HOLO Audio Spring DAC, Level 3 Upgrade

I also use a "cheap" Chinese DAC that seems to outperform the usual expensive suspects, in my case an LKS da004. I also run it mainly from a Windows lap-top USB. I mention that only because in my forum reading it seems that some who were also running a Singxer in front of an LKS were experiencing the noises about which you are complaining. Apparently some screw-up with Singxer firmware. Most LKS owners use an Amanero board and haven't had these issues.

Love my DAC, by the way, though owning a Chinese DAC with no world-wide presence is a bit of an adventure.

No point waiting for reviews from the main stream audio press. It will never happen. Their advertisers will come down on them really hard if they tell the truth about the sound of these units.

 

my feeling is, you could buy an unknown Chinese product with no reviews or a made in the USA product with many positive reviews (and money back guarantee and 5 year warranty I think) for *less* money. ymmv.

 

the holo dac is a great dac, been compared to about all the good dacs around, and is a solid choice for a r2r nos dac

 

not really a knock on the product, I have had some Chinese-made gear myself, some is quite nice (some not built that great though). I expect to get a little discount on it compared to made in USA though. those days may be coming to end I guess...

 

My feeling is . . , no, strike that! My experience is that with some research you could buy an "unknown" Chinese product with no reviews or a made in the USA product with many positive reviews (and money back guarantee and 5 year warranty I think) for much more money. And the Chinese unit would outperform the domestic product: no contest! The Holo and the LKS are two such units.

 

I might do some more looking into that and see if it's the right solution for me. I really like the sound of my system so far, and I'd really rather not mess around with stuff too much. There might be an update for the Singxer at some point that fixes the pops. I also think it might just be a Spring quirk, because it popped when I ran straight USB, albeit not as loudly. It seems like popping when changing sample rates or audio encoding types is something some DACs just have. I know my Marantz HD-DAC1 popped when changing sample rates, and you could hear a relay click in the unit.

The head-fi thread for the unit runs thousands of pages, and there have been a handful of qualified reviewers praising the unit, comparing it against units two, three times its price, and saying it comes out on top. These guys are small and they have no reason to lie about that kind of thing.

 

but we are talking about the holo and the schiit yggdrasil (or however it is spelled). I think the schiit actually costs $100 less (at least than the spring dac "level 3". My advice would be to audition both of them. nb I don't have either of these.

 

I'd sure like to hear how that set up compares to the Schiit Yaggdrassil. i would just buy the Level 2 spring , the lvl 3 is outrageous price.