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  #21  
Old 03-16-2021, 01:42 PM
AudioFi AudioFi is offline
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Originally Posted by paltomare View Post
Hey AudioFi.
The Venus is still on its way to me from Vinshine. I'm very much looking forward to getting that piece. I previously had an Ares II and was impressed enough to move up the Denefrips line. I did not try the Ares in the system that has the T2 but I did have it in my other system. The signal path was Auralic Aries G1 to Ares II via Toslink and to an Accuphase DP430 via coax. I could switch between the two with the input selector on my preamp. I also had a USB connection between the G1 and the Ares II. I found that I preferred listening to traditional jazz, and female vocal through the Ares, while I preferred rock, and electronic through the Accuphase. The Ares seemed to provide more air around the instruments, if that makes sense. I could hear the individual instruments more and vocals felt more in the room. The Accuphase seemed more dynamic and powerful. Not as laid back as the Ares. I'm hopeful the Venus takes what the Ares does even further. One thing to note is that the output from the Ares was hotter than the Accuphase. I would need to turn the volume down a bit to match that of the Accuphase. When the Venus arrives I plan to test it in the T2 rig before putting it the other system. For what's it's worth the Chord Qutest has grabbed my attention as the alternate DAC in the T2 rig.
Paltomare:

I am exactly in the same path, but you are some steps ahead of me with that Venus II on the way.

Did you try the sbooster for the lumin? the outcome was much better than expected after the upgrade.

I will keep an eye on this thread to know the result of pairing the venus II with the T2 in your system. I suspect that the T2 + Venus will exceed the sound quality of the qutest or the internal dac of the T2, even when it’s a very good one.

I performed some tests with the DA1 of my MA8900 using the streaming function of the T2 vs connecting it directly to the mac mini via usb. The difference was substantially better to my ears with the lumin in the chain. Looks like the lumin usb delivers a better clocked signal with less jitter for any dac over direct usb.

But we never know... those are devices with very different design and technologies. Kudos for your new acquisition. Let me know your findings.

Keep in touch

Last edited by AudioFi; 03-16-2021 at 09:10 PM.
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  #22  
Old 03-19-2021, 07:01 PM
AudioFi AudioFi is offline
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Guys... Is here anybody who has audition/compare a chord TT 2 and a Rockna Wavelight?

M

Last edited by AudioFi; 03-19-2021 at 11:44 PM.
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  #23  
Old 03-20-2021, 06:23 PM
orosie orosie is offline
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I have a Denafrips Terminator+ and love it. I have owned PS Audio Direct Stream DAC, Auralic AriesG2/VegaG2/LeoGX stack, and the Terminator is next level, IMO.
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  #24  
Old 03-20-2021, 10:21 PM
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I have been hesitant to reply to your post because my suggestion is far off the beaten path. I'll start with my experience with the U1 and U1 mini which is a great value. The U1 destroys the mini in every regard. The U1 has an external analog power supply and higher sampling rates and for me the extra cost was justified. The T2 has an internal switching power supply which is it's weak point. The X1 has an external analog power supply and much better dac. The T2 does not compare to the X1, no contest. If you are willing to spend money for another dac why not put it toward the X1 instead. You will have a better dac, better digital processing and better sound quality.
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  #25  
Old 03-21-2021, 03:27 PM
AudioFi AudioFi is offline
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Originally Posted by tdelahanty View Post
I have been hesitant to reply to your post because my suggestion is far off the beaten path. I'll start with my experience with the U1 and U1 mini which is a great value. The U1 destroys the mini in every regard. The U1 has an external analog power supply and higher sampling rates and for me the extra cost was justified. The T2 has an internal switching power supply which is it's weak point. The X1 has an external analog power supply and much better dac. The T2 does not compare to the X1, no contest. If you are willing to spend money for another dac why not put it toward the X1 instead. You will have a better dac, better digital processing and better sound quality.

I appreciate your comments, so please don't hesitate to post your thoughts. A different point of view is welcome.

This hobby that we share, is always more interesting being able to learn from the experience of other fellow audiophiles. Theres not enough time in life to audition every single existing audio component, and there is not enough money (at least for me) to buy everything and try it in my system long term.

tdelahanty: Dude! what a nice system you have... Those serafinos are just in the very top of my audio bucket list...

Are you using the K01x as DAC connected to the U1? Having a good dac+transport paired with a streamer appears to be a smart choice since that covers almost all the corners of the digital needs of a system.

I concur that the weak point of the T2 is the Power supply, I found very significant improvements, after the addition of the Sbooster linear power supply mod.

And don't get me wrong, in my opinion it sounded very good with the original power supply after the proper burn in process. but after the sbooster installation, the noise floor and sibilance dropped significantly making it much more refined.

For the price of the T2 + $400 of the sbooster kit, is not that easy to find a device that can produce that detailed and transparent sound, plus it can be used as a very capable streaming device. That makes the search for a better/different sound more challenging and expensive.

I haven't had the chance to audition the X1, for sure it should be a great improvement over the T2, however the X1 is $13990, placing it in the same price range of a DCS Bartók with no HP amp that the Lumin X1 doesn't have anyway.

Last year I had the chance to audition In Audio Concepts Dallas a DCS Bartók connected to a pair of Sonus faber Olympica nova 1, and it really impressed me. the sound was beautiful, coherent, natural and tonally different to the sound of my system.

In contrast, last month I was Invited to audition sim audio components in "Listen up" Denver. In one of the rooms they have a very resolving system connected to Focal Grande Utopias.... Man It was amazing!! Big soundstage, ultra detailed with perfect slam.(obviously far superior compared to my system). But you know... Even when the implementation of a DAC is the most important fact over the chip by itself. I believe the sound signature of a Sabre chip in the mix was perceptible. (not necessarily a bad thing)

I am not saying that the simaudio was inferior by any means. The 680D is amazingly good. It is just that my limited experience agrees with some of the guys here in the forum, that FPGA and R2R DACS have perceptible differences in sound characteristics compared to the "off the shelf chips".

Perhaps with the T2 I have 70% maybe more of what a Sabre can do according with its particular sound.

Aside of the big investment needed to get the X1, theres a chance of having more of the same, much better perhaps but very similar.

For the budget I am trying to stick to; and in consideration of all the guys recommendations. I am looking to audition:

-Terminator or Venus II (adding a Gaia in the future)
- Rockna Wavelight
- Hugo TT 2 (with the benefit of saving some money and getting a Mscaler in the future)

If I could get back at least 3/4 of what I Invested in my T2 surely I would consider the Bartók. In the other hand, keeping the T2 leaves me with a very good streamer, very capable sabre dac and the option for exploring other dac approaches.

At the end it makes me very curious to audition the X1, after somebody with your good taste ( nice choices in your system) recommends it. That speaks really good regarding to the quality of the lumin’s flagship.

Last edited by AudioFi; 03-21-2021 at 08:47 PM.
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  #26  
Old 03-22-2021, 06:11 AM
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Thank you for the kind remarks. When my journey began I had fully expected to buy the U1 Mini, connected to the DAC in my Levinson 585 which sounded very good. Luckily or unluckily my dealer had all these components on hand and passion got the better of common sense. The DAC within the KO1x sounds better than the Levinson (bigger soundstage and analog sounding detail). The U1 is connected to the KO1x by Nordost bnc coax. I had the good fortune to buy the KO1x used, making it affordable. The one advantage the Levinson DAC has is a balanced input which may be a bit quieter. I've compared them several times and always choose the KO1x's DAC. I allow myself repeatedly to be bitten by the upgrade bug so the X1 continues to lurk in the dark recesses of my mind. I would have to find a used X1 as we agree it is very expensive. I was aware of analog P/S conversions and thought of this for the U1 mini (I did not know the name S-booster) and think it is a great addition to your T2.
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  #27  
Old 03-22-2021, 06:28 AM
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Once I had the opportunity to work with Burr-Brown 8 bit DACs and discreet R2R DACs, for military applications. We used a 1khz signal for testing. The resolution of the rendered sine wave was horrible (for audio) but suited to the application. It was fun and before the advent of digital audio and CD players.
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  #28  
Old 09-27-2022, 07:22 PM
AudioFi AudioFi is offline
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Originally Posted by paltomare View Post
I would be interested in knowing what you end up with. I also have a T2 that I've been very happy with and it would be fun to have an alternate DAC to switch to on occasion. I do something similar in my second rig where I have a streamer feeding a DAC and the digital input of a CD player and I switch between the two via my Pre. Please keep us updated.
Hello Guys, it's been a while since we discussed all this DAC alternatives. After all your recommendations, I decided to pull the trigger on a Hugo TT2. It was exactly what I was looking for; Super detailed, dynamic and absolutely non fatiguing. I just sold my Lumin T2 last week, I enjoyed it a lot, and It was actually useful as streamer, sending a clean USB signal that improved even more the sound of the Hugo TT2. But to my surprise, I purchased an IFI zen stream to see if the Lumin was absolutely necessary in my system, and after some tests, the answer was a big NO. The Zen stream with a topping P50 LPS, was at least as good as the lumin T2 (actually non NAA compatible) plus the advantage of being able to be used as a streamer for Roon+HQplayer also. The result was so impressive that I am starting to aim to the new IFI NEO stream that is supposed to be even better with upgraded components and using Optical fiber for Isolation. The value of the IFi ZEN streamer is simply mind blowing.

Thank you very much @doggiehowser, your suggestion really upgraded my rig into another level.

Last edited by AudioFi; 09-27-2022 at 07:28 PM.
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