You never know. I guess it depends upon what gear comes my way. If you ever get to hear one Id be very curious at to your thoughts on it vs Dave. That would be one hell of a death match!
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When I get mine, I’ll be comparing it to the DAVE + M Scaler combination. I’ve seen and read a number of reviews and peoples’ opinions where it seems they might be comparable in quality, if different in sound.
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That was a magnificent review, @perogie, and a real joy to read! It was like your tracks would play in my head while being shaped by your descriptions. Lol.
I don’t even have any questions, although this will certainly serve to bolster my resolve in waiting for my Spring3KTE to arrive, hoping it achieves some percentage of the glory you’ve painted.
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Excellent writeup.
It’s refreshing to read a review that mentions the caveats for full disclosure.
Good point.
Do you find the May to have a better synergy with either the Utopia or VO? Is the delta between the May and BF2 more or less noticeable with the Utopia vs VO?
It seeks like Holo NOS without HQP into DNA is formidable…
A most enjoyable read. This made me recall your attempted Starlett review, reference to loose change in your Utopia review, and amble preamble in your VO review.
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Both sound fine but VO has upper performance limits that the Utopia surpasses. Was easier to hear distinct differences with Utopia, IMO.
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Forgive me if I missed this in your review, but did you get to compare the May’s SE and Balanced outputs?
Additional question now that I’ve come back to it - did you get a chance to compare the different inputs into the May? Any difference between USB/I2S/AES?
Very nice review.
I am tempted to order a May for my living room 2 channel setup with my Musical Fidelity M6500i integrated amp and Bowers & Wilkins 803 D2 speakers. I’m currently using a Bifrost 2 DAC.
I wouldn’t consider the May for my desktop headphone listening due to it’s size/bulkiness and I mostly use my Chord Qutest with my Violectric V281 for my collection of cans.
I am hesitant to spend that sort of money however, as I’m not sure I would appreciate the benefits fully. I am confident my chain would be more than able to reveal any differences but I don’t listen to much Classical or Jazz. Apart from my main diet of Rock, Pop & Electronics genres, I do listen to a reasonable amount of movie Soundtracks such as Hans Zimmer type of material etc. I do wonder if it is worth it for these genre preferences? I should also note that I use digital room correction.
The other issue is that I don’t spend anywhere near the time that I used to in front of my speakers listening critically, as I tend to reserve that activity for my headphone setup and the speaker setup mostly performs room filling background duties while I am doing other things. Of course that could also be because I’m not using a great DAC 
I’ve had a higher end NOS DAC before - the original Metrum Pavane for 3 or 4 years. It was very nice and whilst it was a very different presentation to other DACs I’ve tried, I can’t say that it exhibited anything extraordinary as you have pointed out with the May to compel me to keep it. The biggest thing I remember was that the soundstage wasn’t at all forward, it was recessed or pushed back but still very deep at that point, which I enjoyed.
I guess the fear I have is that something like the May would be just similar to the Pavane? I suspect that is not the case but it’s a lot of money that’s required to find out.
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I’d think that as good as sound as possible would be worth it for any musical genre. I listen to rock, pop, and reggae and I know I sure like it to sound as good as I can get it to. I’m hoping my May shows up next week…
My amp is SE only.
I dont have any components that can output to these. I’m looking at taking advantage of them if I can. If I get a component that can do a combo of these I’ll definitely try and see if there is a difference as I’m curious too. From what Ive read people seem to prefer I2S when they can use it.
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That kind of money should only be spent with the confidence and understanding of what you are getting. If you are hazy on it then hold back unless you can throw that kind of money around.
I can’t comment as I haven’t heard any components that are in your chain outside of the BF2.
Haven’t heard the Pavane
Having read your thread I cant legitimately provide any guidance to help you outside of what I put in the review; however, it seems like you are more trying to talk yourself out of it than anything, which is fine, sometimes we need to type out loud to work things through.
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I’ve ordered a May Lvl 2 from Wildism Audio.
I sold my Spring 2 KTE a while ago to upgrade my headphones, as I thought a Matrix X-SABRE Pro and my trusty Bifrost 2 would be enough DAC to fill the gap. I simply haven’t enjoyed listening to music as much since. I’m excited to have taken the plunge.
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curious what you felt were the deltas between the Matrix and the Spring 2?.. especially the ones that lessened your musical enjoyment.
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Sure. I’ll put it really simply just because I don’t want to drift too far into lurid audiophile descriptions.
The Spring 2 presented a wider stage than either of the other two DACs, and the sense of space, separation and layering was all more vivid. It was also more holographic. It sounded very natural - or at least, it gave me the sense that I was listening to natural real sounds as opposed to recordings of sounds.
The X-Sabre Pro is super detailed, but flatter - not as holographic or three-dimensional. Not as natural-sounding.
The Bifrost 2, to me, feels holographic like the Spring 2, but not as detailed or as competent with busy multi-layered passages, and it’s the narrowest of the three. It is, however, more natural-sounding than the Matrix to my ear, and my ears aren’t amazing or anything. I’m not a magical audiophile genie. You just either feel that sense of “Ok, this feels nicer to listen to” or you don’t.
My order of personal preference is:-
- Spring 2
- Bifrost 2
- X-Sabre Pro
I’d be getting a Spring 3 if it weren’t for the fact that getting a new May Level 2 from Wildism costs the same as a Spring 3 KTE in the UK.
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You hit on the points I was interested in, thanks!
I have the BF2 and Element X (same dac as the x-sabre) along with the Soekris 2541. Agree on the Matrix, very good detail, solid width on the stage (def wider than BF2) a bit wider than the Soekris and I really like it. The Soekris sounds very natural though, in comparison, but man, I miss the stage. Been contemplating moving up the R-2R ladder so I was curious to hear your experience. appreciate ya!
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You’re welcome dude. I seriously considered the Soekris - I hear so many good things. I’ll sell my other DACs to offset the cost of the May a bit.
Wildism have actually just sent me through a video of them testing my DAC to make sure it’s in order before shipping, and they also offered to declare a lower value to get around the sting of customs charges. Really amazing service.
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The little things like helping you with customs charge are what makes me return again and again to certain companies. It’s no small change when dealing with these amounts of cash. Good luck and enjoy.
I bit the bullet & have a Spring 3 KTE on the way (finally) - should be here in about a week.
I used to own a Metrum Pavane NOS DAC and always had two DACS in my speaker setup, the Pavane and a Delta Sigma DAC on the basis that it covered all the bases as they both had their strengths depending on the genre etc. I foolishly decided that I should rationalise and sold the Pavane…I’ve missed having the R2R NOS option ever since.
I’ll probably run the Spring 3 with my RME ADI-2.
The waiting is killing me! 
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For anyone interested there are two listings on usaudiomart for a spring 3 w/ preamp. If you don’t want to wait and want to save a few $$$ then check em out…
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I’m probably going to wait a year or two before upgrading my Spring 1 KTE to the new Spring 3 KTE w/preamp. Prices will likely come down toward $2k in that time and I can take a bit less of an L selling the old and buying this one.
I’m highly interested in Holo’s coming headphone amp. Along with the Spring Dac I also own an almost 1 off Holo Mammoth KTE hp amp they sold on their site. Since then I’ve bought the Soloist 3XP to drive my main rig and the Mammoth has been pushed to my home desktop setup to drive my monitors, give me a solid state option, and improve volume control for my Auris tube amp. I’m really hoping the new HP amp from Holo is everything I was hoping the Flux Volot to be. I can buy it to drive my mains and then either sell the Burson or move it to the desktop rig.
I don’t know how big of an upgrade a spring 1 KTE vs spring 3 KTE? I’d be very surprised if it was a lot. Especially if one isn’t using the USB input which seems is the upgrade I’ve heard brought up mostly.
If I upgrade from my spring 1 KTE I am going to go with a May. I also don’t use the USB and have a nice streamer that does a wonderful job.
I’m looking forward to seeing comparisons between the two. I asked on another forum a year ago about upgrading to a spring 2 KTE from my spring 1 KTE and a person from kitsune said it’s not really worth it as the sonic benefits are not huge from one to another.
Does your Spring 1 have the upgraded usb module or the original one? Might make a difference in your choice.
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