Modded Orchid MHDT vs. Holo Audio May DAC

@yakbob  My pleasure. I was grateful to have a local audiophile with much more experience help set up the comparison -- and on a much better and revealing system.

He has been around the block for 40 years -- he builds stuff (amplifiers, preamps, crossovers, power supplies, etc.) and fixes stuff (including Dacs). Plus, he has a great ear. So, hearing that he was completely in love with the Holo Spring and May made me want to hear them. And, yes, I stuck my neck out by comparing my beloved Orchid with the Holo stuff. And, yes, it was objectively obvious that the May was different (and arguably better, depending on what one likes). After each song comparison, we discussed what we had just heard. We agreed, over and over again. DACs make a big difference -- which I knew -- but it's nice to get confirmation.

I also would like to hear the other ones you mention, the Mojo, in particular.

@hilde45 

nice report, thanks, but as @artemus_5 says, holo may is 6 grand, a modded mhdt orchid about $1700-1800 (btw, what tube did you use in orchid?) -- may should indeed be a lot better... be a real problem if it weren’t

parenthetically -- i had a vlad’s audio mirror tubador dac... i would say it is quite close to the modded mhdt in flavor/quality/presentation, it was slightly sibilant though...

the may would play in a tier price wise with weiss 501, upper chords, bricasti, top denafrips, lampizators, audio note, mojo etc etc... am sure you have seen verdant’s nice long-running thread on dacs of that tier -- in that company the may should be fairly comparable i would imagine

@hilde45 

can you provide a list of the songs music you listened to for comparison.

I have been struggling with pulling the trigger on a new dac snd have been close with the spring until I read a review that mentioned it did not play nice with heavier rock. The majority of my listening is electric guitar blues and rock with very little jazz thrown in. The reviewer just felt the spring was better at acoustic guitar and with metal there was just to much going on for it to separate out the individual instruments.

what does your comparison conclude from your music choices. Thank you for helping a brother making a wise choice that I can live with for a long time.

@jjss49

as @artemus_5 says, holo may is 6 grand, a modded mhdt orchid about $1700-1800 (btw, what tube did you use in orchid?) -- may should indeed be a lot better... be a real problem if it weren’t

Understood. But just to repeat the reasoning I put in a different post...

IF
(a) the Holo Spring gets to about 90% of the way to the Holo May
and
(b) The Holo Spring can be found used for between $1 and $2k (check hifi Shark and you’ll see it can)
THEN,
(c) One can jump to the next tier of DAC without spending $6k or even $3k. One might not even spend more than a new Orchid plus mods.

A lot depends on premise (a), the Holo Spring being nearly the level of the Holo May.

Tube in Orchid was a Tesla 6CC42.

@sgreg1 

Here's the listening list. No rock or heavy rock. Didn't listen to the Holo Spring, only the Holo May. Good luck!

Regula Muhlmann -- Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio (mozart, Kammerorchester basel)

Barb Jungr -- Who do you love (Walking in the Sun)

Count Basie -- Contractors Blues and 88 Basie Streen (88 Basie st.)

Gregory Porter -- Lonesome Lover (Liquid Spirit)