Article: Review | Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC Reference Series 3

[EvilTed]

I don’t have a lot of experience with high end DACs, but I own an SME 30/2 turntable + SME V with mono crystal wiring and Koetsu Onyx Platinum.

 

I packed away the turntable into its packing case with the idea that if a Lumin X1 could sound close to it, I’d be done with vinyl and could move over completely to streaming digital.

I sold my digital system;

Berkeley DAC Series 2 + USB

Sonore Optical Rendu

Sonore Optical Module

UpTone Audio JS-2 linear supply

Duelund DC and AC cables

Curious USB

 

Not too shabby, but not top flight and noticeably different from the analog front end.

 

First things first.

 

The Lumin X1 needs a lot of break-in.

I’ve  been running mine 24/7 since receiving it on March 5th and its starting to sing now.

Personally I prefer native PCM over upsample, but maybe I’m alone in that opinion.

 

Music has been a huge part of my life since at 13 years old in 1977 the punk scene erupted around me in the UK.

I was at University in Sheffield in the UK when the rave scene came in.

Before that we were going to Jamaican blues parties with wall to ceiling speakers and alternating to clubs blasting hip hop.

My musical tastes are all encompassing and my system needs to be able to play anything I throw at it and and sound amazing

 

How does the X1 play music?

incredibly involving and musical.

Mellow, spacious, fast, articulate, dynamic, ground shaking, gob smacking...

I could go on and on, but it really is that special.

 

Special thanks to Peter Lie of Lumin for spending personal time to answer my questions.

 

 

[EvilTed]

LOL, this got posted in a review of the BADA Series 3 DAC by mistake.

My bad, but the BADA Series 3 was a top contender, but I chose the Lumin X1 instead.