HOLO Audio Spring DAC - R2R DSD512

[Johnseye]

22 hours ago, jkelly said:

Congrats to HoloAudio on the excellent Stereophile review!

 

Jeff

 

Yes, a great review.  Glad I already put my order in for a Spring Level 3 (thanks Ted).

 

This has to be the quote of the year from Sterophile and Herb Reichert...

 

"As you may have guessed, I've done more LSD than DSD, but when I do do DSD, I do the purest shit I can find, the Owsley acid of DSD: a download of Puente Celeste's Nama..."

[Miska]

I wonder how JA managed to get much worse Jtest measurement results than I have on my L2...

 

Of course I used the device in NOS mode and HQPlayer doing upsampling for the measurements, but I still find it strange. Especially the channel difference.

[WenYee]

It is native DSD512 now!

[ted_b]

48 minutes ago, WenYee said:

It is native DSD512 now!

And has been for at least 18 months.

[TubeDriver]

On 4/13/2018 at 5:01 PM, Miska said:

I wonder how JA managed to get much worse Jtest measurement results than I have on my L2...

y

Of course I used the device in NOS mode and HQPlayer doing upsampling for the measurements, but I still find it strange. Especially the channel difference.

 

Well, there are at least two different USB module versions out there.  Maybe you had the older version (U8) and JA measured with the newer version (XU208)?   Perhaps the higher spec, newer version actually does not do as good a job with jitter?  I communicated with Jeff about getting the newer USB module which he offered to sell but then never heard back.... maybe that is actually a good thing?

[Miska]

8 hours ago, TubeDriver said:

Well, there are at least two different USB module versions out there.  Maybe you had the older version (U8) and JA measured with the newer version (XU208)?   Perhaps the higher spec, newer version actually does not do as good a job with jitter?  I communicated with Jeff about getting the newer USB module which he offered to sell but then never heard back.... maybe that is actually a good thing?

 

I don't know... Do you know if the USB module version info is exposed through USB device properties?

 

[TubeDriver]

18 hours ago, Miska said:

 

I don't know... Do you know if the USB module version info is exposed through USB device properties?

 

 

If you purchased your Spring in 2017 then it is the older U8 USB module.  You can look at the driver version on PC to check.

[Miska]

6 hours ago, TubeDriver said:

If you purchased your Spring in 2017 then it is the older U8 USB module.  You can look at the driver version on PC to check.

 

Yeah, I got it April 2017... So probably it is then the older one. I'm using it on Linux, so driver is the one in Linux kernel...

 

[Kirbyt]

Pretty sure the holo cyan dac has the new USB board, have you done jtest measurement on it? I'd be curious of the results. I was contemplating purchasing either the cyan dsd only or the holo L2.

[Miska]

1 hour ago, Kirbyt said:

Pretty sure the holo cyan dac has the new USB board, have you done jtest measurement on it? I'd be curious of the results. I was contemplating purchasing either the cyan dsd only or the holo L2.

 

Yes, I've done measurements on it too.

 

 

[Kirbyt]

Thanks for that

[Miska]

Cyan DSD and Spring L2 don't seem to be same design, there are differences in the measured results between the two.

 

[WenYee]

[TubeDriver]

So I upgraded my Holo Spring DAC from the the U8 USB XMOS module to the newer XU208 XMOS (Thanks Tim at Kitsune).  I run a MacBook Pro through Wireworld USB cable into the Spring.  I have not had a lot of time to listen but there might be a slight increase in transparency and a slight increase in detail?  It almost felt a little more yang and slightly less yin.   I am very happy overall with the Holo Spring but was curious to see if the USB module had any real effect on the sound, if so it are fairly slight IMHO.

[Takacid]

On 12/14/2017 at 7:37 AM, Bimmer100 said:

FYI. I have posted our new drivers for the HoloAudio Spring Dac. Improved performance with dsd and pcm.

version v4.35 available for download on our website now.  Please let us know tour thoughts on this new driver!

 

 

Hi Tim,

 

I tested the Holo Audio drivers v4.35 vs v3.40 with WS2012r2 + AO2.20 + FP8.1 +Jplay -> USB -> Uptone ISO Regen -> Singxer SU-1 -> I2S -> PSA DSDAC. I was hoping to try the lower setting on the v4.35 (ex.16-64cycles), but was unable to do so (no Sound at all, even with long cycles. The same with the Singxer driver v4.36). However, with the Holo Audio v3.40, I have no problem at min.latency/64cycles. Do you know what the problem is?  

[jjkale]

Hello All,

I am interested in acquiring a Holo Level 3.  If you would like to sell one, please contact me.

Thanks, best regards.

[nick77]

Hi anyone looking for a mint Spring L3 give me a shout. 

[guymrob]

On 4/23/2018 at 2:30 PM, Miska said:

 

Yes, I've done measurements on it too.

 

 

 

Hi @Miska

 

I’ve L2, I saw stereophile review that the frequency response when playing back DSD is capped at 19kHz with a sharp cut off while PCM 24/192k frequency response all the way to ultrasonic range. Is this error in measurement or a flaw in the Spring design?

[Thibaw]

8 hours ago, nick77 said:

Hi anyone looking for a mint Spring L3 give me a shout. 

I’m looking for one. I’m in Melbourne, Australia. Where are you?

[Miska]

4 hours ago, guymrob said:

I’ve L2, I saw stereophile review that the frequency response when playing back DSD is capped at 19kHz with a sharp cut off while PCM 24/192k frequency response all the way to ultrasonic range. Is this error in measurement or a flaw in the Spring design?

 

Of course it has sharp cut off with 44.1 kHz PCM input using DSD OS, because with 44.1 kHz PCM input doesn't contain frequencies higher than 22.05 kHz. Response looks the same as with 44.1 kHz PCM input using PCM OS. They didn't test 192k PCM input with DSD OS.

 

Stereophile didn't do any of the tests with DSD inputs...

 

And I don't know how many use the DAC that way in any case (with built-in DSD upsampling). It probably uses same AKM chip for PCM-to-DSD upsampling as TEAC, that chip has pretty horrible performance. So hopefully nobody evaluates PCM-to-DSD upsampling solely based on that, they would be disappointed.

[kravi4ka]

Miska, you mean the AK4137? Any link to measurements? Sounds terrible for sure

[Miska]

2 hours ago, kravi4ka said:

Miska, you mean the AK4137? Any link to measurements? Sounds terrible for sure

 

Yes, that one. From looks of things, I believe same is in both TEAC UD-503/NT-503 and in Holo Audio DACs.

 

I think I posted some measurements for the TEAC in past. Holo Audio is not as bad in the end, but still... I was personally surprised because I expected better...

 

[nick77]

I have a Singxer SU-1 with recommended mods thats needs a home also.

[TubeDriver]

My Holo Spring popped its fuse overnight at some point last night.   It is connected to a 15A Bryston Balanced Power Supply with series mode surge protection.  It has a 2A fuse but I notice that Kitsune USA is selling a hifi fuse for the Holo Spring with a 4A value?  My unit is running at 120v, does anyone know what the correct fuse value is?

 

I notice the DAC operation data on the website lists 220v at 2A, so I would think it should be a 4A fuse for 120v operation?  Have I been using an undervalued fuse for a year now?

 

2A 250v slowblow?  4A 250 slowblow?   Thanks.

[davide256]

1 hour ago, TubeDriver said:

My Holo Spring popped its fuse overnight at some point last night.   It is connected to a 15A Bryston Balanced Power Supply with series mode surge protection.  It has a 2A fuse but I notice that Kitsune USA is selling a hifi fuse for the Holo Spring with a 4A value?  My unit is running at 120v, does anyone know what the correct fuse value is?

 

I notice the DAC operation data on the website lists 220v at 2A, so I would think it should be a 4A fuse for 120v operation?  Have I been using an undervalued fuse for a year now?

 

2A 250v slowblow?  4A 250 slowblow?   Thanks.

It should say on the back of the unit what the fuse value is or in your owners manual. Slowblow fuses are for amps, I've never seen one used in a DAC. Its a lot cheaper to replace

a fuse than repair a DAC... if you can't find clear documentation using the same fuse value is best way to protect your warranty.