DAC Choices - Denafrips vs. Schitt

[Northy]

Not at all. I was really trying to be sarcastic. This is my passion too. It makes me scape from the daily grind. I recently attended the Toronto Audio Fest and was hoping to audition a few DACs - no luck. LPs are all the rage. Anyway, I am still 1.5 years away from buying a DAC. I am hoping Roberto can spill some beans regarding the Holo May Dac he just has bought.

 

[Robert D]

Sorry if I offended you but I was just curious since I'm still demoing units myself and hadn't heard either of those brands yet. I'm interested in their sound for my rig as well since I still have not yet purchased a permanent digital source yet.

As for your comment; "some of us have to save up slowly before dropping many grands on this silly habbit", for me this isn't a silly habit its a love and a passionate hobby I have. And trust me I save and have to wait months or years before purchasing big items, so I understand. In fact I got rid of another hobby(My Jeep) just to purchase my last bit of gear. I had too many hobby's sucking up dollars and one had to go.

Hope you find happiness in whatever DAC choice you make.

That's my problem, too many expensive interests. Car, audio, and pc gaming.

 

[Northy]

Sorry if I offended you but I was just curious since I'm still demoing units myself and hadn't heard either of those brands yet. I'm interested in their sound for my rig as well since I still have not yet purchased a permanent digital source yet.

As for your comment; "some of us have to save up slowly before dropping many grands on this silly habbit", for me this isn't a silly habit its a love and a passionate hobby I have. And trust me I save and have to wait months or years before purchasing big items, so I understand. In fact I got rid of another hobby(My Jeep) just to purchase my last bit of gear. I had too many hobby's sucking up dollars and one had to go.

Hope you find happiness in whatever DAC choice you make.

Not at all. I was really trying to be sarcastic. This is my passion too. It makes me scape from the daily grind. I recently attended the Toronto Audio Fest and was hoping to audition a few DACs - no luck. LPs are all the rage. Anyway, I am still 1.5 years away from buying a DAC. I am hoping Roberto can spill some beans regarding the Holo May Dac he just has bought.

 

[roberto]

@roberto Hola Roberto, ?que tal? Oh my....You are the guy I have to talk too. First of all, congrats on purchasing the unit. It oozes quality. I have heard a lot of good things about this. Please do enlighten us about the detailed performance especially its synergy with ML. Coincidentally, I just have started a new post regarding this very DAC. I am looking forward to your comments.

Hola Northy,
To my ears, this Holo May Kte DAC belongs to another level. This is my first digital experience with a DAC of this quality. It is very importan to understand that my liking might different than yours.
Being said this, I can report to you that this is the BEST sounding DAC that my ears had heard, Not only is the detail, is everything that we were trying to get from a DAC. A truly digital sound that can revival the analogue TT. And don't get me wrong. I have over 4000 LPs in great shape and sounding fabulous. The first thing that I notices is that you don't need to OS with it. Just playing 44.1KHz/16 bits and you are in the musician(s) party. The feeling, the nuances of the music is so natural that your ears do not believe what they are hearing, and yes, they are.
The naturalness of the decay of the piano musical notes is unbelievable. The harmonic content and the timbre is so coherent. This is my first time that I have this quality sound in my system.
The construction, the quality parts, the design, the specs at the test bench, making them to be the best measuring DAC so far at the Stereophile magazine.
Just do your own search about this wonder, and report it. Only good things you will find!
Happy listening!

 

[Northy]

Hola Northy,
To my ears, this Holo May Kte DAC belongs to another level. This is my first digital experience with a DAC of this quality. It is very importan to understand that my liking might different than yours.
Being said this, I can report to you that this is the BEST sounding DAC that my ears had heard, Not only is the detail, is everything that we were trying to get from a DAC. A truly digital sound that can revival the analogue TT. And don't get me wrong. I have over 4000 LPs in great shape and sounding fabulous. The first thing that I notices is that you don't need to OS with it. Just playing 44.1KHz/16 bits and you are in the musician(s) party. The feeling, the nuances of the music is so natural that your ears do not believe what they are hearing, and yes, they are.
The naturalness of the decay of the piano musical notes is unbelievable. The harmonic content and the timbre is so coherent. This is my first time that I have this quality sound in my system.
The construction, the quality parts, the design, the specs at the test bench, making them to be the best measuring DAC so far at the Stereophile magazine.
Just do your own search about this wonder, and report it. Only good things you will find!
Happy listening!

Gracias Senior Roberto. I think both of us have similar tastes in the quality of music. We both admire ML stats. Although your CLX Art blow away my Theos. We both have BF 210. Thanks for providing in detail the high points of Holo. Coming from an ML member carries more authenticity than some random person online. It is most likely the DAC I am going to buy within a year. The bank account also has to be onboard!!!!!!! Once again, thanks for your insight.

 

[roberto]

Hey Northy, there is a kind of pleasure to write about this "one of a kind" Dac, Did you see how it is built? Martin Logan uses quality parts inside their products. Being into the service world, you can't imagine how well known brands use cheap parts inside, but their look outside is fantastic.
My liking is to have the naturalness of any musican instrument with the right colours of the musician(s) expression and their feeling. All what we do, the way that you play a musical instrument or any kind art, have our own characteristics and signature... Our signature come along with it. Same thing happen in the design of any component...as an example Conrad Johnson. It uses the most expensive parts or better say the best quality parts that our Standard Electronic Industry can produce and also are military grade.
And the Holo May Kte DAC belongs to this category too. The only thing in common is the power single power cord to power the two channels. All other components are mono, in other words, double. Double linear power supplies to start with it. The transformers are special hand made using flat wound cable. This method ensures the best efficiency of the power transformer and also the less EMI (electro mechanical induction) possible. This DAC is full of all these little details. For PCM files, the R2R dac is used. For DSD, a Delta Sigma DAC is used.
You can't go wrong with if you are seeking quality sound,. Also Holo May Kte is the best measuring DAC in the Stereophile test bench. Now they are using as their reference Dac.

Happy listening!

 

[Northy]

Hey Northy, there is a kind of pleasure to write about this "one of a kind" Dac, Did you see how it is built? Martin Logan uses quality parts inside their products. Being into the service world, you can't imagine how well known brands use cheap parts inside, but their look outside is fantastic.
My liking is to have the naturalness of any musican instrument with the right colours of the musician(s) expression and their feeling. All what we do, the way that you play a musical instrument or any kind art, have our own characteristics and signature... Our signature come along with it. Same thing happen in the design of any component...as an example Conrad Johnson. It uses the most expensive parts or better say the best quality parts that our Standard Electronic Industry can produce and also are military grade.
And the Holo May Kte DAC belongs to this category too. The only thing in common is the power single power cord to power the two channels. All other components are mono, in other words, double. Double linear power supplies to start with it. The transformers are special hand made using flat wound cable. This method ensures the best efficiency of the power transformer and also the less EMI (electro mechanical induction) possible. This DAC is full of all these little details. For PCM files, the R2R dac is used. For DSD, a Delta Sigma DAC is used.
You can't go wrong with if you are seeking quality sound,. Also Holo May Kte is the best measuring DAC in the Stereophile test bench. Now they are using as their reference Dac.

Happy listening!

Muchas gracias Roberto, I know you are passionate about the audio gear - me too. Because, it becomes personal. You identify with it. You have pride of ownership, etc., etc. I cannot wait to get my hands on this DAC. My last upgrade was the Pass XP-22 preamp which has been an eye-opener for me. That a quality preamp truly can change the signature of the audio system. It is astonishing. I know the same is true with a DAC. Enjoy the new toy, Roberto.

 

[roberto]

Thanks Northy,

If you have a chance to have a listen of one of this DACs, do it!. It is one of those things that you must have a serious listening. It is not perfect, but I am not concentrate in what the unit does well than what the unit is not...and 90% of it is more than impressive.

Happy listening!

 

[Carlsbad]

Late to this thread but I just put my new Schiit Bifrost 2 DAC in service yesterday. Although modestly priced, the new BF2 is redesigned totally with a Multibit R2R architecture.

Huge upgrade. Very detailed with a broad soundstage and the harsh highs I'd been experiencing are gone. I haven't listened to any Denefrips DACs so I can't comment there but I was reminded of the first rule of DACs: an onboard DAC will never compete with a purpose built DAC. I was using the onboard DAC in my Parasound P6 for the last month since my newly installed Roon wouldn't recognize the older DAC I had been using. So I don't know what price levels you're looking at but I'm positive on the BF2. --Jerry

 

[Northy]

Thanks Northy,

If you have a chance to have a listen of one of this DACs, do it!. It is one of those things that you must have a serious listening. It is not perfect, but I am not concentrate in what the unit does well than what the unit is not...and 90% of it is more than impressive.

Happy listening!

Gracias Roberto, unfortunately Halo is only offered online. So the possibility of me listening to it before I buy are very slim. That is why I am seeking the opinions of the people I have known throughout these years albeit over the internet thanks to ML Owners website (keep up the good work). We need a community like this so that we can escape all the crazy stuff happening around us!!!!!!

 

[Northy]

Late to this thread but I just put my new Schiit Bifrost 2 DAC in service yesterday. Although modestly priced, the new BF2 is redesigned totally with a Multibit R2R architecture.

Huge upgrade. Very detailed with a broad soundstage and the harsh highs I'd been experiencing are gone. I haven't listened to any Denefrips DACs so I can't comment there but I was reminded of the first rule of DACs: an onboard DAC will never compete with a purpose built DAC. I was using the onboard DAC in my Parasound P6 for the last month since my newly installed Roon wouldn't recognize the older DAC I had been using. So I don't know what price levels you're looking at but I'm positive on the BF2. --Jerry

Hey Carlsbad, thanks for jumping in. I have heard that Schiit DACs are a bit on the aggressive side which I no longer care for. Especially when paired with ML stats, the brightness would bother me. I am glad they are changing their design to R2R which has become all the rage lately. Actually, Roberto and I have been discussing the Holo May DAC which Roberto just has bought and he is on cloud 7. Its top-tier price is roughly $5.7K but for us poor souls in Canada would mean another 25% premium due to exchange.

 

[rluciano]

Hey Carlsbad, thanks for jumping in. I have heard that Schiit DACs are a bit on the aggressive side which I no longer care for. Especially when paired with ML stats, the brightness would bother me. I am glad they are changing their design to R2R which has become all the rage lately. Actually, Roberto and I have been discussing the Holo May DAC which Roberto just has bought and he is on cloud 7. Its top-tier price is roughly $5.7K but for us poor souls in Canada would mean another 25% premium due to exchange.

I recently upgraded from the Holo Audio Spring V2 Level 3 KTE to the May Level 3 KTE. To my ear, the improvement is real but not huge.

You might consider the Spring V3.

 

[JLasher22443]

Did you watch Jay's iyagi's YouTube review and comparison between the Holo and Denafrips? I've been watching his videos since when he was with Audio Excellence Canada.

 

[Northy]

I recently upgraded from the Holo Audio Spring V2 Level 3 KTE to the May Level 3 KTE. To my ear, the improvement is real but not huge.

You might consider the Spring V3.

Thanks rluciano for the advice. I am one of those who does not want to constantly upgrade. I want to buy the best I can afford so that I am not subject to "upgraditis." Most likely, you get 85% of the May performance from the Spring at half the price.

 

[Northy]

Did you watch Jay's iyagi's YouTube review and comparison between the Holo and Denafrips? I've been watching his videos since when he was with Audio Excellence Canada.

I have not seen this video. I know his channel. As a matter of fact, I met him at Audio Excellence a few years ago - a very nice chap. I will check out this video. Thanks for pointing it out.

 

[Carlsbad]

Northy;
I replaced a DAC that was too bright with the Schiit Bifrost 2 and initially loved it. After a couple of weeks I still am very impressed with it 95% of the time but on some songs I agree it is too sharp. after the other dac, it was smooth. Now that my ears have adjusted, I agree it's a bit bright. But I can't believe the soundstage. --Jerry

 

[Northy]

Did you watch Jay's iyagi's YouTube review and comparison between the Holo and Denafrips? I've been watching his videos since when he was with Audio Excellence Canada.

I ended up watching Jay's video. At the end, he indicated he likes both dacs almost equally depending on the partnering gear. But one word he emphasized with the Holo was 'smooth." That is a code for me that it will sing with ML/Pass labs siblings.

 

[rluciano]

Yes. The Holo Audio DACs are smooth. The closest to analog without losing detail that I have heard.

 

[JLasher22443]

Guys, I just bought the Holo May Kte, and my system never sounds as good as it is right now. You don't need to oversampling this incredible R2R Dac. Stereophile claims that this is the BEST measuring dac in the test bench so far. And for DSD files, the unit has another 1bit dac.

Here is a review of it:


Happy listening!

Hey Roberto I'm just curious what other DAC's or Streaming units have you had in your system before the Holo Audio? Just wondering what you are comparing it to? I'm still up in the air on investing tons into a digital source.

 

[roberto]

Hey Roberto I'm just curious what other DAC's or Streaming units have you had in your system before the Holo Audio? Just wondering what you are comparing it to? I'm still up in the air on investing tons into a digital source.

Just before had the Exasound E-32. And before and still with me an Audio Research Dac 8. This new DAC belongs to another level. It is a jewel to use. My ears are very happy with the amazing results.
Happy listening!