Lumin vs Auralic

I have relevant experience with both brands.  I ended up buying the Aries G2 streamer.  Sonically it’s very good.  So was the Lumin. As far as apps?  Frankly, I found both the Auralic Lighting and Lumin apps to fall well short of Aurender’s conductor app.  (I own an Aurender in another system). As good as Aurender’s conductor app is, it also falls short of Roon which Aurender doesn’t support. 

So, I’ve put Roon in this second system so I don’t have worry about the limitations of the Lightning app. 

I wish I had direct experience on the Vega G2 vs the Lumin to share with you.  But, based on the quality of the Aries G2, I suspect the Vega is quite good.  Lumin is clearly also a very good choice supported by many users here.  That said, I would say the presence of an analog volume control on the Vega G2 would, for me, be preferable.  Good luck.

mgrif

Myself, I already have a preamp, so the Streamer/Dac would be set to fixed volume or turned up all the way. 

Sorry for the late reply.  I ended up getting the Vega G2.  I think it sounds remarkable!  I've been swapping out power cords, XLR interconnects, and Ethernet cables the last couple months.  I'm currently doing an assessment of the performance of the built in preamp versus my Aesthetix Calypso; my early assessment is that the Auralic's built in preamp/volume control is better sounding than my Calypso.  I'm going to do some tube rolling before I decide to sell my Calypso.....

Hi Calgarian.......I'm debating between the Vega G2 and Lumin S1. Wondering, now that months have passed, how you are feeling about your Vega and what cabling you ended up with? Thanks.

mwsl, I'm really liking my Vega G2.  I have NO regrets purchasing it.  I think it sounds spectacular!  I recently added the Auralic Leo GX master clock as well....and it really is a step performance upgrade from the Vega G2 alone.  But please don't think that the G2 doesn't sound exceptional on its own; when I purchased the G2, I really didn't think the sound could get any better.  I am still listening to the Auralic combo direct to amp; I haven't had the time to put my Calypso back into my system to do comparisons yet.  My cabling now consists of the following:  Kubala Sosna Emotion XLR's between Vega G2 and Amp, Kubala Sosna Emotion power cord for Vega G2, Ethernet cable is between the Audioquest Diamond and the Wireworld Platinum Starlight (I think I prefer the Platinum Starlight better....but both are VERY good!)