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lentille

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  1. Ok team. I have a macmini 2012 (my workhorse for many year - just retired this month), 2x 2014 macmini and have just bought and installed 3x macmini 2018. On the hifi front I use the Aurilac mini as streamer in 2 locations, feeding into better DACs. I do spend possibly ridiculous amounts on cables; fuse upgrades; isolation devices; quality LPS or other power treatments. I can can tell you the new 2018 Mac mini is blindingly fast compared to the old ones. It is also very quiet with zero fan noise (I don’t do video rendering or super heavy stuff) and much cooler than its predecessors. There is much more room internally due to the small size of components these days - so some scope for a cooler machine with less internal noise. Based on my use I recommend the base 8gb is enough - with 8GB it is is so much faster than my 2012 with 16GB. I would store music library on an external bus powered SSD plugged into one of the T3 ports - a very minor load. Samsung T5 is one good choice. I would then look at improving the signal path from the mini to the amp - use wireless or Devices in the chain which Re clock- rather than tinkering with the Mac mini internals or power. Happy to to elaborate more. Vincent
  2. Hum issues As the original thread opener I have been quiet of late as my Cyan developed issues. Back in April I mentioned that there was a hum issue. It had been troubling me for a few months and did not go away when I purchased a decent balanced power supply in addition to the audio specific power strip already in use, in a futile attempt to solve the problem. I should add I have always been very fastidious in trying to ensure clean power and test it. Then eventually one of the channels started faint crackling and it soon became unusable. As I had one of the very first PCM units produced and had it direct shipped down to Australia, the process involved convincing Holo I had genuine problems, which at first was not accepted, and then the process of international shipping two ways. They finally replaced the main board end of July. I mention this so other very early adopters are aware - mine arrived December 2017 to put the timeline in perspective. Plugged it in last night to be greeted by no hum and quality sound - so all is well.
  3. Hi Torq thanks for the detailed review - as always with useful comparisons. Vincent
  4. Hi Chris Are you able to post a transcript of your video review please? Thanks
  5. Hi I have not tried the Singer. But like you I have an iso-regen and an Lps-1. I didn't think it made a step-up in sound. In fact I am now using a specialised co-ax cable instead. (Yes not ideal for my DSD files but adequate and I have another rig for pure DSD). The co-ax quality exceeded the usb quality in my set up. BUT I am not using a pc with noisy usb output. I use a Synology NAS feeding an Aurilac Aries Mini streamer and then the Cyan, so my inputs to the Cyan are free from usual pc generated noise. And of course if could be the Cyan usb is well sorted so it does not benefit a lot from usb cleaning devices. But with a very good co/ax cable the sound is very good.
  6. Humming Hi guys. The one issue I have with my holo Cyan is the hum. Even with my dodgy hearing I can hear the hum an arms length away. I added a balanced power isolation device to feed it and it reduces the hum but does not eliminate it. Could other owners please let me know how much hum if any they hear? Thanks
  7. Hi guys - Cyan tweak upgrades FYI because I was moving kit around at Xmas, I made the Cyan my rig for my regular late night listening and moved my other rig elsewhere. "Elsewhere" created issues due to its very large surfqce top area ( a large L shaped thinning tabletop) which really affected performance. So I decided to invest in some good isolation footers and whilst at it fuse upgrades - and hey if I was doing this for rig 1, might as well do it for the rig 2 Cyan as well. In my rig 1 which is more expensive than the Cyan, the Synergistic Research MIG 2.0 footers made a noticeable improvement, but the fuse change to a Synergistic Research Black had a hugely positive impact - as in a wow! step up in performance. Google the AudioBacon review to see why I chose this fuse. This other unit only seemed to have a fairly standard cheap fuse in original manufacture. For the Cyan I thought the MIG 2.0 footers made a worthwhile improvement. But the fuse upgrade did not have the impact I found in rig 1. On pulling out the Cyan fuse it was clearly already a better fuse based on its construction although I could not identify which brand. So my Cyan is definitely keeping the MIG 2.0 Isolation footers and the new fuse as I have it - but kudos to Holo as in my experience it does not reply require a fuse upgrade. Cheers Vincent ps just goes to show and I was pleased to see that I am not a slave to expectation bias
  8. T-Bone Hi I use an Aurilac Aries Mini streamer fed by a Lps into a Holo Cyan. Holo suggests it's usb implementation is better than the one in the Holo Spring. I also have an iso-regen fed by an LpS-1. In my experiments I have found the Co-ax can edge out the usb. My Chord brand silver Co-ax couldn't match optimised USB but I then tried the HAC+ carbon fibre co-ax (see Mono and Stereo review) which was was the leveller. Certainly avoids the extra boxes! I mainly use this rig for PCM listening and now use the iso-regen etc in another rig which is optimised for DSD listening when I want that. I am very particular about quality power supplies in all my kit and would not use a PC as a source these days. Certainly worth trying a steamer and higher end Co-ax solution from a try and return source while we wait for a better IS2 option. Vincent
  9. Hi Jerry Aurilac seem to prefer wireless as the solution for their product design. The rationale as I interpret it is that Ethernet cables will introduce new electrical noise which is more detrimental than the Aries running wireless. I use wireless and it seems excellent on my Aries Mini. Certainly no worse than using an internal SSD. I have two Minis in different locations. One has a very good linear power supply and the other uses the factory supplied smps. I turn off Bluetooth and Airplay options to disable the internal Bluetooth chip. Like others I use the 5.8 GHz band for connecting my Aries Mini to the modem/router and nothing else in the house uses 5.8 - I think it just means the wireless chip in the Aries has to work a little less hard than if it was on the busier 2.4GHz. My ipad or phone using the Aurilac Lightning software stay on 2.4 GHz and my wireless router has no issue letting these two talk together. I hope you enjoy your system. Vincent
  10. Co-ax versus USB versus I2s For those of you also using dedicated streamers, I have done enough A to B listening between Co-ax and USB now to feel comfortable settling on the coax input for my pcm version Cyan. I use a carbon fibre cable which overcomes some of the potential issues with coax. I have another DAC/ headamp/pre-amp which does true direct DSD and my DSD library is small compared to my PCM library which is why I went with the PCM version of the Cyan. My streamer does not have I2s so others may want to order comment on how that compares to USB. Vincent
  11. Hi Superdad - need your assistance on a small point. Have had my iso-regen and Lps-1 for a while now. I decided to use your kit with a Dac/Headamp which does not need 5v on its usb input - other than for the initial handshake. I was connecting the out usb from my Aries Mini streamer to the DAC using an Elihah Isolaate cable - separate wire for the 5V and supplied via a AA battery pack. Once they have done the handshake I can always turn the battery pack off and full functionality is maintained. Once I insert the iso-regen powered by the Lps-1, with the Elijah cable staying between the streamer and iso-regen, I can no longer turn the battery off or the iso/dac stop being recognised mid song. This is not what I was expecting - any suggestions? Or do I just revert to a cheap usb cable? Thanks Vincent
  12. Em The ten networks is not the key - it is how many are on the same channel and how strong they are. Every router enables you to choose your channel if the autoselect is not good enough. Any of the free wifi survey software apps should do. Vincent
  13. Jonny Hi I have 2 x Aries Mini (different rigs). I started with the internal SSD. I then moved to an external NAS drive connected wirelessly as this is what Aurilac recommend. If you are using a linear power supply then I doubt you will hear much difference. Even without an LPS you may not hear much difference as you are not using the internal Aries DAC. (Thumb drives are a different matter of course.). As the Aries Mini Lightning DS player software now uses a small memory cache it is not directly relying on disc read speed - even Tidal sounds excellent. But only you will know when you compare under your own environment. Vincent
  14. Mine arrived in my office yesterday but unfortunately I am out of town for four more days
  15. Guys and Gals - Hi As this thread is about the Holo Spring, I have started a separate thread for Holo Cyan Impressions. Mine shipped today (HK to Australia - no idea how long it will be) and I look forward to hearing impressions from Holo users about the Holo Cyan on that thread. Vincent
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