Hi all!
I have a 1st gen Holo Audio Spring DAC (Level 1), which I love. Done some cool mods on it too, maybe I'll write those up here sometime.
I have a transport connected directly to the RCA SPDIF for spinny discs and since the direct USB performance on this DAC is sub-par, I've used a USB to SPDIF converter with a USB line filter (both Holo Audio brand) and have had good results for playback of files via Foobar 2000 with the VST upsampler plugin.
I've read various forum posts (and even recommendations from the US Distributor) that the best sound can be achieved using the I2s HDMI interface. Well, the one they want to sell you cost's hundreds of dollars, which is too much for experimentation sake. But I had the itch to see how much better the I2s connection could be so I ordered one of these:
DoukAudio
Mini XMOS XU208 USB Digital Interface Coaxial/Optical /12S Audio Adapter DSD256
It works! And sounds pretty amazing too. I heard an immediate improvement over straight USB and a modest improvement over the USB to SPDIF path. The change was a subtle relaxation of the sound with more detail and bass slam. YMMV. Plus -
The build quality on this little box is damn good for the price.
So if you have one of these DAC's you can check out the I2s function for $50 bucks!
I have a 1st gen Holo Audio Spring DAC (Level 1), which I love. Done some cool mods on it too, maybe I'll write those up here sometime.
I have a transport connected directly to the RCA SPDIF for spinny discs and since the direct USB performance on this DAC is sub-par, I've used a USB to SPDIF converter with a USB line filter (both Holo Audio brand) and have had good results for playback of files via Foobar 2000 with the VST upsampler plugin.
I've read various forum posts (and even recommendations from the US Distributor) that the best sound can be achieved using the I2s HDMI interface. Well, the one they want to sell you cost's hundreds of dollars, which is too much for experimentation sake. But I had the itch to see how much better the I2s connection could be so I ordered one of these:
DoukAudio
Mini XMOS XU208 USB Digital Interface Coaxial/Optical /12S Audio Adapter DSD256
It works! And sounds pretty amazing too. I heard an immediate improvement over straight USB and a modest improvement over the USB to SPDIF path. The change was a subtle relaxation of the sound with more detail and bass slam. YMMV. Plus -
The build quality on this little box is damn good for the price.
So if you have one of these DAC's you can check out the I2s function for $50 bucks!