Any love for Holoaudio DACs here?

[Analogous]

Steve Deckert (Decware) has a May dac and can’t stop gushing over it.
Anyone in Bangalore with a Holo DAC?
Please share your thoughts and opinions

https://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb22/YaBB.pl?num=1587527488/41#41

 

[vineetrad]

I have a Holo May. It is suprisingly competitive wrt transparency compared to my Lampizator Golden Gate. However the Lampi is far more musical and holographic. I prefer it when I am trying to enjoy the music and relax. That is expected considering the significant price difference. The May has good ROI.

 

[captainsubtext]

Have had 2 holo audio dacs - the original spring and the may.

The may is spectacular for the price. What I love is the usb implementation - no audio nervosa about using a ddc or mucking around with i2s.

 

[Analogous]

The Holoaudio Cyan 2 seems to be an interesting device.
From what I could read/watch on the web.
SQ close to May KYE
Basic box with a bunch of LEDs
No screen or other bells and whistles
1/4th the price of the May

 

[square_wave]

I have a Holo May. It is suprisingly competitive wrt transparency compared to my Lampizator Golden Gate. However the Lampi is far more musical and holographic. I prefer it when I am trying to enjoy the music and relax. That is expected considering the significant price difference. The May has good ROI.

The Golden gate is more than double the price of the May. Not at all a fair comparison although you mention the significant difference in the post. Just curious, what other dacs did you consider while choosing the Golden gate ? I hear it is outstanding. I have used a level 4 in the distant past.

 

[reignofchaos]

The Golden gate is more than double the price of the May. Not at all a fair comparison although you mention the significant difference in the post. Just curious, what other dacs did you consider while choosing the Golden gate ? I hear it is outstanding. I have used a level 4 in the distant past.

More like 24000$ vs 5500$ or 5x the price. Not a fair comparison.

 

[kratu]

I think what @vineetrad is trying to say is that Holo May is competitive even when there is significant price difference to Lampizator Golden Gate. (he mentioned a single factor 'transparency'). Perhaps, some might prefer one over the other on a double blind audition. When the money doesn't colour the evaluation?

 

[vineetrad]

Mine is a Golden Gate 2 bought pre-owned from a friend abroad who gave me a good price. So cost was 12500 USD. Yes, still significantly more expensive than the May. The point I was making was what @kratu has mentioned.

 

[vineetrad]

Just curious, what other dacs did you consider while choosing the Golden gate ? I hear it is outstanding. I have used a level 4 in the distant past.

I auditioned MSB Premier, Rockna Wavedream Signature and dCS Rossini. All are good dacs. Most dac choices at these price points and above in my opinion depend on personal taste, your overall audio chain synergy and budget. Diminishing marginal returns are also well and truly in play.

Holo May in my opinion should be compared with a dac like the Rockna Wavelight for instance to be fair.