Well now I have HQP NAA OS running on the Red. With the first flash it didn’t work for some reason. Then I re-flashed the microSD card and now everything runs fine. I have the original OS on separate microSD card so I can do some comparison if needed.
Not sure if there’s any reason to run Red with HQP NAA OS vs Red’s own OS. Is there any theoretical way this could improve suond quality maybe?
I have been debating this as well as it would be nice to have more than NAA active for my purposes. But I don’t want to any sacrifice SQ on my primary NAA use case. The NAA OS will have slightly lower latency (minimal RT kernel, etc), and probably slightly less load = lower power = less noise, and latest updates/improvements by @jussi_laako. Whereas the Red OS is an unknown. (less so for Ropieee). But if you are using async USB out it’s hard to empirically say that latency matters and then there is the argument about noise/galvanic isolation/etc. The better the DAC the less this should matter at all. It’s obviously hard to A/B this but I plan to do more listening tests.
…. but the NAA version on Red OS should be the last one 4.4.0, not absolutely sure but it can be easily verified in the HQP log
Sure the NAA audio daemon might be up to date, but the other parts of Red OS, including the kernel itself, may contribute to latency/load/noise.
Good points in the previous message.
Is there any configuration window for the NAA OS? At least it’s not accessible with the ip. Well I guess there’s nothing to configure. Will the NAA OS update itself or do I need to reflash the microSD card every time?
No configuration at all and yes, you need to reflash the sd card for every update … if needed
The NAA OS is so simple that there is really is no need for regular updates, unless you have a specific bug fix, or you are just jonesing for the latest version. But practically speaking, if the current NAA OS is working, you aren’t going to notice any SQ difference with minor updates. Point being that SD card refreshes are infrequent.
I just got my Holo Red. Connected it with I2S to my Holo Spring 3 KTE and using it as a streamer (and not as a DDC) - and the sound is way superior clearly than my previous Bluesound using a Coax out to the same DAC.
I noticed that up sampling using Roon on the RED to either DSD or 768 KHz seems to be creating a bottle neck, and it gives a “Audio file is loading slowly” problem. You may want to check if there is any conversion going on, and if that is a problem area.
Have you - or anyone attempted to do an A/B comparison to see if the sound quality is better using the RED as a DDC or as a streamer ?
I am currently using the RED as a streamer, connected with a I2S cable to my Spring 3 KTE. The sound is clearly great - and I also used the USB connection from the RED to the Spring (I am using the stock USB cable ….) and the USB output is also very good. Way superior than my previous Bluesound to DAC using coax.
I will try out the DDC function also shortly. Will require me to hook up a Mac mini as a Roon bridge and output through the USB into the RED. Will share if I think the DDC gets me better output than as a streamer.
I have not compared the DDC vs streamer. I will be upgrading my DAC later this summer so will be interested in your thoughts.
Hi, haven’t read all posts, but haven’t seen an answer so hoping someone can help. I have a Holo Red I just received, using the Holo OS but through Roon. I am using it via RCA SPDIF out to a Peachtree GAN-1 amp. With any PCM, sounds great. But it’s not playing DSF files…
Looking for help to configure the Red (DSD Native or DOP), as well as Roon Device (also options for Native, DOP, and Convert to PCM). I think I have tri3ed all combinations, but no sound for DSF.
Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Just noting that Roon supports DSF so that’s not it:
Looking at the spec’s of the GAN-1 it states the following:
So, no DSF support, I think.
DoP over SPDIF should work for DSD 64, but not native DSD, I believe you need DoP.
@VictorS Thank you! You actually pointed me to the root issue, I had too high an allowable resolution set on the Holo for PCM. Roon will convert, but it must have been converting to the higher PCM rate and the GAN-1 couldn’t read it.
Setting it to 24/192 worked! DSD plays fine now…
Good info to know, and thanks again for the replies, they led me to the answer. FWIW, I am using the “Convert to PCM” option in Roon.
When connecting Holo Red to Holo May Dac over i2s, which i2s port on the May dac should be connected (i2s1 or i2s2)? I have not changed any dip switch on the holo red.
The one you prefer as they are identical
Todd
Welcome . I tried to used the Red as both a streamer and a DDC with my Spring KTE DAC connected with an I2S cable (Gotham cable I got from the Holo Audio dealer). The DDC based output seems to be even better - with a wider and deeper soundstage. I used a MaC Mini as a Roon bridge to feed into the Red - and the DDC is excellent. The Streamer with the I2S (or even USB) is clearly better than my previous Bluesound with spdif connection.
Got yesterday a Holo Audio Red and used it only as NAA-Client (using the RedOS) with the USB-Out.
While waiting for my Holo Audio Spring 3 KTE one question:
I use the Red for similar purpose with Ropieee.
(You can optionally disable the direct USB (DAC) output in your Roon settings).
So I can switch between the two modes simply by changing the Roon zone and input on my DAC.