Set-up and installation
Contents
Initially, things don’t go well. We saw the Red show up in Roon but we didn’t hear any music. Turned out we had incorrectly configured Roon via Airplay. Oops. The Holo Audio Red is not immediately a plug and play device. Once connected correctly, we were “good to go. We create a group in Roon so that the Red and the Hermes play in sync. Unfortunately, we do not have a compatible i2s connection to the Morpheus, which has an RJ45 output, so we used the AES/EBU connection during the test.
We estimate that, as with the Sonnet Hermes, the i2s connection sounds even slightly better or rather different from the AES/EBU input. But the latter sounds particularly good and is also preferred by a lot of enthusiasts. Especially with a Mutec in between. We connected the Mutec for a while and yes it is a step. As is a better power cord for that matter. But for most of the test we used the standard power cord and left the Mutec out of the chain.
In addition to streaming via Roon, we also played with Tidal Connect for a while and that went fine. Advantages are the direct connection without interference from the Roon Raat protocol and it is also an ideal way of working for someone who does not want to, or cannot invest in Roon. Coming soon is Qobuz Connect and that will also run on the Holo Red.
Reference system
Hardware
- Revel Performa M126be
- Simaudio Moon 600i V2
- Sonnet Morpheus
- Sonnet Hermes
- Musical Fidelity M1
- Mutec MC3+
- Bassocontinuo Cymbalon 2.1
Cabling:
- Driade Flow
- Ricable Magnus
- Grimm TPR
Software:
Roon Core on a Nuc (Qobuz and Tidal)
Would you choose the RED or the Primo (with LPS) for AES? Or is there another streamer in this price region I don‘t get with even better performance?
Thanks a lot!
Hello Adam,
If you choose the Primo you can upgrade it with a nice power supply. We think using the Primo with a nice power supply gets the best result.
Best regards
Where you say “Those who want to use the DDC do so via the usb-c output.” Do you mean the USB-B 2.0 input?
The Red doesn’t appear to have a USB-C output and the DDC function converts from USB input to all of the outputs except for USB-A. USB-A output only operates in Streaming mode.
Hello,
Yes, that’s correct. I got them mixed up.
Best regards.
Geoff
Thank you, it looks like a solid prodct.
It is! Very decent product!