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Does Lumin x1 needs a dac ? does a good dac will improve it ?

Hi,

I have lumin x1 and metronome cd player. Most of the time I hear music by using lumin and tidal and I'm less using my cd player.

I'm a bit confused to decide if i have to add a DAC to my system, will it improve the sound of my lumin or not ? It defiantly will improve the sound of my cd player, but because I'm less using it I'm in a confused situation to decide. 

If it will improve my wonderful lumin sound too This  may convince me to buy a new DAC.

If it's important i have a vivid kaya 45 speakers, i have a CAT JLE 5 amp, lumin X1, metronome cd and Plinius pre 

Thanks for everyone.

Haim.

haimr
azwill
101 posts
 

@haimr,

It was not clear to me how many approximate playing hours you have on your X1.  I have more DACs than good sense.  They all present music a bit differently but I really like the X1.   In my experience, the X1 needs substantial playing time to settle in.  In my system I found at 200 hours the unit was consistently better, and even more so at 400 hour mark.  

The X1 is a streaming DAC and is not configured to accept digital inputs from a CD transport or player.  

It also was not clear to me if you are using the Lumin App to access Tidal or perhaps using in conjunction with a server and player like Roon?  If the latter, what do you use to serve Roon Core?  I do not utilize Tidal, but do use Qobuz.  I find sound presentation is somewhat more transparent with Lumin App, but I often use Roon for the broadly developed landscape options and convenience.

You indicate you have a Plinius preamp--a well regarded company. You can experiment with the X1 going directly to your amp, bypassing the Plinius, by using Leedh Processing option with the X1.  I have used my X1 with preamps and also with Leedh, which really is very good.  

Best

 

 

   

 

 

 

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maxwave's avatar
maxwave
1,035 posts
 

The LuminX1 is my only source for music . No CD player, no TT , no tuner.

Post removed 
audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,390 posts
 

Totally wrong. The dac in the Lumin is pretty decent but not even in the same league with the new Denafrips Terminator 2 that is without question 

for $4500 it is a great dac and if not bough5 direct this dac would easily 

be $10 k  I have heard the x1 thetop R2R  dacs are just so natural and analog 

sounding and the powersupply alone weighs more then the Lumin it’s 42 lbs 

add a Hermes dcc reclocker and for under $5500 a great digital setup 

That will stand up to Any dac in the $10 k range .i tested a Bunch of digital 

through our tri state audio club  streamer dac combo ,streamer dac, 

the dcc reclocker cleans all incoming then reclocks the signal with. Very high quality  dual temp control oven clocks  to I2S to the dac ,it is a ideal setup.imo

the best setup under $10 k 

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