My first 30 Days with the KTE May

Design aspects that attracted me to the May;

1.      Supposedly superior USB implementation
2.      NOS mode of operation
3.      MHz PCM compatibility
4.      Separate isolated power supply chassis
5.      No touch screen for local operation
6.      Apparent build quality
7.      No MQA

I have had the KTE May in possession for 30 days now.
The May was purchased second hand, 5 months old with roughly 1000 hours.
I cannot confirm whether the May had 1000 hours of playing time on it, but I logged another 750 hours and I think that it is now fully settled in.
Gathered from others experiences, it appears that the May needs around 1500 hours to fully settle in.

For myself, I had specific goals that I was trying to achieve with the May, some were met and some have yet to be realized.

So, all of my listening and related findings are based upon the following;

1.      The need to eliminate the need for any form of D>D converter between the renderer and DAC
2.      All source material, SDM & PCM from SSD or streamed PCM was played through HQPlayer
3.      The sample rate and bit rate into the May for all source material was 705.6/768 20
4.      Since the recent release of HQPlayer Embedded 4.23.0, all impressions are based on LNS15 dither and the new sinc-Mx filter
5.      Display turned off and PLL defeated, why use it if you do not need it
6.      NOS mode enabled

I have spent countless hours of musical rediscovery with the May.
The KTE May is an extremely quiet DAC, I am able to hear further into the music more than I have ever been before.
SDM files converted to PCM retain all of their silence, but some PCM files noise floors have become very apparent.
The May has excellent bottom end drive and overall extension that will have you smiling and your toes tapping.
Sound stage width, depth, separation and 3D placement are exceptional.
The level of musical liquidity that I am now experiencing is as close to analog as I have ever heard through my system.

Characteristics of the KTE May that I like best;

1.      The USB input is the most well designed and implemented that I have ever heard. This was number 1 one my list of wants. Straight USB from renderer to DAC, no extra D>D converters in the signal path
2.      NOS mode
3.      No perceived need to implement the PLL to reduce jitter on the USB input. If it is not needed, I am happy that I can defeat it. Lock times are instantaneous
4.      This is some serious build quality
5.      No aftermarket footers needed; Still Points Ultra SS footers made no difference
6.      The music just flows from this DAC, it places me in a meditative musical coma

There are some personal nit-picky things though that I will suffer with;

1.      Why no copper fox badge on the power supply
2.      Why no little rubber nubs on the bottom of the remote ( ugh, the sound of metal on metal )
3.      If anybody touches the surface of the May you will know, there will be fingerprints
4.      While the USB input is phenomenal sounding, it has its quirks, let’s just say that the “U” in USB does not necessarily mean universal when it comes to MHz PCM
5.      My power sucks, even though I have a PS Audio PW PP3 regenerator, with 3 of my neighbors connected to my utility transformer secondary and having solar panels, their inverters raise my THD high enough that the PP3 can’t clean things up enough for the May power supply. At its worst, I can hear a slight electrical tizz coming from the power supply during the day. When the sun goes down this tizz disappears

One of the intentions for transitioning to the May was to be able to experience MHz PCM files.
This is apparently a hit or miss with regards to different USB design protocols?
You do have to roll the firmware in the May for MHz PCM to FW 3012 from 3014.
The chatter is that your USB device that is being connected to the May has to have “Intel” inside, even then it may or may not work.

Putting the MHz PCM issues aside, I am very elated with the KTE May.

Next goal, try PGGB from remastero.com to lower the noise floor of those PCM files!

HI

What was your previous DAC before the May?

Looking over other posts I see you had or have the DirectStream DAC.  Can you make some comments on the differences between the two?.

Did  you do the transformer mod on the DS?

Thanks

magicknow,

Welcome to the Decware forums!

Yes, my other DAC is the PSA DSD.

The DSD is a phenomenal DAC that I have no doubt will be enjoyed by many for years to come and is an absolute steal on the secondary market.

For the direction that I want to go, right now the May ticks off more boxes for me than the DSD.

I do miss the volume control of the DSD, it still is way ahead of the DAC pack in this regard.

While I do have a pair of the Edcore transformers, I never got around to installing them or performing the analogue PS mods.

MrDerrick, a fascinating write-up. I'll bet it sounds fantastic! Thanks for sharing.

Brad

Really nice!

Oh, I also would love to see a photo of your horns!

Here you go, a bit cluttered right now.

Wow the horns sure are jammed in there!  Not much room for them to breathe.

The May will arrive in a big heavy box!

The diffusers are RPG QRDs, amazing what you can find at a yard sale.
They definitely help spatially, the stage depth is very deep.

I am guessing that your transport will connect via optical to the May.

You should definitely try the USB input with your Rendu.

I had an opticalRendu and it is very very close performance wise to the SignatureRendu SE optical, especially powered with a Farrad Super 3.

The MSB Platinum was a great performer, but I had to keep pumping dollars into it to upgrade it.
I never acquired the USB input or volume control card and bought into the PSA DSD for a lot less than I had in invested in the Platinum.
I think a loaded MSB Reference is close to $80K loaded, $39K base.

The power supply cable connector for the May will have a red dot on it.
The dot faces up when you insert it into the port, it will click when its in all the way.

There is a KTE May thread in the D/A forum over at Audiophile Style, formerly known as Computer Audiophile.
If you haven't read through it yet, I recommend it.

Leave something playing 24/7 for 2 months and you should be good to go!

Quick update. MAY DAC arrived around 2pm yesterday. Have about 15 hours of continuous play. First few seconds I was blown away by the soundstage vs the PSA DSD, which does a fine job.

The PLL active on Toslink makes a substantial difference.

Doesn’t run as hot as I thought it would based on others comments about it running hot.

Initially and still bass is a little lack luster, After 8 hours it was starting to show up more. I’m also seasoning new caps on the Torii, bass coming and going has been a theme with the seasoning of the Torii so it could be a double whammy on seasoning, BAM!

I read on audiophilstyle after 200-300 hours the bass will be strong and full. According to many it needs 1,000+ hours of playing music to really settle.

I’m not going to heat cycle it until I get more hours on it.

EDIT: Well egg on my face. I had a hunch to swap out the 3 month old KT66's for a fresh pair. Wow! I have the ZRock2 bypassed now, Bass is strong, authoritative and fast. The touch of high end intensity is gone as well, turned the treble adjust wide open.

To be fair to the tubes, I had them in a ZMA and was giving my speakers a workout with the meter needles dancing for a few hours.

I ordered on April 23rd and received it May 30th, 5 weeks. Now I'm waiting on my Stressless chair 3-5 months !

That's a great find and price!

I'm going out of town tomorrow for 5 days, I'm not going to..., I'm tempted to leave it playing with signal the whole time.  ;D I 2-3 months the MAY will be nicely seasoned, Torii will need 6ish months good times.

Everything has been sounding so good, the idea that it's going to get better is exciting.

Mr. Derrick, Groovy Sauce and Steve are making me consider getting the Holo May KTE as my end game DAC.  I have the Denafrips Pontus II and I love it.  Is it worth the 3X the cost of a Denafrips Pontus II?  That is what I am struggling with....
Bob

CAJames,
Thanks.  I was looking at the Terminator as well.  Price wise, is b/w Terminator and Holo May KTE.  The Terminator Plus is almost 4X over the Pontus II.  Which one do you have and what did you have before this, if I may ask and was there a jump on listening enjoyment.
Bob

I was considering the following DACs;

Berkley Audio Design Alpha DAC Reference (outstanding track record!)
HOLO Audio KTE May
Denafrips Terminator Plus
Chord TT with M Scaler or with used Chord Dave

My budget was around $6000 too $7000, so some of the above would have to be second hand acquisitions.

External clocking and dual digital in/out were not necessities for me.
What I really wanted was the best USB input that I could get in a DAC.
From everything that I was reading, the HOLO Audio L2 and KTE May had the USB input that I wanted.

My own personal opinion is that USB is the way digital is going and I dread USB inputs due to my past experiences with them and the need to add an extra DDC to convert to I2S. ( more damn boxes! )

All of the above mentioned DACs, with the exception of the May, I have had opportunities to hear first hand.

After reading that a number of people had moved from the mentioned Chord combo to the May (along with some other well regarded DACs)
I decided to focus on a May.

I missed out on several chances to pick up a used May.
Eventually I landed a KTE May that was about an hour away at a price with shipping that was less than a L1 May. ( way below budget )

I  have no regrets and the USB implementation is everything that I expected, no DDC required and exceptional performance.

The only thing that I initially overlooked was that you need to feed the USB input from an Intel device in order to achieve 1.4/1.5 Mhz PCM.
So I did end up having to acquire a MeLE compute stick with Intel USB to run as NAA with HQP, a small expense and 1.4/1.5 is a SQ step above 706/768 PCM.

NOS mode is the way to go with PCM, which is 99% of what I listen to.
If you are a DSD/SDM file kind of guy, the DirectStream has the edge, IMO.

Just an FYI, the HOLO Audio Spring Level 3 is coming soon!

Mr. Derrick,
I just checked the Holo Audio website and the Holo Audio Spring 3 Dac is now selling.  I will give it a look.  Thanks again.
Bob

Thanks Mr. Derrick, this makes it harder now.  Still limited feedback so far, as expected.  Sent you a PM for your sage advice.
Bob