grunge
the lumin d2 is excellent.... very balanced sound, very well built... sounds really outstanding through its balanced outs if you can take advantage of that
a node 2i feeding an outboard downstream dac should be able to match the overall SQ of the lumin, more different presentations and tonality than a clear better/worse, depending on choice of dac ... for example using a dac with tube output would likely add bigger/better imaging and richness and texture, but at a bit of loss of impact/drive and ultimate bass extension
with the gaincell as the dac downstream of the node i would give the lumin a slight edge i think, but i am not really sure
of course with the node + dac you have two boxes, two power cords, add’l cable whereas lumin is all self contained
