Yes, unless you have the Anthem set to analog or digital bypass, the analog signal from your T2 is altered by the DSP of the Anthem. IMO, this degrades the signal. You can try it both ways and see which sounds better. I found putting my Classe Sigma SSP in digital bypass mode sounds much better. Of course you lose bass management this way. I got around it by connecting my suvs to the RCA outs from the Classe and manage the Bass directly with my JL Audio F 113 sub.
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Gotcha, that might be what I end up doing. The lumin does have RCA outs and the SVS subs are controllable via app.
It just seems like I wasted money on the Lumin T2 when I'm actually hearing the Anthem's DAC. Shoulda just went with the Lumin U1 mini I guess idk.. Then at least there's only one signal conversion in the chain. |
I would strongly suggest you listen for yourself here.
We can talk tech but your ears are the only arbiter. I would be personally disinclined to get a fancy DAC and then do DSP after though, seems like a a waste, but some do just that.
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@dtximages depending on how the ADC -> DAC is occurring within the Anthem, it may differ from what would happen if you were feeding digital into the Anthem for DAC. You may wish to ask Anthem if the DAC signal path is the same in both cases.
You could also try listening for any audible difference in sound quality (avoiding frequencies around and below the crossover point) with the setting turned on or off. It may be inaudible, in which case you will still get the sound character of the T2 instead of the sound character of the STR DAC chips. |
Not sure if you stream tidal, but I don’t think the Anthem DAC is fully MQA compatible, whereas the Lumin T2 is. |
I think you will get the sound character of the T2 either way. However, in my experience, using DSP alters the signal somewhat. I found using digital bypass made the music much clearer and more natural. But I would try it both ways and see what you think. As others have mentioned, it is possible you may not hear any differences. |
The Lumin uses an ESS chip the Anthem an AKM chip, both devices measure very well. I would be surprised if you could tell which was which in a blind test. I couldn’t which is why I sold my DAC and use the one in the STR. If you don’t want to use ARC, though I recommend you do unless you have a lot of room treatments, the STR still makes it very easy to integrate your subs without ARC. Use USB out on the lumin to USB in on the STR and Balanced out to Balanced in with DSP disabled and compare for yourself. |
I tried it both ways and ended up preferring the connection through balanced inter - connects with no DSP. It was a little more dynamic that way as opposed going through my Wolfson 8741 chip in my Classe. However, my XLR cables are much better than the USB cable I have. Also my Classe DAC can’t decode DSD and MQA. I would try it and see what you think. |
By sending the analog signal out of the Lumin and then reprocessing it in the Anthem's dac, aren't I losing MQA since the Anthem doesn't support it?
djones51 - Yes I currently don't use ARC but do use subs. So I have to keep the Analog Convert 32/192 setting "On" meaning that just using subs means I have to use two dacs..
It might sound fine, but it just bothers me processing the signal twice with two totally different dac sets.
Makes me wish I would have just gone with the Lumin U1 mini or stuck with the Bluesound node since it's just a streamer and it's debatable how much difference just the streamer makes.
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If you are using the Anthem DAC via USB from the Lumin, you are sending a digital signal, not analog. Thus the Anthem will only process it once, as a digital signal. You are correct that the Anthem will not, however, be able to decode a MQA signal.
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bwguy - I am not using usb. I'm using balanced xlr from the lumin to the Anthem... Thereby, I am using the Lumin's dac, than the Anthem's dac when I want to use subs or ARC. |
I found this out for myself a few weeks ago. My tube Dac was feeding the Anthem STR with the A/D then D/A conversions sounded bad compared to the Anthem letting the signal pass through. It made the Anthem a pointless preamp in my system. The built in DAC wasn’t close to competing with my Audiomirror DAC. I was hoping it would, because I really wanted the Anthem and it’s bass control to work. I sent it back |
Thanks phastm3.. I really want the bass mangement, HT bypass, and ARC... So I'm really thinking Lumin's dac is almost useless now and I should probably just go back to the Bluesound Node 2i and use it just as a streamer. Maybe the lumin u1 mini if I can convince myself it sounds better just as a streamer. |
You could connect the Lumin T2 with digital out bypassing the Lumin DAC and compare that to your Node2i connected by digital to the STR and see if you can tell much of a difference. If you like the lumin better then get the U1 which doesn't have a DAC. Not quite a perfect comparison but the U1 and T2 use the same app and probably streamer hardware. |
Dtximages,
I know this an old thread, but I am curious if you returned the Lumin. If so, what are you using now?
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@bwguy
I sold the Lumin. I wanted to try separates so I went through a couple of iterations and ultimately decided on a Bluesound Node 2i streamer into a Denafrips Aries ii DAC. Is this "better" I'm not sure. Honestly, I'm tired of people saying anything is better. It's a little different yes. But I also don't have a perfect room and have changed speakers since then.
Then I had the Tekton Double Impact SE's and KEF Reference 5. Loved both but ultimately settled on a sweet pair of Duntech Crown Prince speakers which I'll probably keep forever.
And I love BluOS, yes even more than Roon.
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Nice. I had the same issue with my Lumin T2 and my Classe Sigma SSP DAC. I did not like the idea of music going through 2 different DAC’s. However, I still have the Lumin, but I set the Classe in digital bypass mode, thereby using only the Lumin DAC. While the Classe DAC is also very good, I am pretty happy with the Lumin.
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Why do you have the Classe DAC if you're using the lumin? What's the purpose of keeping it in the chain?
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I use the Classe for sub woofers and 5.1 Blu-ray concerts and music.
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