Lumin X1 latest Review like we have been saying

You can’t connect a CD player directly to the X1.

You also cannot (to my knowledge) directly connect the USB output of a computer to the X1. The connection is through the network.

Why would you want to? Depending on the size of your library, a computer is a better way of storing and organising a large collection of music files, particularly if it is updated frequently. Using the network the X1 is isolated from noise from either the PC or the hard drive. You can use other software such as Roon or JRiver rather than the Lumin app. I use Roon primarily and stream from my PC.

I recently bought a Lumin X1. I have owned the Chord DAVE/Blu 2 (and M Scaler), Mytek Manhattan II and Ayre QX5 Twenty, amongst others.
The Lumin is easily the best DAC I have owned. I was looking for something more satisfying than the Chord DAVE/M Scaler, which over the long term I found rather fatiguing: thin sounding and - with the M Scaler - a little bright and tonally bleached.

The Lumin X1 is at the other end of the spectrum to the Chord. It is warm, rich, tonally dense but also dynamic and very fast. Chord makes a big deal about the reproduction of transients, but to me the Lumin presents transients more realistically and more dynamically. Listing to cymbals, for example, the Chord sounded papery and flat. The Lumin presents cymbal sounds with depth in a realistic three dimensional space, but they also sound tonally correct and fast.

I should mention also that the X1 took the better part of a month to burn in. At the end of the first week I was ready to return it - it sounded thin, monochrome and two dimensional, and took quite a while before it started to sound good. So if you do get to demo the X1, make sure it has been fully run in. I also found that the fiber optic input is significantly better than the ethernet input.

I would have loved to have heard the DCS Bartok at the same time, but from comments on various forums I suspect I have made the right choice. The DCS sound is reported to be more analytical, and less "musical". I can't comment from experience (yet) but the Lumin is definitely at the "musical" end of the spectrum, while giving up nothing in detail and other "hi fi" attributes.

Tom 8999, yes the Sabre dac is much better than the Wolfson DAC in the D1. I’ve owned the A1 and D1 as well as a few other Wolfson dacs from EAR, Exposure and others. I also have had a number of dacs using the current Sabre chips - the X1, Mytek Manhattan II, Ayre QX5 and Exasound e32. The latest generation of Sabre dac chips really are superb and a significant advance on their previous generation, and a very big jump from the Wolfson chip.

mgrif104, I have done the comparison you are referring to. I have the X1 as well as the U1 Mini, and have run both into my Mytek Manhattan II. I always thought that the U1 Mini was a superb streamer (which it is), but the X1 as a streamer is significantly better again - greater clarity, deeper tonal colours and less "hash". However, even when using the X1 as a streamer, the Mytek is a noticeable step down from the Lumin dac. The streaming section of the X1 will not suddenly turn a lesser dac into an X1 equivalent.

mayoradamwest, do you seriously think anyone on this forum is unaware that Audiotroy is posting to increase his sales? Of course he is. Everyone knows that, it is completely transparent and hardly needs pointing out. Even Audiotroy admits this and very clearly discloses which products he sells and which he does not. But along the way, he also dispenses some useful information, and as long as you understand that he also has an agenda - and everyone does understand this - there is nothing wrong with this, and his posts are often informative and interesting.

And I should add that I have no connection with Audiotroy and have never dealt with him (I’m in a different country, for a start). But I do agree with him about the Lumin X1. I recently bought a Lumin X1 and it is a stunning dac. It is better IMO than the Chord DAVE/M Scaler which I have also owned, and that alone makes it worth the asking price to me.