Heard about the writeup, but I wasn’t going to pay for a download that confirms what I hear every day
Just listening to “Heartplay,” a very well recorded 2006 set duos by the late Charlie Haden (double bass) and Antonio Forcione (guitar). Both masters of their instruments’ tone. 96/24 PCM > Roon > microRendu + LPS-1 > Yggy > Hegel H360 > KEF Reference 1+REL T7i. The tone and presence of their instruments is outstanding, with all the resonances, handling sounds, string rebounds that you hear in close listened live acoustic performances (I’m lucky to get front-row seats for many performances by top jazz musicians, I heard Haden several times before he stopped touring because of his terminal illness).
Still have the Holo Spring Level 3 on order (parts delays, apparently), and very curious of how it will sound relative to the Yggy. I’m almost surely keeping the Yggy in my living room system, its synergy with the rest of the gear on a good recording is so satisfying, but there’s the other (headphone) system upstairs
Been too busy to do proper A/B comparison between Yggy and Spring KTE 3. The Yggy is on my speaker system downstairs (Aries>Yggy>Hegel H360>KEF Reference 1+REL T7i), while the Spring is upstairs on my headphone system (microRendu+LPS-1>SU-1>Spring>(mostly Jotunheim) or (increasingly Neurochrome HP-1)>Ether C Flow). So, both upstream and downstream are quite different. My subjective impression so far is that the Spring is a bit more forward, “primary colors,” very engaging but occasionally a tad overwhelming (all of this in NOS mode, PCM only, no upsampling), while the Yggy is slightly more laid back. One day I’ll have the time to try various permutations of this gear, but for now, my conclusion is that I’m happy I got the Spring rather than another Yggy simply because I enjoy their different “personalities.” The Spring>HP-1 combo is for me an upgrade over the (very good) Bimby>Jot pair that preceded it, in soundstage, bass presence, and instrument separation in heavy orchestral passages. Still like Bimby>Jot, they are moving to my work office, but Spring>HP-1 just draws me more into the music (mostly jazz and classical).
Thanks for the reply! Glad you like the HSIII! Seems a great way to compare the two DACs…I have a Bimby/Jot in my Home office…sounds pretty good for such a modest setup…
To be honest, I normally spend much of my leisure time in the Spring doing backcountry ski touring (snowpack is more stable and the weather better), but I got a bad shoulder injury in a skiing fall in early March, so I had a lot of time at home on weekends feeling sorry for myself, reading too many audio boards, and that encouraged this gear experimentation; otherwise, I’d still be using the Bimby/Jot combo at home and just the QP1R at work.
Sorry to read that you got hurt…sounds like it cost you a lot of money though spending on your Audio fetish like most of us Audiophools do…But you gotta admit that the gear you picked up is pretty darn good a stirring up some sweet Ear Gravy for the senses…!!!
You now have some sweet tunes, both Home and at Work to help you to a speedy recovery!!!
I play competitive Pickle Ball and sprained my knee that kept me from playing for two months! Drove me crazy…at least now I back up to playing twice/week…just got to heal some more that lets me play 3 days/week…
Reading this 4.5 years later, (after someone “hearted” my comment yesterday) and learning of your shoulder injury…on my ONE year Anniversary of getting a total (right) shoulder replacement. My shoulder was always sore and I wanted to find out what it was. Turns out the ball of my shoulder had 1/4" of bone missing from tremendous wear and tear since my youth. Pop warner football at 12yrs old, High School football, many many years of ripping down slopes cause I love to go fast, problem is it’s just deeper holes your shoulder dig when take a snow sample…many years of Motocross… Water Skiing since I was 6 and 8 years of racing Mt Bikes…in the mid 80’s to the early 90’s…over the bars too many times using my shoulder as a plough!
Hope your shoulder is doing well…one year later I’m still rehabbing to achieve 100% ROM…But I just got a new Mt Bike…the first one in over 20 years…and this one in Electric! Since I’m now 70, I could use some help when climbing…my race bikes weighed 22 lbs…this one weighs 58 lbs and benefits from 12 lbs of batteries!
Almost 70 myself, I wasn’t as intensely active as you were, so my joints have not yet needed replacement, just 3 meniscus tear surgeries and rehab from dislocated shoulders and that fracture. The shoulder that I broke in that ski touring accident is actually in better shape now that the other one, maybe thanks for the sustained rehab program I did.
Getting ready for the ski season, big storm hitting the Sierra late Saturday for finally some real snow.
