Does anyone have any impressions they can offer regarding the Bliss?
I’ve begun to notice a few pop up second hand and have become tempted. The design grabbed me, and Golden Sound’s review further drew me in…
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Dear all,
I just added my Holo Audio KTE to the audio-markt.de:
Holo Audio GELEGENHEIT: May KTE (7752888083) | Gebrauchtgerät | D/A Wandler | Angebot auf audio-markt.de
So in case someone here from EU, I’ll drop the price for forum members here (€3.800 + insurred package delivery). I’ve rarly used it (less 30h) and initial owner as well and since month in my attic 
. Need stop collecting so much unused gear! Also has the Synergistic Master Fuse (€600).
Just sent me an PN if you are seriously interested. I’ll only sent to EU-countries or personal pickup.
Happy listening!
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After having my brains sufficiently scrambled over a long weekend of bachelor jollity, I finally have gotten to listen to my new Holo Cyan 2.
I must caveat the following listening impressions by stating that I have been listening while I work and that my brain really is struggling to function correctly, and will continue to struggle for another few days; thus, my chain has not yet had my full attention…
This DAC sounds incredible. In fact, I would go as far to say that this DAC sounds perfect to my ear, for this chain, save one drawback.
Current primary chain for auditioning Cyan 2:
FLAC / WAV / Qobuz > M21 / R4 > SU-6 > Cyan 2 > THR-1 > Moondrop Cosmo
I’ve heard a few R2R DACs. I would say that all of the straight R2R DACs that I have heard until recently haven’t been the best. The only R2R DAC that has impressed me up until a month ago was my old Gumby A2, a MultiBit approach. I picked up an Ares II 12th to add some weight to my chain, but keep the tonal balance largely uncoloured. I got the Ares off SA and it sounded excellent. The images weren’t as well-defined as I’d like but the staging and tonal balance was brilliant. I loved it so much that I sold it instantly upon winning a Pontus II on eBay. Unfortunately, that unit was damaged in transit (poor packaging) and even though it worked, Denafrips no longer offer (or even respond to emails about) the 12th firmware updates, so the Pontus was returned to the seller. I didn’t really get much listening in with the Pontus…
Then, this Cyan 2 popped up on eBay. I decided to pull the trigger because of it’s reported neutral tonal balance and all the usual benefits of R2R DACs. It had been plugged in and warming up for five days before I first got to listen to it and it smacked me round the chops straight away.
I do not put much stock in YouTube reviewers opinions because my own are often different. It has may taken me too long to get this into my thick skull, but I often do not hear things the same as the YT reviews that I enjoy watching (WaveTheory, primarily). However, the first thing that jumped out at me was the incredibly sharp imaging. This was something that I was really missing when listening to the Ares II 12th so I was immediately impressed. The tonal balance was the second area which stood out to me. It is just the right measure of neutral that floor tom hits during sparse passages on Tool’s ‘Fear Innoculum’ just sound so damn real. The dynamics are excellent to my ear and everything sounds tactile. In summary, I was hearing this DAC pretty much how GoldenSound described it.
…There was one other facet of the sound that I was hearing like another YT review, OldGuyHifi, the depth. I was enjoying this DAC so much I tried to be more critical (still whilst working) and I realised that the Ares II 12th seemed to do one thing much better than Cyan 2, depth. OldGuyHifi straight up said the Cyan 2 is bad for depth; with my scrambled brains, I still need a critical listening session this weekend to parse whether this is confirmation bias, or not, but this is something I noticed, and then recalled his primary critique of this DAC after the fact. Everything sounds wide but in my face. For the first time with Moondrop Cosmo, sounds hard panned sound behind me. Centre images sound pretty much in my head in comparison to what I have recently experienced with Denafrips DACs. I seem to be quite sensitive to depth as it has a significant impact on my perception of drum kits on recordings (I’m a drummer…). Even though this DAC is otherwise perfect to my ear, if I find that, upon critical listening, the stage depth capabilities of this DAC are inadequate for me, it will be a deal breaker.
Question: If I do find that the Cyan 2 isn’t for me, what’s my next step? In my mind, I have two obvious choices that should retain the sonic gains I have made, whilst refining what I may be missing. Go for a Pontus II 12th/15th or a Holo Spring of some variety (there’s currently a Spring II on eBay). So, given my preference for neutrality, and that I love the sharp imaging of the Cyan 2, but the staging of the Ares II 12th, is there a more obvious choice? There’s only so much information one can extract from ChatGPT before you need to speak to a human.
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I’m listening to what you are saying, I even read it over once more before writing this for you. Look into the Sonnet Pasithea DAC, IMO you won’t be disappointed especially if you can find a used one well below MSRP. Not particularly well or solidly built but the insides are done right 
Good luck 
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Spend more type with the Cyan and see how it grows on you. You’ve only had it a short while and sometimes it’s a matter of seeing how a component offers you the things you love and how much of them and the things you don’t love and how much of those.
Sometimes it’s easy to pick out what you don’t love when you’re listening critically but we do change opinions in time the more the get accustomed to a sound.
You then may find yourself moving on from this DAC only to love something else in another but miss something the Cyan did well.
Lastly, you’re also in this space where the gear is pretty damned good. Endgame for some, but it’s the one step up from entry or mid level gear and manufacturers always need to leave headroom in order to have folks convince themselves they need more.
Get to know the gear intimately before you move on from it, it will help you long term if the further you go in the hobby.
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Thanks, both. My biggest problem is that I’m eager to “end the game”. I really do not enjoy assessing gear. I just want to listen to music. However, my brain has an obsessive need to solve problems and my cogs will turn until the problem is solved. I have way more important things I should be focussing on, work, our move to the States, etc., but for some reason this weighs on my mind because it appears to be a problem more easily/quickly solved - ‘fix this so I can fry the bigger fish’!
I am loving my current chain. It’s so close to perfection. I will take my time to ensure my next move it well considered.