Bit of drama with my Spring 2 KTE - to catch up those who havenāt read earlier posts of mine, my model was an ex-demo unit that I returned to the vendor due to an undeclared scratch on the front panel. I agreed to pay the difference to get a brand new until to replace the scratched used one.
Anyway, my new unit arrived at the store belonging to the guy Iām buying it from, and heās emailed me to say that there will be further delays. Why? Because at some point in the shipping chain, someone has decided to check the contents of the box by cutting an access hatch. In the process, theyāve managed to pierce the box of the Spring 2, and the bag itās wrapped in, and scratch the top side of the case. So, the seller is taking it up with the courier and the distributor to get the matter resolved for me, and my wait goes on with the Cyan to comfort me in the meantime.
Finally, itās here. The dude ended up getting a new top cover for it from the supplier, which took ages. He then replaced it for me and sent it over, so itās in perfect new condition with no lacerations.
Got to say, doesnāt sound the same as the ex-demo model I had. That one was noticeably cleaner and clearer than the Cyan - more spacious and less congested. This new one doesnāt sound as good as I remember that one sounding (having been sitting powered on for the last 36 hours or so). The seller did say that these need a lot of burn-in, but that doesnāt seen to be most peopleās experience? I have a Bifrost 2 sitting nearby that I havenāt used in a while, and it sounds better to me than the Spring 2 right now.
Do R2R DACs tend to need burning in, beyond waiting for them to get nice and toasty?
Something tells me you may have romanticized your memory a little bit. Let it go and see what happens. My Cyan did change slightly but nothing dramatic from the first day. I leave it on all the time. The change was clear through, less edgy, not less sharp, gained a little bit of smoothness.
If youāre judging an R-2R that hasnāt been left on for less than 48 hours youāre not being fair. And if itās the Yggy, then you want it on for a week at least to sound right (as Iāve seen on forums, I havenāt heard that myself). The Bifrost 2 to me sounds good after about an hour or two.
Also, remember to use the balanced outs. I messaged M0N and he let me know that the balanced outs use both ladders for the output versus a single set of ladders for the SE outputs. So if the sound is clear but kinda thin and the bass seems neutered compared to your memory, definitely make sure youāre using the balanced outputs.
All good points. Not panicking yet. Iāll give it some time. Sadly I have to use the RCA outs with my Pendant, but itās balanced all the way with the GS-X.
A few, I think at the time it was a deal on a lampizator big 7 mk2 and a nagra classic dac, both now have been upgraded to a golden gate 2 and a hd dac + mps, among others for the desk. The may also didnāt stack up against my main 2ch dac in my living room, an aries cerat kassandra ii ref, so I kinda wanted to get things up to at least that level. You can see what Iām currently using on my profile since there are a few others as well
Hi guys, Iāve been using and enjoying the Spring 2 KTE for a month or more now. I thought enough of it to justify parting with my Cyan, which was an EXCELLENT unit.
Anyway, I was aware that using the RCA output on the Spring 2 (and with the Cyan for that matter) only actually utilises half of the DAC and not the full R2R ladder array (if that makes sense), whereas using the balanced XLR output uses the full thing. Presumably this is because there are two sets of resistors - one for each channel - and using a single-ended output just uses the one. Please do correct me if Iām wrong. I use a GS-X Mini with the Spring 2, but also a ZMF Pendant which is a single-ended amp.
Iāve been loving my Cyan, you telling everyone how great the Spring 2 is isnāt helping my curiosity and my wallet is itchy.
If you sell the Cyan, I would encourage you to offer it to someone in the community here as itās a great jump up from the $600 to $700 dollar price point and offers a genuine taste of the high end without it being obscenely priced.
Iām pretty happy with my Spring 2 and GS-X Mini overall. The DAC is fantastic and fits on my desk. I do think about getting a Sarga DAC or Yggydrasil with an A2 board but overallā¦ The Spring 2 is phenomenal. Only issue is that occasionally the the usb drops out, just cycle inputs and it is resolved.
Not to worry - the Cyan is so close to the Spring 2. I found the Cyan to feel slightly closer and bassier, whereas the Spring 2 has a greater sense of space and detail, but weāre talking fine, fine margins. The (relative) bass and intimacy of the Cyan is something that I could see lots of people preferring - to make another comparison, the Cyan is wider and spacier to me than the Bifrost 2, for example.
If I didnāt have the Spring 2 sitting right here, I probably would have kept the Cyan.
Would love to listen to that dac
