This is a review and detailed measurements of the Lindemann Limetree streamer and DAC (original version). It is on kind loan from a member and cost US €895 (about US $1,000).
I like the white color box:
Otherwise this is standard hobby/budget project box. Inputs and output are typical for the class:
Searching for the unit, there is a ton of positive press in Europe for it. Owner was curious if there is any meat behind them and hence this review.
Lindemann Limetree Measurements
Being a streamer, my audio analyzer can't control it so we are left with static test signals. Here is the dashboard:
This is disappointing level of distortion. I thought I was testing it wrong until I found the company spec which was actually a bit worse than what I measured at 0.003%. 40 years after introduction of CD's 16 bit format, we deserve DACs that produce less distortion than that format can manage (96 dB). Don't you think?
I expected dynamic range to be suitable poor but it was actually better:
As was jitter test:
Multitone showed that the dashboard 1 kHz tone presented the device in a more positive light than it deserves:
As we see distortion rises to to worse than -80 dB.
All tests were performed by playing the test tones using my Roon player, pushing bits over Roon end point implementation in Limetree.
Conclusions
$1,000 is a lot of money for a streamer. You would want excellent performance at that level that sadly Limetree doesn't deliver. Nor do you get any type of mechanical design that goes with a high-end streamer.
While I was inclined to like the Lindemann Limetree, the measurements showed that it has not benefited from good design with respect to distortion. So I can't recommend it.
----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
I like the white color box:
Otherwise this is standard hobby/budget project box. Inputs and output are typical for the class:
Searching for the unit, there is a ton of positive press in Europe for it. Owner was curious if there is any meat behind them and hence this review.
Lindemann Limetree Measurements
Being a streamer, my audio analyzer can't control it so we are left with static test signals. Here is the dashboard:
This is disappointing level of distortion. I thought I was testing it wrong until I found the company spec which was actually a bit worse than what I measured at 0.003%. 40 years after introduction of CD's 16 bit format, we deserve DACs that produce less distortion than that format can manage (96 dB). Don't you think?
I expected dynamic range to be suitable poor but it was actually better:
As was jitter test:
Multitone showed that the dashboard 1 kHz tone presented the device in a more positive light than it deserves:
As we see distortion rises to to worse than -80 dB.
All tests were performed by playing the test tones using my Roon player, pushing bits over Roon end point implementation in Limetree.
Conclusions
$1,000 is a lot of money for a streamer. You would want excellent performance at that level that sadly Limetree doesn't deliver. Nor do you get any type of mechanical design that goes with a high-end streamer.
While I was inclined to like the Lindemann Limetree, the measurements showed that it has not benefited from good design with respect to distortion. So I can't recommend it.
----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
