Holo audio Spring 2 User manual

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Digital Analog Converter (DAC)
泉二User’s Manual

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Table of Contents
OVERVIEW.......................................................................................................................................................... 3
SPECIFICATIONS.................................................................................................................................................. 4
FRONT PANEL ..................................................................................................................................................... 5
REAR PANEL........................................................................................................................................................ 7
REMOTE CONTROL.............................................................................................................................................. 8
I2S PORT............................................................................................................................................................. 9
DRIVER INSTALLATION ...................................................................................................................................... 10
COMMON SOFTWARE SETTINGS ...................................................................................................................... 13

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Overview
泉2
SPRING 2
By Holo Audio
A new generation of fully discrete resistor network（Commonly known as R2R）DAC.
Compared with its predecessor product "Spring", it has the following improvements.
A new generation of fully discrete resistor network DAC modules with lower distortion
for small signals and faster conversion speed
The world's first DAC that truly supports DSD1024 and PCM1.536M
USB interface uses self-developed firmware, with ultra-low latency, high reliability data
transmission, performance 2-4 times higher than the official firmware
Femtosecond clock
Improved I2S input interface, four independent receiving circuits, which allow the I2S
clock signal to have lower interference and improve sound quality overall.
Improved power and analog reference power for the digital section. Superior
performance, higher than 110db PSRR and noise below 0.2uV within 100KHz
Aluminum CNC Machined Remote control (Included with L2 and KTE models only)
Improved display screen. Imitating the original classic matrix display on the Spring
version 1. Showing more info at one time. Three different points of information at once.

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Specifications
COAXIAL1, COAXIAL2,
OPTICAL, AES
PCM 44.1-192K (24bit)
DSD 64X （DOP）
USB
PCM 44.1K-1.536M (32bit)
DSD 64-512X （DOP）
DSD 64-1024X （Native）
I2S
PCM 44.1K-1.536M (32bit)
DSD 64-1024X
PCM 48K NOS
THD+N 0.0006% @1K
SNR -124dB
Voltage Output 1.9Vrms(RCA), 3.8Vrms(XLR)
DSD 128X
THD+N 0.0008% @1K
SNR -118dB
Voltage Output 0.95Vrms(RCA), 1.9Vrms(XLR)
Size
430x300x55mm / 16.93x11.81x2.17inch (WxLxH Dimensions do not
include protruding parts）
Weight
8.5kg/18.74lbs
Power input (configurable,
depending on the bottom
label of the machine）
220-230V 50/60Hz 2A
110-115V 50/60Hz 4A
Power consumption
40W
Accessories
Power Cable x1 (North America only)
USB Cable x1
Remote Control x1 (Not Included in Level 1 models)

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Front Panel
From right to left the four buttons are as follows: MUTE, DISPLAY INTENSITY, OVER SAMPLING, SOURCE
MUTE
In standby mode the “Spring 2”output stage circuit turns off. However, the power
consumption of the Dac essentially remains constant while retaining thermal stability at its ideal
temperature for optimal performance.
DISPLAY INTENSITY
Selection of backlight brightness, display can also be turned off.
OVER SAMPLING MODES
NOS - No Oversampling Mode: directly converts the original data. Since digital
oversampling caN cause time domain distortion such as ringing effects, NOS can
avoid these problems. Generally speaking, NOS has a significant impact on other
performance indicators, but the“Spring 2”is designed to maintain good
performance in NOS mode.
OS - Over Sampling Mode:
Super-sampling the PCM to a higher frequency PCM
oversampling the DSD to a higher frequency DSD
performing a digital to analog conversion.
OS PCM - Over Sampling/PCM Mode: whether it is PCM input or DSD input, always
oversample to PCM for digital analog conversion.
OS DSD –Over Sampling Direct Stream Digital Mode: Whether in PCM input or DSD
input, super-sampling to DSD mode for digital analog conversion.

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SOURCE
Digital input source selection:
USB (ground isolation)
RCA
BNC
AES
Optical
HDMI interface I2S

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AC power input
Digital signal input
Analog signal output
Rear Panel

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Mute
Display Brightness
Digital input Setting
Volume + (increase)
Volume –(decrease)
Analog output settings
Sampling Mode
Remote Control
Note: Volume does not apply for the Spring2 Dac. This remote can be used with other HoloAudio Devices.

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I2S Port
LVDS differential transmission mode has the same physical interface as HDMI, and a HDMI cable can be
used. But note that the electrical signal it transmits is I2S, not the audio and video signals of a conventional
HDMI.
Pin PCM DSD
1 I2S_DATA- DSD_DATA_L-
2 GND GND
3 I2S_DATA+ DSD_DATA_L+
4 I2S_BCK+ DSD_BCK+
5 GND GND
6 I2S_BCK- DSD_BCK-
7 I2S_LRCK- DSD_DATA_R-
8 GND GND
9 I2S_LRCK+ DSD_DATA_R+
10 I2S_MCLK+ DSD_MCLK+
11 GND GND
12 I2S_MCLK- DSD_MCLK-
13 NC NC
14 NC NC
15 NC NC
16 NC NC
17 GND GND
18 NC NC
19 GND GND

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Driver Installation
Apple/Mac OS X 10.6.5 and above comes with a driver built in. There is no need to install drivers. Mac OS
does not support DSD Native mode.
Linux has its own built in drivers and does not require driver.
The latest Win10 comes with a driver, but since its own driver does not support ASIO and does not
support DSD, you need to install the driver provided by Holo Audio. The driver installation steps are as follows.
⚫Connect the device to the power and turn it on, connect the USB input port of the device to the USB
Port of the computer with a USB cable. Select input source on dac to USB. Note: if you do not select
the digital source than the computer will not recognize the device.
⚫When the device is connected to the computer via USB, the Windows system will display a notification
that the new hardware is found and driver installation failed. Please ignore this notification (see figure
below)
⚫Locate the driver installation file and double-click to open/run the file.

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The installation wizard will ask you to close other
applications before installing. Please do this then
click “Next”
If necessary, select the installation folder by clicking
“Browse…”or use default path (recommended) then
click “Install.
Installation in progress…

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If the message like the one on the left pops up
during the installation process, please click “Install”
When you see the notification as shown on the left,
the driver installation is complete. Click “Next”to
continue.
Click “Finish”to close the installer. The device is now
available under Windows as an ASIO and WDM
Audio Device.

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Common Software Settings
Windows Default playback settings
After installing the driver, Windows will have one more audio output device, so that the system will have
multiple audio output devices to choose from. Normal application software will be using the output to the
default playback device on Windows. At this time, you need to set it up to use “Spring 2” as the default
playback device for Windows.
Right click the sound icon in systray. Click to select “playback device
(P)” or press the “P”key on the keyboard to enter the playback
device control panel, as shown. (win10 is a little different)
In the Sound/Playback folder, right click on “Holo
Audio USB Digital Interface Gen2”, and then click
“set as default”- you will see a green check appear to
confirm it is now default device.