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Lumin T2 dac gone bad? distortion "spitting" "splatty" in mids/highs

I bought my Lumin T2 from Audiogon and noticed on many songs a mid/high distortion that sounds like a cable might be loose or a bad connection somewhere.  Finally after hours of switching out cables I decided to bypass the DAC and use my Anthem STR DAC (via usb) instead.  Spitting sound gone!  

Is this a common thing?  I found out that Lumin's customer service is in China and they don't have an 800 number so I had to email.  This ought to be very interesting.

Note: that most of the time the dac sounds fantastic!  It's only on those transients that I hear a "splatter" if you will at ALL volumes.    
dtximages
ddude003
161 posts
 
It sounds like a gain structure issue... Peter is a smart guy... I would listen to him and not worry about the "so called" Normal setting... It is all about matching voltages between components... If you really want to learn, search for "gain structure"... Google is your frenemy...
djones51
4,947 posts
 
What input on the STR do you connect the Lumin to? I imagine it’s what ddude003 mentioned, according to Lumin.

Some systems (perhaps with a high-gain pre-amplifier) may be better matched using the ’Low’ setting. It uses a combination of DAC settings to lower the output level by around -4db.
You’re just giving it some headroom it’s probably clipping on the transients.

If you bypass the DAC in the STR you bypass ARC room correction. 
bo1972's avatar
bo1972
2,789 posts
 
In the menu of the T2 you will find the setting: Analog Audio Output level.

It is probably set to normal. When you change this from normal to low you will hear that the distortion you had with some songs probably will be gone.

Almost all Lumin players you can use in the normal setting. It also depends on the system and loudspeakers you use. I used the Lumin S1 always to the normal setting without any problem. But when I received the X1 with some song I had the distortion as well. When I changed it from normal to low, all the issues were gone

Good luck!!
bo1972's avatar
bo1972
2,789 posts
 
The only known issue with the T2 is the mainboard. But this is an issue that you could get when you just bought it. We had one T2 with this issue. But the distortion problem you mention is just the load to the amplifier/pre-amp.
bwguy's avatar
bwguy
227 posts
 
Make sure you set the Anthem to analog bypass, otherwise your T2 analog signal gets converted back to digital when it goes through DSP, which will degrade the quality.  The downside is you lose room correction and bass management, but you will get a cleaner sound.
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