The horns of a new dilemma: Lumin t3x vs Aurender N200 & Yddgrassil+ w/JRDG pre & amp

I owned the Lumin X1 but sold it after a year or so. The Lumin streamers are great, but the DAC is so-so and about the level of the Schitt Yggi+ LIM (a warm rolled off DAC).

The X1 is both a streamer and DAC. The Leedh volume control on the Lumin streamers is the best digital volume control I have heard. My Benchmark HPA4 preamp still is better, but that Leedh is great for a DAC.

I compared 3 great streamers head-2-head, the Lumin X1, Sonore Optical Rendu, and PlayBack Designs STREAM-IF. They all sounded different but great. The Lumin is loud and brash, the Sonore is polite and refined, and the PBD in-between. 

I ended up going with the Sonore because it was the cheapest (especially used these days). It maybe a little bit more technically challenging than the other 2. For example, if you have a power outage in your home and need to reset the streaming. It maybe a little trickier with the Sonore. I am a computer person so I can handle it. I also have a little bit more complex setup with PowerLine adapters to move the bits via the copper wires inside the walls of the house. I also have a cheap ROON Core computer. 

Since the Sonore uses Optical it does not matter how sonically bad my setup is BEFORE the fibre optical (and DAC).

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I think the Schitt Yggi+ OG DAC is the best DAC under $15k. I use price as a factor in this evaluation, but the Yggi+ does not suffer much sonically to the more expansive DACs at $15k.

 Over the past week my friend dropped off the Allnic D-15000 OTL/OCL Signature DAC. This DAC is the best DAC I ever heard and is significantly better than the Yggi+ OG, but it costs 10x more money. I did not think a 10x more expensive DAC would be that much better, but this one was, likely because of the unique output stage.

I put the Yggi+ OG back in the system once the Allnic DAC was returned and I enjoyed the heck out of it again. The OG is an excellent DAC.

I also have the Schitt Yggi+ MIB DAC in my system. I do not like it as much as the OG. The MIB is in-between the LIM and the OG, with a nod more to the OG's clean sound. Since I do not like the MIB I am going to upgrade it to the new Schitt Byggi, which is going to be introduced at Los Angeles CanJam this weekend. That DAC will cost $3500 and is supposedly the best DAC that Schitt has made. It will cost me $1500 to upgrade. I converted my LIM to MIB and now to the Byggi.

People like me that upgrade will be selling their old Yggi+ boards, which can be a cheap way to get the LIM or MIB Yggi+. Buy an older Yggi and install the LIM or MIB board yourself.

I’ve owned four Lumin streamer DACs, and only the T2 and D2 would I remotely describe as brash or harsh. They both exhibited a haze or glare. By contrast, the X1 is wonderful and won out in my comparison to the DCS Bartok (non apex). The T3x I added to a second system and it sounds like a mini X1.The T3x did take time to settle in, and care is needed when choosing the SFP module, as most sounded very brittle and bright, whereas the Finisar was great but took a day to break in.

A longer thread here is helpful: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/fun-with-the-wonderful-new-lumin-t3x-streamer-dac.1219258/

I listened to Aurender and it was nice, but I felt not quite comparable to the Lumin.

I considered the Sonore early on but it is not plug and play like the Aurender and Lumin. 
 

Lumin’s support and updates are phenomenal- they continue to update software for 10+ year old components. I’ve had zero complaints and updates for both are a breeze. Works great with Roon too, but the basic Lumin app is great and sounds great too.

I am not a fan of Schitt gear. My demos of their DACs and phono stages were not especially impressive. They have fans of course, like all gear, just not including me.

My main gripe with Lumin now is that tariffs have increased prices a bit high, but the used market or a demo is a worthy consideration. My D2 was used, and my X1 was a demo, purchased for a very reasonable price (and traded in for great trade in value). 

I never said it was harsh. I said loud and brash (meaning in your face) and I meant that in the best way possible. I was also comparing it relative to the PBD and the Sonore. I loved the streamer part of the X1. Infact, when my 2 remaining Sonore Optical Rendu’s die, a third died recently after many years. I will get the new Lumin U2X streamer. Which seems to be exactly the streamer in the X1. 

I am also taking about the streamer part of the X1 not the DAC when I said it was loud and brash. The DAC part of the X1 is another matter and not what I am talking about. You can use the X1 without using the DAC part. 

Yyzsantabarbara , I don’t understand why Mike Moffatt is not making a tube DAC? Many yagdrassil owner sold their unit to buy Audiomirror Trobadour.I heard  both the AM and yaggy I prefer the audio mirror. Don’t get me wrong thee yaggy is excellent. But the AM is very musical and holographic.i own gungnir though.