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Sound signature comparison - Streamer/DACs

Good morning!  Somewhat subjective here.  I am trying to get an idea of the “signature” sound differences between LUMIN, Aurender, Auralic, and Rose.    I currently have a LUMIN D2 and I really like the warm, musical nature of the Wolfson chips.   I know most have gone to the Sabre and I’m trying to avoid the overly analytical, bright, and harsh sound.  I know there are many things to consider, but I am curious to thoughts here.    I also know that these units are constantly upgraded.   My primary source is Qobuz.  I need an internal DAC and it would be nice to run the optical from my TV through it.   Being able to change inputs remotely would be great.    Thanks for your time. 

brett11
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,904 posts
 

gkelley op never mentioned benchmark

rbstehno
1,525 posts
 

The op must be talking about benchmark, he stated overly bright and harsh. That’s benchmark to a t!

trivema's avatar
trivema
132 posts
 

Keep the LUMIN D2!  I have a Cambridge Audio CXN V2 with dual Wolfson chips and love the warm, musical and dare say relaxed sound signature. Still plenty of detail and clarity.  The D2 is much higher end and I would imagine far better implementation and parts, so it has to sound much better than the Cambridge Audio.  What’s missing from the D2 that you’re looking for? 

boostedis
114 posts
 

If the OP thinks his LUMIN is ‘warm’ then I would suggest he get out and discover more DAC/Streamers! I would never personally describe the LUMIN products as warm. If anything, they are a little sharp around the edges compared to the Rose RS-150 and certainly compared to Esoteric/TEAC, Holo, Denafrips, etc. I put LUMIN in the same sound signature category as Chord. 

brett11 OP
29 posts
 

I am just curious.   I would say that I would love to have the option to run optical from my TV to it.  Not a show stopper, but worth a listen.  

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