This is so far out of my price range but tisā the only reason Iād get it lolz.
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Got my Spring KTE for $1500 incl ship / ppā¦ scour the used areas of headfi, usaudio, audiogon, hifishark, and other forums with classifieds.
I typically target ~ 50% of MSRP or my buys. Just be patient, know what you want, and when they post for price you want pounce ASAP.
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Thank you for yet another very informative review. I felt was immersed with as much detail from reading about this DAC as you were from listening to it. I want to listen to a DAC in that tier now even more, but at the same time Iām hesitant, for fear that āknowingā will taint by blissful ignorance of ānot knowingā 
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I can firmly say I am looking forward to listening to the Spring 2 again to compare to the Sagra and Hugo 2 personally. There are some things the Spring 2 just does it expertly with details in accoustics and more chill EDM, and oddly enough some well recorded more folk style music. If you have headphones that resolve well or speakers, you are in for a real treat.
I still have to say, this DAC is overkill for many people. If your setup cannot handle the resolution, some of the greatest assets are lost in the experience. I know the ZMF Eikons and LCD X barely show the jump compared to my Diana Phi with this DAC. If your headphones and amp canāt do detail, you may want to look elsewhereā¦ But if they can do detail the sound signature is just fun. Itās a natural sounding DAC that has a twist on accuracy that is some how more immersive. I canāt say how much Iāve enjoyed some well recorded philharmonics Iāve lost track of time that previously I didnāt seem to enjoy because of the Spring 2.
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I just scrolled past this and havent had time to fully read but i think itll be worth the 40 minute waitā¦ ^^^ @DagoRed
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This right here. No one needs a multi thousand dollar DAC, but they do sound pretty glorious.
I have to call this outā¦ noā¦ the Hugo 2 does not handle transients well as a blanket statement. What you are hearing is the highly tuned multipole filter designs of the Hugo 2 that can sort of highlight certain details in the DAC. Personally to me, its an artificial highlight of details to pass a bit fake resolution and sound separation.
For transients, you would mostly hear that in cleanliness of bass impacts symbols. If you want to hear transient hell, then grab ahold of a high quality stream (or download) from Scene Sat. Right now my Sagra is spanking the Hugo 2 when it comes to transient response. Despite that, the Hugo 2 is STILL phenomenal on transients for not being and R2R implementation.
I would assume the Sagra and the Spring 2 would have similar if not perfect transient response given the R2R implementation (and hearing both).
I canāt answer the āfakeā sounding question for your ears. To my ears the Hugo 2 resolves the attack and leading edges in a more, letās call it fun, way. Drums, electric bass guitars, instruments that hit, hit more with Hugo than Spring. Chord is proud of it. They are quick to point out their transient-handling topology on their website. I donāt completely disagree with you, though. Thatās why I pointed out my preference for the Spring with classical music. For other genres that are heavily dependent on electric instruments with no natural sound (rock, metal, EDM) I liked this fun aspect of the Hugo. For acoustic instruments I can see how the sorta enhanced seeming detail of the Hugo can strike some as dry, but āfakeā is a bit strong, IMO.
Thanks for the thoughts, though!
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I think one thing is for sure highlighted here.
I always figured the next step from my bf2 and rnhp would be a spring 2 and gsx-mini. But this points to for my music preferences, it may not be. This is a very far way off if i ever decide to go for moreā¦ but i think at this level you no longer just go off internet reviews and 100% need to audition things.
But as i said, that would be far off and i dont even know many dacs besides this in the 1-2k range and once youre at that level things are a bit more āboutiqueā
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Itās still a wonderful signal chain and I recommend it. The only reason I am deviating is because of what I want out of the Diana Phi and issue maybe just the Diana Phi has different needs. If you want the LCD 24 though, this chain should treat you quite well.
Oh i dont doubt it, but does it fit my needs? I do have a 24 but maybe also the 24 isnt the final piece. I do think for the higher end stuff dealers are more willing to let people try equipment out.
Regarding inputs, I use my Spring 2 exclusively via USB. Am I giving up any performance by doing so? @M0N is about to swoop in with some knowledge.
If USB is my preference, would it be worth switching to an Yggdrasil for the Unison benefits?
Giving up? No, the spring 2 usb is solid enough. But you could get a higher level of performance with a higher end ddc.
No, unless you are looking for a change in dacs overall. If you liked the spring 2 and wanted to keep a sound like it, you could get a nice ddc to improve sound, but if you were looking for moving in a different direction the yggy a2 could be an option
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Possibly. A much cheaper solution would be to purchase USB reclocker and see how it works out for you. Matrix Audio
EDIT: For some perspective. My Holo Cyan cleaned up a bit with a reclocker. Iām using an L.K.S Audio USB-100 and my PC is no slouch. Iāve got a dedicated quality usb PCI card, a low noise Seasonic PC power supply and Iām methodical with my cable management and I saw an improvement. It was a night and day improvement with $200~$300 dollar level DACS.
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Is this written in stone? If not, you can get a Pi2AES and use I2S or AES inputs. Or coax.
Itās not written in stone, no - Iām just a bit clueless about those other options and which would sound the best.
In general USB is the worst. Some are better than others and Unison is supposedly the best. But I havenāt done any testing. I just stopped using USB and donāt worry about it.
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Basically with USB the DAC provides the clock, but it also gets all the noise on the USB power lines, and PCās USB power can be quite noisy. DACās attempt to remove this with varying degrees of success.
Every other input the clock is provided by the source computer/Streamer/D2D/Re-clocker etc. Most DACās still fiddle with the clock to a point using a PLL, but itās not an important detail.
You generally do not want your PC to generate the clock
Optical is terrible, and you only use it if you have no other way to get rid of a ground loop.
AES and Spdif over coax are for most people going to be about the same AES is basically SPDIF on a balanced wire with some minor protocol changes.
If you can run I2S you should, it removes any decoding from the equation, but itās not a standard protocol, so even if your streamer/whatever has it out there is no guarantee the in on your DAC will take it.
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Yup this is unfortunate. I believe the Pi2AES works with Holo products, you just need to swap L & R outputs.
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Ok, so if I got the Pi2AES would I connect it to my PC physically, then i2S to the Spring 2, or do I take USB out of the equation altogether and connect it to my network? Does it work with Roon?