TSS Two Chassis Super DAC

The Holo design is a certain kind of genius, having a secondary R2R ladder performing live compensation for the non-linearities in the primary R2R ladder based on actual measurements of the component. They claim superb PLL performance too (also using a FIFO buffer and VXCO not entirely unlike what Ted’s DS DAC does). But the comparison with the TSS is a bit apples and oranges IMO.

The two boxes in the TSS both have their own AC-to-DC power supplies internally, where the Holo May has a power supply in one box and all the digital logic as well as the analog output stages in the other box. TSS box 1 is where you connect your digital sources and where all the signal processing is done to produce the DSD256 (IIRC) bitstream that will be physically converted to analog by TSS box 2. The only thing connecting them is a pair of optical data cables that sends a master clock signal from box 2 to box 1, and audio data and output control signals (like ground lifting and analog attenuation setting) from box 1 to box 2.

Uh oh. I’m interested.

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I have a Holo May KTE Edition ordered and should get it by Dec. 24th. We’ll see how it stacks up against my DSD…

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Please keep us updated. I’m thinking about a Holo DAC also.

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I was about to order one, but held off for now to keep the powder dry for something else for the next few months. I was ready to pull the trigger, but it took them a while to respond to a question about latency and circumstances changed(kind of). Keep us posted!

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Also very curious. Same price-range as DSD but very different technology. Seems great quality and workmanship and is getting great reviews. Let us know.

I’m convinced that it was a good thing my Holo May KTE Edition order was cancelled – it encouraged me to go down the path of customization: the LPS and transformer upgrades to the DSD were far less expensive and incredibly remarkable.

I would still like to hear your thoughts on how the DSD and Holo May compare.

Re: Holo May KTE… Still early in burn-in. There are glimpses of greatness, but I don’t want to comment until I’m much further along in its 500-hour burn-in.

Before it arrived, I got my Shunyata Sigma USB delivered by UPS from The Cable Company and plugged it into my DSD over a week before my Holo May KTE arrived. If I listened to the new USB cable with the DSD first, I may well have held off on replacing the DSD. The new Holo May DAC may very well be the better source after all is said and done, but in the meantime, I have found the Shunyata Sigma USB cable utterly transformative to the DSD. If you are using USB as your source, it is a wholesale massive upgrade to the sound of you DSD. I have a Auralic Aries G2 as my digital source (a source almost as expensive as my DSD) via USB to my DSD (with a very good highly regarded USB cable already in place), and swapping in the Shunyata Sigma USB was utterly astounding after 3-5 days of burn in. Yes it is an eye-watering amount of $$ for a cable, but the impact it makes is worth every penny. If you are spending $6k on a DAC, and countless thousands more on digital source, downstream preamps, amps, speakers, and cabling, you owe to yourself to hear what a jaw-dropping improvement this USB cable is. I read some very compelling reviews, took a leap of faith, and I am a true believer now. Soundstage width, tone, blackness, micro-detail, soundstage depth, and overall realism take a massive leap. It makes the DSD sound like a much more expensive DAC. Anyway, before punting on the DSD for a replacement DAC, add this cable to your arsenal and prepare to be blown away. Shunyata makes Sigma versions for other digital cables than USB. I haven’t used them, but if they are anywhere the shock-and-awe I got from the Sigma USB, you should be in for a treat on any of their other cables.

Happy listening…

-Jeff

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I was afraid that I’d hear more rave reviews of this USB cable!! Damn! I might have to plan ahead to acquire one. (Ouch $$$$). Have you tried the Matrix X-SPDIF 2? There is another forum on that. It completely transformed my DSD but also requires investment in top notch LPS (eg Farad Super3) and USB + HDMI cables. My source is a Roon Nucleus+, also with LPS, and everything plugged into a P20.

Music Direct has the Shunyata Sigma USB cable for a mere 2k.
I love love love mine. A while back I posted one for sale online at only $1350. Nobody seemed interested. It sold quickly.

It sucks that it costs what it does but it is so worth it. When the release the second version of it I will buy it without hesitation.

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I went nuts with the digital input side of the DSS: Zenith MkIII, Innuos Phoenix, Shunyata Sigma USB, Matrix XSPDIF-2+Uptone LPS 1.2, Wireworld Platinum Starlight HDMI cable. I think from a the Shunyata Venom and MacBook Pro I started with you would hardly recognize the sound. Everything in that chain made a difference, and the end result was extremely refined. Even with the Sigma USB AND the Zenith AND the Phoenix, adding the Matrix was a big deal.

I’m not saying do what I did, but I think even the best USB chain can be improved going to I2S.

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I get best results with a bit of wet string :wink:

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Hopefully a very expensive audiophile wet string.

Well… funny you should say that, it’s very difficult to keep the 4 bits of wet string together (one for each of the 4 usb pins) the sticky tape I used is very expensive. It’s got to stick to the wet string. The tape costs $2,500 an inch. Then there is the machine I used for twisting and simultaneously platting the the string into a proprietary pattern. That machine that does this cost $100,000, which I bought second hand, original price $250,000 (bargain!)

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Saturated with heavy water for improved bass response.

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Extra current flow

@tedsmith : what digital inputs are you planning for the TSS ?

They are listed higher up in the thread.

TOSLink, S/PDIF, 2 × AES3, 2 × I2S (HDMI)
The 2 AES3’s can be ganged for 24/352.8kHz, 24/384kHz and Quad rate DSD (via DoP)

[Edit: and USB, see below]

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Are we going to need a Matrix with expensive cables and power supplies to get the best of the TSS ?

You will need something like a Matrix since the TSS doesn’t have a USB input.
To the spirit of your question, the TSS will be both more input jitter resistant and more ground noise resistant so fewer “input cleanup” will be necessary.
Still, as a system gets more revealing any change becomes more apparent.

[Edit: Oops there is USB, see below]

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