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Lumin T2 dac gone bad? distortion "spitting" "splatty" in mids/highs

I bought my Lumin T2 from Audiogon and noticed on many songs a mid/high distortion that sounds like a cable might be loose or a bad connection somewhere.  Finally after hours of switching out cables I decided to bypass the DAC and use my Anthem STR DAC (via usb) instead.  Spitting sound gone!  

Is this a common thing?  I found out that Lumin's customer service is in China and they don't have an 800 number so I had to email.  This ought to be very interesting.

Note: that most of the time the dac sounds fantastic!  It's only on those transients that I hear a "splatter" if you will at ALL volumes.    
dtximages
yyzsantabarbara
4,598 posts
 
I think this guy maybe the founder of Lumin. They are active on Computer Audiophile forum and Audioshark

https://audiophilestyle.com/profile/24873-wklie/

tuberist's avatar
tuberist
951 posts
 
I own a T2....very satisfied and absolutely no issues as the OP described. Some good suggestions provided. I have interacted with Peter Lie, who is the "head" software designer for Lumin....if you post on the Roon Community forum under Lumin hardware you will get his response plus others I'm sure. Please let us know how this turns out.
dtximages OP
364 posts
 
I have been talking to Peter on the Roon forum.  I never had DSP on but the thing that made the difference is setting the Analog Audio Output Level to "Low" which seems to have either fixed it or masks it, but i think it's fixed from my few mins of listening.  

Kinda frustrating that I can't leave it at "Normal".. I feel like I should be able to use all the capabilities of the unit.
ddude003
161 posts
 
It sounds like a gain structure issue... Peter is a smart guy... I would listen to him and not worry about the "so called" Normal setting... It is all about matching voltages between components... If you really want to learn, search for "gain structure"... Google is your frenemy...
djones51
4,947 posts
 
What input on the STR do you connect the Lumin to? I imagine it’s what ddude003 mentioned, according to Lumin.

Some systems (perhaps with a high-gain pre-amplifier) may be better matched using the ’Low’ setting. It uses a combination of DAC settings to lower the output level by around -4db.
You’re just giving it some headroom it’s probably clipping on the transients.

If you bypass the DAC in the STR you bypass ARC room correction. 
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