Holo Audio Red

I agree with what you wrote, but the question, really, here for me is why then is he writing so much in another product’s thread with remarks about our comparisons to his product which serves as a good universal baseline. If he really doesn’t cater to the market of $800+ streamers then don’t write remarks here. I’ve been mum about this for too long. He is a nice dude who provides top notch CS and he is a sponsor. However, his posts seem to cross the MOT line in the sand.

Anyway, this thread is derailed talking about all of this.

 

I only reply when My products are mentioned. Should I not? I do agree that this particular thread has had a lot of discussion about our board, but that was initiated by the users of this thread and the holo red. Personally, I think it's a fantastic product and it clearly offers necessary value for it to be popular.

 

I was under the impression that you are able to only reply to specific questions or misinformation about your products. @purr1n If I’m wrong here I will quit my bitching. I feel that “replying” when your products are mentioned in any context is a bit overboard. This is especially in light of the overwhelmingly favorable opinion of you and your products here. Maybe let other members defend your products like most other MOTs?

This is an example of commenting on another product in a negative light.

There are many examples in this thread where you comment about comparative criticism and ask other members for more information. This is something other members do to each other. This does not seem to pass the sniff test for me. I’m concerned that your behaving this way stifles other member's opinions.

Please see the attached highlights by me:

 

I'm not convinced this is a pi I2S limitation, IanCanada has products that can run the generic I2S overlay up to 768khz, which would be more than sufficient for most non-Holo/T+A users. The WM8804 is what limits the output to 192khz.

But my 2c on the situation is that I agree with @gaspasser that it isn't a great look to chime in on every thread where your product is mentioned, especially if you have no intention on releasing a competing product in the same price or performance range. I say this as someone who loved the pi2aes and did everything I could to extract more performance out of it, but unfortunately its time also passed for me as I heard better.

 

I notified this as well with PI2AES, with the noise nuke it's definitely smoother. Without it has some bite/graininess but that can actually be a positive depending on the rest of the chain.

 

This kind of comment should go in the Pi2AES thread.

I think the problem with this de-railed thread is that there is almost MORE or equal amount of posts or information of the Pi2AES in a thread that is a completely different product made my an entirely different manufacturer. I like the Pi2AES, but that has its own thread and talk about it can belong in this thread if making comparisons to the Red.

I get that some are happy just fine with what is out there and if someone want's to see what is going on with the Red, then it is here. It is out there. Just like there are RAAL headphones, which also maybe not for everyone. All I know is that the Red + Diretta is the closest to a super pricy transport that I have ever heard in a streaming device. Like no other device I have tried comes close and kind of puts it in a different category. It is kind of like a DAC upgrade. There is a Schiit transport that is almost twice as much as a Red and I would suffice to say the Red is likely better, especially with Diretta (which is not a Red exclusive protocol).

There are also many streamers out there that have cool screens and have DAC's onboard, and some want those features. Sure, it is a CM4 in an expensive box and you can look at it that way, but everyone I know that has tried it has had nothing but good things to say about what comes out of it.

 

I stand admonished. I will say one last thing in my defense, which is that all of my request for further information on peoples experiences was for the benefit of the greater audience to understand what makes one product sound better than another in the opinion of the poster.I'm sorry that you took that as me making negative comments, and reviewing my post, I don't feel I did. However, your points are valid, and I will refrain from posting when our product is mentioned, unless there is an actual question that I can answer.

 

Out of the loop, what is this Diretta protocol?

 

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/diretta-thread.13918/

 

Which iFi unit are you referring to? If the Zen Stream I have a couple sitting unused that can be sent around.

 

I also have a Metrum Baby Ambre that I have sitting around.

 

i can contribute a Mercury v3.

 

The NEO Stream, which is in a “similar” price category as the Red. The Gizmo is the Fiber Media Converter that comes with it, so you don’t have to do your own fiber isolation. It also has WiFi, a DAC (+ preamp) and a tiny display. It makes shitty coffee, though…

@purr1n : I’ve seen a couple used for sale for ~$700 on Head-Fi and USAM.

 

And a PI2AES 2.0 assembled in a case with a 4GB raspberry pi 4.

 

A bit late to the party on the LPS talk. Just when I was about to try the 5V mod on the Pi2AES, my Pi started acting up, so never got around to doing the SMPS vs LPS comparison on the Pi2AES. But I got to compare the iFi iPowerX SMPS and the Allo Shanti LPS on the iFi Zen DAC Signature and the Allo USBridge Signature and on both devices the LPS sounded less etched and yet was the more resolving one with better micro dynamics, micro detail and information. It sounded less digital and more real. I think it comes down to the SMPS and LPS in question. But in my circle (which is mostly comprised of SBAFers) I have observed that a good quality LPS to be always preferred over SMPS or mediocre LPS.

 

Just a request...On the Mercury, can you please test local storage via the SSD against the regular streaming services? One reason I'm less enthusiastic about most streamers is the lack of local storage options on them. The Mercury setup sounds slightly tricky, but I'm happy to see it as an option. But this is THE reason I haven't considered the PI2Aes or the Holo Red yet (I'm currently using a soundcard that offers SPDIF out in my gaming PC, with Neutron Player and running it through Fidelizer...Would be more than happy to switch to something more dedicated). Thank you!

 

somewhat off topic question and apologies if it's discussed earlier but:

Can the Holo Red be fed via wifi and controlled via computer, ideally directly from Qobuz, HQ Player, or the like? i.e. I can be on my computer doing other stuff and more conveniently control music from there without having to resort to "mediocre computer outputs".

Yes, I could set up a spare / old phone to control it or eventually figure out a way to set it up, get adapters and more gear, etc... but I really want to use something turnkey and simple 90%+ of the time I'm listening to music. Don't want to have to set this up, play with this, fix that, or even look at a separate device constantly just to listen to music every time.

 

Mercury V3 has two USB three ports that can be used to interface with fairly large SSD storage.