Lumin X1 or dCS Bartok

Lumin focuses mainly on streaming - they make steamers with DACs, not DACs with streaming capability like others.  The streaming side is rock solid, rarely has issues.  Nice part is not only are their DACs fantastic, you can use the digital out capabilities later if you want to upgrade the DAC side.

I can’t help but think that not including a digital-in of any kind is a major oversight on Lumin part. It would be absolutely perfect for my needs if it had even just one. I still want to run cd transport alongside streaming... 

isn’t there another streamer/DAC around this price that could be considered? 

A few that come to mind are Auralic Vega G2 (cheaper), MSB Discrete with network renderer or a tad higher priced would be Bricasti M12 (M3 is cheaper), Brinkmann Nyquist MKII, Bel Canto Black EX DAC, Vitus RD-101, amongst many other.

There are a bunch of higher end DAC/Streamers in the $10K+ category, the harder category is less than $10K.

jriggy, 

If you have not seen, you might want to check out https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/57261-sonore-compact-disc-digital-audio-streaming/

It's an interesting idea.  Used microRendu units are pretty reasonable and 2.8 card from Sonore to update to use the idea not very expensive.  It appears to me you could access the cd stream from Roon.

Thanks guys. I will look into the mentioned. 

Doesn't the X1 have a usb input?

ozzy

ozzy,

Yes, the X1 has a single USB that can be used either for input or output.

As a point of clarification on the Lumin X1's USB connection, it can be used as an output with Native DSD512 support, PCM 44.1–768kHz, 16–32-bit, Stereo. As an input it supports connection of USB storage, flash drive, USB hard disk (Single-partition FAT32, exFAT and NTFS only).

bill_k,
Sorry, I am not too computer savvy. What does a single partition Hard Drive mean? It is a Western Digital hard drive that only has my music file on it. However they are in folders by artist.

ozzy

Hey Ozzy! A hard drive can be partitioned to appear as multiple drives instead of a single drive (i.e. a 5TB drive can be single partitioned with its full storage as D:, or be partitioned to appear as multiple smaller drives such as D:, E:, and F:) Sounds like yours is in the standard single partition, folders are not an issue.

However while I believe the Lumin will recognize a hard drive like yours connected via USB, to have full indexing and metadata display they recommend that you run MinimServer which is free server software. So I think you’d be best off connecting the drive to a PC on your network and run MS on the PC to support that drive, or else use a NAS drive instead of a USB drive and run MS on the NAS drive.

I don’t own a Lumin myself but this is from what I’ve read about them. I’d suggest discussing your setup with a Lumin dealer to ensure how it will work with your current drive, what limitations is might have, and how to set it up with MS if needed as I know Lumin recommends.

bill_k,

Thanks, I think I understand most of what you stated. I'm nearing 68 and  I missed most of the computer generation.
I like to keep it simple, if I can.

ozzy

Late to this discussion but recently I trade my DCS Bartok in on a Lumin X1 and I am very happy with the switch.  Not having them side by side I did not A B them.  But I can tell you that the Lumin and Bartok both sound great.  They both run or ran through a Mcintosh C22 and MC462.

It terms of the difference I think the Lumin just sounds more real.  I am a guitar player and I notice that with the Lumin it sounds like an acoustic guitar playing in the room.  It sound like high end analog without the fuss or records.

One more point I was very happy with the DCS and never felt like I needed more but I was using Sonos through the DCS for multi-zone music and I could not use Tidal and was limited to spotify. To build a multi-zone system with DCS would have been very cost prohibitive.

That led me to the Lumin X1 paired with the two M1s for my other zones.  The Lumin M1 is a self contained amp dac streamer.  I now have the perfect HiRes 3 zone set up.

I also run a Lumin T2 with a Mcintosh MA6500 (which has 2 zone built in) in a second home.

I love the dependability and resale value of Mcintosh.  Paired with Lumin which provides ease of use, world class sound and rock solid dependability you have a great combination that will last for years.

One last comment I like the thought of having a tube component (C22) in the chain.  It would be interesting to try a solid state pre in place of the C22.

Happy for now.  LOL 

I was told that the following $800 DAC beats Bartok in resolution and openness :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjus0erFU_4

fiza32 posts08-26-2020 7:44pmI was told that the following $800 DAC beats Bartok in resolution and openness :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjus0erFU_4

LOL!!!

Update on the Lumin gear ... the multiroom did not sync which is very disappointing.  If you read the fine print on their website it does disclose this but I can't imagine having multiroom that does not sync.

I traded in the lumin gear and am now looking at high end multiroom gear that will sync.

Anyone looking for multiroom stay away from lumin.

I have heard the Lumin T1 (not the X1), it was very good, musical and engaging. Heard the Dcs Bartok and the Vivaldi Stack multiple times in different systems, was never impressed nor engaged with them. If you can, look into MSB, which I'd take over both.

Just got my X1 and it’s breaking in. Which I believe is going to take a while! First impressions are very favorable. Including ease of set up. Mine is getting everything from my router via regular ethernet cable. My Mac Mini M1 is home to both Lumin player and Roon as well as my ripped music. I plan on upgrading to optical very soon. To my old and tired ears it sound absolutely wonderful. Can’t wait for the major break into be completed. Down the road I plan on connect the X1  streaming section to my Luxman D-10X DAC for some fun comparisons.

Right now it’s playing Radio Paradise World and it sounds so good.

I am ordering X1 now. I also have dcs Bartok using Mutec clocks(2MC-3+ Smart Clock USB and REF10). They are so different. I would say that you could trick out Bartok lots more. Lumin X1 is good as it is. Sound organic and have good dynamic. While Bartok is more fun and sounds little more on the darker side, which fit my stereo : AudioNet Max mono amp and pre G2 with Avior II Rockport Technology speaker. I am ordering X1 to use with jeff rowland continuum s2 int amp and Boenicke b10 speaker.

@djek -- I can tell you the X-1 that I used to own was extremely close to my Lampizator Pacific in SQ.  

That's $27000++dac. That's awesome.

The lumin x1 that is owned by me, was purchased because of its internal dac and streamer under one roof.  I own separate dacs and found x1 to be better and may be due to internal wiring that works better than dealing with all the separate interconnects and dacs to clutter up sound path.

Nobody enjoys dealing with inserting the variety of dacs offered. Separates have their place in a high end system but the dac I found makes sense to integrate within the streamer box and lumin does it exceptionally well. It even makes poorly recorded Great classical Rock music from the 70s sound really good and that's a huge deal.

My system also has a nucleus to host Roon and I wonder if I can do better here. Any ideas? I like the nucleus but it's a computer offering lots of noise

@kingdeezie 

 

That is quite inconvenient for me. Yes, I want max fidelity. But, my wife will some time use her tv to listen to music and there is no connection for that.  

Thought I’d provide a 2024 refresh from an X1 owner since early 2021.  I recently auditioned the Rossini Apex in my system for 4 days as a potential upgrade to the X1.  The Bartok is the more obvious competitor, but it lost (in pre-Apex guise) back in 2021, and the purpose of this audition was to find an upgrade.  

Bottom line: the Rossini was initially quite notably superior in the areas of decay, natural timbre on drums, mid-bass presence and articulation, detail of overtones and harmonics.  But then I found that I was 4 versions behind on the X1 firmware, and that the X1 also has a DSD 128 upsampling option for 44.1 material like the Rossini was configured to use.  After applying the firmware upgrade and upsampling configuration option, the X1 was fully equal, and nearly indistinguishable from the Rossini Apex within the limits of my system and hearing resolution.    

I’ll be holding off on upgrading until I have space and budget for a Vivaldi stack (which is quite definitively better and I haven’t even heard the Apex version yet).  Bottom line, the X1 is still a phenomenal value and (at least within my limited system) matches the performance of mid-range SOTA from one of the best brands in digital.  

-Paul

System: Burrmester 948, Lumin X1, McIntosh MT-10 + Clearaudio Stradivari, McIntosh C500T with NOS Telefunkens, 2x McIntosh MC500, Sonus Faber Il Cremonese Ex3me, SF Gravis VI

 

I have several DACs including the X1, which I have had for several years.   It has been a very solid and good sounding piece for me.   I have not heard the Bartok.  I have thought about selling it, but have not acted on that,   Lumin has been excellent on software updates and responding to customer questions an issue online.   Leedh Processing was a no charge additional update, and is very good.  I prefer to use a preamp, Makua, which, I have preferred but not by a great margin.  I have added a new piece in my system that has a USB input and my Antipodes K50 G4 has a single USB output.   I had read an independent review and later from Lumin that USB from the Lumin could be used as a digital out where the X1 would act solely as a player and USB could be connected to another USB DAC.  I love options and tried this into the Makua USB option in the DAC (Tambaqui).   The sound is different but very, very good.   Doing this requires the user to configure output from the X1 from Analog to USB (SPDIF also an option) via the Lumin downloadable app.  Lots to like about the X1.