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  3. 159610-3674

Holo Audio May DAC

Just read a very nice review of this in Stereophile this month and after doing some research it looks like this one could be a very nice option for me.  
https://kitsunehifi.com/product/holo-audio-may-dac/
  
It's made in China I think (or could be Taiwan?, and yes, I am very well aware that these are two very different countries. ;)), and employs a direct to consumer model to keep the price as low as possible.  This does not worry me after purchasing a Jay's Audio transport from Vinshine Audio and having zero issues.  

Just curious if anyone here has heard one or purchased?  I'm very intrigued.  I know the Denafrips Terminator is another highly regarded DAC with a similar ordering model, but costs a couple grand more than this one.  Considering that one as well.

Thanks
128x128snackeyp
debjit_g
282 posts
 
I am interested in the May as well. However, I read that May sounds best when feed with DSD512 up-sampled stream from HQPlayer. This puts a big requirement on the compute requirement of HQP on the up-sampling server and I certainly don't want to go down that path.

For those who are using the May, what are you feeding with ? Also, if you are feeding with upsampling stream, how big of a difference are we talking about between feeding native vs upsampled bitstream ?
snackeyp's avatar
snackeyp OP
455 posts
 
@debjit  I haven't tried mine with DSD512, but I'm sure it sounds great.  I feed it with a Innuous Zenith Mk3 server.  I also use a Jay's Audio CDT-2 transport with it and they both sound great.  The best I've heard so far in digital.  
jriggy's avatar
jriggy
565 posts
 
The high bitrate upsamplers will always say a DAC sounds best that way. 
jjss49's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jjss49
6,612 posts
 
@jriggy

The high bitrate upsamplers will always say a DAC sounds best that way.

yes i think this is true

in my pursuit of streaming and digital file playing, i have focused on what makes cd quality material sound as close to and ’analog’ like as possible - this objective is important as so much/most music out there exists in this resolution

higher bitrates/mqa/dsd etc etc are icing on the cake, relevant side dishes, not the main meal deal
danamc
57 posts
 
HOLO Audio/Kitsune recommends that you use the non-oversampling mode for best results. Up-sampling is available, but does not use the R2R ladder DAC for processing.
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