Replace Macbook into Oppo with Lumin T2 for streamer/DAC?

I have owned a T2 for a little over two years. It has performed flawlessly and the sound quality it provides is what I like: very good tone, soundstaging and detail without sounding analytical. I have used the LUMIN app but I am a Roon man so that supersedes use of the app, which took me about a day to master and is more than adequate.The only tweaks I did are Herbie’s footers and an audioquest monsoon power cord. Previous to the LUMIN, I used a Mac mini and it’s an understatement to say it was a step up when I went with the LUMIN. I am a Qobuz user And I could easily hear the sonic differences between that service and Tidal while the Lumin lets you hear more into the recording as the resolution numbers climb with the Qobuz stream

Look the main thing to keep in mind is that the Oppo is a universal player and it will play all your physical media if thats important. Also, Feeding a signal from your computer to the Oppo is fine, the Oppo does the rest and dont discount what that means, its a serious contender against anything in the 5K range. Oppo dosent make these players anymore and they are special considering the new price ($1200). I would look to upgrade the way you stream  music by purchasing a LEGIT streamer from Aurender ($2500-$3500) and connect USB to the Oppo,and do it right! Oppo 105 is a awesome DAC by itself.



Matt M

When I tried a Lumin a few years back the Lumin app that was used to control the streamer did not work well at all on Android devices.  I don't know if they've improved the app for Android devices.

If you use an Apple tablet or phone the app works like a charm.

We are streaming experts We sell many streamers including the lumins as well as bricast inaim nuprime nad and others

Dave and troy
AUDIO INTELLECT NJ

Depends on the rest of your system. If your system has any brightness at all the T2 will be fatiguing over time
Great player in the right system but you may have to work at it to get its best

Benzmanthe lumin is hardly fatigguing you have to know how to set it up set sampling to dsd and the sound is extremely smooth also needs 200 hours of break in

Thanks to everyone for the insightful comments. I value your experience. There seems to be a consensus that I can improve on the Macbook as a server/streamer, whether that is with the Lumin T2 or a dedicated streamer and separate DAC. I like the simplicity of an all-in-one DAC/streamer like the Lumin T2, Aurender A10, or Mytek Brooklyn Bridge. I'm not unhappy with the sound of the Oppo105D as a DAC. In fact, I often play hi rez files on a flash drive through the Oppo and get great sound quality. Maybe a good streamer/server with the Oppo is the way to go.

Went from Mac Mini to the Lumin T2 and couldn't be happier. The SQ is quite refined and no bright in my system. I use the Roon app so didn't meddle with the Lumin app.Since I use Tidal I can't speak much about Qobuz. 

I have an oppo 95 and even when it was the current model I was not impressed with tits sound quality.  I've never heard the 105 but I'm pretty sure you can do a lot better.

The unmodified Oppo 105, which I own, does not contain a high performance DAC by today's standards.  Many not very expensive separate DACs can provide far higher SQ.  That being said, if the 105 satisfies you, an expenditure on an expensive high performance streamer will not likely produce a worth-the-expenditure increase in SQ that will be limited by the 105.  But it's your money.  The best SQ starts with, but does not end with, the DAC.

FWIW I believe in separates rather than all-in-one units.  That way they can be upgraded without throwing everything out.

I’ve had a T2 for 16 months. I use it with Tidal, Qobuz and Spotify, and have been very satisfied with it. The build quality and sound production are excellent. I use its analog XLR outputs into my McIntosh C2600 preamp.

The Lumin app is basic, and aside from a few bugs it provides solid functionally (I use it on an iPad pro). It provides basic search functions and basic playlist management. It works, but it’s pretty limited.

The T2 has always supported Spotify Connect, and recently they upgraded their firmware to support Tidal Connect. This allows you to use the dedicated Spotify and Tidal apps, which are far better than the Lumin app. These apps, among other things, are able to tap into both services curation features that the Lumin app does not. It is a huge advance. I’m hopeful that Qobuz will follow with a "Qobuz Connect" feature and that Lumin will likewise support it. When/If Qobuz does this, I will be dropping Tidal, as I'm not really an MQA guy.

I am not a Roon user, so I can’t comment on the T2 with Roon. I choose not to use Roon because I do not want yet another PC to maintain, and appreciate that the T2 is a self contained component (I turn it on and it just works).

my $.02

Didn't know they added Tidal Connect. Thanks for the info.