LUMIN - Audiophile Network Music Player

[ItsintheTiming]

This may be off topic but can a Lumin L2 connect to a USB DAC?

[ItsintheTiming]

Re the FLAC vs WAV debate my first point of reference was an intensive 4 part article published in the Absolute Sound magazine in 2014 - New Methods for Quantifying Sonic Performance by Jay Clawson - https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/new-methods-for-quantifying-sonic-performance/

This is quite a read but things I took from the article were :

• that WAV - without meta data - sounded better than FLAC

• that the image height of played back digital music correlated to the quality of the digital music file 

The former point here relates to the fact that any requirements of the digital music file being played to use more processing power from the streamer was detrimental to the sound quality. For example a FLAC file must be decompressed and its meta data read by the streamer during playback which uses more processing power than an uncompressed WAV file containing no meta data.

 

RE the playback of 32 bit non floating point digital files there are not many sources of these to obtain and try them. The record label 2L once had a test bench page for free download of different file resolutions/dynamic range music for use as comparisons as to their sound quality but it seems to have gone and is under construction. The Dutch record label Sound Liaison has access to free downloads of 32/352 DXD music and other DSD and PCM resolutions here https://soundliaison.com/de/products/compare-formats-free-downloads they work well with my Lumin U2 mini and Holo Audio Spring 3 V2 DAC.

[ItsintheTiming]

I thought the fixed versus floating point had been nailed earlie?. Floating point 32 bit is a digital file used in editing and the output file for play back is 32 bit fixed point.

[ItsintheTiming]

Just to add to the confusion. Using Korg's Audiogate  4.61 Mac software I exported a 24/96 wav file to 32 bit floating point 352.8. This file played back fine on the Mac using its proprietary playback software. I will play it back via my Lumin U2 Mini/Holo Audio Spring 3 v2 DAC later today. I also opened it in Audacity and saved it as a fixed integer 32 bit file and I will play that back too and report back.

[ItsintheTiming]

I use a Naim Uniti Core NAS type drive via Ethernet with the Lumin app and it works superbly well. I also use a USB connected external SSD to playback my DSD files and the Lumin app again is faultless here.

[ItsintheTiming]

Laziness will kill off mankind.....and AI will take over.

[ItsintheTiming]

May I ask why USB is better disconnected please? Also is there is particular reason why Lumin doesn't support 12S as a digital output?

[ItsintheTiming]

It pays to read previous posts to not duplicate what I posted yesterday?

[ItsintheTiming]

23 hours ago, Markus8 said:

Well I have a LUMIN U2 Mini too with Farad Super3. Though price/performance and also flexibility I‘d rate the Holo Audio Red even higher. Has also great HQPlayerEmbedded & NAA support (which obviously LUMIN for whatever secret reason isn’t willing to support for years) and has already a good power supply built in. 

 

So have you compared directly the Lumin U2 Mini/Farad Super 3 for sound quality with the Holo Red?

[ItsintheTiming]

Sorry to but in cross topic but can you confirm the maximum resolution for X1 playback via its USB input please. From an external SSD self powered drive DSD native or DXD filles stutter on playback but no problem with my U2mini playback.

[ItsintheTiming]

6 hours ago, wklie said:

 

Please use MinimServer, not directly connected USB drives, especially for DXD and DSD files.  This applies to the whole Lumin lineup, even though newer models have faster processors.

 So does this apply to self powered USB drives with external psu ?

[ItsintheTiming]

As I have invested a lot in buying DSD downloads and ripping SACDs if I can't play them via the Lumin U2 Mini's USB input I will have to sell the Lumin and find another streamer that allows this. I have a Naim Core which my contains lower resolution music files and don't have space to accommodate a NAS device. Anyone else playing back DSD 256 files in native mode successfully with other streamers?

6 hours ago, wklie said:

 

Please use MinimServer, not directly connected USB drives, especially for DXD and DSD files.  This applies to the whole Lumin lineup, even though newer models have faster processors.

 

[ItsintheTiming]

2 minutes ago, stefano_mbp said:

Just to better understand … in this post you say there are issues with X1 playing DSD and DXD files from usb but the U2Mini works fine

… and here you say U2Mini has issues … it’s difficult to understand

Sorry for the confusion. The X1 does not play DSD or DXD files from its USB input but The U2 mini plays them fine. I am concerned that as Wilkie said not to use the USB input with an external SSD drive self powered for this playback I might be doing some damage to the U2 mini.

[ItsintheTiming]

An idea Stephano thank you. The Core won’t deliver DSD in native mode via its own SSD it converts automatically to DOP pcm. I will try it though and report back.

[ItsintheTiming]

1 hour ago, stefano_mbp said:

@ItsintheTiming reading about the Naim Core it seems you can connect an external usb hdd/hdd to it, in this way all the content of the external hdd/ssd should be available through the Naim Core UPNP server … maybe this can solve your issue with X1

….

but maybe the Naim isn’t compatibile with DSD/DXD …

Thank you so much Stefano your good idea worked. Attaching the external self powered SSD drive via USB to the Naim Core adds all the DSD files etc to the Core's library accessible via the Lumin app and when played back on the U2 mini via its USB output to my Holo Audio Spring 3 v2 DAC they are playing as native DSD.

[ItsintheTiming]

Can I ask a stupid question please? Is the Lumin streamer the Digital Media Renderer? Can the app chosen to control the choice and playback of the media be involved in the rendering enough to change the sound noticeably ?

[ItsintheTiming]

Thank you that's what I anticipated. I have, for the first time, used other control apps with my U2 mini and have in each instance heard a different sound quality than from the Lumin app. This is puzzling me. As one app, Jplay, charges a yearly usage fee is it doing more than just allowing me access to my music?

[ItsintheTiming]

Thanks Stefano. I have compared two apps Jplay - I started a trial recently - and Fidata app. In my system, and that of a colleague, using Fidata the sound is different to using Lumin app. The Jplay app for me also changes the sound. This is mainly in sound staging and detail. Why I do not know. Jplay annoyingly integrates the music from my network drive with Qobuz and doesn't serve my DSD files converting them to high res PCM. 

[ItsintheTiming]

Peter I have absolutely no problems with the Lumin app - playing back DSD or PCM - all is fine. It is the anomaly of hearing different sound quality with other apps - none which perform functionally as well as the Lumin.