Looking forward to hear your views on the sonic differences between Holo May and Terminator Plus & Gaia.
Will post if I can get the Gaia working with the May. Denafrips is sending me new firmware to update the Gaia, which will enable pin out configuration on the Gaia…just like on the Terminator.
Various people have reported that the Holo DACs don’t really improve with DDC. “they sound different but not better” So it will be interesting to see what you find.
Just sold the Gaia DDC, as I prefer the sound of the May via USB (I2S showed no improvement with Gaia). I would concur that I2S yields no improvement on the May in comparison to the USB interface, at least for me.
Cheers
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concur with your observations as I did something similar, I have added the Singer SU-6 to the May KTE and shares your findings. In general, I like the sound quality with direct USB connection to May. Am still keeping the SU-6 in my audio chain to allow some playback convenience.
I am using Denefrips T+ but hear a lot about May DAC … how does the one compared to the other ?
How would you describe the May compared to the Terminator you used to own? Are they on the same level with perhaps a slightly different tonality or is one clearly better than the other? I’m curious about how a truly top-level NOS DAC sounds.
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The Terminator isn’t a true NOS DAC. The May is and is absolutely stunning. It was between these two for me as well🙂
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That’s what I meant actually - only one of them being a true NOS DAC, I was wondering what the differences between them were, for example - how much more life-like does the May sound, or how much more detail does the Terminator offer due to its oversampling? 
Have you heard both? What’s so special about the May for you in comparison to other DACs you have heard?
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The Terminator is an excellent DAC don’t get me wrong. It’s very precise and detailed, but still sounds more digital than analogue.
I bought the MAY KTE from Magna Hi-Fi in Holland. They just provide a superb service and I can assure you that you won’t be disappointed with the MAY. Go for the KTE if your budget allows.
It won’t sound the best straight out of the box. Burn in time is at least 500 hours feeding a continuous audio signal for 23hrs per day. Turn it off for an hour to cool in each 24 hours. After the initial burn in, leave it on 24/7 if your energy budget allows. The MAY runs really hot and this is quite normal.
I have at least 1000 hours + on mine now and it sounds bloody amazing (real analogue with great detail and amazing depth and space) I use HQPlayer to send the upsampled signal to the MAY through a Sonore UltraRendu streamer.
Before I have always used Chord Electronics DACS which are still great DACS, but nothing in comparison to the MAY KTE.
Hope this helps
All the best,
Mark
My next DAC, probably.
Check out the dCS offerings.
With the second brand here, Upsampler is a key part of its product offering. Users are expected to buy it as part of the quad piece set, or it’s integrated into its lower priced offerings. I’d not regard it as NOS.
Which is why I didn’t mark NOS in bold face. Meaning, Denafrips and Holo Audio are great DACs, but I don’t consider them “truly top level”.
IMO, for a top tier DAC (NOS or OS(does that make as much of a difference as R2R vs. delta sigma, even FPGA?)) dCS fits the bill.
A “truly top level” DAC is all about performance, not price. The May KTE running with HQPlayer sounded better to me than the dCS Bartók. MQA support is a negative to me…
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Never meant to imply it was about price or demean the May.
As far as the May KTE goes, as I said here -
The MAY KTE performs beautifully. The build quality is exceptional and It really sounds just like vinyl, but with more space and depth. I never imagined I would buy Chinese gear seeing all my main stuff is British. It just knocked me over🙂
I think the question is why you’re considering buying a +$5000 DAC that isn’t “top level.”
Hey listen, is it worth this discussion?
To answer your question, I expect it to produce a more ‘analogue’ sound as most R2R Dacs are promoted to do…
The OP’s comment was about NOS vs. OS, or that’s what I thought, and I’m saying that isn’t as much a valid demarcation.
Yes, I am still amazed at how good the May KTE sounds and I have had it for 5 months now. I too have a bias against Chinese HiFi gear. My tube amp and tube preamp are custom made by a guy in Canada and my speakers are made in the USA.
Dunno if it’s worth discussing but that’s the thread you are participating in. I was only wondering why someone would consider spending so much money on something they didn’t like all that much.