Dragon update:
After the shoot out between the Dragon, WW Platinum and RAL between the matrix and Holo, I tried the Dragon against the WW between the PST and the Holo.
AND the winner is?
I thought someone would ask 
.
Itâs a tie, again, which is very surprising. With the DS, hdmi cables mattered. A lot.
Not so much here. I donât think I could identify them in a blind test.
Maybe, just maybe, the AQ had the AQ warm house sound and the WW the more ÂŤ live Âť house sound.
In another system, those qualities might become negatives, like respectively veiled and bright.
Both cables are amazing, and the PST Holo pairing is awesome with both.
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Very interesting, thank you for posting.
In Europe, the equivalent of Tim Connor offers
And
What would you recommend ?
Not sure, all of those are superior to what I have, no sure if you could talk with Magna and get their view given your application.
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Thanks @magicknow, was the Singxer a big step up from the Matrix or just an small sideways incremental improvement ?
From what I can remember it was a pretty big step up. Many with the Matrix reported big improvement with adding high end external power supplies. The SU-1 has a high end supply internally which I am sure is part of the reason for superior performance over the stock Matrix
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My wallet was worried that you would say that 
.
Tell your wallet I said everything will be OK 
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.
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Maybe. Most of us are using a high quality external linear power supply with the Matrix SPDIF 2 which should be better than the Singxer with an internal power supply.
Not sure what your logic is there. For what it is worth when I had the Matrix I tried the Up tone supply ver 1.2 I think and a NiCad 7.2 volt battery. Even with those the SU-1 was better with the DS at that time.
My logic is that everyone that wants to eliminate noise as much noise as possible puts the power supply in a different chassis and runs a power cord between the power supply and the device.
It is an impossible balance. Many request public transparency; some, invisibility.
A good number have endorsed my comment objecting to @cudfooâs dismissive post. It thus appears I am on the correct track.
My preference would be for posters to be self-censoring and, when not, the rest of the community would step in and comment, bringing the transgressor back in line. But this is not our dynamic.
Thus, it is up to me.
If you have any constructive, specific suggestions, please send me a PM.
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At worst, his post was myopic. He did not need to be put in his place or brought back in line.
Iâm curious how a mediocre HDMI cable would compare to the three other higher end and more expensive cables? If the difference was still hard to detect when using the Holo May Dac, it would save others a chunk of change, and make the DAC an even bigger bargain.
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Me tooâŚ
I am increasingly leaning toward the perspective that HDMI cables and the DS Sr. I2S input are not susceptible to making a material improvement or degradation to the quality of the sound (so long as the HDMI cable meets all of the basic, required specifications).
I switched from a standard PSA I2S cable to a Pink Faun cable*, and I was hard pressed to discern a difference, one way or another. Since I purchased the cable used at a fair price and the system (DMP and DS Sr.) did not sound worse, I chose to keep it.
Maybe a different, âhigh-endâ cable would make a big difference?
*This one:Digital interlink I2S
Regards.
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I would say both scenarios are a possibility.
It could very well be that something was wrong with the DAC, or that in aangenâs set-up, with his preferences, he preferred the DSD to the Holo Audio DAC.
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My question was in regards to the Holo Audio May Dac, which seems less susceptible to the quality of the HDMI cable you use, compared to the DSD. In my experience when I went from the stock PSA HDMI cable to the audioquest Thunderbird 48, the improvement was obvious and worth every penny.
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Roger that.
Maybe Iâll be able to dredge up a better cable for a test run some time.
Given my experience with the Pink Faun (which be all accounts is a very fine cable), I am not inclined to be out of pocket any real dough in order to try something else.
Make no mistake though: my CD/SACD spinner system has never sounded better.
Cheers.
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