kazuviking t1_jdluaky wrote on March 25, 2023 at 10:36 AM

The May looks good but way too big and uses proprietary cable for power. Most expensive stuff uses the same 1 cent part from china, heavy an big on purpose so it feels like quality and most importantly the bullshit marketing that tricks uneducated people into buying. Performance wise the Holo Hay aka the best R2R dac is up there with top performing ΔΣ dacs.

mqtpqt t1_jdmdw0h wrote on March 25, 2023 at 1:59 PM

> uses proprietary cable for power.

the may is sold with a power supply unit, that takes a normal IEC cable

>uses the same 1 cent part from china

then you haven't seen the May's BOM (not that i agree with the price, but its definitely not from china); Rubycon ZLH caps, Panasonic FC, Vishay Caps

kazuviking t1_jdmj48h wrote on March 25, 2023 at 2:40 PM

The last part was about most "high end" manufacturer not holo audio in specific.
The may uses a custom locking 21 pin aviation cable to connect the dac with the psu. What i like about holo is that its straight porn with their pcb design and layout. If i'm correct, holo audio was the first one with the best usb implementation.

mqtpqt t1_jdmjf3c wrote on March 25, 2023 at 2:42 PM

galvanically isolated USB, yes.

kazuviking t1_jdmrk52 wrote on March 25, 2023 at 3:41 PM

Not just galvanic isolation but some re-clocking and other magic as well if i remember it correctly.

lexicalsatire t1_jdlwxoz wrote on March 25, 2023 at 11:11 AM

>most importantly the bullshit marketing

To be honest Holo Audio (the manufacturer) doesn't do much marketing.

But yeah most products you can assume are marked up by a lot