Lumin X1 latest Review like we have been saying

Tom 8999, yes the Sabre dac is much better than the Wolfson DAC in the D1. I’ve owned the A1 and D1 as well as a few other Wolfson dacs from EAR, Exposure and others. I also have had a number of dacs using the current Sabre chips - the X1, Mytek Manhattan II, Ayre QX5 and Exasound e32. The latest generation of Sabre dac chips really are superb and a significant advance on their previous generation, and a very big jump from the Wolfson chip.

mgrif104, I have done the comparison you are referring to. I have the X1 as well as the U1 Mini, and have run both into my Mytek Manhattan II. I always thought that the U1 Mini was a superb streamer (which it is), but the X1 as a streamer is significantly better again - greater clarity, deeper tonal colours and less "hash". However, even when using the X1 as a streamer, the Mytek is a noticeable step down from the Lumin dac. The streaming section of the X1 will not suddenly turn a lesser dac into an X1 equivalent.

Has anyone auditioned the Lumin amp? Having bought a Lumin T2 I'm fully in agreement its stunning... so now to upgrade my amp..

@grahamsphillips we have the Lumin AMP here, normally paired with the Lumin X1 but of course it can accept any line-level source. If you like the Lumin sound, particularly the ESS-based units with output transformers, then I would expect you to like the sound of the AMP as well.

@mgrif104 I'm not aware of a similar ES9038PRO + Lundahl LL7401 DAC implementation, against which you could perform a comparison. Even then that's just two primary components of an overall design. But you could probably test your theory in the other direction, but picking some other DAC as your constant and using multiple network streamers to feed it.

Audio doc have you evaluated $2k Teac NT-505?

i have been told it destroys $2.3k LUMIN D2 (no contest) and is just as good as $4.5k Lumin T2.
My guess is you will say you haven’t heard Teac.

Teac is parent of Esoteric so yes in digital they have access to superior tech than Lumin.
NT-505 at $2k is amazing and if add Teac external clock for total of $3.5 k for both performance jumps that much higher and still 1000 saved over T2

Teac even compatible with LUMIN app so interface is identical between the two under comparison

Kren we were Esoteric dealers for years, the NT 505 is considered a competitor to the Lumin D2 and some people may prefer one or the other but these two units are of a similar level of sound quality.

As per the Lumin T2 it is dramatically better sounding then the D2 in every way, The T2 is closer to the X1's design than the older D2, the D2 by the way still sounds extremely good even compared to more expensive dacs. 

As per Esoteric having superior tech than Lumin the fact that Esoteric can't even engineer an app and went to Lumin for their app shows what exactly?

The Lumin X1 is $6k less expensive than the Esoteric NS 01 and most people who have compared the two prefer the Lumin.

We did a comparison of the Lumin A1 vs the KO3 and the Lumin A1 was nearly as good for 1/2 the price and in terms of musical engagement the Lumin was more engaging even setting both to DSD. 

Lumin is a company of broadcast engineers they use a totally different design standard in how they design their products, every aspect of the circuit, every part is evaluated to how and to best utilize that part. 

The Esoteric is in a huge case that is not necessary to make it look more impressive, that case is made out of plate metal, vs the Lumin X1 is machined out of billet aluminium the X1 uses an outboard power supply which is quiet and located outside of the case, Esoteric puts the power supply internal. The X1 use SFP to remove noise from transmission  Esoteric didn't even think about this, the design of the X1 shows a remarkable attention to putting money into areas where you will get the best performance for the dollar, and in every test the X1 has been considered to match or exceed digital front ends that are $25-50k.

In our shop you have to go up to an Aqua Formula/Statement package or a T+A SD 3100 or a Light Harmonic Davinci/Statement package at $30-50k to really move into something  better. It is interesting to note that the Esoteric NS 01 has not been lauded as a giant slayer nor a product to compete with many more expensive digital front ends. 

If you look at the Lumin X1 it has been lauded around the world as being one of the best sounding products on the market and true reference digital for far less than the competition. 

Does that mean someone might find something else they may like more in their system? Anything is possible but the Lumin X1 has a totally engaging sound, throws a huge sound stage, has excellent resolution and hits the tonality side with a big warm musical presentation, a great feature set, OTA upgrades, MQA, Roon, Airplay, from a company with a track record of producing streaming/dacs which are what is held up as the gold standard to which everything is compared against. 

Kren go listen to an X1 and judge for yourself.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Lumin dealers