Streamer wanted

I've compared a high end streamer to an old Macbook Pro with 3 different DACs.  One DAC sounded better with the high end streamer, another DAC sounded better on the Macbook while the 3rd DAC seemed to not care which streamer was used, they both sounded good.  The point I am making is you have to listen yourself with your equipment as I was really surprised a $4000+ streamer sounded not as good as an old Macbook on my current favorite DAC.

I ordered the Lumin mini.
We’ll see (or hear) how it sounds!

You didn’t offer much info. What will you be streaming? Amazon, Tidal, Qobuz or other HD service? Pandora etc? Do you need to stream wirelessly? Bluesound Node 2i does that, but many streamers have to be wired with ethernet (they don’t do bluetooth), so you’d need an ethernet connection to the streamer.

Streaming ripped music stored onboard or on an external HDD/NAS? Do you want to use Roon?

Do you want one with a built-in DAC or do you have a DAC?

How important is the native app (for phone and tablet control? They vary widely. I use the Tidal app (good) on phone, tablet and desktop, or ROON. The native apps from different mfrs get varying reviews (Audender Conductor, which you’re locked in to using with their unit) gets mixed reviews. Innuos is launching their own app which they say will be great (we’ll see). BlueOS gets mixed reviews.

Patrick,

I’m streaming Qobuz and Idagio with a WiFi connection using an iPad.  As I’ve said, I don’t want a built-in DAC, and I’m not ripping stored music or CDs.  No Roon.
The Lumin Mini seems to fit the bill.

OP -- Since you already made a decision, it's somewhat of a moot point, but I thought I'd share my experience with you anyways. Last year, I compared an Innuos Zen Mini MK3 with my Bluesound Node 2i, and really couldn't tell much of a difference. I was told that to make the Zen Mini reach its full potential I had to invest another $600 in their power supply. I then auditioned a Sonore Optical Rendu, and thought it was quite a bit better than both the Node 2i and the Zen Mini. The biggest difference was a reduced noise floor that let me hear more details and offered a blacker ground which I really loved. It also felt it was a bit less 'digital' than the other two. I ended up buying it of course.

A few weeks ago, I was looking for another streamer for my second system. A good friend of mine let me borrow his Lumin U1 Mini so we got to compare it with the opticalRendu in my system. It's a great unit, but we both agreed that the opticalRendu was slightly better. Again, the most noticeable difference was the lower noise floor. I hope you've bought your U1 Mini configured with an external power supply. Good luck and enjoy the music!