2. digital
  3. 156600-138128

Lumin D2 or U1 Mini

I am abot to pull the trigger on either of those 2 units.

Currently I have a Bluesound 2i feeding a Benchmarch DAC3 HGC. Very happy with the sound. As i am having a 2nd Hifi setup (active speakers) I am looking for a second transport.

I had my eyes set on the Lumin U1 Mini. However for a few Dollars more I can get a Lumin D2, which offer a built in DAC and also has a digital output.

What is likely timsound better or is the better propositio? The U1 Mini feeding the Benchmark or the 2.

I listen to Tidal Hifi, iTunes Music, my own Flac Library which sits in a Synology NAS, and I listen a lot to TuneIn Radio.

My Speakers are Dynaudio Sapphire driven by 2 AVM Monoblocks.

Thanks for your valued input.
jorgjean
ozzy62's avatar
ozzy62
3,239 posts
 
I'm not familiar with the sound of the Benchmark. But if you are happy with it, I would go with the mini. That is what I did and it was a very nice improvement over the Node 2i. My take on it is this. Since the D2 is only 300.00 more than the U1 mini, you can't be getting a world beater of a DAC. The D2 probably exists for those who want a one box solution.

My vote is for the Mini.

Oz



three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments
2,097 posts
 
I've read reviews stating that the U1 mini paired with another DAC provides better fidelity than the D2.  As @ozzy62  indicated, the DAC in the D2 is probably not a world beater based on the tiny incremental cost alone. I suspect the U1 paired with the Benchmark would sound great.  I have a Bluesound Node2 paired with a Benchmark3 and I'd be very curious how it performs paired with a better streamer like the U1 Mini. 
ozzy62's avatar
ozzy62
3,239 posts
 
I have a Bluesound Node2 paired with a Benchmark3 and I'd be very curious how it performs paired with a better streamer like the U1 Mini.
I bet the Mini would sound better than the Node with any DAC. It has a more natural presentation than the Node, which can be a little washed out tonally to me.

Oz


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