makes it closer to modern dac chips. This unit is pretty good when using OS or DSD mode.

@Currawong

5 жыл бұрын

Have you had the Holo Spring 2 there at some point?

@tenveri

5 жыл бұрын

This thing has 126dB SNR in holo audio measurements so yeah it does not sound typical 'analog'/distorted R2R. It sounds damn clean (I actually listened to spring2 not just just saying this)

@Currawong

5 жыл бұрын

I think the reasons for some R2R DACs to sound distorted is the lack of compensation used to ensure any kind of accuracy of the resistor ladder. Measurements of DACs are designed to deliberately reveal the faults of a design, and generally show things that occur little, to not at all during music playback, or are otherwise mostly inaudible (like high-frequency aliasing).

@johnyang799

5 жыл бұрын

@@Currawong NOS = aliasing. So ....

@tenveri

5 жыл бұрын

@@Currawong ? high-end DACs like the spring use an FPGA for error correction, there is most definitely compensation going on.

People are wasting time getting into tech and dac war. In ten years time all the equipment on you rack will be superseded with dacs that are superior in every departed and retailing for $150

@kingtrance6826

4 жыл бұрын

@ Gracefully Graceful - But will our ears be better or any younger? Those new dacs should go great with all the radioactive water we’re drinking and polluted air!

@aceofspades6667

4 жыл бұрын

Topping D90 & SMSL M400 measure on almost all aspects above/beyond the human ear's capability. Amir @ ASR measured both and the M400 measured in SINAD, THD , and others are almost beyond his measurement's capabilities. Although many people say both DACs have a very "thin" , "bright", "tinny", and "analytical" sound presentation. The ASR community is all measurements while headfi is more about the hifi poetry.