Some great comments to consider!
I really have tried to do my homework for this decision. But as some of you have already pointed out, there are several different technologies that have to be considered. Then you have to consider that the DAC may come with a built-in headphone amp and/or pre-amp of its own.
I ended up choosing the Lumin X1 because it is basically a chip based DAC. The R2R ladder approach, for example, from what I’ve read, requires very precise and balanced sets of resistors. It may just be a misunderstanding on my part, but I’m not all that confident in the resistors maintaining their required performance characteristics over time.
There are other DAC design philosophies, and I’m not going to try to summarize all of them here, but it just seemed that the Lumin design takes a more “tried and true” approach, as opposed to the still evolving FPGA method mentioned by rbstehno earlier (I’m not sure that I want my firmware upgraded every 6 months). In addition, a positive, for me anyway, is that it’s not encumbered with any redundant amps. Another selling point for me is that the Lumin X1 is also a server. Which means I don’t have to buy another computer to act as a front end. An added bonus is that I won’t lose my Audirvana playlists in the event I update the computer’s OS.
Last, but not least, I read nothing but accolades for the Lumin S1. And the the new X1 is expected to be an appreciable improvement to the already impressive S1 performance characteristics.
In the end, however, it simply comes down to what sounds good to you and/or what you’re willing to live with. For me, I’ve come to expect from myself that I will always be looking to move up to something better. As a result, I tend to go straight to the high end these days to avoid the wasted time and expense of getting there incrementally.
SlvrSrfr
I really have tried to do my homework for this decision. But as some of you have already pointed out, there are several different technologies that have to be considered. Then you have to consider that the DAC may come with a built-in headphone amp and/or pre-amp of its own.
I ended up choosing the Lumin X1 because it is basically a chip based DAC. The R2R ladder approach, for example, from what I’ve read, requires very precise and balanced sets of resistors. It may just be a misunderstanding on my part, but I’m not all that confident in the resistors maintaining their required performance characteristics over time.
There are other DAC design philosophies, and I’m not going to try to summarize all of them here, but it just seemed that the Lumin design takes a more “tried and true” approach, as opposed to the still evolving FPGA method mentioned by rbstehno earlier (I’m not sure that I want my firmware upgraded every 6 months). In addition, a positive, for me anyway, is that it’s not encumbered with any redundant amps. Another selling point for me is that the Lumin X1 is also a server. Which means I don’t have to buy another computer to act as a front end. An added bonus is that I won’t lose my Audirvana playlists in the event I update the computer’s OS.
Last, but not least, I read nothing but accolades for the Lumin S1. And the the new X1 is expected to be an appreciable improvement to the already impressive S1 performance characteristics.
In the end, however, it simply comes down to what sounds good to you and/or what you’re willing to live with. For me, I’ve come to expect from myself that I will always be looking to move up to something better. As a result, I tend to go straight to the high end these days to avoid the wasted time and expense of getting there incrementally.
SlvrSrfr