So... has anyone done a side by side comparison of the MAY KTE and the SW1X ?
A friend of mine had the Holo KTE level 2 I think (or level 3...don’t remember) but now has an Ayon Stratos (Which uses ESS Sabre and it sounds far more natural and realistic...and I am a fan of ladder DACs!
For reference, I have an Ayon Skylla 2 DAC, which uses the famous BB PCM1704K chips. Out of curiosity (because Stratos and Skylla have the exact same tube output stage and tube rectification for that stage) we compared the two Ayon DACs and found that 1) They both sound great, 2) They sound quite similar, no doubt because of the analog output stage and 3) There are still some differences that we think are the signatures we have heard between DAC technologies, with the Stratos being a bit more airy and ethereal and the Skylla more grounded and solid.
Stratos is, to date, the only DAC with a Sabre that I could say I like.
PS, to make the two Ayons sound similar we had to turn off 24/192 up sampling on Stratos (I never use it on Skylla) and go with the less sharp digital filter. With up sampling on the Stratos sounded thin and wispy and a bit hollow...