Testimonials

This new DAC “Spring3” is the design that has been very popular... View

It is already (100-150 hours I estimate) by far the best DAC I have tried and my system is finally falling into place. In short, very happy with the Spring 3 with preamp and for me an end game piece,

Gerard

Singxer, SA1 est un amplificateur casque et un préamplificateur complets de classe... View

The amplifier- 4.5 stars. Very good class A . Sound wise I find it more enjoyable when compared to A90. Price/quality ratio is great with SA1. Measurements are also excellent (see ASR for Amir review).
Magna Hifi service- 10 stars. Excellent pre and post sale customer service from Rob and Jos. My SA1 had an issue with power protection. I was promptly resolved. Based on my experience I strongly recommend Magna HiFi.

Gabriel

Serene est un préamplificateur de HoloAudio. Serene adopte une structure entièrement équilibrée.... View

I love my Holo Audio system. They now have had the required burn-in and they sound fantastic. It a major upgrade. Thank you for the great support.

Robert

This product has been replaced by Audio-GD – R8 mk3 – Discrete Balanced... View

For a long time I have read that Audio-gd R2R DACs are transparent, organic. I bought an R2R-11 direct from Audio-gd and I was surprised how great it sounds and with the build quality.

Recently I bought an R8 MKII and some other Audio-gd gear from from Jos and Rob. I was impressed with the build and sound but I wanted to live with the DAC for some months before making a declaration.

At this point, I can say I finally get it when people say these DACs are organic. I have several other midrange DACs (Oppo 205, Brooklyn DAC+, RME) to compare this one to. The R8 MKII is the only one which disappears all the time. It's transparent, I feel the music for the first time as natural without hearing the gear at all. The RME has come close at times, but only on certain recordings. The R8 MKII just disappears and it's the closest thing to a live performance I have heard out of my system. For the price, I am extremely satisfied with this DAC.

I had a strange problem with noise over AES, coax, and optical which did not occur via I2S nor USB. I was unable to explain it sufficiently to Kingwa at Audio-gd so I reached out to Magna Hifi and Rob quickly recreated the issue. He contacted Kingwa on my behalf and I think only a week went by before I got new firmware which resolved the issue. I cannot imagine getting this level of service from another shop or DAC manufacturer.

I have 4 Audio-gd components and I can recommend Audio-gd and Magna to any lover of music.

Audio-gd gear is quirky but to me that is part of the charm. The build is industrial, reminiscent of 60s and 70s garage-fi but on a very high level of sound quality. I noticed that the LED displays of the R8 MKII, the DI-20, and Master 19 amp are all slightly different colors! This is annoying in a darkened room but in normal daylight it was not noticeable. Other than that, the dimensions of the gear and the brushed finished on the panels match well. Clearly, the R&D and manufacturing money has been focused on sound. Tank-like builds, heavy gear, you feel the quality as well as hear it.

Jos and Rob are easy to work with, they're friendly and responsible and run a good business.

Czech Buyer

Singxer, SA1 est un amplificateur casque et un préamplificateur complets de classe... View

Fantastic preamplifier for an unprecedented low price! This is my best hi-fi purchase in recent years.

Leo

L’interface audio numérique USB AUDIO-GD DI-20 basée sur la conception USB Amanero... View

I've had a DI-20 for a while and now I can pronounce it completely because it has stood the test of time. First I hesitated whether to go for the almost double version at the DI-20HE price. Maybe in the future I will go for the "HE" version. For now, this DI-20 is proving to be a substantial improvement in the sound quality of the Audio-gd R8 DAC (model 2021). When he had just arrived it only took me a few minutes to realize that it was a (big) step forward. I didn't have much to compare, with the DI-20 the sound is much better in every way. The difference is so great that there is no need for too intense comparisons. From the first minute I realized and so it has remained in the audio system until today. I connect the DI-20 (which receives a signal from the PC via USB type A-B) with the R8 via HDMI (I2S). I'm not interested in other options. I listen to both PCM and DSD files. One more thing, although the sound improvement due to the DI-20 is really very big, the quality of the interconnect cables (USB, HDMI, signal) still matters as much, but also the quality of the USB output from the PC. Another advantage for the cheaper model DI-20, is cold, it does not heat up at all. The quality / price ratio is excellent for this model! 5 stars!

Bedy

Audio-GD presents the extreme of audio technology with the HE1 mk3. A... View

Audio-GD HE1 is a truly high-end audio preamplifier! I can't find enough terms of praise! I owned many preamplifiers that were even more expensive. At HE1 I like the neutrality the most (in the good sense), that is the realism of the natural, unchanged, uncolored sound. It is not about that sterile neutrality, it is simply about realism, about the sound that is very similar to the natural one, real. I like how fast it is without exaggerating, meaning the speed is exactly in the middle, neither below nor above, just like the real sound! It is dynamic and very transparent but not thin. It's just right! And above all it produces a 3D effect, the sound seems holographic, not artificially, on the contrary, natural, realistic. Probably the two channels are executed to the highest perfection, otherwise I can't explain why in terms of soundstage it humiliates the other preamplifiers ?! I compared it directly with other preamplifiers and they were the shortest comparisons. I had nothing to compare, HE1 is far superior from the first minute! (cold! .... I don't say what he does after he warms up!)
Sounds good right after unpacking and zero burn-in! But after a run-in of a few hundred hours, I would really say that I am amazed at how it sounds!
And the copy received, which is a new model 2020/2021, does not heat up as I read on the internet. On the contrary, just a little warm no matter how much it worked, even a few days continuously. As far as I understand, they fixed the problem of excessive heat in the old models (which they also wrote on the site)
I do not find any negative points, nothing to criticize. Maybe the size ?! Is very large! When I received it I was amazed at how big it is! But the quality comes with a price!
5 stars are not enough for me! I would like to give it 10 stars!
I highly recommend!

Bedy

This new DAC “Spring3” is the design that has been very popular... View

Holoaudio spring dac 3 level 2
Tevredenheid hangt enerzijds af van de behandeling in de winkel en anderzijds van de kwaliteit van de producten. Om met het laatste te beginnen. Meer dan 40 jaar is mijn hobby hifi. Als ik iets koop wil ik iets goeds hebben waar ik lang van kan genieten. Voor sommige producten is dat eenvoudiger als andere. Zo kocht ik mijn eerste Magnepans in 1980, gevolgd door de 2.6 in 1998 en enige jaren geleden de 3.7. De 2.6 is nog steeds in gebruik in de 2e installatie.
Met dac's is het een ander verhaal. De een na de ander. Toen ik 2 jaar geleden de NAD M51 verving door de RME ADI-2 fs dacht ik hier zeker met een goede externe voeding een eindpunt bereikt te hebben. De Denafrips Ares II bracht me echter op het spoor van r2r dac's. De Ares is na 9 maanden in de 3e installatie in de slaapkamer beland omdat aan en uitzetten met een ifi i-usb 3.0 tussengeschakeld dagelijks een moeizame operatie was.
Mijn werkwijze is het afstruinen van het internet en beoordelen van reviews en reviewers. Ik kwam bij Holoaudio en Magna terecht en heb vrij snel een Holo spring dac 3 level 2 (ik heb mijn zilveren interlinks enige jaren geleden vervangen door professionele summer carbon interlinks met voor mijn oren een beter resultaat) en een singxer-SU2 gekocht. Wat een verschil met RME en Ares II, dag en nacht. Dit had ik echt niet verwacht. Eindelijk een dac die bijzonder goed een geluidsbeeld in de diepte kan neerzetten met een gedetailleerdheid en een rust die ik waar dan ook nog nooit heb gehoord.
De koopervaring: na het bestellen begint altijd het wachten. Binnen 2 dagen perfect geleverd. Had zelf een kleinigheidje. Ik had de Singxer op mijn mac moeten selecteren wat ik vergeten was. Binnen enige uren een reactie per mail terug. Kan niet beter. Zeer warm aanbevolen.

Dave

May Dac = 'The possibility of.' The May DAC is here! over... View

MAY has exceeded expectations, very-very impressive gear. Even out of the box it was already shining !

Truly all modes attract attention immediately, very positively. And fall into that thin category - "this is not better by different". At times I caught myself thinking that simple PCM 44.1 via NOS is already full and rich and engaging.

Igor

Nous sommes vraiment désolés. Malheureusement, il y a eu une exécution sur... View

improvement of sound
low jitter

frank just

L'Element-X est le produit phare de la série Element et utilise la... View

I got the Element X few days ago. Built like a tank. I only tried and use it with my usb hdd where i have all my music stored into. HifiMan Ananda is my headphone connected with a balanced cable to the DAC.

The sound is amazing.. really a lot of details. The soundstage (remember that i use it with a headphone) is wide and tall. Tried with MQA Studio, DSD 64,128,256 and PCM 88,96,176,192. Beautiful rendition of the sound... not harsh, not weak.. just right and very neutral. The noise floor is just pure deep black!! SILENCE

The App, MA Player, that we have to use to browse the library (with Android or iOS devices) works, but could be better in some aspect. But Matrix-digi continues to work on it.. therefore will improve over time :-)

You never regret to buy this unit if it fits in your budget.

Want to write few words about Jos that helped me in these years for every gear i got from MagnaHifi. He was (and is) really helpful... this is a BIG PLUS not easy to find buying online.

Roby

roby revelli

This new DAC “Spring3” is the design that has been very popular... View

After burn-in I’ve had a good listening session today. I suspect it may get better but still it’s like I’ve been listening to a good MM cart the last years and now been given a very good MC cart instead. That’s the only way I can describe the difference. Everything is as before ...but much better in all senses!

Roger

Les écouteurs magnétiques planaires Hifiman Sundara sont certainement une mise à niveau... View

Just want to say that I received my Sundaras yesterday! I appreciate the good packaging. I also really like the Sundaras!

Steve

Nous sommes vraiment désolés. Malheureusement, il y a eu une exécution sur... View

Great compact design with a clearly audible improvement! Relatively cheap for the improvement it gives.

Peter

This new DAC “Spring3” is the design that has been very popular... View

After contacting Rob, I drove to the listening studio. A nice and relaxing receive. Listened a lot to the different Holo DACs and finally opted for the Spring Level 2. Fantastic sonic characteristics that sounds lifelike. The preamp option suited me as I have active speakers. I am happy with the purchase and the pleasant experience at Magna Hifi!

Stefan

This new DAC “Spring3” is the design that has been very popular... View

I’m very happy with my new Holo Audio Spring 3. It sounds absolutely wonderful.
The only problem is I'm staying up too late at night. I just want to keep listening :)
Thank you again for your excellent service.

Michael

DEMO UNIT - ONLY ONE AVAILABLE - FULL WARRANTY See also the... View

Fantastic product, solidly built, sound great
Great customer service

Suhail

Singxer, SA1 est un amplificateur casque et un préamplificateur complets de classe... View

Fantastic device! And really happy with the delivery as well.

James

Serene est un préamplificateur de HoloAudio. Serene adopte une structure entièrement équilibrée.... View

Straight out of the box the Serene pre-amp sounded fantastic and as a bonus the XLR1 out used as a headphone amp sounded also very nice. An incredible improvement over the the Audio-GD M1 pre-amp. Much bigger difference than I thought it would be. So far I'm really happy with the pre-amp! :-)

Goran

This new DAC “Spring3” is the design that has been very popular... View

First, communication, that spanned over 3 months since Jos wisely advised me to wait for the Spring 3 at my price point, was excellent, patient and friendly.

Second, I'm very happy. At first I was a bit skeptical about DAC upgrade. My BB 1795 TEAC 501 always fed DSD 128 thanks to HQPlayer was quite enjoyable yet. n48 and higher rates capabilities were the rationals to upgrade but the upgrade goes far beyond being able to keep a favorite filter with n48 source or even going from 64 to 128 SDM output rate. I concur with comments such as : incredible precision and detail retrieval translating into remarkable density and stable image, firm and with presence even at the extreme left and right of the sound stage when relevant.

However, there was a selling point I sold to myself that was not confirmed : I thought of playing PCM through the R2R and it turns out that every source, PCM & DSD, is better turned DSD 256 with 7EC modulator in HQPlayer. HQPlayer's author wrote in forums that anyway Spring's DSD is better than DSD Cyan and that cost would be in the same ball park whether or not the DAC was DSD only. Furthermore, it would be a pain when I send the sound of movies to the DAC if there was no PCM capability. So things are very well as they are and for serious music listening do not hesitate to convert on fly your PCM content into DSD 256 (no computer can do the EC modulators above 256 and 256 EC is better than 1024 with non EC). The Spring is excellent with every kind of music and I post just after listening to a Cowboy Junkies album but I found myself listening mainly to classical music since I got the Spring for reproduction in my room has never been so close to the real thing and I have attended several classical concerts these very days. Thank you, merci, Patrick

Patrick