Holo Audio May KTE Dac

[roberto]

Hola Chicos,

I can't wait to tell the big improvement in the sound quality. The bass is much better defined with an outstanding stage, My CLXs are not in my room. they vanished and only music is floating in the air. Vocals are clear without any soreness. Sibilant is reproduced with less intensity, and the voices and instruments float in the air with much space between them. The holography is marvelous.

Yes, the difference between tracks in volume is more evident, but it is not a big thing. The unit is improving and the sense of the musicians, their feeling playing is fantastic.

Try to audition a friends Holo May Kte. Only can report good things about it. Yes, the unit works at high temperature, but you can touch it.

This is my first R2R day and the sound quality NOS is impressive. A lot of CDs that I have, are playing beautiful...I am just enjoying this unit with my ears wide open.

Happy listening!

 

[Ron Resnick]

Has anyone compared directly a Holo May KTE to a SW1X DAC?

 

[toddrhodes]

Has anyone compared directly a Holo May KTE to a SW1X DAC?

@Baj55 might have some thoughts on this.

Totally unrelated to that, I decided recently to simplify some things. Namely - I sent back the LA-4 preamp; and as I'm a computer audio user with HQ Player integrated with Roon, I decided to try going direct from May KTE to my amp, using HQ Player for volume control (via Roon's interface).

I'm extremely happy with the results. It seems as transparent as the LA-4 was but without the need for an actual box. And in my situation, I only have May as a source, so I don't really need the source selector function a preamp provides. I do understand I'm giving up some dynamic range to use HQP's volume control but to me, it's not applicable. It's still over 100 dB DR and even in my quiet room, I don't have 100 dB of volume anyway... Perhaps I'm thinking about it incorrectly but I cannot argue with what I'm hearing.

So I took it a step further and eliminated my HQP NAA device, the iFi Zen Stream. So it's just direct from my HQ Player PC to May KTE with a short Ghent Audio USB cable. I do plan on adding Zen Stream back to the mix in about a week and comparing my listening notes but at this point, I am happy and honestly shocked at how well May KTE is dealing with the USB output of a gaming motherboard with its Titanis USB input. It sounds phenomenal, to me. And to recap, this is now removing two devices from the signal chain - Schiit Freya+ preamp which I was using in buffered passive mode, and my Zen Stream in NAA mode.

I do think there's a lot to be said for simplicity and the shortest path of the audio signal. But it also says so much about how good this USB input is on May KTE. I have no desire to try i2S or anything. I am going to upgrade my USB cable and possibly put a better, externally powered USB card in the HQ Player PC down the road, but as I sit here listening to The Egyptian by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - I feel it lacks for nothing. It's spacious, 3D, tonality is excellent, the recording space is illuminated just fine - it's awesome.

 

[U_J]

Wow Todd,that is really interesting as I have contemplated doing something similar but have been worried about a degradation of sound quality, my Freya + finally arrived today but I now have preconceived ideas of it getting in the way of the sound after I read your previous posts.
Having watched the Golden Sound review of the Holo May using HQ player to upsample supposedly providing another level of improvement I have never considered that using a PC of any sort to stream music as I figured this was a backward step from a dedicated streamer but the USB input on the May seems so totally agnostic of any USB source with its ridiculously amazing jitter rejection that a little PC running Roon does seem like it could have potential.
I look forward to your further thoughts on it once you settle into the sound , I would like to know if longer term you don't long for an improvement thinking about the loss of dynamic range and hence a worse SINAD niggling away at you !
By the way the new Spring 3 has an inbuilt PRE with incredibly good measurements, I wish that the MAY had come with the same board, I suspect that it will come in a future version.

 

[toddrhodes]

I'm not anxious about SINAD, in fact I think it's a nasty metric that is misleading on its best day - just way too many variables for such a thing to be meaningful across a range of hardware and systems. So no worries on my end there. And while I do acknowledge I'm sacrificing some DR - I'm not sure how it can be "felt" at these already very high levels. Going from 120 dB DR to 105 DR - that's something like 30 more than I could ever really realize in my room with a noise floor of about 25 dB.

Then again I could be wrong, however I cannot argue with the sound I hear. And it's not a knock on Freya+ either - while I do think there is some additional openness and transparency to be had, I think that is simply a matter of putting the audio signal through less hoops on its way to my ears. I definitely don't think Freya+ was degrading anything and if I needed more than one input, I wouldn't have gone the route I did. That's why I don't think this is necessarily something I would recommend to others as it's very unique to my listening situation.

The real moral of my story here is that I've basically thrown in the towel on analog. I play graded an LP last night as I'm getting ready to sell all of my high end vinyl, so I was grading my UHQR copy of Crime of the Century (narrow deadwax version ) and first, it did sound very good but it didn't sound perfect, I'd have to spend at least an hour or two fiddling with table setup to get it back to where I had it, it was a pain, I didn't actually enjoy the process, and I'm ready to just move on. But I wouldn't be from my last couple DACs - they did not sufficiently separate themselves from my vinyl rig. May KTE has and has done so using one of the most simple setups I could dream up.

So that's what I'm most happy about.

 

[tony22]

I'm not anxious about SINAD, in fact I think it's a nasty metric that is misleading on its best day - just way too many variables for such a thing to be meaningful across a range of hardware and systems. So no worries on my end there. And while I do acknowledge I'm sacrificing some DR - I'm not sure how it can be "felt" at these already very high levels. Going from 120 dB DR to 105 DR - that's something like 30 more than I could ever really realize in my room with a noise floor of about 25 dB.

Then again I could be wrong, however I cannot argue with the sound I hear. And it's not a knock on Freya+ either - while I do think there is some additional openness and transparency to be had, I think that is simply a matter of putting the audio signal through less hoops on its way to my ears. I definitely don't think Freya+ was degrading anything and if I needed more than one input, I wouldn't have gone the route I did. That's why I don't think this is necessarily something I would recommend to others as it's very unique to my listening situation.

The real moral of my story here is that I've basically thrown in the towel on analog. I play graded an LP last night as I'm getting ready to sell all of my high end vinyl, so I was grading my UHQR copy of Crime of the Century (narrow deadwax version ) and first, it did sound very good but it didn't sound perfect, I'd have to spend at least an hour or two fiddling with table setup to get it back to where I had it, it was a pain, I didn't actually enjoy the process, and I'm ready to just move on. But I wouldn't be from my last couple DACs - they did not sufficiently separate themselves from my vinyl rig. May KTE has and has done so using one of the most simple setups I could dream up.

So that's what I'm most happy about.

Todd, please keep me in the loop with respect to your analog saleage. Both vinyl and equipment.

 

[Vangelis]

I’m interested in the KTE. I have two questions that would help me in my decision. Is the warranty transferable? I’m tight on space so I don’t really want to separate the power supply from the DAC but if they sound better separated. Do they need to be separated for best sound?

 

[ACHiPo]

I don't know about the warranty transfer.

I had my power supply separated, but placed it under the DAC a few weeks ago to accommodate Shunyata Hydra power conditioners under my rack. I've since moved the Hydras to the front of the room and haven't yet returned the power supply back under the rack. I haven't noticed any difference in power supply location.

 

[U_J]

I'm not anxious about SINAD, in fact I think it's a nasty metric that is misleading on its best day - just way too many variables for such a thing to be meaningful across a range of hardware and systems. So no worries on my end there. And while I do acknowledge I'm sacrificing some DR - I'm not sure how it can be "felt" at these already very high levels. Going from 120 dB DR to 105 DR - that's something like 30 more than I could ever really realize in my room with a noise floor of about 25 dB.

Then again I could be wrong, however I cannot argue with the sound I hear. And it's not a knock on Freya+ either - while I do think there is some additional openness and transparency to be had, I think that is simply a matter of putting the audio signal through less hoops on its way to my ears. I definitely don't think Freya+ was degrading anything and if I needed more than one input, I wouldn't have gone the route I did. That's why I don't think this is necessarily something I would recommend to others as it's very unique to my listening situation.

The real moral of my story here is that I've basically thrown in the towel on analog. I play graded an LP last night as I'm getting ready to sell all of my high end vinyl, so I was grading my UHQR copy of Crime of the Century (narrow deadwax version ) and first, it did sound very good but it didn't sound perfect, I'd have to spend at least an hour or two fiddling with table setup to get it back to where I had it, it was a pain, I didn't actually enjoy the process, and I'm ready to just move on. But I wouldn't be from my last couple DACs - they did not sufficiently separate themselves from my vinyl rig. May KTE has and has done so using one of the most simple setups I could dream up.

So that's what I'm most happy about.

So I have been running the Freya+ non-stop ( about 60 hours so far ) to try and get some run in on the valves ( which are the standard ones supplied ), at the moment I am finding the degradation of sound that the Freya is adding ( subtracting ? ) is a little concerning, it has added a slight veil to the open sound of the MAY and it has taken the edge of the punch or dynamics that I was getting , one of the real strengths I found with the MAY was how punchy things like snare and kick drums and the sound is now slightly rounded and a little slow . In isolation if I had not heard what the MAY was capable of through an excellent pre then I would have been ecstatic with the sound through the Freya but it is hard to unhear what you have once heard.

The Freya may improve with more time and I have some valves to roll which I think will improve the punch, so I have not given up on it

This experience has shown me that the astonishing measured specs for the MAY such as the noise floor and dynamic range is indeed hearable and I am loathe to have spent good money on the product only to degrade its strengths.

Like you Todd I had a nice vinyl rig and have been searching for 7 years now for a digital solution which at least matched what I had in feeling and musicality with vinyl and I believe the MAY has achieved this, I would never consider going back to vinyl now and I was starting to waiver having had multiple disappointments with DACs I have purchased in this time .

 

[roberto]

Hola Vangelis,
...Do they need to be separated for best sound?...No, they do not. The two hand made transformers use a flat line cable. They look about the same with round shape cable, the flat line is much better because this way, the EMI (electro mechanical induction) is reduced. All transformers are culprit to produce EMI. The material of the case and their position assures no induction or whatsoever.

You can't go wrong with the Kte version. It is a little more expensive, but really worth every penny.

Happy listening!

 

[U_J]

Just a quick follow up on my previous post, I had been slightly disappointed by the Freya + as a front end to the Holo May but I had the chance to do some tube rolling and it now sounds more worthy as a front end.
I ended up with PSVANE CV-181 MkII in the input and Shuguang Treasure 6SN7-SL as output tubes this combo I found gave me the best balance, if I role reversed the tubes the sound became way too hard and lacked fullness. Whilst I own a pair of gold standard vintage Melz tubes these just seem to add fullness with a rolloff of top end so do not match well in my system. I really wanted to find some valves that were true to the Holo May sound without an overblown "tubey" sound and I think I have achieve a good result.
The Freya is dead quiet and adds a small amount of fullness but is still detailed, it does not appear to be hindering the amazing holographic sound that the Holo imparts.
My Holo May continues to amaze me with its realism, boy oh boy has it turned some ( what I thought ) mundane recordings into highly desirable listens, I no longer do the annoying audiophile thing and only play good recordings for the sound, now I can enjoy any average recording and just listen and enjoy the music instead of the sound system !

 

[abrich]

Has anyone compared directly a Holo May KTE to a SW1X DAC?

... or to a Lampizator DAC (BALTIC-3 would probably be a fair candidate)?

 

[abrich]

For anyone who has a May KTE DAC:

Does anyone use PASS Labs XP-12/22/32 Pre-Amplifier with it?

Just noticed @Bluedog employs the XP-22 with May KTE…

Does anyone have any experience comparing the HoloAudio Serene Pre-Amplifier (standard model or KTE) to the PASS Labs Pre-Amplifiers?

Totally unrelated to that, in post #50 @b345t reported "I find using the May on an unfiltered power socket works the best." Current-limiting, perhaps? What about simple surge protectors like ZeroSurge 8R15W-I? Do they have the same affect, I wonder…

Any input is most welcome. Please chime in!

 

[Tuckers]

For anyone who has a May KTE DAC:

Does anyone use PASS Labs XP-12/22/32 Pre-Amplifier with it?

Just noticed @Bluedog employs the XP-22 with May KTE…

Does anyone have any experience comparing the HoloAudio Serene Pre-Amplifier (standard model or KTE) to the PASS Labs Pre-Amplifiers?

Totally unrelated to that, in post #50 @b345t reported "I find using the May on an unfiltered power socket works the best." Current-limiting, perhaps? What about simple surge protectors like ZeroSurge 8R15W-I? Do they have the same affect, I wonder…

Any input is most welcome. Please chime in!

Golden Sound has had a Pass Labs XP-12 in house briefly while using both the Serene and the the May. I remember I chatted with him about it, but don't remember his comparison. The thing about the Serene I have gleaned from people that have had it is that it is remarkably transparent and disappears in the system with a bottomless noise floor etc. I've heard someone described it as the most invisible passive preamp you can imagine (of course it is not passive). But it may be missing the really positive effect a the best active preamps can bring to the table.

GoldenSound

Reviews, measurements and explanation of everything high end audio

goldensound.audio

 

[roberto]

Golden Sound has had a Pass Labs XP-12 in house briefly while using both the Serene and the the May. I remember I chatted with him about it, but don't remember his comparison. The thing about the Serene I have gleaned from people that have had it is that it is remarkably transparent and disappears in the system with a bottomless noise floor etc. I've heard someone described it as the most invisible passive preamp you can imagine (of course it is not passive). But it may be missing the really positive effect a the best active preamps can bring to the table.

GoldenSound

Reviews, measurements and explanation of everything high end audio

goldensound.audio

My preamp is an ET-7 made by Conrad Johnson. And to my ears, the new design philosophy by the Company Conrad Johnson is to use the simplest circuit design with the best parts that that the electronic industry can produce. All used component are military grade. My Holo May Kte really shines here. I love what I am hearing.

My advice is: choose what your ears tell you. My liking might be different than yours or you might like it as I do...the best advice is, have a listen and let your ears decide. They are the final judges!

Happy listening!

 

[teeraash]

I've ordered the May KTE edition from Wildism HK but with a change of plan I want to cancel my purchase. Yiu, the Wildism contact guy emailed and told me that I cannot cancel (even I don't mind to pay cancellation fee) as the order is with specific specs and presumably he cannot sell the unit to others.
This is too restrictive policy and I think the company treats international customers differently .

 

[teeraash]

...I should add that it would be very difficult for me to sell the May in my country, Thailand, as the HoloAudio is unknown here.

 

[roberto]

The Holo May is now very popular, especially for audiophile people. Don't worry. I do believe that even in Thailand. Why don't you announce it here, or place and add the classifieds section of this big forum. Maybe you will sell it real fast. This is the most significant change for good in my system since long time. This DAC belongs to a different much higher level than my before DAC. The change was not like...ok sounds good, no! It really belongs to another level.
Happy listening!

 

[teeraash]

The Holo May is now very popular, especially for audiophile people. Don't worry. I do believe that even in Thailand. Why don't you announce it here, or place and add the classifieds section of this big forum. Maybe you will sell it real fast. This is the most significant change for good in my system since long time. This DAC belongs to a different much higher level than my before DAC. The change was not like...ok sounds good, no! It really belongs to another level.
Happy listening!

After 2-3 emails, the guy gave me a refund. I still have Spring 2 Wildism edition. And if the May is a step or two above Spring, it should be fabulous.

 

[roberto]

It is so good to know that you could resolve your problem. Yes, they are also a very small company (Holo) and they just wanted to make sure that your buy is final.

Happy listening!