Holo Audio Spring 3 - Kitsune edition.
Oct 7, 2021 18:39:19 GMT
antonio, zleepy, and 1 more like this
Post by Bigman80 on Oct 7, 2021 18:39:19 GMT
Ever since the Soekris DAC landed in my system, it has been ever present in my daily listening habits. It’s abilities have been clear to me, and since the addition of the dual LPSU we made to power it, it has been unsurpassed in sound quality and value for money against anything digital I have compared it to.
However, today we had a real challenger. Something that has been met with universal approval and even garnered positivity around its design from engineering quarters. No mean feat!
Details about the Holo Spring 3 can be found here for those who want to read about it:
magnahifi.com/holo-audio-spring-3-dac-kte-kitsune-r2r-dsd1024/
For the first listening tests we left the Spring 3 with PLL on and connected to the Mutec MC3+USB
The first 10-15mins of listening were, well….underwhelming.
Listening to Lou Rawls - “Shadow of your smile” left me feeling somewhat detached. It was as if there were a thin film between the performance and my ears. We Tired a few tracks but the issue persisted. I put the Soekris back in and pointed out the difference in resolution and transparency to Alan.
It’s always horrible when you have to deliver a bit of negative feedback, but Alan and i have known each other long enough to be able to speak freely.
I put the Spring 3 back in and was a little dumbfounded. The film had gone!
Odd as it is, we sat there and literally listened to the Holo improve every few seconds. Our only thought being that it hadn’t quite warmed up enough when we started listening. Feeling a little more enthused, I played a few tracks and noted that tonally, there was a slightly more developed tone coming from the Holo. It was definitely richer, but without venturing far over into the “warm” territory.
That little extra fullness gave vocals a more human feel and also proved marvelous when listening to Oscar Peterson play piano on Waltzing is Hip. The Dac offered slam and dynamics, but there was still something not quite sitting well with me, although at this point I couldn't put my finger on what.
We played on and I noted a huge soundstage... I mean huge. It made both the vinyl and digital here sound like small scale stuff. Like a model railway feels compared to the real thing. However, to me, I felt it was almost exaggerating the soundstage. Making me feel like I had sat in the front row of the cinema. A clear, definable image was not happening. It was like everything was all over the soundstage…..very odd. I have only heard this once before and that was with a Valve DAC…..I complained then too.
I decided to go to a track that would allow me to truly evaluate what i was hearing, “A Day in the Life” by The Beatles from the 50th anniversary Stereo mix.
Immediately, my concerns were realised. As Lennon sang, it was as though his head was 8ft in size. I pointed this out to Alan, but his lack of intimate familiarity with the track was hindering his ability to hear the same thing, initially. I swapped between DACs, between mixes and consistently the Holo seemed to overblow the vocal. I switched to “She’s leaving home” and this time it was McCartneys turn to become an 8ft swollen version of himself.
Alan and I had discussed pretty much anything we could fathom as a possible reason, but having now heard this “exaggerating” of the vocal and soundstage, Alan suggested we turn the PLL off just to see what happens.
The Setup now Consisted of the Digibit Aria > Mutec > Holo with PLL OFF
Boom…...everything snapped into place. Imaging was now as if it was carved into the mind and with that came some outstanding resolution and detail. Instruments were now EXACTLY where they were meant to be in the soundstage…..just a larger and deeper one than the Soekris could muster, McCartney was now a more realistic size and more importantly, the music became coherent and cohesive.
The transparency and resolution of this DAC was now the stuff of desire. Listening to all of the usual tracks provided a new and improved experience. Nils Lofgren had endless decay on his guitar. Hans Theesink and Terry Evans were particularly resonant and Terry’s voice carried a realistic tonal satisfaction that I haven't heard from any digital hardware to cross my path.
Driving on with The Chain by Fleetwood Mac left thunderous, but highly resolved bass notes hitting the chest. Yello’s “Rush For Joe” became almost an advertisement for how holography in a recording could be achieved. Tom Toms appearing and disappearing as fast as an extra £20 on your universal credit!
The DAC was delivering a musical experience of “vinyl ending” proportions. In fact i said to Alan, “how will vinyl survive this?”
I literally played almost anything I know well and the Holo hit everything out of the park. It’s not like it was ABSOLUTELY MILES better than the Soekris, it wasn't. The Soekris stood up extremely well to this young pretender, but it was better, and it was better in all the most important ways.
Soundstage height, width and depth. Resolution, tonality…..
The Holo made you believe what you were hearing. It had a natural ease of tone, yet did not feel slow or lethargic. It was nimble when required, relaxed when desired and when called upon….it was on fire!
I could go on more, but repetition is boring.
Obviously, we wanted to see what happened when we took the Mutec out of the chain, so we did. However the same issue with the soundstage occurred whether the PLL was on or off. The Holo was markedly better in all aspects with the PLL off and the Mutec in situ. That was a unanimous and bloody obvious decision to come to btw.
So, here is where we get down to the crux of the issue:
Would I buy this DAC?
The DAC on it’s own? No.
For me, there was something completely distracting about the way the Holo presents the soundstage. It’s exaggerating and overblown effect on the vocals and soundstage in general meant I really wasn’t keen on it initially. The last DAC I heard that did this was a Lampizator, and that didn't last long here at all.
However, with the Mutec in place, I would ABSOLUTELY buy the DAC. It’s ability to take 0’s and 1’s and reconstruct them into a sound with absolutely no artifice, no “tells” and no audible indication that this is digital audio, was breathtaking at times. Multiple goosebump moments, singalong moments (sorry AL lol) and moments of pure “wow” made this an afternoon of real enjoyment. This DAC has a digital performance level that hasn’t been seen in this system before. I loved it. Very impressive stuff.
A word of sensible caution:
Based on what happened here today, with the DAC being £3k, you really shouldn’t need to buy a Mutec to make it sound right. Adding a Mutech makes this a £4k purchase and then you are into big big money. Obviously, there is always the chance that something wasn't quite right here today, but if it wasn’t I have no idea what it would be. I am only able to speak about what happened here today. This is a serious DAC, make no mistake.
Big thanks to Alan for bringing it round for a listen.
However, today we had a real challenger. Something that has been met with universal approval and even garnered positivity around its design from engineering quarters. No mean feat!
Details about the Holo Spring 3 can be found here for those who want to read about it:
magnahifi.com/holo-audio-spring-3-dac-kte-kitsune-r2r-dsd1024/
For the first listening tests we left the Spring 3 with PLL on and connected to the Mutec MC3+USB
The first 10-15mins of listening were, well….underwhelming.
Listening to Lou Rawls - “Shadow of your smile” left me feeling somewhat detached. It was as if there were a thin film between the performance and my ears. We Tired a few tracks but the issue persisted. I put the Soekris back in and pointed out the difference in resolution and transparency to Alan.
It’s always horrible when you have to deliver a bit of negative feedback, but Alan and i have known each other long enough to be able to speak freely.
I put the Spring 3 back in and was a little dumbfounded. The film had gone!
Odd as it is, we sat there and literally listened to the Holo improve every few seconds. Our only thought being that it hadn’t quite warmed up enough when we started listening. Feeling a little more enthused, I played a few tracks and noted that tonally, there was a slightly more developed tone coming from the Holo. It was definitely richer, but without venturing far over into the “warm” territory.
That little extra fullness gave vocals a more human feel and also proved marvelous when listening to Oscar Peterson play piano on Waltzing is Hip. The Dac offered slam and dynamics, but there was still something not quite sitting well with me, although at this point I couldn't put my finger on what.
We played on and I noted a huge soundstage... I mean huge. It made both the vinyl and digital here sound like small scale stuff. Like a model railway feels compared to the real thing. However, to me, I felt it was almost exaggerating the soundstage. Making me feel like I had sat in the front row of the cinema. A clear, definable image was not happening. It was like everything was all over the soundstage…..very odd. I have only heard this once before and that was with a Valve DAC…..I complained then too.
I decided to go to a track that would allow me to truly evaluate what i was hearing, “A Day in the Life” by The Beatles from the 50th anniversary Stereo mix.
Immediately, my concerns were realised. As Lennon sang, it was as though his head was 8ft in size. I pointed this out to Alan, but his lack of intimate familiarity with the track was hindering his ability to hear the same thing, initially. I swapped between DACs, between mixes and consistently the Holo seemed to overblow the vocal. I switched to “She’s leaving home” and this time it was McCartneys turn to become an 8ft swollen version of himself.
Alan and I had discussed pretty much anything we could fathom as a possible reason, but having now heard this “exaggerating” of the vocal and soundstage, Alan suggested we turn the PLL off just to see what happens.
The Setup now Consisted of the Digibit Aria > Mutec > Holo with PLL OFF
Boom…...everything snapped into place. Imaging was now as if it was carved into the mind and with that came some outstanding resolution and detail. Instruments were now EXACTLY where they were meant to be in the soundstage…..just a larger and deeper one than the Soekris could muster, McCartney was now a more realistic size and more importantly, the music became coherent and cohesive.
The transparency and resolution of this DAC was now the stuff of desire. Listening to all of the usual tracks provided a new and improved experience. Nils Lofgren had endless decay on his guitar. Hans Theesink and Terry Evans were particularly resonant and Terry’s voice carried a realistic tonal satisfaction that I haven't heard from any digital hardware to cross my path.
Driving on with The Chain by Fleetwood Mac left thunderous, but highly resolved bass notes hitting the chest. Yello’s “Rush For Joe” became almost an advertisement for how holography in a recording could be achieved. Tom Toms appearing and disappearing as fast as an extra £20 on your universal credit!
The DAC was delivering a musical experience of “vinyl ending” proportions. In fact i said to Alan, “how will vinyl survive this?”
I literally played almost anything I know well and the Holo hit everything out of the park. It’s not like it was ABSOLUTELY MILES better than the Soekris, it wasn't. The Soekris stood up extremely well to this young pretender, but it was better, and it was better in all the most important ways.
Soundstage height, width and depth. Resolution, tonality…..
The Holo made you believe what you were hearing. It had a natural ease of tone, yet did not feel slow or lethargic. It was nimble when required, relaxed when desired and when called upon….it was on fire!
I could go on more, but repetition is boring.
Obviously, we wanted to see what happened when we took the Mutec out of the chain, so we did. However the same issue with the soundstage occurred whether the PLL was on or off. The Holo was markedly better in all aspects with the PLL off and the Mutec in situ. That was a unanimous and bloody obvious decision to come to btw.
So, here is where we get down to the crux of the issue:
Would I buy this DAC?
The DAC on it’s own? No.
For me, there was something completely distracting about the way the Holo presents the soundstage. It’s exaggerating and overblown effect on the vocals and soundstage in general meant I really wasn’t keen on it initially. The last DAC I heard that did this was a Lampizator, and that didn't last long here at all.
However, with the Mutec in place, I would ABSOLUTELY buy the DAC. It’s ability to take 0’s and 1’s and reconstruct them into a sound with absolutely no artifice, no “tells” and no audible indication that this is digital audio, was breathtaking at times. Multiple goosebump moments, singalong moments (sorry AL lol) and moments of pure “wow” made this an afternoon of real enjoyment. This DAC has a digital performance level that hasn’t been seen in this system before. I loved it. Very impressive stuff.
A word of sensible caution:
Based on what happened here today, with the DAC being £3k, you really shouldn’t need to buy a Mutec to make it sound right. Adding a Mutech makes this a £4k purchase and then you are into big big money. Obviously, there is always the chance that something wasn't quite right here today, but if it wasn’t I have no idea what it would be. I am only able to speak about what happened here today. This is a serious DAC, make no mistake.
Big thanks to Alan for bringing it round for a listen.
