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HOLO Audio Spring DAC: Affordable discrete R2R Multibit Dac, could be a winner.

Many manufacturers are going back to R2R Multibit d/a conversion, a good portion of audiophiles are saying it sounds better than the cheaper d/a conversion of Delta Sigma, (1 bit), Bitstream, Saber. etc.
And it says it uses dual R2R’s Multibits to support DSD natively!!? 

Product Description:This new DAC.”Spring” is the first design of a new era, a milestone for HOLO Audio’s own Jeff Zhu. It’s a full discrete R2R type of audio decoder and does not have off the shelf-DAC chip! This is a bespoke custom-designed core DAC module and truly a breakthrough with technology for any DAC chip today. The Spring is here to achieve new heights, new dynamics and simply a full spectrum of audio to please the aural senses. This Dac has been called the poor mans Total Dac / MSB / Wavedream / Chord Dave Etc. It plays with the big boys.

https://kitsunehifi.com/product/springdacbase/

Looks amazing inside for $1,700. Schiit Yaggi better watch out!!!!



Cheers George
128x128georgehifi
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi OP
10,312 posts
 

Finally a review, BUT!!!! it’s done by a computer/software geek, with more emphasis on what the source is, and not much in the way of how it sounds, especially nothing when being fed PCM, 16/44/24/96 or DXD pcm, which is where it should shine.

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/722-holo-audio-spring-level-3-kitsune-tuned-edition-r2r-dac-review/

Cheers George
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi OP
10,312 posts
 
bimmer100

Bimmer, your connected in some way to Holo, get them to give a review sample to Stereophile for a real review and if JA’s lab tests concur with what the reviewer hears, which "can sometimes" keep them honest.

Cheers George
pixelplay
14 posts
 
I agree
milpai's avatar
milpai
2,374 posts
 
Read the review by Ted on computeraudiophile.com. Very interesting indeed, especially since it has I2S.
Bimmer,
It a blu-ray player with HDMI out is connected to this DAC with a HDMI cable, will this DAC be able to process the DSD stream via I2S? Or is the I2S completely different than a regular HDMI?
This DAC looks like a competition for Bryston BDA-3, since it also has separate paths for PCM and DSD and the Bryston also has HDMI "in".
bill_k
912 posts
 
The HDMI input on the Holo Spring DAC is not compatible with a conventional HDMI output like that from a blu-ray or dvd player. It is wired according to the I2S connection standard which is used by PS Audio and some others like the Singer SU-1. Any standard HDMI cable can be used for the I2S connection but the pins for I2S are used differently than the conventional HDMI connection standard.
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