Rockna Wavelight - Holo Audio Spring2 KTE listening evaluation

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by atomicbob, May 13, 2021.

  1. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    Spring 2 is out of production. Spring 3 is imminent. Not equivalent to May.
     
  2. Baten

    Baten Friend

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    It's one of the best IMO! ;)
     
  3. earnmyturns

    earnmyturns Smartest friend

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    I'm definitely liking my Spring 2 KTE better than my Morpheus. (Oops, others said this already: Spring 2 is discontinued. Spring 3 has been announced but it's not yet available for (pre-)order at Kitsune HiFi).
     
  4. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    Well. F*ck.

    Better getting on the waiting list for the Spring 3...

    What is it about the May that is so different from the regular Spring model?
     
  5. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    Comparing KTE May vs KTE Spring 2 in the technical measurements thread results in the following summary:

    Spring2 has lower residual noise
    May has lower 19+20KHz IMD
    May has slightly better Gain linearity at the lower levels (-120 to -140 dB)
    May has better -120 dBFS sine resolution
    May has lower THD+N vs frequency
    May has slightly better jitter performance
    May has a PLL jitter rejection enhancement

    The differences are not huge but they are measurable.
     
  6. Walderstorn

    Walderstorn Friend

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    FYI I think the only significant difference, for the 3rd version , seems to be the USB board.

    Still people are definitely happy with theirs as v2 doesn't dig up very often, at least in Europe.
     
  7. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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  8. Baten

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    Right. But I believe it's an add-on, so you can get just the DAC too from what I gather.
     
  9. Walderstorn

    Walderstorn Friend

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    Yes it's an add on and the estimated price (when I first saw it, a month or so ago) was 500.
     
  10. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    Nice!! The preamp function is super handy for me. One of the reasons I purchased the Morpheus.
     
  11. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    At 88 KHz to AES input and NOS filters the Wavelight has a much faster step response rise time with a short ring which is not usual for a NOS filter.

    Red trace Wavelight - Blue trace KTE Spring 2
    20210515 SigGen Spring2  Wavelight 20 Hz square 2000mVpp 5uS div 5MHz filter AES 88K SE.png

    Wavelight NOS filter extends a bit higher than KTE Spring 2 for 88KHz to AES input and NOS filter
    Yellow trace Wavelight - Blue trace KTE Spring 2
    20210515 Spring2 KTE Wavelight FR 5 Hz - 44 KHz AES 88K SE L ch.png
    The above two measurements suggest a difference between the DACs that may present as a slight high frequency sparkle, edginess and leading edge hardness of the Wavelight over the KTE Spring 2 or a perceived smoothness of the KTE Spring 2 depending on which way one views the difference.

    Per your request I reconfigured my Dante Digital Data Delivery System for 44 KHz and repeated the ABX comparison with Wavelight Lin and KTE Spring 2 OS filters.

    The first day was challenging with a neighbor running a table saw and dust management vacuum (approximately 35 meters away) frequently throughout the day.
    IMG_2879_small.jpg
    Aggregating two runs a total of 12 correct out of 16 challenges which meets the minimum for 95 % confidence for a binomial probability.

    Second day a quiet ambient facilitated better ABX testing.
    I also added two tracks to the listening evaluation:
    Open Your Ears - Heartbeat
    Joey DeFrancesco - jazz arrangement of Michael Jackson's Beat It
    IMG_2882_small.jpg
    16 correct out of 16 challenges.

    The differences observed in the original post remained audible.
    Additionally the KTE Spring 2 had slightly more grunt noted with the two added tracks.

    Again, these differences are slight and require focused critical listening to observe.
     
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  12. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    @atomicbob Nice work, and much appreciated!

    This is the part where I move the goalposts, thought, right? :)
     
  13. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    @Hands : I think you have the situation pegged. :D
     
  14. JayGee

    JayGee New

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    Maybe it was mentioned, but are these dacs ones that you own or were they provided to you at the start of the tests ?
    Does a random set of test material (music) provide different results ?

    Nice setup and test bench. Thanks for the write up.
     

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