I have owned the D-2, A-1 and then upgraded to the X-1. I also own a U_1 mini. When I purchased the X-1 I sold my Emm Lab DAC and Laufer Teknik memory player. The X-1 is the best DAC under $19k period.
I loved the Lumin App ( no need for Roon or anything else). The sound quality was dramatic between all of the Lumin series that I owned. The X-1 just plain elevated my music enjoyment.
I disagree that it is not popular. At $14k it is not inexpensive. I recently sold my X-1. While I was selling mine there were 4 other X-1's on the market. They all sold. I had 5 offers on mine.
Why did I sell it if I thought it was so great? I was intrigued by what an all tube system would sound like. I purchased a Lampizator Pacific which cost double of the X-1. While I am super happy with the Pacific, I then had to order a source for my music. Consequently, I had to fork out another chunk of money for a Lucas Audio LMDS music server. Further, I am going to have to sign up for Roon or some variant. All of this is in the one box X-1. I hate to say this but the sound of the X-1 is only slightly marginal compared to the Pacific. So take that as a major win for the X-1.
Tidal and Qobuz are part of the software and they work great. I found Spotify to be two steps below in terms of sound quality. The other item is that you can hook up fiber optically which will improve the speed and dynamics of what you are listening to.
If you get a chance to buy and X-1, you will be a happy camper!
I loved the Lumin App ( no need for Roon or anything else). The sound quality was dramatic between all of the Lumin series that I owned. The X-1 just plain elevated my music enjoyment.
I disagree that it is not popular. At $14k it is not inexpensive. I recently sold my X-1. While I was selling mine there were 4 other X-1's on the market. They all sold. I had 5 offers on mine.
Why did I sell it if I thought it was so great? I was intrigued by what an all tube system would sound like. I purchased a Lampizator Pacific which cost double of the X-1. While I am super happy with the Pacific, I then had to order a source for my music. Consequently, I had to fork out another chunk of money for a Lucas Audio LMDS music server. Further, I am going to have to sign up for Roon or some variant. All of this is in the one box X-1. I hate to say this but the sound of the X-1 is only slightly marginal compared to the Pacific. So take that as a major win for the X-1.
Tidal and Qobuz are part of the software and they work great. I found Spotify to be two steps below in terms of sound quality. The other item is that you can hook up fiber optically which will improve the speed and dynamics of what you are listening to.
If you get a chance to buy and X-1, you will be a happy camper!