Right, nothing wrong with coloration if that is what one is looking to add or works well with the system. Part of this is also me learning/discovering what I like and prefer.
I wouldn’t say its overly colored but I suppose there are degrees of coloration and depending on the amp, headphones and choice of music, some or the other parts can be highlighted which are hard to capture in a general review. Fwiw I always ran it in NOS mode, sometimes with upsampling in Roon.
May be you can consider Weiss DAC501 … I read some good reviews but nothing more I can say.
The standard SE was discontinued and I was able to get the signature SE at a slightly lower price than the standard balance edition. The price of the Signature has increased significantly since so there’s no chance you can get it at that price anymore.
Sonically the standard edition is one of the most resolving and dynamic sounding dac but the Signature is more dynamic and tactile than the standard edition and it feels a tad more upfront with it’s dynamics and resolution. Do bear in mind it’s been a while since I’ve heard the standard edition. Pairing it with something as dynamic as the Studio B makes for something special. Something about it’s dynamics and transients makes this a great pairing for tube amps. I seem to recall @GoldenSound making a review on it a while back so might be worth checking it out.
Yeah, I have been digging deeper into Wavedream. I would like to get the balanced to future proof but right now I don’t really have a justification for it given the high price, especially the Signature. Golden’s review is quite informative as well, I had seen it a while ago when I bought the May but revisiting it now was useful as well.
Hi,
I’m currently using the Burson Audio Conductor 3X Grand Tourer Desktop DAC & Amp finding this Dac/Amp to be one of the best Dac/Amp combo’s on the market for your bang for your buck. Super clean class A Dac/Amp.
Hey @JFig10236,
First of all, welcome to the community, and thanks for the suggestion. I have heard a lot of good things about the Burson amps but never had a chance to try one of their products. I’ll be sure to check out the Burson 3X Grand Tourer DAC & Amp.
How about the Mola Tambaqui?
Mola Mola Tambaqui is actually one that slipped through my list initially but looks very intriguing, need to do more research on it. I actually have a totaldac coming in early next week where I have 14 days to decide whether to keep it.
Hi Karan,
First of all, I’ll say that my opinion is purely speculative and uninformed, as I’m way less experienced than most folks here. So this is just for friendly chit chat 
The different DACs mentioned above are all considered near TOTL (at least below 12k) and might be more lateral moves, but looking over the rest of your system, I’m wondering if you might have a bigger effect upgrading things outside of your DAC. What about redoing your streamer, or perhaps your amps instead?
I’m wondering if maybe getting an Innuous Phoenix, or perhaps getting something like an Aurender N20, might give you a bigger wow factor?
Hey Keith,
Your advice is most welcome I am slowly upgrading things and at this level (at least based on my experience and research) it’s hard to say what’s the best way to start upgrading. I decided to go dac first as my likely amp upgrade/addition is going to be DNA Stellaris which is going to take ~18 months anyways. In between that and dac, I’ll likely add a better SS or a hybrid amp (Riviera AIC-10) for 1266 to upgrade from CFA3 but that’s a solid amp, especially when combined with the Studio B pre.
As for streamers, if I do stick with totaldac, I’ll likely stay within the totaldac ecosystem since its optimized for the dac. Right now I am getting the dac with a streamer card but eventually I plan on getting the d1-streamer-mk2 which has a reclocker and AES outs which are the best for that dac. So there is a method to the madness or at least I’d like to think there is!
12-15 months according to Donald North…
Here you go:
Another DAC which I have had good luck with is the dCS Bartok.
It comes either with or without a Class A amplifier. I purchased with the amp, and I use the Bartok amplifier to drive my Focal Utopia OG headphones - a great match.
I have also paired the Bartok with Raal Requisite SR1a “earfield” headphones and an Raal HSA-1b amplifier made for the purpose.
The two different setups provide very different results. The OG Utopias produce outstanding performance with the built-in headphone amp. Just about perfect. I can listen for hour after hour.
However the Raal combination takes it to another level of clarity and presence - a mode for critical listening at its best. There is so much detail in the presentation, the listener is deeply engaged with the music, as every nuance is revealed. Almost like a live performance.
Yeah I had considered Bartok and got to listen to it at the NYC Canjam on a couple of setup and it was very good indeed but I felt like it was missing a bit of forwardness that I have come to like on the totaldac which makes the music a tad more energetic and alive? (for the lack of a better word) for me.
I think its more of a preference of house sound at this point. I also had the Mojo Mystique X SE for about 6 months and enjoyed quite a bit but went back to totaldac, I have the d1-six now which I might upgrade to triunity at some point.
Hijacking this thread slightly. Looking for some DAC advice between Holo May L2, Rockna Wavedream Edition XLR, and Denafrips Terminator.
Cans: Utopia 2022, Clear OG, Stax X9000 (on order).
Amp: Holo Bliss KTE and Benchmark AHB2 (might sell).
Thanks in advance!
Maybe someone can move this to purchasing advice… probably get a better response there.
Probably not very helpful but…
I was torn between Rockna and Holo May myself. Ended up going with May kte. A couple reasons led me in that direction.
So that’s the course I’m on. I don’t have the hardware for HqPlayer yet but I do love the May- Envy - Susvara (and now He-6…wowww!!) chain. Hard to imagine what improvements HqPlayer will bring but we’ll see. I live at is so I won’t be disappointed if the change is trivial.
Good luck to you!
On second look …this is under “purchase advice” so probably the appropriate place for it. 
You’ll find good information here about May, Terminator and Wavelight with a little bit of reference to the Edition at the later parts of the summary.
Personally I preferred the Edition to the May. In my mind it’s a better DAC but I can see why some prefer the Holo house sound. A bit too smooth and polite to my tastes.
This could also be affected by what your source is. If you plan to connect a computer directly to it you’re probably better served with the May.
And if you wonder - the Signature is worth the extra money 
I agree with @orrman on this one. While may does have slightly more raw detail and much more wow factor i pretty significantly prefer the wd edition due to the mays (and most holo gears) tendency twoards smothering texture. May is an extremely good dac (and better synergy with ahb2, but if you have bliss just ditch it) but ive always found it fairly boring after the initial hour or so of wow factor. The WD just had significantly hugher staying powrr for me. That said, if you get WD id pretty highly recomend picking up a holo red or similar for the i2s output. Its pretty aignificantly better than the other inputs on wd ime
As for term, i cant comment on it unfortunately as idk which revision i heard and it wasnt in an idea enviornment
Thanks both. I’ve actually perused that article numerous times as well as Torq’s Yggy. Did not realize it was written by @hifiDJ. Really liked the wide array of amps used, e.g. Luxman 750u, Mass Kobo 394, BHA-1.
Methinks Spring 3 (cheapest of the bunch) + rotate the WD / Term if I can find them used. Will do a mini shoot-out. In the end, if I like the Spring enough I can upgrade to May.
As for the AHB2, I’m debating the sale as I intend to buy 2ch. floorstanders soon. Just haven’t researched enough yet re: speakers and poweramps.