From Denafrips Pontus to Lumin

There are two different Lumin sounds. Part of the lineup uses ESS and the other part Wolfson chips so it matters which sound profile you prefer as to which you may like better.  

I can’t comment on the Denifrips as I have never heard one. As an owner of the Lumin T1 I can state that it is an incredible sounding unit that works flawlessly. This is a completely realized product from an established manuafacturer. Jackd is correct that they have a Sabre chip in the S1 but most of their others utilize the Wolfson. Not sure how the two compare. All have great reviews as an all in one streamer/dac solution. The new x1 is supposed to be incredible

@paoz - Lumin U1 into PS Audio Directstream DAC in main listening room and second U1 into T&A DAC 8 DSD in my home office.

the doubt is even if buying a dac / streamer all together can be considered an upgrade?
or is it better keep  dac and streamer   separate?

is it better keep dac and streamer separate?

Pros and cons to both approaches.

THE Only Way for you to know is to bring in the Lumin and compare it head to head with your current front end source chain.

my Denafrips Pontus (with sotm 200ultra / sotm500 / sotm tx usb ultra)

What you have is very good. I recommend separating the sound quality/ performance choice and the convenience (all-in-one) choice and evaluate each on their own merits. There will be compromises / tradeoffs, no matter the outcome, and only you can make that call.

I’ve chosen to go with separate components for my source needs / requirements (computer audio front end) and have a mix of Small Green Computer / Sonore / SOtM / SR feeding my Denafrips Terminator DAC.

All the best!