Lumin X1 latest Review like we have been saying

T2 vs NT505 was the question and you quickly tried to change subject by changing to D2 which uses 13 yr old dac and then to X1 which is different level.

The nt505 competes with T2 is what I’ve been told by people who’d compared them and costs less than half as much.

I’d never spend $14k in such a rapidly advancing area where will be obsolete in 3 yrs. much different than amps or speakers where change is slower. I prefer to spend $2k and get dac just as good as $4.5k Lumin

Kren we have never done a shootout between these two, however, all the reviews on the NT 505 find it a good sounding dac but none of the reviews on the piece we have ever seen, have said that the NT 505 is a giant killer, it is on the recommended list of John Darko we do believe.

The NT 505 will be a good piece in the same way the Lumin D2 is also really good, which one you would prefer is up to your tastes and system preferences, these are two very different products with the Lumin being a dedicated streamer vs the Teac piece which is also a headphone amp.

On paper the NT 505 offers more, how ever as noted by Nutella the D1 as noted by Nutella sounded extremely good in his setup:

"The lumin D1 outperformed Benchmark and Chord dacs in my setup. Don’t discount having a one box solution. Dac tech has slowed down while streamer tech seems to be seeing the most room for improvement. That lumin humiliated the blue sound I was using as a streamer only. "

Your preoccupation on the dac chip of the Lumin is rather silly, the chip is just one aspect of the sound of a dac, in the case of the Wolfson Dacs Lumin uses that chip with the D1/D2 platform because this chip in this hardware produce an exceedingly musical sound.

This is no different than other dac designers using a 30+ years old Philips TDA 1541 double  crown chip because they love the sound of this particular chip, there are other companies using Burr Brown 1792A chips even in 2020 there are designers using the ESS 9016k which is a far earlier version of the ESS Sabre chip series including the 9028 and the 9038pro. 

As per your feeling that the NT 505 with an outboard clock would sound better then the Lumin T2 is again just speculation, just because you use an external clock doesn’t mean the sound quality of one product will necessarily sound far better the sound will be different.

The fact that the Lumin D2 and the T2 continue to be the Gold Standard to which all modern streamers are generally being compared to.

In our shop we have tested the Lumin D2 vs the Nad Blue sound, as well as the Cambridge Streamers and the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge and the Ifi DSD pro, most people love the sound of the D2 even in comparison to all of these fantastic dacs and dac streamers.

The Lumin T2 is receiving rave reviews from everyone who has heard it again in our shop we compare the Lumin T2 to other dac streamers which are $6.5-7k products which makes the T2 a bargain compared to these more expensive products.

Lumin is a very sophisticated company and they have world class engineering, when you are talking about all of these products your personal preferences and system synergies all come into it.

As per your comments about not wanting to spend more than $2k on a piece that is up to you, the reality is that the difference in digital front ends can make a gigantic difference in the overall sound quality and level of performance a system.

Lets say you have a $20k pair of loudspeakers and a $10k set of electronics on a great $2k dac do you think the overall system’s sound quality will be fantastic and you will be able to derive every bit of performance from the rest of the components, or is it very likely that the system’s sound will not necessarily be outstanding until the level of quality in the source is brought up to a similar level of performance.

This is the perfect example of the weakest link, if you have great components you need an equally good source component, and if you really think there are no differences between a $2k dac a $4k one and dacs that are $7k and above you need to visit a good store and really experience this for yourself.

As mentioned we specialize in digital audio and have played with dacs from the $500 Node to the $35k Light Harmonic’s Davinci and the oustanding T+A SD 3100HV which Robert Harley just reviewed and said it is one of the best dacs on the planet, a better source can make the difference between an expensive bunch of components making sound vs the same components making real music.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Lumin dealers

Alright so you admit you haven’t tested the Teac or spoken with anyone who compared it to LUMIN T2, so all of your page-long comments about that specific question are rank speculation.

Just so that’s clear.

That’s why I asked in first line of my First post post If you’d compared them. You should have just said no I haven’t.

I haven’t either but have heard from people who have and said nt505 right there with T2 at less than half cost. So I guess that’s the only direct comparison either of us have. You should get a Teac and test it.

Also I don’t think it helps a dealer’s credibility to say it is “silly” to focus on the dac chip used in a dac. Uhhhh, that’s kind of a critical piece, don’t you think? Not the only piece but a critical one and as new dac chips get released yearly with better and better specs for same cost it is extremely notable when a so-called leader continues to use 13 yr old technology in a fast moving field.
I’m sure that Wolfson was great 13 years ago. So was my Motorola flip phone from same year but I wouldn’t use it today : )


But this is an X1 thread and I’ve diverted too much attention from it already so I’ll sign off. Apologies for the diversion just wondered if a specific comparison had been done and now got the answer. Carry on and enjoy the music

“The fact that the Lumin D2 and the T2 continue to be the Gold Standard to which all modern streamers are generally being compared to” 

Please provide the source of your statement. Thank you!