Lumin U2 vs Aurender N200

Lumin has a good reputation for sound quality. I have not heard one so I can’t really comment on it.

However I own two Aurender and have heard a couple others. Streamers is all that Aurrender does and the produce what is probably the best. At shows, if a company does not have their own, they are demonstrating with a flagship Aurrender. I have compared with a couple other products and in their price category Aurrender wins. aurrender service is amazing. You can access it within the app, I have gotten a response within hours on a question and if they need to do something, they can log onto your machine and change something… at least with my W20SE they can.

Each level of performance is worth it if you have the equipment to support it. So, a $10K streamer if you have $2K components (preamp, DAC, amp, etc) makes no sense. My very general rule of thumb for optimal performance is each component should be roughly the same investment. Getting something much better makes sense during an upgrade cycle. Having said that, my streamer is about 20% more than my DAC, preamp… etc). Totally worth it.

The streamer is critical, if it is not the best possible signal, then the rest of the components are not going to fix it.

If you want to go down the “but it is only bits”… line of reasoning… forget it.. that is a complete waste of time. It matters, and it matters big time. I kept thinking that way for years and it condemned my digital sound quality to very disappointing mediocrity. Now my analog and digital are at the same great level.

+1, @vonhelmholtz
“My DAC is the module that comes in the McIntosh MA 8950. ”

@john1629

I wouldn’t waste money on a better streamer like Aurender N200 or Lumin U2 unless you are planning to upgrade the DAC. The DAC module inside the MA8950 is not day n night better than the one inside Node 2i. Reach out to a dealer that can allow in-home audition…that’s only way to know!

@lalitk 

@john1629 

Regarding the McIntosh DAC2.  Mine malfunctioned and I really didn’t go back once I got it repaired.  I moved to the Aurender and Holo May DAC KTE during the long down time of my DAC2 and the combination Aurender/May DAC were a major upgrade, but here is a pretty good evaluation of my integrated the MA12000 (with DAC2)  against much more expensive equipment.  They also compare the DAC2 to the new PS Audio DAC.  Worth a look.

McIntosh MA12000 Dan D’Agostino Progression Integrated

I was this comparison and they all spoke highly of the MA12000 DAC (DA2).

I have a Lumin U2 mini hooked up to a McIntosh C2700. I am using the DAC2 module. My only comparison is against a Mac Mini as Roon core/streamer that I original had connected to the C2700. The sound improvement with the Lumin was absolutely worth the money. I could not go back to using the Mac Mini to stream as I was doing before. I would not hesitate to invest in a better streamer. 

I think the next step for me would be to get a standalone DAC instead of using the DAC2 module in the C2700. I am not certain which DAC to even consider at this point.