LUMIN - Audiophile Network Music Player

[AZ Craig]

I'm a newbie here but thought that I'd throw in that I have been using the Lumin for about a month and am very happy with it. Initially, I was using a Mac Mini as a server with Audirvana Plus but, even with all other apps shut down, I still had noise so I took the plunge and bought the Lumin. I also bought a Qnap NAS as a file server and was pleasantly surprised that it works with my Mac as a backup for Time Machine too.

 

Anyway, the DSF files as rendered by my Lumin sound great with my system.

[AZ Craig]

Does anybody know if the Lumin music player supports Double DSD? Quad DSD?

[AZ Craig]

Just got a Lumin L1 last week and have to say that, for me, it's a spectacular product. I have had sporadic problems with using my Qnap NAS as my server. I'm sure the problems were created by my limited experience in networking but could not completely resolve if the problem was the NAS, the minim software, and/or my network. I see others on this thread from time to time who share the same issues. Then along comes the L1 and all my troubles are resolved. Stupid easy to copy music via USB 3 and then plug into the network. Fire up the Lumin app and bingo, everything is there lickety split. Now I can spend my time listening to music instead of scratching my head over network/NAS issues.

 

For those who say it is expensive for a small, fanless, NAS box, I think about folks who say, instead of me going and buying a Mac, that I should buy a mother board and a case, and load unix on it and make my own machine like I'm some kind of McGiver. No thanks, I'll gladly pay for the convenience of plug and play.

 

My only concern was that it is hard drive based and my opinion of spinning disks is that they WILL fail, not IF, of WHEN. Not being sure of how much opsys code is in firmware vs on the disk drive, I didn't want to risk being dead in the water due to the expected hard drive failure. I opened up the L1 and pulled the 2.5" Toshiba 1TB drive out. Doing some exploring, I found that it has a small IX partition (for booting up) and the remainder is a partition for music (FAT32 if I remember).

 

For the ultimate in safety, I bought a 1TB SSD drive, cloned the L1 drive to it, and popped it back into the L1. Works like a champ. I'm not sure if the load times are significantly faster due to it being SSD, but I sleep a lot better knowing that my little L1 will run fast, cool, and more reliably.

 

If you want you life to be a lot easier, the L1 is a handy little appliance.

[AZ Craig]

To be a bit more clear on my Lumin, Minim issue:

 

The last five additions of new folders to my Synology NAS and its display on my iPad Mini as control for my Lumin A1 is displaying incorrect jpg for the latest added folder. The incorrect jpg moves to the new folder I've added, returning the previous most recent added folder to display correct jpg. I've got up-to-date firmware on my Lumin, iPad, Synology NAS, Minim and Java. My Synology NAS has performed like a champ unlike all the issues I previously had with a QNAP NAS which caused much moaning on forums and teeth gnashing. Thanks to Mark Gurvey for his help all along the way. Thank you too poster here for mentioning S1 P/S running especially hot to the touch. No mention of this in 6 Moons review. As much as I decry lack of upgrade path for A1 owners who'd like to improve their P/S (I'm big believer in better P/S based on my experience with other audio source components), I now have reservations about Lumin S1 P/S with Lumin A1. Perhaps if enough Lumin A1's are in use it will prompt an established audio manufacturer to offer a Lumin A1 P/S alternative.

 

 

Kenneth Lau has been making aftermarket power supplies for the A1 for some time now. I have one and it works great. Keep in mind that it is HUGE, almost as big as the A1.

[AZ Craig]

Good to know as I use the volume control from time to time as a whole house remote.  Guess I will stay on 6.0.6 until this is resolved. 

[AZ Craig]

Based on your experience, I signed up for the free trial as I had let my Tidal subscription run out some time ago.  While the MQA sounds great, I am disappointed over how few of their albums are available on MQA.  In total, I only see 457 albums across all genres and, naturally, many of the oldies were recorded in lower res formats.

 

I'll give it 60 days and see if they begin to offer a more robust selection of MQA offerings before I decide to just stay with Qobuz.

[AZ Craig]

1 hour ago, mav52 said:

I get it, but only from Tidal.   I know its not my Lumin because it occurs on my Brookynn , and just plain streaming via my PC.   I've got a 60mbps service and when I get these drops i do a speed test and I'm right up there where I should be.  I really think this is something to do with Tidals "equipment" or their provider to the world, wherever the heck that really is. .  Of course this is just my opinion. 

I was getting really bad service from Tidal yesterday.  Slow to start the music and more dropouts than content.  I test at 200 mbs internet service.  Killing the Lumin app didn't help.  Stream from my L1 has no problem.  Eventually, Tidal started working again so may just be a transient problem on Tidal's end.

[AZ Craig]

I have an ignorant question.  Since the Lumin L1 is a NAS, can it simultaneously support more than one Lumin player on the same network? 

 

I'm guessing it would work but not sure if the L1 can handle the multitasking.

[AZ Craig]

32 minutes ago, wklie said:

 

Yes.

Cool, thanks for the quick reply.

[AZ Craig]

I am having the same issue with my L1.  Spent better part of the day yesterday trying to figure out the problem.  A handful of the 400 albums do not display the cover art.  I download the music from SuperHiRez which includes the art in a separate jpg file.  When I open the album with MP3Tag, the art shows on the album level and the track level.  

 

Of the two albums I downloaded, neither showed art in the Lumin app.  After numerous tries, one album showed art after I loaded the album into Mp3Tag and only changed the Genre (no other changes).  I did the same with the second album but still no art.  I have tried changing the art out to lower and higher resolution jpg files but no luck there either.  This is not a new problem as I have had a small percentage of albums not showing art for at least a year.

[AZ Craig]

12 minutes ago, wklie said:

 

To find out whether it is more related to how L1 sees your album art, or it is more related to the app WiFi connection issues,  please try Linn Kazoo app and check whether it behaves the same or not.

I renamed the art file to folder.jpg and pulled up the album with Linn Kazoo with the same results... no art shown.

I also deleted and reinstalled the Lumin app.  The album does not show art on any of the locations that the Lumin app shows art.  Same with some other albums.

[AZ Craig]

11 minutes ago, wklie said:

 

After renaming the cover art to folder.jpg, please also rename the containing folder to something different.  This should trigger the L1 to re-setup the album art.  Please note that after disconnecting USB, L1 needs time to re-scan the whole HDD, which takes time depending on how many albums you have.

Some progress after changing the containing folder.  The art shows up in the upper left corner when the album is played, but not in the album view or the tiny icon next to the album name.

[AZ Craig]

5 minutes ago, wklie said:

 

Please "Reload Music Library" in Lumin app.

I always do that when I re-connect the L1 to the network.  

[AZ Craig]

7 hours ago, A1B said:

Hi Graig,

 

I see I n your autograph that you have two L1 servers. Are both having the same problems?

 

Ewan..

I believe so but the second L1 is at my second home two hours away.  I haven't been to that house in six months so I can't confirm that but I think it had the problem.  Now that I know the proper L1 reset routine, my issues may be resolved.

[AZ Craig]

I have two L1 servers and they work great.  I really like not having to deal with NAS software as the L1 it is just load-and-go.  First thing I did was replace the spinning disk hard drive with a SSD.  Works like a champ and I don't have to worry about the day when the spinning disk goes clunk in the night.

[AZ Craig]

The two L1 servers that I have did have mechanical drives (it’s been a few years ago so maybe the are using SSD). Replacing the was relatively easy but you need a really long and narrow screwdriver to reach the front screws. 
 

I just cloned the original drive to the SSD and was good to go. It might void the warranty. So be careful. 
 

the L1 is super simple. Plug in the usb to your computer, drag/drop the music to it like a standard usb drive, unplug usb and plug in Ethernet cable. All done, that’s it. The server show up on the LUMIN as well as other devices I have in my home. 

[AZ Craig]

Chungjh 

 

im not sure that I’d hear the difference as I am nearly 70 and played music way too loud all my life. ;-)

[AZ Craig]

Here’s a cheap, quick, easy fix. 4x magnification. Just put it in front of the display. 

Fresnel

 

[AZ Craig]

56 minutes ago, Audio said:

To Peter (aka wklie)

 

There is currently no dedicated manual for L2.

 

Is it possible to buy a Zero TB L2 and we upgrade it later by adding in our own SSD.

 

(Audio)

 

[email protected]

 

Since I have always assumed that mechanical disks will fail at some point, I have replaced the drive that comes with the L1 with a SSD drive.  It probably invalidates the warranty but I assumed that I could put the original drive back in if I had the units still under warranty.  The process is pretty simple but you need a very long narrow phillips screwdriver because the front panel is screwed in from the back which means you have to unscrew through the opening in the back.  Other than that, it's just like changing a drive in a PC.  I keep the original drive as a backup.