Holo Audio Red

Please, please do.

 

My inner Rube-Goldberg resents you both. ;-)

 

I've been running the Red for a year now (stock software) and never had the SD card corrupt. It's definitely a lot more stable than the various Raspberry Pi I've had over the years.

I also second the use of Fiber Media Converter to isolate the (potentially) noisy Wifi access point. Doesn't cost that much and , if anything, brings peace of mind.

I use these FMC converters (without module) and CISCO SFP-10G-AOCxM SFP+ fiber with integrated SFP tranceivers. I like that both transmit and receive fibers are in a single tube.

 

Even with just 3 feet of Ethernet line? I’ll have to use 2 feet anyways just to plug in the converters.

 

Cat 6 cable length does not make any difference to possible electrical noise leakage into the Holo Red (or any other device). The wires in Cat 6 cable are twisted pairs providing common-mode rejection of induced signals. Ethernet transceivers are transformer-isolated, too. I don't see any benefit in using those complicated optical contraptions on the Ethernet side. I do use these between my USB sources and my Holo DACs, because USB has different electrical characteristics than Ethernet, but it's likely overkill.

 

And yet, my ears can tell the difference. Funny how that works. It’s cheap to try and you can return if it doesn’t do anything for you.

 

In that case, is the the Holo Red is really worth it if it can't isolate its USB output from electrical noise that makes it through its Ethernet transceiver? I'd rather just get a cheaper Pi or micro-PC box together with an Intona USB isolator (which is what I have currently).

 

I also have an intona and, yes, the isolated red feeding the Wavedream via I2S is a noticeable step up from the USB intona solution.

 

Well I trust both @earnmyturns and @Clemmaster so....

I went with the obvious choice and bought more stuff to avoid nervosa! Yay for me. Actually, the links Clem posted made it pretty cheap and convenient and easy to buy and install with that cable that includes the sockets. All I have to do now is find 2 more sockets on my Zerosurge, which somehow has more stuff plugged into it than I have audio components. Gotta figure that one out too....

 

TBH, there's something puzzling in that, it would seem to suggest significant design issues with Red and Wavedream if they need that level of isolation to block extraneous electrical noise from leaking into the analog side of the Wavedream.

 

The Wavedream isn’t isolated. That’s its only sin of omission. Probably because it came out before galvanic isolation was commonplace. It has a fantastic input stage, despite that.

 

I should mention that run all my audio gear off an isolation transformer and my access point is on a regular power strip, with all the other noisy equipment.
Granted, like @earnmyturns said, Ethernet is isolated so it shouldn’t matter, but my experience is different. Maybe the noise profile introduced by the FMC is something I like? I doubt that’s it, but who knows… I never measured it myself.

 

Can a bolt of lightning travel down an optical cable? It's a pain having to unplug my PI2AES ethernet from the router everytime there's a storm nearby, so if optical would solve that I can see its worth.

 

If the application is electrical surge protection, there's specific gear for that.

 

Yes, it will isolate the streamer from Router.

 

Many of us using these FMC’s are also running Schiit DAC’s (with Unison, in my case, which is isolated) and are noticing a difference, FWIW. Hard for me to see too much harm as long as you keep to the cheap converters. I’m running a 10GTek to a TeraDak zomg OCXO FMC and the improvement (if any) was marginal in my system vs two 10GTek’s for ~8 times the price for the TeraDak (30 to 50 bucks for both converters vs 250 for one TeraDak).

 

I got my RED a few days ago, and set it up.

RED -vs- Pi2AES with 5v mod and Sigma11 LPS

Initial impressions right after powering up the RED:

I am not blown away by the sound of the RED I have to say. I was expecting a subtle change that was more natural or analog sounding.. But my first impression was that it sounded a bit dull. I have swapped back and forth between the RED and my 5V modded Pi2AES with Sigma 11 LPS a few times now while listening to one of my favorite albums (pictured below) and the difference between the Pi2AES and the RED is pretty huge. But right now I'm not sure one is "better". I'll have to give it more time. The Pi2AES is much much sharper sounding, sharper transients and sharper leading edges to notes and a more stark sense of contrast, and switching to the RED it's much softer sound, transients seem rounded but not in a natural way, more dull than natural, I almost want to use the word "cardboard-y". However, after listening to a few songs with the RED, the Pi2AES feels harsh and bothers me, so I'm using the RED right now. I kind of feel like these are 2 extremes and I'd like something that peeled back the harshness/sharpness of the Pi2AES but wasn't dull sounding.

I'm not getting an "analog" feel from the RED at all. That's what I was expecting. Not softer leading edges. It makes my RD-4 just sound a bit soft and less resolving than I know it's capable of, and makes the Stratus I'm using with it feel cardboard-y rather than resolving and wet/liquid.

Impressions after a few days of the RED being on

I think the RED needs time to warm up like many DACs! It no longer sounds dull. It actually sounds more resolving and it does indeed sound more analog than my Pi2AES setup. Gong back and forth, the RED has more depth, and it does have more rounded leading edges but at no loss to texture or detail. It sounds more natural, with notes extending back into space further, making the Pi2AES sound more flat and compressed. I am definitely preferring the RED as it brings the sound to life, while switching. to the Pi2AES the sound is sharper, but flatter and less life like.

I will have to listen more for a more in depth comparison. Note that my Pi2AES with 5v mod and Sigma11 LPS is of equal value to the RED. I could honestly live with either one, but the subtle and nuance and naturalness of the RED is addictive.

Side Note:

Streamers definitely make a difference even with AES and the Yggdrasil! I could A/B these two accurately every time.

Wifi with the RED:

For anyone who wishes the RED was wireless, the Brostrend WiFi adapter was super easy to set up. They've actually made the setup process much easier, I had purchased one to use with a Hydra Z I got about a year ago and the setup was frustrating. But the Hydra Z wound up not working and Audiobyte/Rokna just finally replied to my 3rd email just this week about fixing it (I have terrible luck with broken gear). Anyways, I lost that first Brostrend adapter in the last year, it's probably under a bag of earpads in here somewhere. This new one took like 10 minutes to setup.

Quick question: why are there 2 versions of the RED showing up in BubbleUPNP? The UPNP version plays just like MoOde with my Pi2AES, the other one plays also, but shows a "loading playlist" dialog before playing an album. There aren't much to the RED settings. I have DSD/PCM set to "Native".

 

Glad you’re getting some enjoyment out of it! Upstream stuff of a DAC is always interesting, but sometimes frustrating, to play around with. There’s also a ton of grift and insane pricing in that segment of the market historically, although it’s definitely gotten better. As long as you keep within sane purchase prices, though, I think it’s worth it for dialing in a TOTL chain like yours.

 

I'd like to hear a Lumin U2 mini now but I just bought @Ishcabible 's Yamaha YH5000SE to play around with so that will have to wait.

 

Yes, I also didn’t have the best first day with it (fresh from the factory) but after leaving it on overnight the Red pulled away from my pi2aes w/LPS.