asiano

I'm having a hard time finding great pictures of the Grey Pro finish. From what I can tell in the pictures, the Pro finish looks nice. From a color perspective, it seems similar to the Graphite. However, I can't get a good read on the texture of the Pro. I can get the Pro for about $4k less for the pair. Maybe I need to negotiate a better deal for the Graphite (different dealer). I'm not sure what the current list price differential is for the two finishes as I know the Home version has went up in price over time. It's a little easier to pay additional money for the speakers, if I can get a cheaper alternative for the stands without compromising on sound quality. It's much harder than I thought to find stands at the proper height with a big enough top plate that can support the speakers without fear of them being knocked over.

Considering the Kii Three speakers for a living room system. The Pro version is less expensive with the Rugged High Density Grey Spatter finish. Does anyone know how that finish compares to the standard home finish (Graphite Satin Metallic)? Is the Pro finish suitable for a living room? Also, the Kii stands are quite expensive. Any recommendations for less expensive stands that look nice and are sturdy enough to keep the Kii's secure?

I was just trying to understand whether one speaker did a better job than another with digital files as at least in the case of DSD and possibly hi-res flac, the files are being decimated during processing and some people claim that depending on the quality of the conversion their may be audible effects. I've read a lot about the concerns of decimation of DSD in threads for Chord DACs and others. Also, some DAC reviews include the results for jitter and resolution (number of bits). I can see where it would be challenging to determine the quality/impact of that process in the Kii and Dutch & Dutch speakers due to the tight integration of the entire process. You can't swap out the DAC like you can in a traditional system to determine how it sounds.

I apologize for not being clear. I'm curious about which product has the better DAC and implementation as, at least for the Kii, the incoming format has to be converted since it accepts DSD and various PCM sample rates. I'm not even sure if that can be ascertained as everything is so tightly integrated in these products. With standalone DACs, even those with the same DAC, there tends to be a difference in sound.

Any thoughts on which speaker - Kii Three or Dutch & Dutch 8C - processes digital audio better? My only use for either speaker is to stream digital audio files (Hi-Res FLAC, DSD, etc) via Roon and the processing capabilities of the speakers are an important consideration.

I have an Anthem STR Preamplifier that has a built-in USB DAC (XMOS USB Audio 2.0 ST 308F). I have a Sonore microRendu (software version 2.6) feeding the USB input on the DAC. Anthem represents that the unit accepts native DSD, but if I setup the microRendu for native playback, DSD is no longer an option in Roon’s audio setup and it converts the DSD to PCM. If I select DoP in the microRendu, DSD is available in the Roon Audio setup and DSD tracks are not converted to PCM. If I put together a playlist and the signal transitions from PCM to DSD, there is no issue. However, when the signal transitions from DSD to PCM, I hear a loud pop. Loud enough that I am concerned that it could harm my speakers. Is there any way to remedy this issue?

Has anyone tested the difference between using the Holo's balanced and unbalanced outputs? I'm looking to buy a new preamp and was curious whether it is worth purchasing one that has a fully balanced input since it will be more expensive and limit my options.

Is there an update coming that will eliminate the pops when playing DSD or changing formats and sample rates? If I use DoP, I don't get any pops. However, I can't use DoP for DSD512. I'm concerned I may damage my speakers if I forget to lower the volume when the format is going to change between songs. Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

I finally got it to work. The issue was related to my network. After I moved the Ethernet cable output of my Powerline adapter from my Netgear switch to the microRendu directly, playback was fine. I'm still not sure why my switch is causing an issue. I had no issue with the -2s filters - playback was immediate and only used about 14% of my CPU. When I switched to the poly-sinc-shrt-mp, it took 20-30 seconds to initialize, then played fine using approximately 24% of my CPU. When I tried the xtr filter, HQPlayer seamed to lockup. I may have abandoned it too early as I read later on that it can take several minutes to initialize. Thank you for your help.

I tried again tonight using parameters similar to yours. The main difference is that I had DAC bits set to Default. I was able to get audio and it sounded like the playback speed was correct. Unfortunately, I was getting frequent dropouts or choppy playback. Experimenting with some of the SDM Defaults, yielded better results, but invariably the dropouts would return. I had a few instances where playback worked for approximately 2 minutes, before things began to breakdown.

I'm sorry. I'm not sure if I understand. I selected the default: xCore USB Audio 2.0 in HQPlayer Settings Devices on my PC. Is that what you mean? I don't see any reference to microRendu or specific to the DAC. Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Okay - thanks. I'm not sure why I can't get DSD512 to work. I already had done everything Ted_B suggested. I thought that is what he meant by selecting the Holo Driver. Do you know what he meant about selecting the driver? I didn't see anywhere in the microRendu software where I can select the Holo Driver.

Do I need to install the Holo Audio Windows 10 Driver on my PC and select that in HQPlayer as my Device? I currently have selected default: xCore USB Audio 2.0: USB Audio.

I'm having issue with DSD512 playback using HQPlayer via the microRendu and the Holo Audio Spring DAC. I can get playback using both DOP and Native settings in HQPlayer, however, the playback is slow. It takes approximately 1 minute to play 56 seconds of the song. My PC is fairly powerful: i7-7700K with an Nvidia GTX 1070 Video Card. Are there any settings you can recommend for the micorRendu / HQPlayer? Does the Holo Audio Spring DAC need to be setup as a Custom DAC? If so, what are the settings?

When I convert PCM and DSD to DSD512 via HQPlayer, I get sound - no stuttering, clicks or pops - however, the song runs slow. In other words, a 3 minute song, may take 3:10 to complete. When I switch back to DSD256 everything seems fine. My CPU is an i7-3770, 32GB of RAM and Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 video card. I am using Roon with microRendu as my endpoint. My DAC is the Holo Audio Spring DAC. My HQPlayer settings are as follows: Any ideas why this is occurring and what I can do to remedy the situation?