All that matters is you’re enjoying your system, wouldn’t fret over better cables.
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No fretting here…just your standard quest for continuous incremental improvement by a dedicated “audiophile”.
Thanks.
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I find that the HDMI/I2S connection makes a significant difference with cables with the DSD and sources. I’ve tried about 7 altogether, including the Pink Faun, over the years and have definite favorites. The PS Audio AC-12 HDMI is my clear favorite and I have purchased enough to use with my DMP, NuWave Phono Converter, DVR, Oppo UDP-205 and AppleTV–they are the best video cables I’ve ever used too. I would say the Van DeHul and PS Audio AC-10 HDMI are my next favorites.
Even my wife hears differences and agrees with my favored choices.
One day I may have a PST and can see if that machine changes things. . . .
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Currently between the SingXer SU-1 and the HOLO Spring 3 I have an 8" custom made HDMI cable. This cable offered a large SQ increase over other cables on my Stellar Gain Cell.
I swapped the 8" custom with the $25 One Convey 4K HDMI cable. There was no appreciable change in SQ between the two cables. Definite difference in cable sensitivity with the HOLO Spring 3 vs the Stellar Gain Cell or the DS
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@scotte1 I couldn’t tell any difference between the PF i2s cable and the WWPS7 cable so I kept the PF and sold the others. I am also using it on a PF 2.16X Ultra FYI. It is a very good cable in my eyes.
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Sometimes i got the feeling that this post looks more like a disguised commercial for Holo rather than an objective item.
Maybe i’m wrong.
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I tend to think people purchased it and are wowed by the listening experience. It is a strong product as will be the DSD Mk II. There is some stiff competition out there, Holo, Jay’s, come to mind.
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Gryphon is something special.
I heard a Gryphon setup as shown in
(233) NEW Gryphon Audio Ethos CD Player FULL DEMO Trident II Mephisto Pandora @ Munich High End 2019 - YouTube
and was blown away.
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In my case I am giving my honest opinions on impressions of the HOLO product would you rather that people only publish positive comments about PSAudio products? Personally I love this kind of dialog because it helps me makes decision based on something other than vested interest comments.
By the way I see this a benefit to PS Audio because a lot of competitive analysis is being done for them which helps them to know what the target is that they are trying to exceed ( and I hope they do). All things being equal at a product level I would pick PS Audio every time. I know this is not the last DAC I will own
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In my case I am giving my honest opinions on impressions of the HOLO product would you rather that people only publish positive comments about PSAudio products?
No certainly not
Personally I love this kind of dialog because it helps me makes decision based on something other than vested interest comments.
True
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If a person owns a piece of gear and happily makes positive comments about it, then that’s different from being an employee, partner, contractor, or a relative of a shareholder. Right?
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That’s kind of what I thought but it seems that there are several members here who think they need to protect the DS and other PSA products by interjecting themselves into threads about other products they have no knowledge of other than what they have read or what they think. I like all the rest of the Holo owners here have actually owned one of the DS dacs and our opinions are based on actual personal experience. While I certainly appreciate Al’s opinion of the May “in his system” he has been the outlier. which is certainly O.K. Now that his new system is complete, which it wasn’t before, his opinion may be different or the same. The two DAC’s are different somewhat in their “voicing” and that alone could account for his two preferences. I also own the Aqua La Voce S3 which has a similar architecture to the DS Sr. but is six years newer in terms of the FPGA and other internal parts plus the designer is also the owner of the company. He made the final decision on parts choices which Ted did not ultimately get to do hence the transformer mod. The Aqua is very similar to the DS Sr. sound profile wise but with a “bigger” sound on the frequency extremes. As I’ve said before if you read David Abramson’s reviews of the La Voce S3 and then the May KTE you may get a better understanding of the differences between the May and the DS as a DS Jr. was also part of his personal DAC journey.
And before anybody asks my upgraded board will be back from Wayne any day now and when it has some hours on it I will again test it against the May KTE and the La Voce S3 to see what has changed.
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What board did you update?
Transformer mod
All this talk about the May is making me curious. Anyway, my friend’s May will finally arrive today. He will start breaking it in right away, so soon I will get to hear this amazing DAC in my own system compared to my DSD. He will bring it over to my place in a little while once it breaks in a little. He also already bought the Lumin mini u1 and is getting into streaming. Maybe someday I can ask him to bring it over also and see if it sounds close to my Esoteric N03t. They both use the same app.
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mark sure to give it a good 600 hours to breakin
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I will, I know the May takes a bit of breaking in to really open up and sound it’s best. The XS4400 transformer mod also took my DAC quite a while to break in and sound it’s best.
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Yes, sometimes in any forum one could bump into people who are ultra fans of something, they take side as in football or rugby. Even worse, one could find those who have made it their mission to prove others are wrong, or a product is bad and they go to whatever lengths to do that relentlessly, and incessantly! Managing one’s emotions (self), relating to others, participating and contributing are the expectations, but unfortunately, some can only take sides! At the end of the day, it’s a hobby, just like football is a game. And Jack, I look forward to your impressions.
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Oh I understand the whys just down understand the necessity and it’s not just with the DS, but with the BHK preamp, the amps and the regenerators and I own or have owned one of each. In each case it’s the same people. I should have the updated board back from Wayne the end of the week and once reassembled I will verify operational status in the main system and then move it to the system in my recently shut down home office and let it play for 10 days fronted by an old OPPO 970 on repeat with various discs. I will then compare it to the Holo May KTE at the Florida house and then move it to the SC house and compare it to the Aqua La Voce S3. At that point they should all be “broken in” just as was the case when the first round of comparisons were made. While the upgraded power supply on the DS may bring it closer to the La Voce S3 which is similarly voiced on don’t expect it to overcome the separate outboard power supply of the Holo though I could be surprised. Only time will tell. For now at least all three will have a home regardless of the outcome.
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A story with a happy ending were they all have a home, that is nice 
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