Is a preamp needed ???

b_hol
could I use the lumin t2 connected directly to my power amp for streaming without sacrificing audio quality?

Of course you can, your Lumin T2 has 6v available from it's xlr output and 3v from it's rca output enough to over drive any power amp, and it has a Precision 32-bit internal digital volume control, why aren’t you going direct, as this will give you the most transparent dynamic sound.
Any active preamp will colour the sound with it own distortions and to a lesser degree any passive preamp will also.

Cheers George

The question is if the preamp stage that is built into the Lumin is better or worse than an external preamp?

Doesn’t matter, as the Lumin’s "preamp" (output stage) is still in the signal path, there is no bypassing it.
Why run one preamp into another, series’ing up all the distortions, the last one doesn’t get rid of the first ones, they just accumulate.


Cheers George

@b_hol

Yes I think the volume control on the Lumin is very good. Some prefer it over a separate pre-amp. Just need to be careful using the app volume control.

You should:
- Use XLR if your poweramp supports it
- In Lumin app, set digital audio output to OFF
- Enable Volume Control
- Use a really low volume before starting playback
- Listen for any abnormal things such as hum (due to ground loop or other connection issue)
- Be prepared to stop immediately if anything abnormal occurs
- Raise the volume slowly only after you think the setup is working normally

I’ve run my Rme-ADI-2 DAC directly into my Rogue poweramp out of curiosity, and it was surprisingly loud and decent sounding vs going through the RP7 preamp. However, it did not sound as good, being drier sounding and more grainy.  With a really good DAC and good analog output I don’t see why one would NEED a preamp though.