It sounds amazing with musical fidelity

Love to hear it side by side. Talk is cheap until compared directly.

@@ThriftShopReviews Indeed, but there are already some comparisons with Holo.

I too like the reviews of the Laiv DAC but it is $2700 versus $1200. Based on the rest of my system I may not benefit from the extra cost.

@@cliffd7164 In my experience a better DAC is always audible in an existing system . I have had 3 DAC’s and the last two were definitely an upgrade. But I will wait for high end München, because I suspect new Chord DAC’s are coming out.

All depends on your use case. I prefer Bifrost 2/64 with headphones and easy use of many inputs. I like the cyan 2 with 2 channel stereo using i2s input. Either are great. Go with your gut

Great job. The dac can make a huge improvement to your system thanks for the comment

Thanks and the DDC is a good idea. I’m trying to get some in for review.

Which DDC you think is nice for the ares 2 or the cyan 2

I’ve got an Ares …so it’s the Denafrips DDC with more than the one usb input .

@@osezchanger1596 Don't need DDC for cyan 2

@@carminedesanto6746 There are no Denafrips DDC's with more than one USB input. The only Denafrips DDC that would make sense to pair with the Ares II would be the Iris. The Hermes or Gaia DDC's would be overkill for that DAC.

So you feel the R2R Cyan II is similar in sound to the J2 with new Burson opamps?

@@NosEL34 No... Burson punches deep and for me personally is still too bright. It is less metallic bright than the V6V... But nonetheless, for me - bright. I am not treb-sensitive either... The Sparkos SS2590 dual pro /in balanced has to be the closest sound. I truly love what AKM was able to do wit this chip... And Geno did well. It.... But you gotta invest in it. The J2 needs galvanic isolation for some... A good LPS, etc... And in listening - TheJ2 is demonstrably quieter by about 5 to 6db through the balanced setup than the Cyan II. So yes, it is good... Damn Good! Much Better than the J2 - but like a few others have stated.... That Laiv DAC is just about as cream of the crop too. Best for what we're gonna see under 3K. So it is between these two. J2 is still solid... For a. D/S

A bit hansey. Need to do your own thing there buddy.

It's better than noses pressed up to the lens. As in, "Hey friend, take 2 steps back"

Why would I do that? Can you send it to me?

@@ThriftShopReviews and I'm in Europe, but I'm considering buying this, [ I don't know where you live ] sry

@@frankd.b.9233 I suggest finding someone who has reviewed it already and then make your decision

@@ThriftShopReviews too late just ordered it loll;l I will test it thoroughly myself, for the 300 Euro it costs, and apparently [according to the internet] very decent material, I will know tomorrow if everything goes well, maybe I'll blow up my 800s who knows lol;l

Had a Loxjie d40 dac, sold it in a month. The treble was not natural

Lol! I am also looking at any new DAC reviews through that lens.

@@iborrada it's the OS vs NOS. I think this is an insane tool and TOTL money for value if you have the computing power and HQP license. But I use apple music and tidal which requires ROON as well. So basically 1400 in licenses to back end modest PCM OS. I have a brand new Lenovo i7 but no GPU for slaving, even with outboard thunderbolt my version is limited to choking a 3070 nevermind a 4070 or 4090 (bandwidth limited). So if you don't care about bit for bit (windows all to whatever rate) or use Qobuz, it's a hard sell. (I've had other NOS R2R and tonality took a hit with vocals when rolled off early at 44.1/48) I have an RME AKM (pre fire) now and mojo2. I got rid of an Ares OG and RU6 dongle. Didn't lose too much fortunately.

How much computing power is required to run HQ player through Roon to get the maximum upscaling? Will a decent laptop work as a run core if I use the holo red as a NAS?

@@mitchellburns92 if you're running 1mhz pcm lol you're gonna need a rtx 4070 or better and even then it loads at 50% you can have a 3090 or older if you're only running 192 with medium to long filters but if you go long filter you might only be able to listen to music while browsing the internet, don't expect to game and upsample concurrently

​​@@mitchellburns92that's a complex question. There are probably over 400 combinations of filters and modulators and sample rates that will give you different sounds. The most demanding filters or modulators, does not necessarily equal the best sound.... Same with over sample rates. I'd say a good computer as a start would be at least an 11th gen Intel i7 desktop cpu. You should be able to upsample to DSD 256.... And use some of the decent filters.