Thank you Hans for this review. The Holo May is brand new and we barely had the time to listen to it. We had complete faith in it, but we also know how merciless you are if you don't like it. We are very content, that may be clear. Regards, Jos

Thanks for the hard work Hans, it's very hard to find good info on such niche kit finery.

I love this man - stellar review, detailed and informative as always.

Thank you making this wonderful video to explain this quality DAC. Because of this video, the May joins the list of possible DACs to replace my 8yr old LKS DA002 and I am very lucky to chance upon a used May KTE at a reasonable price. This May DAC has exceeded my expectations and brought my listening experience few notches up.

The info-graphics and explanations are clear. This may be your best video to date. (And I'm not planning on any DAC purchase!).

Prof. Beekhuyzen - I have recently received a HOLO May KTE DAC. In part, because of this review. It sounds a great as you say. Thank you for everything you do. Cheers!

Thanks for finding that one The price looks to be good value considering an outboard power supply and ladder resistors. Excellent sound quality confirms the value!

Brilliant report! As always, cheers to you, Prof. Beekhuyzen!

Such a beautiful DAC. I doubt I'll ever be able to splurge on such a high cost DAC but it looks beautiful.

Luv this r2r ladder dac and in the back ground r2r tape deck, old n new.

At last a NOS dac. Great review. This is the way!!!

Hans told a joke! I like it.

Nice review

Hi... one comment on burn-in. I bought a Holo May KTE and got it a few days before Christmas. It is my personal experience that 500 hours is not sufficient for burn-in. At least in my experience, it took 900-1000 hours before the soundstage, imaging, and tone really opened up started sounding truly beautiful and startlingly lifelike. Up until this point, I would get a day or two where it would seem to take a big improvement, and then there would be a regression in the soundstage, tone, and sound quality. There was a lot of ups and down for me, and then starting around 900 hours or so, everything really started gel in an incredible way. The transformation at this point has not been subtle. I can only say, whatever sound your hear and impressions you have of the Holo May KTE when listening at less than 900-1000 hours is only a facsimile of what it will sound like when it breaks in. You have to grind through the hours to get the payoff though. In my case, 39 days of 24x7 play. It seems insane to require that much, and YMMV, but this has been my experience with the KTE edition with all of the upgraded caps and fuses in them (can’t comment on non-KTE versions). When fully burned in, it is a truly magical and beautiful sounding source with realism/soundstage that is startling and a beautiful, natural tone. Also, don’t skimp on the USB cable if USB is the source. I’m running a Shunyata Sigma USB, and it is worth every penny.

I ended up purchasing the Holo Audio Spring KTE dac and will have the May on my future upgrade list. It will be a significant incremental investment so may need to wait 1-2 years until some hit the used market.

This is my endgame😍😍😍😍 give me like 5 years and ill get it no problem but r2r with a remote and an external power supply damnnn😍

I *think* the volume controls on the remote are for the optional preamp module, for the May?

Of course, but many DACs will truncate a 32bit signal to 24 bits on the digital input with resulting harmonic distortion. I believe that is different than the thermal issues with resolving low level detail limits of the DACs?

Another incredible video Hans; you are SO good at this ! Stupid question: at 13:08 you show a table entry for DSD modes via USB. Do I understand correctly that when connected via USB (playing from Roon on a computer for example), one can choose a "Native Mode" and obtain native DSD decoding anywhere from DSD64 to DSD1024, or a "DoP" mode and obtain DSD64 to DSD512 decoding ? The reason I'm confused is why would anyone PICK DoP mode when they could simply choose to decode "natively" ? Thanks !

Hey Hans, if you would compair it to Denafrips Terminator plus. Are they a matter of taste or is one better then the other. I have for my ears to bright sound in my setup that can be a problem in high volymes. Is one of them better in that way? Very much appreciate your videos. Keep doing what you do.

Great review !! how does the sound quality sound compared to the Mola Mola Tambaqui ?

Hans ..i just bought on the KTE one .. 5 more weeks ..til it arrives it is now 11/17 /21 It will be paired with NimitraS (RooN Core ) Aurilac Aries G2.1 Holo MAY KTE (replacing a Hugo 2 ) Modright KWH225i Integrated Hybrid Amp Boenicke W8se+

Hi Hans, I like you review of the Chord Dave and was hoping to upgrade to it some time in the future as I am using Qutest now (still very impressed with it) After viewing this review, how do you compare them? I don't think I will have the chance to home audition any of them which is really risky for me to spend such amount of money.

Great review! I am choosing between the Holo May (KTE Version) and the Denafrips Terminator --- not too sure which one sounds better, more nature and balanced?

I read and hear that the jitter rejection of the USB implementation on the May is amazing: does it mean that just using a Raspberry Pi 4's USB would do the trick, without having to use hats etc?

Is the USB card/interface powered internally from the DAC itself, or externally via USB cable from the laptop?

Hi Hans, what player are you using to get the most of the I2S input ?

This is off this subject, but have you tried the Project RS 2T CD Transport or is streaming mostly what you do?

Hello Hans. I am a huge fan and subscriber to your channel. I am considering getting a new DAC as an upgrade verses using the DAC in my Arcam AVR 850. The AVR850 is great for TV, and Movies and is ok for music audio but seems to be 'not as all I am expecting" per CD. I own a Oppo 203 which I am using the optical cable out bypassing the DAC of the Oppo for CD listening. Streaming is from a Roku player for both Tidal and Sirius XM radio. The DAC processing of the Arcam seems a bit 'Digital dry sounding". I have strong interest in this DAC as well as the Denafrips Terminator. Curious if you have comments you can share from your experience of the two DAC's?

Hans have you ever tried the Musician Pegasus R2R dac and if so what is your opinion ? Thanks a lot

Hans: do you use any of the oversampling options? And what configuration do you prefer for I2s? I'm using a PS Audio Perfectwave spinner. Thanks!

Hello from Romania Hans...you need to try a R2R Rockna Wavelight DAC...made with pride in România, you will forget about the Holo...keep doing this great job !!! 😁

I had heard that both HDMI I2S ports were individually configurable on the May DAC, accepting any protocol. Is this not true?

You video was very informative regarding Halo audio ADC. Where it is made. What is the cost in Euros. Please reply 🙏

Is there no XLR Left and Right inputs on the DAC?

No volume control? Pre amp required?

An audio dealer suggested i look into adding a master clock into a digital system to improve the sound quality. i'm not sure if a reclocker is the same as a master clock, but i am hoping to purchase a holo may level 3. I also have the MSB discrete dac in mind. The dealer knows nothing about what my system will consist of. He was simply giving me pointers. i didn't buy anything from him. the brand he mentioned was Mutec. Mutec has a 10mhz clock generator as their flagship product (approx $6000). Is this an example of when a clock has no effect on the dac due to the dac already performing very well? since the may is non oversampling, does this mean a clock generator is pointless?

Hello Hans ,can I know your private opinion? Which DAC you think is the best( I mean audio quality in overall) from these examples? "Chord Dave" , "Denafrips Terminator plus" or maybe "Holo May lv2" ? Thanks

is it actually better than Chord DAVE as some reviewers claim?

Would you consider another shirt?

You mentioned the Dac is 32bit. I am curious to know if all the bits of a 32 bit file make it through the conversion without truncation? Thanks for all you do Hans!

Did you keep it?

How does the Holo compare to your Mola Mola_

Sad there's no HDMI. Is Bryston the only one who does this?

Can you or can you not use a Gaia with this DAC and have you heard the KTE version? Pressing for the highest quality can be frustrating. I prefer R2R DACs to Delta Sigma. There is something for most tastes. Nowadays, expressing any opinion brings trolls out. And the hits just keep on coming. You do a fine job of explaining a difficult subject. It isn’t easy given the present lack of civility in some people. Please keep up your delivery as it works well for you.

Seems unusual there is no power button on the remote.

Am I right in thinking that SPDIF RCA gives superior output than TOSLINK, if you only had those two options besides phono output on a DAC Excellent and informative channel by the way.