May can achieve more micro-detail, popping up from a very black background, and crisper if more contained transients, and tighter decays, which I prefer but some listeners find truncated (think of concert halls with different levels of damping). However, May sounds just a bit smeared on 44.1-48kHz material in pure NOS. That can be alleviated with 2-4x upsampling in Roon, but even better it is to use HQPlayer to upsample and modulate to DSD256, where May beats Y. OG in all respects that I care about.
TL; DR May delivers excellence with external upsampling, but Y. OG gives it very good competition at less than 1/2 the price.
Hi Niraj, the Utopia center was a great upgrade from the Sopra, which I had before. Amps used for the Scala Evo‘s are 2 Musical Fidelity M8s500s bi-wired.
I run my Roon Nucleus with the Linn Klimax Organic DAC latest Upgrade. Amp for Center and rear is a Linn Akurate 3200 (3-channels).
Enjoy your gear👍 Mario
Thanks for the reply Fernando…I appreciate your detailed descriptions…I always wonder about High Res files…since a lot has been written that with blind listening tests only turn up the average 50-50 correctly ID the High Res vs 16 bit files. But in the end, it’s the owners opinion that matters most…
My comments were not about hires files, but about external upsampling/DSD modulation which is just a way to do externally for a NOS DAC like the Holo May what is done internally in OS DACs like the Y. OG.
The Dac200 is the best dac I’ve ever had and the built in preamp is really good. I’m running a Lumin U2 mini with a lps, and it sounds better than any dac streamer preamp setup i have ever had. I’ve had a Holo May dac, Auralic Aries G2.1 and an audio research ls28 preamp. The T+A/ Lumin combo beats that setup pretty easily in my room
Repositioned my setup onto a wider front wall, and allowing my speakers to spread out further apart for a larger and wider soundstaging. Added more ASI sugarcubes on the wall for better sound dispersion.
Been using Esoteric N-05XD streamer DAC for almost six months now, replacing Cocktail Audio X50D and Pontus II. One major improvement. A Teac CG-10M master clock is syncing with N-05XD. Further improvement.
Also changed my Parasound JC5 to Luxman L-590AXii. Pure Class A integrated amp which the preamp feature is another improvement.
Other updates are Inakustik XLR cable, Wireworld Starlight 8 LAN cable and Silent Angel Bonn 8 switch.
i did a little change in my system.
The RME ADI DAC is now at my PC setup and a ELAC DDP-2 is playing in the living room.
DDP-2 is a roon endpoint, preamp and DAC in one unit and it sounds spectacular with my active ATC speakers.
Has a ton of inputs too, so my old Thorens TD2001 will now turn a few records again.
The 2 inch thick vertical pleated double honeycombed blinds were installed yesterday. These are covering 12.5 feet in the center of a 24 foot wall. The 12.5 feet of pleated fabric deadened the wall and changed the sound signature of the room. The reflected sounds and echo’s are gone and all that is left is the music. I’m guessing the effect is similar to treating a room with panels. It sounds wonderful.
We had 2 management reps out yesterday to check on some issues we had with the flooring job included in the remodel. These guys went off track when they checked the flooring in the living room and saw the system and speakers, grown men acting like kids in a toy store. Had to bring them up to date on the soundproofing details and let them check out the custom media closet. All thoughts of the floors were forgotten and they asked for a demonstration. I brought up the Roon album list on the IPAD 12.9 and told them to pick something. Neither had ever heard of Roon, were suitably impressed, and looked up Roon Labs on their phones. Could be new customers coming on board.
Anyway, they picked Phil Collins In the Air Tonight, with volume. Both were giddy with excitement as 3600 watts of bass from the 2 subs pounded the floor on that one. One said he seriously wants to buy the house, but he wants the entire sound system included with the property sale. Of course we’re not interested is selling, especially after all the time and effort we put in, but it is nice to get that type of reaction from the work we did.
The project is complete now and the results are exactly what I had hoped for, a great entertainment space, and a happy wife.
