Lumin U1

[audioguru]

I recently purchased the Lumin U1 audiophile streamer. This may be the best investment I have ever made in a source component for my system. I have bench-marked the sound of my favorite CD's vs. the same albums being streamed via Tidal Hifi on the U1 and guess what: the Lumin wins every time from a sonic perspective (at least to my ears ). The U1 does not have a built-in DAC, it is just a high precision clock with various digital output options. I'm wondering which digital output should (at least in theory) give me the best possible sound quality. Is it the AES/EBU, the USB, optical, or coax? I am using the Mcintosh D1100 as my DAC. Thanks in advance for your thoughts/perspectives on this.

[JBT]

Try them all! then let your ears decide!

[wklie]

Originally Posted by audioguru

I'm wondering which digital output should (at least in theory) give me the best possible sound quality. Is it the AES/EBU, the USB, optical, or coax? I am using the Mcintosh D1100 as my DAC. Thanks in advance for your thoughts/perspectives on this.

Usually it's a choice between USB and AES. In some setup USB may be better, in another setup AES may be better.

However, the DSD capability of AES is limited to DSD64 in DSD over PCM (DoP) format. If you use AES output and if you listen to DSD, you need to check whether your DAC supports DoP in its AES input or not.