Lumin Streamers

Hey @calieng, if you don’t want those Lumin’s, just send them my way.  I’ll gladly pay shipping.  Thanks.

https://www.matrix-digi.com/product/90/element_S

https://www.pi2design.com/mercury-streamer-v2.html

The Lumin streamers are still useable if you have a DDC. So Lumin to Denafrips Iris DDC to Venus II DAC. I tried that last night and it sounds really good. The main point is that I2S into the DAC is much better than USB. Whether you do it direct in from the streamer or you need a DDC to convert from USB to I2S.

I actually have a GAIA DDC on order now for my main system.

You are describing the state of your system, I am not sure how good the USB interface of your Denafrips Venus II DAC is... In any case, I'm glad you found a solution that suits you

Actually it is well accepted that I2S sounds better in any system. It is the most direct and least processed connection. There may be some exceptions but they would be rare. I2S is how your streamers and DACs communicate internally on their main board. So anytime you interconnect with a different format you are losing some info thru translation.

Why Lumin does not provide I2S I do not know but they will be left behind soon as that is where things are headed.

On a related topic- DSD will replace PCM format as network bandwidth will accommodate it. Most music is mastered in DSD and then converted to PCM which losses resolution. So PCM will eventually be eliminated. As with I2S interconnect there is a trend towards eliminating translation of data to retain the most accurate signal.

@calieng wrote: "

Actually it is well accepted that I2S sounds better in any system. It is the most direct and least processed connection. There may be some exceptions but they would be rare. I2S is how your streamers and DACs communicate internally on their main board. So anytime you interconnect with a different format you are losing some info thru translation."

Don't know where you're getting your false information from.  Just a quick visit to the PS Audio Forums and you will find many that have moved away from the DS DAC w/ I²S interface to a USB streamer/DAC combo and are quite content.  My setup is significantly better than it was with PS Audio and an I²S streamer.  And I'm using inferior USB now.  It has more to do with implementation of the interface than it does with the type of interface itself.  Just ask dCS, Ayre, MSB, Chord, Aurender and on and on.  They all use USB as their main interface and they all know damn well what they are doing.

Why Lumin does not provide I2S I do not know but they will be left behind soon as that is where things are headed.

Same as the above high-end manufacturers.  They know a thing or two and certainly aren't anywhere close to being obsolete.