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OPPO Sonica DAC to Lumin D2 Upgrade

I’m considering an upgrade from an OPPO Sonica DAC to a Lumin D2.  I’m generally satisfied with the OPPO sound and appreciate its simplicity of use (there is little doubt that it’s an absolute bargain at its price point).   

However, I briefly owned an Aurender A10 and found that it provided marginally better sound over the OPPO at a significantly higher cost.  Its only benefit, in addition to Aurender’s decent user app, was it’s on-board storage which was of little benefit to me.  So once again I’m considering an upgrade-this time at a more affordable level.   I prefer a unit that has similar functionality to the Sonica DAC.  

My basic question is this:  how much of a sonic improvement might I expect going from the Sonica DAC to the D2?  Also, how good is Lumin’s user app when used with Tidal streaming?  My OPPO was $799, the D2 lists for $2300.    The streamer/Dac (w/Tidal) will function as my sole source feeding a Belles Aria integrated and PMC twenty5.22 speakers.  I’ve found the Aria/PMC combo to be wonderfully satisfying and they will not be subject to change for the foreseeable future.  Any thoughtful advice will be much appreciated.
jreale

Showing 6 responses by audiotroy

audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,588 posts
 
jreale we are a Lumin dealer with the D2 on display and our findings mirror everyone who has gotten the D2.

For the money the D2 is very hard to beat, the D2 blew away the Cambridge Audio 851N which is a very well respected streamer. 

The Lumin sound is very organic and engaging the app is great and you have Roon compatibility add to that constant firmware updates new sources and features, and a very reliable product with Tidal, Qbozz, Internet radio and you have the world of high quality music at your feet.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Lumin Dealers
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,588 posts
 
Yes Oddiofyi shamless plug, we have Lumin and Cambridge and many other fine digital front ends, the Lumin gear is consistantly loved by people who have gotten them. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,588 posts
 
Jreale we can arrange for an in home demo so can most dealers.

You should really spend some quality time with a D2 in your home it is a fantastic product.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ


audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,588 posts
 
Jpdk the D1 with an S/booster is nothing like a Lumin D2 the D2 sonically is far superior sounding to the original D1 and benefits from a completely redesigned unit with improvements made accross the board with a revised power supply, analog board and digital board. 

Not saying the Teac isn't good just that you didn't do an Apples to Apples comparison. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,588 posts
 
Actually no, the D2’s upgraded processor allows for higher rate DSD transcoding which makes the D2 sound better providing you are using the transcoding feature if you are not then yes their would be less improvements sonically.

Other improvements include new routing for the internal power supply and other circuit optimizations iin the board which make the D2 sound better over the D1 direct quote from the Lumin engineers.

Sorry if we were a bit presumtous and we never had the Sboster with our D1 the D2 in our shop sounded way better then the D1 we had initially.

As per major improvements the later T1 has substantially revised hardware and was a huge improvement over the D1 platform.

So you never did a D2 vs a Teac combarison however and AKM dac chip set sounds very different then the Wolfsons. If you prefer a more detailed sound then the AKM does that if you prefer a warmer sound then the D2 with its wolfson dac chip does that. 

audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,588 posts
 
Jacked not inferring you are a newbie, however, did you use the D1 or D2 without transcoding? Many people don’t play with that function.

Also you may be correct that the upgraded power cord which we did use with the D2 and its circuit improvennts did account for its far better performance in our shop.

As per upgrading a D1 to a D2 we wouldn’t make that upgrade either as the D2 would be better but perhaps only a marginal upgrade if you had the Sbooster with it, as mentioned we never had an Sbooster on our stock display unit. The D2 sounded a lot better than the stock D1 we had initially.

The Teac units are very good, it comes down to taste we sold Esoteric for years and the Lumin products consistantly were chosen over many of them by our clients who were lured away from spining CD's into the owrld of streaming


Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ
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