DAC Shootout Starts This Weekend

Great thread, and some notes on the Lumin. I started with a D2, added a Sbooster LPS, upgraded to a T2, and most recently added the X1, keeping the T2 for a second system.

The optical input does improve the sound by taking a layer of glare away. But…it’s critical to use the right SFP modules. I chose Finisar (purchased from Mouser, as there are counterfeits sold on Amazon and EBay). Surprised at how much the sound was improved. 

Lumin’s app and settings allow lots of tweaking and it does sound better by disabling unneeded settings. You can also adjust the output gain which helps in matching to a sensitive preamp. If you use with Roon, there are settings that further improve sound quality. I do think playback via the Lumin app is a tad better than Roon but I prefer Roon’s user interface.

The tech support from Lumin, in various forums, is the best I’ve ever experienced in 30 years of owning high end gear. They regularly update firmware along with Roon and support expired products as well. 

I considered several products mentioned in this thread, along with the DCS Bartok. The Lumin’s sound quality, ease of use, and support sealed the decision.

The Ares would be fun to hear, but requiring a streamer plus the DAC puts it out of contention for me. 

Just discovered this thread, easily the most intelligent and informed comparison of DACs I’ve read in a long time (maybe ever). Thank you @verdantaudio !

I currently am using a Lumin P1, and have owned a couple of other Lumin streamers in the past. They are all great values at their price points. Looking to move up to a higher performing dac, but will definitely miss the Lumin’s streamer/dac/interface integration when I do.

@nickolaspappas  Sorry for late reply to this.  Things have been a little crazy this month.  One thought that would allow you to maintain a bit of performance is to use a Lumin U2.  I would allow you to maintain your interface while upgrading your DAC.  Eventually it will become a bottle neck but it is a pretty darn good device.

@verdantaudio 

It’d be interesting to have your views on external clocking. In my experience with Delta Sigma upsampling DACs, having an external high quality 10m reference makes a significant difference even when internal Dac’s clock is already high standard. The likes of MSB, DCM, Esoteric et al seem to agree whereas the effect on R2R dacs seems less pronounced.

And btw, the advantage when using USB extends to the connection as well as the server which is slaved to the DAC.

@antigrunge2   My experience is that anything that can be done to improve clocking between server & DAC is worth it.  I can’t speak about MSB simply because I have never had a unit in to spend lots of time with but dCS definitely and Rockna and other also benefit. Remember MSB is R2R.  
 

i am not going to say an external clock is universally essential but anytime clock synchronization can occur, jitter drops and sound quality approaches completely holographic. A great example of this is with Rockna and the I2S connection between a Wavedream and the Wavedream NET.  The sun of those parts far exceeds what you would expect to get from those two components.  When you look at the pin out, the R and L channels for the clocks are synchronized and grounded.  Although it is not an external reference, the clean synchronization of the two has a huge impact.  
 

There seem to be exceptions to this.  Upscaling DACs like Chord (PCM) and Playback and EMM Labs (DSD) do not seem to directly benefit.  Rob Watts is quite explicit that an external clock has no impact on Chord devices and both Playback and EMM work best with a fiber connection between streamer and DAC which has obvious benefits in terms of noise and clocking.  
 

There are a myriad of other exceptions, but I am a firm believer that if external clocking can be added, it is likely a very worthy upgrade.  USB especially benefits from this.