Have a question, or need some help. Please.
I’ve connected my Holo Audio Spring DAC, Level 3, direct through USB (no SU-1) to my Roon Nucelus+. It works, I can listen to music. So far, so good.
But, in “Settings”, “Audio”, it shows it’s connected to Core: “xCORE USB Audio 2.0/XMOS/ALSA”. I can’t identify my Device, the Holo Audio Spring DAC. Holo Audio is also not listed as a Brand.
Which I find confusing, as Holo Audio is listed as an official Roon Partner, incl. the Spring DAC Model.
Do I do something wrong? Is it just ok like that?
For help I’m very thankfull. Cheers.
That is quite OK. The Spring uses a USB module in its construction and Roon is identifying that module. You can change the name of the Zone to “Holo Audio Spring”, or whatever other name suits you.
I have a Spring myself and am very pleased with it. The USB module was upgraded by Holo Audio in February and if yours is a recent model it will have the upgraded version. How do you find it sounds with the Nucleus+ ?
We are currently working with our partners to get all of the Roon Tested devices added to our new device identification engine. In the meantime, you can still enjoy the Holo Audio Spring DAC with its full functionality and performance that is expected from a Roon Tested DAC, the only difference being that the device icon does not appear in Roon. I hope you are enjoying the Nucleus+ and Spring DAC combo, we have many users with this setup and many of them rave about the experience!
Thank you very much for your answer. Yes, it should be a new one, but I’ve not checked, concerning the implied USD-Module.
Well these are the very first hours. First 3h wasn’t that happy, then it started to get better. Mainly listening to in NOS Mode. Sadly no MQA.
With the Nucelus+, I’m happy so far, it’s nice, performing and stable experience. Weak is the Internetradio support, which is still beta. It works, but no special experience at all. Which is very important to me, the Radio. A petty.
Soundwise, I believe, that I hear more the DAC than the Nucelus. Well not burned in, it’s not yet, that what I wanted. Nothing special, not bad, but not analog like, as I hoped for.
Do you use the Singxer SU-1 and I2S Input to DAC? Do you think I need that too? Or I just have to be more patient?
kind regards
I’d certainly let the Spring have a good amount of burn in (a week or so) before considering further hardware. There’s a lot of resistors in them there boards and separate boards for PCM and DSD.
Having said that, I use the Matrix Audio X-SPDIF 2 as an l2s input from a microRendu/LPS-1 combination. I haven’t compared it to a direct connection with the new USB module. In fact, I can’t recall comparing the Spring by direct USB to the mR at all. I think I got the mR before the Spring and liked it enough to just keep using it.
Your Nucleus+ is a much quieter environment than the desktop PC I was using or the server I now have. That would tend to reduce any improvement from a network endpoint.
In terms of bang for buck, I’d suggest looking at convolving some room filters in Roon before adding further hardware to the very good components you now have. Everyone I know who has used room EQ has never gone back. There can be a bit of a learning curve to do it yourself, but there are consultants like https://www.homeaudiofidelity.com/ who will turn your measurements into filters.