calieng,
Never heard of that unit. I even did a search and not much came up.
Can you provide a link?
ozzy
Hey @calieng, if you don’t want those Lumin’s, just send them my way. I’ll gladly pay shipping. Thanks. |
https://www.matrix-digi.com/product/90/element_S https://www.pi2design.com/mercury-streamer-v2.html
The Lumin streamers are still useable if you have a DDC. So Lumin to Denafrips Iris DDC to Venus II DAC. I tried that last night and it sounds really good. The main point is that I2S into the DAC is much better than USB. Whether you do it direct in from the streamer or you need a DDC to convert from USB to I2S. I actually have a GAIA DDC on order now for my main system. |
Actually it is well accepted that I2S sounds better in any system. It is the most direct and least processed connection. There may be some exceptions but they would be rare. I2S is how your streamers and DACs communicate internally on their main board. So anytime you interconnect with a different format you are losing some info thru translation. Why Lumin does not provide I2S I do not know but they will be left behind soon as that is where things are headed. On a related topic- DSD will replace PCM format as network bandwidth will accommodate it. Most music is mastered in DSD and then converted to PCM which losses resolution. So PCM will eventually be eliminated. As with I2S interconnect there is a trend towards eliminating translation of data to retain the most accurate signal. |