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brightonjel

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  1. I've had my Serene for a couple of months now, sitting between May and a Krell power amp. Given the patchy nature of my listening pattern then I put both the Holo devices into standby when I'm not going to be listening for a day or more. I've never been able to decide if it's my ears that are adapting or the units warming up, but once I power-up and start playing music things usually take half an hour or so to settle down. However, now I have enough listening hours under my belt (hat?), I do find there's a difference to the overall sound with Serene in the loop than with May running directly. As always, this is hard to put into words so please bear with me. Firstly, I now listen at higher volumes than before. I don't believe this is because May run solo is harsh in anyway. Rather, it feels like Serene just adds a level of power and control to the picture; think swapping out a 4 cylinder motor and replacing it with a V6 in your favorite family car. Crescendos no longer have me reaching for the volume control because I already had it cranked up to fully hear quieter passages. Now, I should mention that the Krell is driving KEF LS50s plus subwoofer, so not a "standard" sort of set up by any means. While they are very good speakers for the price, they are quite tricky to drive, I have found. Secondly, this brings with it the effect of helping to present the ambience extant in recordings in a more realistic way. In a good concert hall, you can almost feel the presence of the audience even when everyone is trying to be quiet. Adding in the Serene helps to restore that aspect of the sound image. And yes, I know it sounds like I am trying to explain the effect of adding compression to a recording, but that's not what I'm hearing. Let's try another example. In some early Led Zeppelin recordings you can hear the amps buzzing in the background, just a fractional moment of sound before things kick-off. With Serene? Now you feel the amps pressurizing the studio space, not just buzzing. Lastly, there's the question of transparency. Has something been lost or is what I'm hearing actually a more realistic picture, a "more together" view of what's being performed? I don't think I can answer that one, and I'm not even sure it matters. Despite using a pre-amp again after 25 years of not doing so, a deletion I made in the 90s when switching to a Wadia CD player directly driving an amp, I've just decided that I prefer the sound with Serene in the loop. (I should mention that all of the above relates to running NOS into the May. I've tried quite a few HQP settings to see if I can find something that works, but haven't got there yet. HQP PCM upsampling to 768k certainly changes things, and in some measures for the better. However, it does so at the expense of soundstage depth. What's in 3D in NOS mode ends up in 2D with upsampling, albeit with perhaps a bit more clarity and focus in exchange. As always YMMV and I will continue to experiment, especially if I can find time to buy and configure a server and endpoint that can offer up another 2x of performance, but for me it's simply a more realistic picture that's painted in NOS mode.)
  2. @Hish Ah - that's not good. If I understood the connection setup correctly, the Serene was feeding both the high impedance Krell input and back feeding the low impedance output of the AV amp? That could explain the volume difference with the XLR2 Serene output's additional series resistor and why overall the volume is low. A decent switcher should work but no idea what impact (if any) it would have on sound quality. I'd also only switch sources with all components turned off, just to be safe.
  3. @Hish .. I tried both XLR outputs from the Serene to the Krell. I used the same track at a moderate volume and measured SPL via a phone app from one speaker, from a few feet away. Got pretty much the same readings from both scenarios. Didn't really hear any qualitative or quantitative differences, though it was just a quick test.
  4. @HishI'll try the other output once things have burned in and settled a bit. Those volume settings are about what I was expecting, at least based on prior experience. (Don't forget that max volume from the Serene comes at +6db, so even at -10db there is quite a bit of headroom left.)
  5. @Hish Actually, I mistyped .. it's Krell 400cx, not the integrated xi amplifier. Sorry about that. Specs show input sensitivity around 2.7 v for that power amp. Have it all up and running now, with Krell on XLR2. Volume shows between -15db and -10db for listening at reasonable (i.e. loud, but not objectionably so) volume in a small room, depending upon the source material. Can't comment on sound yet as it's only just unpacked and plugged-in.
  6. Would appreciate it if you could post back what you hear? I'd be interested to see the feedback (have a Serene ordered to go in front of a Krell 400 cxi).
  7. Hi Hols - thanks for that. Yes, I had read that post in the other thread. I think my issue right now is that the DAC itself is only report out a 705/768 capability and so whatever source I use to drive it limits output to that maximum number. Even if I set HQP to a fixed rate of, say, 1.41 mHz, it plays at 705.
  8. Except I think that's a .exe file and I only have Mac access right now.
  9. Yes, for sure I'll report back when I hear something (and I'll hold off trying the 3012 file until then.)
  10. Thanks, GoldenOne, I'll ping them and see what gives. (This is the KTE version so should have the upgraded USB hardware in place?)
  11. Yup, and I think the USB port I used out of my MacBook is directly off the main bus, but I'll try the other one next time I have a chance, just in case I can get a different result.
  12. Thanks - the May reports that it's running v 1.20. Any idea which version that might be? Given that none of the USB probes come back with anything above 768 kHz, you may be onto something. (As for the uRendu supporting it, I've seen a response saying "no reason not, but not tested", so ... that's a "maybe" I guess!)
  13. Thanks for that - all good questions! Yes, when running directly from the laptop, HQP has full access (the whole ASIO, exclusivity thing isn't an issue on Mac OS, at least as far as I am aware). Hardware limitations might indeed be playing into the uRendu and directly from the Sonictransporter situations, which is why I tried using a laptop and removing all those constraints. I do not know if the hardware on my MacBook is an issue or not .. it could be, given its vintage (late 2013) but maybe others have some insights? I was able to select 1.536 MHz when directly attached to the laptop, but it never played. I am also able to select 1536 as a maximum bit rate on the HQP embedded configuration page on the Sonictransporter, but it never pushes out anything except at the 705/768 rates. (And yes, it's in NOS mode.)
  14. Hi everyone - wonder if you can help? I have just received my Holo May and have got everything up and running, but with one significant omission: I can't get PCM 1.5 Mhz to work (nor can I get above DSD256, but that's not my main concern). I can get 705.6 kHz and 768 kHz running, but no higher. I have tried from a Sonictransporter via ethernet to a uRrendu (1.5, running 2.8 build); I have tried with a direct USB cable from the May to the Sonictransporter; I have tried with HQPlayer Desktop running on my laptop (Mac, running Big Sur) and a straight USB connection to the DAC, all to no avail. Music plays fine at lower rates in all cases, but not at 1.4/1.5 Mhz; nothing seems to make the source connections, however configured, to run at the highest rates. (And yes, I tested source files in differing base rates - same result). When directly connected to my Mac Pro laptop the Audi Midi panel reports the Holo May as offering all formats at 16 and 24 bits up to and including 768 kHz, but no more. Similarly, when attached to the Sonictransport and looking at what the uRendu says (it has a DAC diagnostic app) it, too, reports 768k as the maximum. What am I doing wrong or missing?
  15. Is it OK to update Sonicorbiter from 2.7 to 2.8 before loading the 2.8 build on the SD card for uRendu? My card is on order (but not yet arrived) but I see that uRendu Software Manager app is reporting that 2.8 is now the latest. Is it better to wait and update everything at once or can I get that bit done first?
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