Schiit Yggdrasil or Holo May (and if May, how much does ZTE version get you) or ??? in the $5k range?

ACHiPo

Well-Known Member
Feb 22, 2015
518
309
310
Pleasanton, CA
I made my decision and ordered 2 weeks ago. I'm expecting 5-7 wks. In researching it looks like they are made to order and the "in stock" means the parts are at hand to get started building. The web site says 5 wks. but I heard that they got behind during the Chinese new year and it's closer to 7 wks. at present but I'll let you know when I receive mine.
Tinear,
Any update on when Holo is shipping your DAC?

Evan
 
Last edited:

Esotar

VIP/Donor
Mar 27, 2016
411
361
340
South Korea
www.digituslabs.kr
Esotar,
Which version of the May did you test?

Thanks,
Evan

Of cause, May DAC LV.3 KTE.

I'm Korean HI FI seller.

I used Spring DAC LV.3 KTE and borrowed May DAC LV.3 KTE from my customer.

I tested total 71 DACs for over 3 months.

Spring DAC LV.3 KTE was not good.

But May DAC LV.3 KTE quality was highly increased.

However, I don't import Holo Audio products.

I import only DENAFRIPS Terminator Plus, GAIA, Apollo, and Athena.

May DAC LV.3 KTE is very good, but my final decision was Terminator and Terminator Plus.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ACHiPo

Tinear1

Well-Known Member
Aug 24, 2019
53
67
98
58

ACHiPo

Well-Known Member
Feb 22, 2015
518
309
310
Pleasanton, CA
Evan... Nothing yet, I would expect mid May.
Tinear, I only ask 'cuz when you get yours I'm a bit closer to getting mine! :cool:
 

ACHiPo

Well-Known Member
Feb 22, 2015
518
309
310
Pleasanton, CA
I got the Intona USB 3.0 and cables today. I get a green light on the Intona, but the DAC doesn't lock on USB. It seems like my DAC USB is FUBAR? The BNC sounds great. I have an AES cable ordered--I'm guessing that AES will sound equivalent to BNC with the right impedance cable.
 

audioblazer

Member Sponsor
May 13, 2010
765
204
1,605
Malaysia
Of cause, May DAC LV.3 KTE.

I'm Korean HI FI seller.

I used Spring DAC LV.3 KTE and borrowed May DAC LV.3 KTE from my customer.

I tested total 71 DACs for over 3 months.

Spring DAC LV.3 KTE was not good.

But May DAC LV.3 KTE quality was highly increased.

However, I don't import Holo Audio products.

I import only DENAFRIPS Terminator Plus, GAIA, Apollo, and Athena.

May DAC LV.3 KTE is very good, but my final decision was Terminator and Terminator Plus.
U felt T plus sounded better than Holo May ?
 

Tinear1

Well-Known Member
Aug 24, 2019
53
67
98
58
Hello All... I received shipping notification this morning via email from DHL. Expected ETA is Mon-May-10. Impatiently standing by! @ ACHiPo this should mean just another week or so on yours.
 

Tinear1

Well-Known Member
Aug 24, 2019
53
67
98
58
Wow... Looks like I'll have 2 NEW DAC's next week. Just received notification from PS Audio that a new firmware "Sunshine" for the Directstream DAC will be release later this week. So, I'll have lots to play with next week. I think I'll leave my Direct stream on the current rev to start with to maintain a baseline to compare with.
 

cal3713

Well-Known Member
Nov 2, 2020
350
384
135
45
youtube.com
Congrats on the May purchases folks. I had one in my system and liked it quite a lot.

Boring was certainly never a trait I experienced. It sounded beautiful and extended with a ruler flat profile (perhaps my ears don't hear far enough out to catch the R2R rolloff).

I ended up keeping my Audio Mirror T3-SE based solely on its slight advantage in portraying 3-dimensional bodies, a characteristic I attribute to its 2nd harmonic distortion profile (vs the 3rd harmonic dominance in the May). The May was better in every other way.

I'm going to go hear the SW1X dac with Sadurni horns in June. Really looking forward to it. Also, I'll note that the "balanced" terminology they use is somewhat misleading. SW1X only makes single-ended designs. The balanced refers to some aspect of the power supply I think.

I've become convinced R2R is the way to go, regardless.
 

ACHiPo

Well-Known Member
Feb 22, 2015
518
309
310
Pleasanton, CA
Hello All... I received shipping notification this morning via email from DHL. Expected ETA is Mon-May-10. Impatiently standing by! @ ACHiPo this should mean just another week or so on yours.
Woohoo!
 

Tinear1

Well-Known Member
Aug 24, 2019
53
67
98
58
@ Cal3713... Do report back on the SW1X as I am very interested in it as well but no possibility to demo. I was looking specifically at the DAC-III-Balanced. Being single ended in/out is no real issue for my meager rig. I ended up going May simply since the balance of my rig is all tube.
 

cal3713

Well-Known Member
Nov 2, 2020
350
384
135
45
youtube.com
@ Cal3713... Do report back on the SW1X as I am very interested in it as well but no possibility to demo. I was looking specifically at the DAC-III-Balanced. Being single ended in/out is no real issue for my meager rig. I ended up going May simply since the balance of my rig is all tube.
Will do. And I think you're in for a real treat. I've also had a Directstream in the system and I felt the May bested it in every domain.
 

ACHiPo

Well-Known Member
Feb 22, 2015
518
309
310
Pleasanton, CA
My Holo May DAC arrived today. I was able to get it installed in my system, and it appears to be working on USB, AES, and BNC, but I am not getting any output on balanced or RCAs. I'm guessing I'm doing something stupid (I hope). It is not the mute:rolleyes: but maybe there is something else I'm missing?

Edit: Dummy headface alert! My Aurender paused playing while reconnecting the DAC. All is good now. Now to let it run for another 3 weeks to burn in! Initial reaction is that it doesn't sound much better/different than my modified Gustard. Let break in commence.
 
Last edited:

Tinear1

Well-Known Member
Aug 24, 2019
53
67
98
58
My Holo May KTE arrived today - a couple days early! Put in the system and have my Innuos streaming to it with my pre & amps off. I'm trying to wait a couple hours before listening. Wow it's MUCH heaver than I expected. The pictures of the PS insides with the 2 big transformers should have made me less surprised about the weight. Build quality is high!
 
  • Like
Reactions: ACHiPo

ACHiPo

Well-Known Member
Feb 22, 2015
518
309
310
Pleasanton, CA
My Holo May KTE arrived today - a couple days early! Put in the system and have my Innuos streaming to it with my pre & amps off. I'm trying to wait a couple hours before listening. Wow it's MUCH heaver than I expected. The pictures of the PS insides with the 2 big transformers should have made me less surprised about the weight. Build quality is high!

Go ahead and give it a listen--it won't bite! I'm on day 3 and it sounds great (but it was definitely not bad out of the box). It seemed to take a step back last night, as in not sounding as good, but I wasn't listening to music I was terribly familiar with, but it's sounding great this afternoon (although still on music I'm not that familiar with). Looking forward to more improvements.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: cal3713

Tinear1

Well-Known Member
Aug 24, 2019
53
67
98
58
OK so about 8hrs into burn-in I listened to a few tracks... pleasantly surprised and interested to see where it settles in after a couple hundred hrs.
Positives: more air and space around instruments, wider soundstage than the DirectStream DAC
Negatives: pretty forward in the lower mid-range and a little hard
Curious: really strong bottom end
 
  • Like
Reactions: cal3713 and ACHiPo

ACHiPo

Well-Known Member
Feb 22, 2015
518
309
310
Pleasanton, CA
Ok at roughly 100 hours of time on the May I’m listening to my demo tracks. Soundstage seems to have grown further outside the speakers as well as deeper and further into the room. Increased musicality—that natural softness and sweetness that others have mentioned.

Tonally it’s sounding great. Instruments and voices have a solidity and stable position in the soundstage. Sibilance on voice and symbols sounds natural. Drums have a right-sounding tone and impact. Upright and electric bass sound organic and, well, right.

Detail is increasing from earlier listening sessions and has surpassed the Gustard.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cal3713

Tinear1

Well-Known Member
Aug 24, 2019
53
67
98
58
@ACHiPo... what are you using upstream and downstream of the May?
 

Tinear1

Well-Known Member
Aug 24, 2019
53
67
98
58
Anyone feeding a Holo May from an Innuos streamer?
 

ACHiPo

Well-Known Member
Feb 22, 2015
518
309
310
Pleasanton, CA
@ACHiPo... what are you using upstream and downstream of the May?
I have an Aurender S10 feeding the May through USB at the moment. I have BNC and AES/EBU connected as well, but I haven’t listened much to those inputs. The USB is fed through an Intona USB 3.0 with Intona USB cables.

The May is connected to a Parasound JC2 via Darwin Enlightenment XLR Cables. The Parasound feeds AtmaSphere M60 mono blocks with Darwin Truth II XLR cables. The M60s feed a pair of Kef Reference 207/2s via Paul Speltz Zero Autoformers as speaker cables. I have 2 Rythmik 12SE subs and a dual-10” DIY sub powered with a 550W miniDSP amp..
 
Last edited:

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing