Affordable alternativ to the PS Audio DirectStream DAC

Jburden,

You are free to make any claim you like. However saying that you don't like a particular dac chip is an erronous statement.

You are not listening to a dac chip, it is one part of the equation, you have an input board, power supplies, clocking technology andof course  the analog output stage, all of these contribute the sound that a dac
produces.

The Lumin T2 uses dual ESS 9028pro dac running in mono which means you have 8 cores per each chip running differential computations this lower noise dramatically and gives you better dynamic range, many companies use only a single dac chip, two sounds and measures better.

One issue that some people have is being forced to listen to DSD on the Direct Stream series, DSD in general has a softer sound than PCM and the Lumin can be set to output everything in DSD as well. 

You can also listen to upsampled PCM which generally has a more incisive sound with greater dynamic snap than DSD.

As per analog like their are fans of the Direct Stream and people who don't like it it is a good dac among many good dacs sometimes one person's analog like is another persons rolled off. YMMV.

Uberwaltz, the Lumin is designed to be a streaming dac, it has always been a 100% purposeful device. The engineers directly ommited digital inputs as they felt that it can introduce noise into the product. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Lumin dealers

If your looking for a DAC only the closest you make come to the DS at a lower price may be a used Aqua La Voce S2.  I own both and they are both in a similar vein.  My S2 is headed back to Italy for the S3 upgrade after the Munich show. 

Audiotroy
I understand completely.
However it is still a consideration to be made if one needs other than a USB input IMHO.
One can claim it is stripped down for audio purity agreed.
One could also claim the PS costs more because it offers more.

Just depends on your point of view.

Over and out.

Yes Uberwaltz those are all valid points, in terms of value that is only determined by the listener.

We would recommend that the OP listen to a T2 and decide for himself. We are willing to believe he will find the T2 to match the PS and perhaps may even enjoy it more, only the OP will know for himself.

In our store we sell a lot of digital products, from Mytek, Ifi, Naim, Lumin, Innous, Baetis, NAD, Light Harmonic, T+A, Rega, Aqua Hifi,and a few others.

We agree with you on that Lumin will not work for everyone, that is why we don’t sell only Lumin. A person has to consider what their needs are.

If you think about it locking down the system is generally very effective at eliminating any noise entering the piece along with the digital signal, but it does limit you if you want to spin a CD as well as stream.

For many of our clients the world of Tidal and Qbouzz are eliminating the desire to play a CD, howerver, if you have a rare CD or an artist not available via streaming that could be an issue. You can also rip a CD to a computer on your network and play the disc that way, we know that isn’t for everybody.

We are big proponents of the Lumin products because they sound and work wonderfully well and are among the best sounding products in their price range.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

jackd:

The Aqua La Voce S2 uses PCM1704-K which is an R-2R ladder that also is used in the renowned Theta and some Wadia DACs. I much prefer this to any Saber-based DAC that I've heard.