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Hotrod your Hermes

I've owned the new 24/192 Kora Hermes for several months now. Right after I got it, I commented on one of the threads about the excellent performance of this DAC, especially at it's price point. I promised to provide a more thorough review of this DAC after it had some time on it. Unfortunately, I failed to do this. Reason being, I began modifications on this unit after observing the open architecture inside it. Since then, I have done the following:
1. Replaced the stock tubes with Seimans gold pins (Be careful doing this. The current Hermes has pin type tube sockets with springs inside them. Lose a spring, and your tube won't make contact. No warnings in the manual about this. This happened to me. Luckily, JC Audio exchanged my "missing springs" DAC for a brand new one. Great customer service!! In the future, Kora plans to change these sockets)
2. Top Hat tube dampers
3. Audio Magic 99.999 silver wire on all inputs and outputs
4. Shakti on-lines on the circuit board
5. Shielded the two transformers from each other and the circuit board using non-magnetic MU metal
6. Replaced all caps with a mixture of MIT, Hovland, and high precision oil caps
7. Shakti stone on the transformers
8. Replaced input and output jacks with WBTs
This turned this already excellent DAC into....A MONSTER!! Why? There is only one way to describe the performance of the Hotrod Hermes. IT'S ALIVE!!! The silence of the background is stunning. The images are more palpable and more full bodied. The soundstage is deeper and wider. The background is blacker, and details you never believed were on redbook CDs are now clearly audible. Yet this DAC remains extremely musical. This is by far and away the best DAC I've heard. Not an analytical bone in it's body. A friend of mine also modified his this way, and will add to this thread about his impressions. Jerry Ramsey of Audio Magic suggested many of these mods, and did the serious ones. He does excellent work if you need someone to do it for you. If you own a Hermes, you must consider doing all or some of these things. The potential to make an already excellent DAC into a world beater is huge with this thing. And the cost of the DAC and mods keeps you under $2500.
glreno
mrsilver's avatar
mrsilver
13 posts
 

We will be using Vibro pods on our modifications from now on
thank GReno for this.

Jerry
Audio Magic
glreno OP
224 posts
 
Okay, just one more tweak, BLUE LEDs!!! God Joe, do something to get Kora to change those ugly, butterscotch yellow LEDs. Jerry at Audio Magic changed mine to blue and they are WAY COOL!!! And they sound so much better than the blue ones:).
sutts
700 posts
 
Hello from Canada!- great thread by the way...

I am also considering the Hermes (modded- obviously) to use with my Pioneer DV-09 DVD as transport in my second HT system (already using A. Aero Capitole 24/192 CDP in 2-channel system). I am re-printing a message from Kora below regarding my question as to whether or not the 24/192 aspect of the Dac is actually VALUABLE without the addition of an outboard upsampler. There are very few Dac units that actually upsample- the A. Aero Prima- same Dac as in my Capitole CDP, actually does 're-sample' at 24/192, however this is rare in the Dac world. You must instead use an upsampler in the chain (I have owned the DCS Purcell which was excellent in this regard). A good analogy is my previous CD player- the Sim Audio Moon Eclipse. The Dac can READ 24/96, however the tranport can only output 16/44. Ergo the need for the upsampler, and the Purcell worked well in this regard.

OK, back to the Hermes. The response I got from Kora WAS what I expected. The Hermes will READ 24/192, but does NOT 'automatically' up/over/re sample to that rate WITHOUT adding an upsampler in the digital chain. Interesting, huh? By the way, if you check their response below, you will note that Kora 'plans' on maybe adding an actual internal upsampling feature next year.

There is one guy here on the Gon- user 'Ligi' or something like that? Anyways, I found his experience interesting, in that he IS using an upsampler in the chain with the Hermes- the Perpetual Tech P1-A with excellent results. Hey J.C. Audio- maybe you could provide a 'package deal' on a hot-rodded Hermes/P1-A combo. NOW you're talkin!!

Sutts

"...Hello John,
Thanks for your email and your interest in the Kora Hermes.
The Hermes can read signals that are up to 24bits & 96khz frequencies, even
though most CDs are recorded at 18bits.
The new chip 122 (CS43122) does oversample the data, 44.1 = x 128, 96 = 64
times and 192 = 32 times.
This is upsampling or 'oversampling' but not 'true' upsampling.
It can't take18 bits and upsample them to 24bits, though, which is 'true'
upsampling.
One of our future projects is to bring out later next year, a new Hermes
with many new features, including 'true' upsampling with an upsampling
output whereby you can even connect an exterior DAC at 18 bits and make it
upsample to 24bits.
It would eventually be possible to include a digital input but I'd have to
check out the price for this.
Hope this helps..."
Best regards,
Jeff Starrs, Kora EC..
www.kora.net
jean
17 posts
 
Good point Sutts .I had this answer from Jeff Star a few months ago .Funny to see JCaudio selling the Hermes for months saying it was upsampling when there was not such a thing ! What is the idea to get a 24/192 dac if it doen' t upsample ? Buy an other box like a Perp Tech P1A or a DCS Purcell ? But it's ok now , as soon as the new Hermes came on the market , we learnt right away in this forum that Audio Magic could mod it ...So get ready to send your dacs for upsampling mods in the future .
glreno OP
224 posts
 
Thanks for the info, John! I use the P1A with mine....works very well.
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