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Lumin D2 Dac/Streamer Vs 2021 Node/Denafrips Ares ii or Chord Qutest

Hello Gang! So I'm picking up my first actual system tomorrow, and the final piece of the puzzle besides cabling is a Dac and Streamer. I've seen a lot of positive write-ups regarding the Lumin D2 dac/streamer so I would love to hear from some actual owners about its positive or negative performance. I listen to a lot of obscure heavier music, industrial etc. The production quality can occasionally be poor, not to mention that a lot of the source material is of low quality. (Wish I still had my cd's but will be  revisiting that down the road) So I would want a forgiving DAC, polished, not too revealing, and with an overall energetic  to make the most of these kinds of recordings. I also listen to a lot of 80's rock, such as Talk Talk, Genesis, and Mr.Mister, which I imagine would  would best be suited by an  R2R  DAC like the Ares(just making an educated guess here, I could be wrong). Vocal emphasis is significant to me too. I've heard mixed things about the actual functionality of the Lumin APP, but I intend on bypassing any proprietary app for the streamer and just use Tidal Connect,Spotify Connect and Airplay for my personal music library.
I'm an IOS and apple guy, so maybe the Lumin app would gets along better with the mac stuff. I've also heard excellent things about the Denafrips Ares ii. It seems like many characteristics of this DAC would align nicely with the music I listen to. I am on the fence w/ the Chord qutest since it's often described as being overly revealing with poor recordings and picky with gear pairing. If I went Ares/Chord I  would pick up the Bluesound node and call it a day. 

 Max Budget for streamer/Dac right now is 2600.  I would greatly appreciate any observations, suggestions, or firsthand experience with the above-mentioned gear! Also, I just wanted to add that Auditioning Dacs/streamers isn't really in the cards right now. I just want to get something up and running that would best compliment my system and musical tastes!

Thanks in advance!

 

Amp: Luxman 507 Mark II

Speakers: Dynaudio Evoke 20's

Cabling: Not sure yet. Will probably get everything I need from Blue Jeans so I can get up and running.

Turntable: Technics 1500 with stock Ortofon Red.

 

 

128x128mrcorky
highpeakrider
43 posts
 

I like my D2 and its currently being used with Roon.

Be aware if you want the just use it as a streamer with Tidal you would have to use the Lumin app or Roon as the D2 does not work with Tidal Connect.

I’m hoping Spotify HiFi sounds good which would mean I can remove Roon.

mrcorky's avatar
mrcorky OP
11 posts
 

The U1 Mini sounds like it would potentially be a nice fit for me! I love the fact it shares the same design features with the other Lumin streamers/Dacs as they are the most beautiful on the market today imo.
However, one of my biggest concerns with any streamer is constant connectivity issues and frequent dropouts, as Acaciaavenue and others have experienced. My time is limited for at-home listening, and constant disconnecting/reconnecting would really suck the fun out of it. I recently upgraded to the latest Verizon Gigabit modemn and mesh network extender so  I will mess around with that a little this weekend and see how stable it is. Luckily, if I did go the U1 mini route, it would be running on the mesh extender, which isn't incredibly far from the modem. Acacia, thanks for pointing out the D2 is not Tidal connect compatible, as that's a bit of a deal-breaker for me. I saw Lumin listed on the Tidal connect supported devices page and just assumed being the D2 is a newish model it would have been supported. It makes me wonder if the U1 Mini or any Current Lumin Devices will be compatible with Spotify Hifi once that's officially released. 

Spencer, I most certainly plan on phasing out airplay and Itunes classic out down the line once I'm settled in with my new system. Keep in mind that a lot of the non-streaming source material I listen to is 320KPS mp3 quality, so I'm unsure how much quality degradation I'm experiencing using airplay. This is one of the reasons I plan to integrate a transport eventually so I can rebuy a lot of the music I listen to on CD that isn't available in higher quality digital formats.

highpeakrider
43 posts
 

Lumin have confirmed Spotify Hi-Fi will be supported.

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,348 posts
 

@mrcorky 

I’ve not had a single connectivity issue with my Lumin U1 Mini in the few months that I own it. Zero issues. I use eero mesh network. I reboot all network components every other week…old habit from when I owned the AURALiC streamer. 

ozzy62's avatar
ozzy62
2,859 posts
 

 No connectivity issues with Lumin for me using Ethernet.

 

 

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