Active vs passive preamplifiers? - Holo Serene Preamp Review (and GoldPoint)

What are the pros and cons of active vs passive preamps? A discussion of this, why you'd want a preamp in the first place, and a review of the Holo Serene preamp.
Apologies that the subjective descriptions here were so short. But honestly this thing is such a transparent preamp that it simply doesn't sound like anything, and I love it.
I don't mean that in the 'measures great but sounds cold/harsh' way. I mean it sounds like a wire.

Holo Serene:

Goldpoint measurements:
&

Holo Serene Measurements:

Test tracks:

0:00 - Intro
1:08 - Preamp Task 1: Volume Control/gain
2:24 - Preamp Task 2: Input/Output switching
3:19 - Preamp Task 3: Sound Signature/Flavour
4:21 - Passive Preamplifiers
4:59 - Goldpoint Measurements
6:02 - Active vs Passive
8:18 - Why I bought the serene
9:20 - Holo Serene Measurements
9:55 - Build
11:05 - Internals
11:46 - Sound
16:40 - Serene as a Headphone Amp
19:06 - Conclusion/Summary
20:25 - Patron Shoutouts & Updates

[Sebastian_Athea]

Some DAC companies advertise their digital volume control as being just as good as discrete preamps, RME doubles down on this with claims that their dacs and interfaces digital volume control paired with 3 stage automatic analog gain switching performs better than relay based volume controls; if you have time I would love to see some measurements of this since you already have RME pro, and the effects of digital volume control on signal in general.

[TheGamerUnknown]

Absolutely loving your content man! So glad you started doing all this. The preamp section was very informative. :)

[lennartmiau]

As somebody who only gets half of what you're saying, thanks for the introduction at the beginning. I would definitely appreciate it if you continue doing these mini-tutorials as to what a certain type of hardware (and/or software?) does and why one should consider using it.
My plan right now is to just watch your videos and occasionally google something you reference when I'm completely stumped and am missing out on a lot of context, which has worked for me in other topics. My main motivation to kind of concentrate on your channel is that you seem like an extremely trustworthy guy (while still being fair and entertaining), and from what I gather there's a ton of misinformation in the audiophile niche so I appreciate you weeding out the noise. Maybe there are more people out there with similar viewing practices - I'm just telling you so that you can potentially get more familiar with your audience. Or maybe I'm just that self-important :P

Now I just need to get a lotta €€€ to even consider actively improving my setups...

[mikeythanos]

After hearing the clicks on that turn dial, I want that on every amp possible now

[bobdog]

Great content, I really enjoy your channel. That said, I think that there is a *fourth* function for active preamps--and another reason to chose one over a passive. And that's to do with impedance-matching. Although you brought it up with respect to (long) cables' impedance, source components also have their own (output) impedance. Often, this is higher than ideal (to drive an amp directly). Active preamps can lower the effective output impedance that the amp "sees, " something that a passive pre cannot do. Many listeners have said that, for all their transparency, passive pre's "rob" the music of its dynamics and life; something that I, myself, have experienced. I don't have access to your testing equipment (the measurements of which I really appreciate), so I cannot say that that is what was going on with the active pre's (and DACs directly connected to amps) to which I've listened. But my listening seems to at least conform to those who speak of impedance-matching and underscores this as another important aspect of a (quality) active preamp stage in one's system.

[BrentLeVasseur]

I just got two of those Benchmark AHB2s to use as monoblocks for my speakers. As for transparent, what it means is you can’t hear it. An amp like the Benchmark can be transparent because the distortion level is so low you can’t hear it and it doesn’t add any color to your system so all you end up hearing are the sonic characteristics of your other components. In the video world 16k is at the maximum resolution the human eye can detect for say a 65” monitor. Apple calls this a “retina’ display because once you go above this resolution the human eye can’t see the increased detail, just like in the case of a transparent amp, it has gone below the noise threshold that the human ear can detect a sonic signature.

[gastonpossel]

I'm an acoustic engineer and this is the first time I hear of a "passive preamp". Since preamps amplifies a signal, they put energy in, which makes them all active. With your clarification that "passive preamps" can only attenuate, I believe this is a semantics quirk. A passive device in front of a poweramp or an adc, or any other input, will be an attenuator/impedance matching device to me (not sure how to call them, but "preamplifier" seems weird).

[raccoon]

*this is the only video on YT that has Goldpoint preamp in its content*

[datdudeinred]

You are just the best audio reviewer out there. I am lucky i found you.

[BobCoalWater]

I’m no head-fi, you are never the less, by far, my favorite audio reviewer, very insightful. Breaks my heart that you are not into vinyl, to make it worse you have a
turntable on your home page.

[phantomplastics]

I experience the exact same difference between passive preamps and active ones. The best appear to be simple buffers that preserve the transparency of the passive but help the bass fullness. I'm not an expert but I believe Nelson Pass explains it in terms of better impedance matching. Nelson is a legend and he responds to all emails himself. Could be worth asking him. I'm sure he would have huge appreciation for what you're doing.

[lelluc]

It’s always a good day when golden uploads, keep it up! <3

[riknos]

Would be fascinating to see a comparison of the Serene and the Benchmark LA4, especially since you already like the AHB-2

[IAmThankfulToday]

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the Benchmark LA4 and/or HPA4.

[jarms]

Impedance matching improves with the introduction of an active preamp in certain circumstances. What our reviewer is hearing in the bass is likely a buffering effect.

[gordonfreeman]

I find you the best audio reviewer on YT, hands down the compettition is not even close. I don't say others are bad or that I don't view them, I just think this is what match me the best.
(Looking forward to the Mest review ;)

[WillieBloom]

Thank you for the review Golden Sound. I like your style of reviews. You spend the maximum amount of time on measurements I can tolerate (there's a good meme here somewhere. You know who you are). I've been into head-fi since 2015 and I am still learning things from reviews and your reviews usually contribute to my knowledge. I mean, head-fi isn't even a side gig or a hobby for me. I just enjoy listening to music (and TV and movies) through headphones. I just want it to sound good. I can't get too deep into the weeds.

The reviews help to temper the urge to spend too much money on devices which I perhaps should avoid or pairings which are sub-optimal. Of course it is tempting to go balls-to-the-wall and buy the Holo May DAC, the Bliss, the Serendipity all levelled to the max. I could. I would have to sacrifice and prioritise but I could. But just because I could do something does not mean that I should do something. Ten grand on a headphone stack? If money is no object heck then I would just throw in the kitchen sink (the sink being a Sennheiser Orpheus). Or why not a Chord stack just for kicks and giggles since we're throwing money around? It's good to have some fiscal discipline. Besides, I do not believe in "end-game" audio setups. If I've learned one thing from ten years of zed reviews it's that the next best thing has just arrived!

This makes the spotlight on Goldpoint just that more apt as I have never heard of them before.(come on, admit it, you were googling yourself and stumbled across this product serendipitously ;-). I was looking for a Holo Bliss review and got gilded - twice! The next time I'm stateside I will have to pick one up. It easily fits the budget and hey, I trust your reviews.


For my part, you can never get too simplistic in your reviews. They say that repetition is the mother of knowledge. Let's just say that I need repetition. I am still learning about input and output impedance in the audio chain and how this can affect audio. Heck, another reviewer who gave a shout-out to you Golden Sound taught me about different DAC voltages. I had no idea. This serves to exemplify why just blasting one's portemonnaie wide open for expensive kit may lead to inferior results. Ten years into head-fi and I'm am still learning this basic (?) stuff? Hm.

I know that I am verbose so I will try to close with this. I have a few tube amps (saying valve amps just doesn't sound right to me), nothing fancy. Dipping my toes in the water with some less expensive chi-fi. I have been rather active on the marketplace where I live, procuring tubes from online sources (like eBay but not eBay), getting lucky with estate sales. It's kinda like panning for gold. A lot of tailings for a few golden nuggets. It works though. I have tubes up the wazoo now so I am really looking forward to tube amp/pre-amp and maybe a tube DAC or two reviews. It's been quite the revival of tube head-fi gear. Living in Sweden it hasn't gone unnoticed that my fellow Europeans to the south are making some very fine products. Many are making kit, some are still manufacturing tubes (shout-out to KR Audio in Czechia).

Thanks again.

(Brevity is not one of my qualities)

[supercompooper]

I like the soundstaging of those clicks man !

[Thethaggie]

I can't wait until I see a Holo Stack with this and the new headphone amp.

[mikelm]

An Active preamp with a constant low output impedance will often increase the damping factor of the following amplifier in comparison with a higher output impedance preamp. This explains the better bass sound you are describing.