Holo Audio May DAC

denafrips dacs are excellent, but a little bright amongst the r2r crowd, and according to my research, so is the holo springs unit (based on that i have ruled it out for my own use)

Never found that with a borrowed Holo Spring L2 in NOS, when it was switched to DSD or OS it did get slightly less body to the mids, but still not bright.

Cheers George

@georgehifi 
Your findings seem to jive with the reviews I have read.  The recent review of the May DAC in Stereophile is a good example of this.  Other reviews I've heard seem to concur.  Cheers

snackey

so buy one and tell us!  :)

I placed my order for the KTE version this morning.  It will be a few weeks before it arrives and I will happily share my impressions of it once I have it and have enough time to break it in and assess its SQ.

In the process of searching for my next DAC (I currently own a Brooklyn DAC+, and before this I had a Manhattan II) I was prepared to spend as much as $15K for one of the super DACs.  

Herb Reichert's review of this DAC really opened my eyes to the value versions of the high end and high priced DACs.  I had also been considering a Denafrips DAC for a while.  The Holo Audio DACs seem to fit a very similar niche, but I like the aesthetic style of the Holo Audio better.  The price is also lower, even if that was not a major motivator. 

I mentioned that I used to have a Manhattan II.  The reason I don't still have it is because one of the channels went out and when I sent it back to the retailer they told me it would be at least a month or two to get it fixed or replaced.  In the meantime they sent me a Brooklyn to use, and after giving it some listening time I found that I liked the Brooklyn better.  I decided to keep the Brooklyn until I could find my next major upgrade.  The Holo Audio May is what I've decided on.  The risk is pretty low all things considered and I have confidence that at the very least it will be a lot of fun to hear this new DAC.  If I don't like it I can always sell it and return to my original plan of buying one of the bigger names.   

Let the fun begin!

I have the original Holo Audio Spring Kitsune Edition Level III DAC and I don't find it bright at all. I chose this DAC for it's musicality and it hasn't let me down. I'll have to check out the new "May".