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Terminator plus vs Holo Audio may KTE

First I apologize for beating up a dead horse. 
Lot have been written about the two dacs. Also on this forum. 
First the cost the same in Denmark so it’s all about taste. 
Some love the terminator other like Ron from NRD think that the May totally out perform the T2
GoldenSound also love the May but he’s a headphone guy 

Visually I like them both. Okay the May is a little bit nicer and have a remote. 
Have some listen to both and can summarize the sound of each DAC?

 I would love to have them side by side for a week 
then I could judge for my self. 
Streaming is my only source. I have just begun to play around with DSD and high res. Also found out like most out there that files on disk sounds better. An unpleasant discovery. 
Both of the DACs can take crazy high res files. Has dedicated DSD boards and all the bells and whistles I can think off. 
martin-andersen
snackeyp's avatar
snackeyp
455 posts
 
Herb Reichert has compared these two DACs in his column.  Not a head to head comparison but this might be useful:
https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-40-denafrips-terminator-ares-ii
martin-andersen OP
139 posts
 
@snackeyp 

Thanks for sharing the link. I have read it before but it really helped me reading it again.

helped me piecing the puzzle together.


I have read and watched everything about the Terminator and the May and this is my conclusion.


The May is best in NOS and DSD mode. It’s force is emotion and texture. Could we call it tube like?


The Terminator is best in OS and DSD mode and has more focus on details and speed / slam. Could we say it’s a solid state amp?


Both DACs have great reviews so it all boils down to taste and system synergy.


So back to the beginning your really need to try them in your system 😉


If you have one of this dacs then what do you think about my conclusion?


jaytor's avatar
jaytor
742 posts
 
I have the Terminator Plus with Gaia and like it a lot, but one thing you should consider is that the T+ has a higher than average output impedance since it drives the output directly from the resistor array and doesn't have an output buffer. If you are driving long cables or a preamp with a lower than average input impedance, you may find that the Holo May is a better fit. 
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