Network Audio Players/Servers

Setup proves straightforward. In my system, Lumin's app did as advertised and automatically 'found' the Ethernet-connected T3 in short order. Indeed, this DAC/streamer's sheer ease-of-use is well worth highlighting, so while the unit's overall build and smart design already brings with it a healthy dose of 'pride-of-ownership', this feeling only grows when you start to use it. The link between app and hardware is rock-solid (the absence of conventional input switching suggests Lumin's optional £225 IR remote is largely redundant here), and the T3 is very responsive to controls. It just 'works' in a manner that isn't always guaranteed when it comes to network audio gear.

In Plain Sight
Up and running, both via streaming services and networked/USB files, the Lumin T3 impresses from the get-go. Its sound is exactly what you want from a digital audio player – sublime levels of clarity and insight with a feeling of transparency. There are no filter options here to mess with, beyond Lumin's custom resampling, but this reinforces the idea that the T3 is giving you an unblemished performance, its DAC and analogue output simply providing a white-glove service for your music. Audiophile recordings sound immaculate, while grittier, more 'raw' tracks lose none of their edge.

The T3's pristine playback also has you looking at old tracks in a new light. I thought I'd heard it all from Bon Jovi's rock ballad 'Wanted Dead Or Alive' [Slippery When Wet; Island Mercury, 96kHz/24-bit], knowing every beat, lyric, and artificial harmonic in Richie Sambora's guitar solo off by heart. Through Lumin's T3, however, the song took on a more polished, more detailed quality than I recall. Keyboards sounded fuller, percussion crisper, guitar riffs more cutting. Follow-up track 'Raise Your Hands' is more up-tempo and chaotic, and the player seemed to shepherd its various elements with precision while unleashing all the energy in the rhythm section and Jon Bon Jovi's vocal yelps.

It's an open sound, even with these dense pieces, but not to the point where the overriding feel or vibe becomes lost. So Ted Nugent's 'Stranglehold' [Ted Nugent; Epic, 96kHz/24-bit] sounded as woozy and improvisational as ever, the guitar solo flourishing above the effects-heavy bassline, while the textural juxtaposition between David Bowie's smooth vocals and Freddie Mercury's snarls on Queen's 'Under Pressure' [Hot Space; Virgin/EMI, 44.1kHz/16-bit] ensured the song still raised goosebumps, 41 years on.

Lumin's manual is coy about the subjective impact of its up/downsampling processing, saying 'you may prefer the upsampled audio – try it and see', and working against A/B comparisons is the fact that any change causes the T3 to return to the start of your playlist, which is irksome. Note that Lumin has avoided any asynchronous processing, thus giving its processor less work to do – options with 44.1kHz media, for instance, are 88.2kHz, 176.4kHz, 352.8kHz, etc.

 Grand Piano
My experimentation yielded no eureka moment, apart from some aspects of 44.1kHz files arguably gaining a little more 'solidity' when upsampled, such as Johnny Cash's bassy vocals on 'If I Could Read Your Mind' [American V; American Recordings, 44.1kHz/16-bit]. Also, when running the unit straight into a power amp, there was the slight constraining effect of switching off the LeedH volume processing. It's set as a default for a reason.

Other niggles? Files played from USB media remain in the T3's playlist (which doesn't discriminate between source) even after the external SDD/HDD is removed. Learning how to clear the playlist (which can accommodate 2000 tracks) is therefore handy and will avoid any confusion if you try 'playing' a file that's no longer available.

Back to the T3's way with music, and its excellent presentation of instrumental subtleties. Christian Grøvlen's recital of Bach's Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor [2L DSD256 download] came across with the classical pianist's techniques on full display, sustained notes ringing out, fingers tumbling over keys. Dynamic shifts in his playing, the resonant tones of the piano, and the physical nature of the instrument itself were all conveyed.

Lumin's DAC snapped this piece into focus, making it sound intimate and lifelike. A similar feeling came via Alice In Chains' 'No Excuses', a highlight of the band's recorded-to-tape semi-acoustic EP Jar Of Flies [Columbia, 44.1kHz/16-bit]. The opening bars of popping percussion, captured via a multitude of mics, saw Sean Kinney's drum kit spread out across the soundstage, placing the listener close. Guitar and bass followed, both rich in tone and butter-smooth, and the fulsome nature of the rest of track revealed the T3's talent for marrying its resolving prowess with a weighty and largescale sound.

In a nutshell, Lumin's well designed app encourages long listening sessions – and so does the performance of its hardware. Fed the dramatic, electronic soundscapes of Daft Punk's Tron Legacy soundtrack album [Walt Disney Records, 44.1kHz/24-bit], the T3 matched it beat-for-beat, serving up ominous deep throbs, driving drums and stabbing synths. Switch to the title track from The Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed [ABKCO Records, 88.2kHz/24-bit], and its detailed but sympathetic playout of this rollicking, piano-laden blues jam will have you shaking your hips and pursing your lips like Mick Jagger.

Hi-Fi News Verdict
More succinctly featured than Lumin's big-boned P1, but adopting much of that unit's technology, the T3 probably represents the sweet spot in the company's network player range. It's a tasty treat too, wrapping up superb sound quality, slick app-based control and wide-ranging playback options in the sort of high-quality, stylish casework you'd expect at the price. Digital audio enthusiasts will enjoy.