Think ill just go with a lumin


Starting out anew. reading all of the post into the wee evening hours, and getting more and more confused, I think I may just get a Lumin DAC/streamer combo. D2 or T2 i suppose, maybe an S1 if i can find one a little cheaper and I scrimp and save a little more.

My situation is rebuilding from scratch, so waiting for pieces to come together. Going with a Mac MA 352, and a pair of devore o96 speakers. Smallish room, just plan on streaming and putting a turntable onto the system, but nothing else. Figure i will just subscribe to tidal or Qbouz for the convenience, although anything appl conected is a plus. Will have a hard wire connection and decent wifi. I suppose i am most worried about how technology may change, and whether I should go R2R, but that rabbit hole started to make my head hurt.

If anyone has some opinions, either it wont work or seems like a solid approach, views are much appreciated.

 

skiforbagels

I will second the Sonnet Hermes streamer and Morpheus DAC. They have incredible synergy and musicality. Enjoy the search, that is half the fun. 
 

john

As to what you’ll like or what sounds better, those are questions only you can answer. Do you prefer a more detailed (some call it clinical) sound or a smoother (some call it warmer) sound? I suggest listening to multiple DACs as there are variations among delta-sigma and R2R DACs and within those two categories. 
 

As to LUMIN, I auditioned both the D2 and T2 at a dealer. The T2 to me was audibly more resolving and clearer. I took the T2 home to audition, but since the T2 will also work as a streamer, I compared the T2 DAC output to my current DAC, an Ayre Acoustics QB-9DSD. I found the Ayre DAC more neutral, equally if not more resolving, but less clinical sounding (said another way, it had less of what I perceived to be an edginess in the higher frequencies). The result was I purchased the LUMIN U1 mini, with which I am very pleased, and upgraded my DAC to a QB-9 Twenty when Ayre came out with that major upgrade.
 

LUMIN makes an excellent product, and using an Ethernet connection from my music server to an Ethernet switch, through the LUMIN via Ethernet, then to my USB DAC was far superior to connecting the server to the DAC directly via USB. I use Roon, but find LUMIN’s app a reasonable alternative providing fewer features but less complexity.  And their app sounds as good as Roon if not a slight bit better in clarity.

I can’t speak to other products, but encourage you to audition several, preferably at home with your other gear. My dealer’s showroom has extensive acoustical treatments which made their listening rooms sound almost dead to me. Very unnatural, not like a room in your house or a concert venue or club, more like a recording studio.

Happy listening. 

I have the Lumin X1 in my main system and am quite happy with it.  Most flexible DAC/Streamer I have owned

Hello,

You may not know about the new Lumin P1 all in one preamp/ streamer/ DAC. It has been said that it is almost as good as the X1 in sound when streaming due to the ESS pro chip. It is not inexpensive but at 10k it is cheaper than the Lumin X1 and you get a great preamp to go with it all in one really nice looking chassis. It is so good some are wondering if this will hurt X1 sales. I am not sure where you are located but this dealer in the Chicagoland area might have the first one to demo. 
holmaudio.com. 
if you are not in the Chicagoland area hopefully your closest dealer has a demo to listen to. Since you are talking about changing some of your gear you might give this a listen. Holm Audio is also a dealer for Puritan. If you have not demoed the Puritan PSM156 power conditioner you are missing out. Also, Now you can upgrade this with the Puritan GroundMaster City for a plug and play option to upgrade your ground. Believe me you have not heard your system until you have heard it with the Puritan PSM156 and the GroundMaster City. Remember all of your great music is recreated using the power from the wall. I hope this helps and that you have a place to demo these amazing products. 

I have the X1 Mini with upgraded PS and love it! I can only imagine how the higher up models must sound.