DAC Shootout Starts This Weekend

@topside3 All 3 of my streamers were great. I have not heard the very best feature of the PlayBack Designs Streamer-IF because I do not have a PD DAC to use the PLink feature. However, the SPDIF of the IF sounded a mix in-between the Lumin X1 fibre and my Sonore OpticalRendu.

The Lumin X1 is as loud as the IF (just a gain setting I guess). It sounds the fastest on music playback. A real toe tapping experience. I loved the X1 streamer and the features on it are the best of all 3. This was very important when I wanted to stream to SPDIF to my incredible modded Peachtree GAN1. This GAN1 was as good as $20K+ gear with the Lumin X1 via SPDIF.

The OpticalRendu wsa not as loud and maybe not as fast sounding. It sounded rather refined to me compared to the other 2. The PD IF was in-between the sonics of the OpticalRendu and the X1. I think if I got the Plink hooked up (in the future) it likely will have the best streaming sound or experience. At the moment I think my OpticalRendu is my fav. Though it is like choosing between chocolate and vanilla, both are very good and a matter of taste.

I was surprised that these 3 high end streamers would have such a variety in sound. I have used lower end streamers and they do not compare to the X1 and oR in terms of details and other sonic attributes I value.

Note: I only used the X1 with a fibre input stream

Great thread, and some notes on the Lumin. I started with a D2, added a Sbooster LPS, upgraded to a T2, and most recently added the X1, keeping the T2 for a second system.

The optical input does improve the sound by taking a layer of glare away. But…it’s critical to use the right SFP modules. I chose Finisar (purchased from Mouser, as there are counterfeits sold on Amazon and EBay). Surprised at how much the sound was improved. 

Lumin’s app and settings allow lots of tweaking and it does sound better by disabling unneeded settings. You can also adjust the output gain which helps in matching to a sensitive preamp. If you use with Roon, there are settings that further improve sound quality. I do think playback via the Lumin app is a tad better than Roon but I prefer Roon’s user interface.

The tech support from Lumin, in various forums, is the best I’ve ever experienced in 30 years of owning high end gear. They regularly update firmware along with Roon and support expired products as well. 

I considered several products mentioned in this thread, along with the DCS Bartok. The Lumin’s sound quality, ease of use, and support sealed the decision.

The Ares would be fun to hear, but requiring a streamer plus the DAC puts it out of contention for me. 

Just discovered this thread, easily the most intelligent and informed comparison of DACs I’ve read in a long time (maybe ever). Thank you @verdantaudio !

I currently am using a Lumin P1, and have owned a couple of other Lumin streamers in the past. They are all great values at their price points. Looking to move up to a higher performing dac, but will definitely miss the Lumin’s streamer/dac/interface integration when I do.

@nickolaspappas  Sorry for late reply to this.  Things have been a little crazy this month.  One thought that would allow you to maintain a bit of performance is to use a Lumin U2.  I would allow you to maintain your interface while upgrading your DAC.  Eventually it will become a bottle neck but it is a pretty darn good device.

@verdantaudio 

It’d be interesting to have your views on external clocking. In my experience with Delta Sigma upsampling DACs, having an external high quality 10m reference makes a significant difference even when internal Dac’s clock is already high standard. The likes of MSB, DCM, Esoteric et al seem to agree whereas the effect on R2R dacs seems less pronounced.

And btw, the advantage when using USB extends to the connection as well as the server which is slaved to the DAC.