[Deleeh]

Hello,
You must be lucky to find a Spring 3 used, they are usually gone very quickly.

 

[mgsu]

I feel like the HE works great as an All-in-one solution and it certainly delivers great value for its money but it does have its shortcomings. While being musical and convenient to listen to, it is not the most resolving nor does it have great sound staging. I find it also to be lacking a bit in realism and tonal depth.

The Holo Spring 3 seems to outclass the Naim HE DAC in each of those aspects. I might just have to buy it blind on the used market and see for myself.

In this regards R26 is very good: spatious and holografic. I dont want to say it loud but i had the Holo May KTE before the R26. If you can get the R26 second hand, it is a bargain.

 

[Maxfocal]

In this regards R26 is very good: spatious and holografic. I dont want to say it loud but i had the Holo May KTE before the R26. If you can get the R26 second hand, it is a bargain.

does the R26 come close to the May in terms of space and separation? How exactly do they differ? From what I have read about the May it should outright destroy the R26, right?

 

[mgsu]

does the R26 come close to the May in terms of space and separation? How exactly do they differ? From what I have read about the May it should outright destroy the R26, right?

Yeah, when you jump on the hype train, than May is the best

TBH, i was quite disappointed with May and after the trial period i have to send it back.
I had it for 2 weeks plugged for burn in but the dac never opened up, soundstage was miserable. Dont know if it was something wrong with my unit or if it needed more break in time but i didn't want to take chances.
Afterwards i red a review by someones who had his MAY for 6 months plugged in till it opened up. So yeah, could maybe needed more break in time, who knows.

Edit: if you can get your hands on a used MAY, then maybe it should be fine.

 

[incredulousity]

May needs 500 hours burn in, absolutely. It and Spring 3 both pair brilliantly with Euforia. SR Master or Purple fuses recommended. These DACs are also best used with HQPlayer or PGGB upsampling, sentt to DAC in NOS mode. I expect that this would be a good plan for R26 as well.

 

[BrainSalat]

....These DACs are also best used with HQPlayer or PGGB upsampling, sentt to DAC in NOS mode. I expect that this would be a good plan for R26 as well.

I don't quite agree that R2R DACs work best or even require software upsamplers. For Delta Sigma DACs there is a clear reason, but not for R2R DACs. It would sound different , you may like it or not, but better?. at least I don't find any technical reason that would explain that.

I explained the reasons here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/holo-audio-spring-r2r-dac.810065/post-17644069

 

[incredulousity]

It’s pretty well established that the Holo DACs in NOS mode are greatly improved with upsampling. We’ll have to agree to disagree.

 

[BrainSalat]

Can you explain why is that? or a link?

 

[incredulousity]

No, but there are many hundreds of posts about it here and elsewhere, and it is my own experience as well.

I am not interested in ASR style analysis and discussion.

 

[Louisiana]

No, but there are many hundreds of posts about it here and elsewhere, and it is my own experience as well.

I am not interested in ASR style analysis and discussion.

Howdi,
i don't think much of ASR either, but you can't generalize about upsampling.
I have had countless DACs, in all price ranges, and what I can say for myself is:
With Delta Sigma DACs I love upsampling with the HQPlayer, whether with Burr Brown, ESS or AKM chips.

With R2R I don't like upsampling at all, whether internal from the DAC or external via HQPlayer.

For me, by far the best DAC I've heard is the Audio GD R28, and I'm currently using it with my Euforia.

I could also compare the R28 with various other DACs, and - for my ears! - I have found no reason to buy a Holo Audio DAC, but as I wrote at the beginning: This is all a matter of personal preference

The only DAC I could never hear until today is a Rockna

PS:
I am in the fortunate position that I do not have to watch every penny, I do not buy a Holo Audio only because of the lack of added value for me, I just want to mention that
An expense, no matter the amount, must always make sense to me.

 

[BrainSalat]

OK fair enough, from the subjective viewpoint we don't have any disagreements then . It's quite fine that people find subjectively something better or worse (we all have different ears and tastes), btw you will find another many hundred of post here where people prefer the NOS mode. In my own experience with the HQPlayer, I noticed my ADI-2 benefited of it, increasing clarity and separation between instruments,, but not on the Spring3, to me it only sounds slightly different.

BTW I don't have problems with ASR, to me is a complementary information, but my comments had nothing to do with that, only true interest on how things work, from an objective viewpoint, that also sometimes help to understand the subjective results . Didn't that help to understand for example why the Raal headphones sounded louder with different cables?

 

[BrainSalat]

With a little sadness I would like to share that I sold my Euforia. The Euforia together the Bliss had to depart to finance my new and shiny Envy.
To be honest, I was a bit afraid, the Euforia was already challenged by a number of respectable opponents like the Bliss or the TT2 but it always hold the grounds with braveness. So much fun and adrenaline hunting those scarce tubes (I never was able to put my hands over the WE 421a or GEC 6AS7G). I took the risk and now I feel totally rewarded with the Envy, it's really the big(est) brother!.

Now that the Euforia departed I was left with a bunch of orphan tubes that are looking for a new home (TS/Chatham 5998, TS 6AS7G, GEC/TS 6080). If anyone interested, send me a PM before I put them in the classifieds.

 

[incredulousity]

Sad that you had to sell Bliss, but that can always be replaced in the future if necessary. It’s great that you have a cache of 6SN7 tubes to get you started, though if you follow this and the other threads, you may want to explore the rabbit hole more deeply.

Then there is the 300B rabbit hole…

And congratulations on the Envy!

 

[BrainSalat]

Sad that you had to sell Bliss, but that can always be replaced in the future if necessary. It’s great that you have a cache of 6SN7 tubes to get you started, though if you follow this and the other threads, you may want to explore the rabbit hole more deeply.

Then there is the 300B rabbit hole…

And congratulations on the Envy!

Thanks for your comments!

The rabbit holes are what makes this hobby so interesting. One thing I noticed immediately is that good power tubes for the Envy are not that difficult to find as for the Euforia but you need to cry loud each time you click the buy button .

About the Bliss...I only feel sad not having found the Envy first . Of course the Bliss is probably as far as you can get with SS amps today, but at least for my easier to drive headphones, I felt the Bliss to be only a side grade of the Euforia (with the right tubes for a given headphone). To me, the VC has better synergy with the Euforia (...and maybe in general with tube amps) and the Utopias sounded equally interesting on both. On the Euforia, nicer decays and smoother presentation, and in the Bliss, punchy/tight bass with more attention to the micro details. With the Bliss I also realized how much I appreciate/miss the tube rolling thing. The Bliss probably shines more with others picky headphones I still don't have . For the other rest, the Euforia rocks!

 

[Louisiana]

New tube day:

6F8G Sylvania VT99