Holo Audio May DAC
I got my May KTE DAC in way early. OMG! I’ll never buy a chip based DAC again. This thing makes music transcendental. It’s so damned detailed and yet so natural sounding. I hear everything, every little microdynamic nuance. This has surpassed my greatest expectation for taking my system to the next level. I’m completely smitten. |
@snackeyp Thanks, It's been a nonstop marathon of music playing since I've received the May! I am (and have been for 20 years) running source direct to my amplifiers because I have no analog sources to speak of, and have always preferred the more direct and detailed presentation that running from my fanless/silent running media server directly via USB to DAC and from DAC to amplifier. I co-designed several of Niveus Media's earliest fanless/silent running media server designed to operate seamlessly in an audio rack in the living room. This was a couple of decades ago believe it or not! (https://www.google.com/search?q=niveus+media+denali&newwindow=1&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS824US824&...). The May DAC connects via USB to a brand new custom silent-running and completely fanless Sigao Model B dedicated Roon server that has a 10th Gen 10-Core i9 10900T Intel Cpu, 4TB Samsung SSD for music library, 512gb Samsung 970 Pro NVME O/S/Roon/HqPlayer drive, 32gb DDR4 2666mhz, a separate JCAT FEMTO clocked USB PCIE add-in card (not in use atm because it doesn't support 1.536mhz or DSD512/1024 upsampling currently, but fortunately the Intel based USB ports do support the higher rates). I use Roon to feed HqPlayer software a 1.412mhz or 1.536mhz or DSD512 upsampled signal using their proprietary filters to the Holo May in NOS mode. I control the volume through Roon which attenuates it in HQplayer since the May Dac does not provide volume control. I power both the Sigao Roon server and JCAT USB Card separately with with a multi-rail dedicated 300w HDPLEX Linear Power Supply and that is plugged into a dedicated Equitech Son Of Q Balanced Isolation Transformer. Certain DSD512/1024 filter settings in HQPlayer can be very taxing on even the best CPUs hence the need for a 10/Core processor. SIGAO https://www.atlastsolutions.com/sigao-model-b-fanless-pc-10th-gen-10-core-i9-10900t-up-to-64gb-most-... HDPLEX PSU https://hdplex.com/hdplex-fanless-300w-linear-power-supply-for-pc-audio-and-ce-device.html JCAT USB PCIE CARD https://jcat.eu/product/usb-card-xe/ (Note: I DON'T own this JCAT model USB add-in card, but Tim Connor at Kitsune Audio (distributor for Holo Audio USA) is getting one in a week and testing it to see if the newer NEC USB chip will handle the faster upsampling speeds that the May dac supports. |
