LUMIN - Audiophile Network Music Player

[stellablues]

Looking for some advice on which Lumin is right for my system. T2 (new or used) or a used A1?

I have currently a ipad playing into an Ayre Codex or Khadas tone board (qobuz, tidal, roon). The khadas has amazing chips (ess 9038Q2M) and measures amazing but does not sound very relaxing and real yet (not broken in). Fatigue sets in quickly. the Ayre measures horrible but i can listen all day, though knowing i am missing some detail and realism. I have a turntable system as well which sounds great - vpi prime, jc3 jr, various cartridges.

i want the most balanced real sounds possible but also that I can listen to all night and get lost in the music. The A1 has many fans. the T2 is being touted as better and also relaxed and realistic. is it the best of both or fatiguing ESS all over again? can't listen to both i don't think...

w4s pre > decware mystery > vivid 1.5 > gik acoustics

[greyscale]

On 4/22/2019 at 9:40 PM, wklie said:

Yes, MinimStreamer should work as we have success reports of using it to transcode DSD128 to PCM for playback with DSD64-only Lumin A1 / T1 / D1.

 

D2 supports DSD128, so MinimStreamer is not necessary for DSD128 playback.

 

However since you call it an "app", I'm not sure it is what you think it is.

Peter, yup, not quite an APP. More of a converter. I'm aware that you cannot disclose Lumins future plans, But, haw about a dedicated Network Headphone amp???.

[wklie]

Thanks for suggestion.

[greyscale]

Peter, as to a streaming headphone amp, I since have found that TEAC s NT505 does streaming. however, gets meh reviews. Fiber optics lan port  would set LUMIN way out in front of any competition IMHO.

Have a good day.

[JMD54]

Where specifically are you finding these "meh" reviews?  I own one and I find it works and sounds great and I have also owned Lumin too.

[greyscale]

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/teac-nt-505-functional-review

 

Not IMHO a glowing review. Glad you like yours.

[JMD54]

And what he described was the functionality of a Lumin streamer whose app it uses and operates the same way.  The differences being the addition of the headphone output and the ability to use it as a DAC.  I have owned a Lumin so I was well aware of how it operated and also bothered to read the manual prior to making the purchase. If that was what you chose to make a purchase decision on then your choice.

[One and a half]

On 4/29/2019 at 5:49 AM, greyscale said:

Peter, yup, not quite an APP. More of a converter. I'm aware that you cannot disclose Lumins future plans, But, haw about a dedicated Network Headphone amp???.

Seems to me that HP listening can be fickle. My impression is that head fiers tend to tire or want to change hp amps ‘often’. This would mean to change a Lumin soon after purchase, after a substantial investment, a poor choice, financially. Look at the meh reviews of the Merging NADAC where the HP output failed to deliver..

point is, leave the Lumin as is, and change HP amps to suit the phones independently which can change often. That can also apply to DACs to a lesser degree.

[Chiller]

I'm looking for some guidance regarding the use of Plex with my Lumin D1 streamer. It's renewal time for my Roon subscription and I'm looking for similar alternatives at a lower cost. With Roon, I can stream losslessly to my Lumin. When I use plex to play music I get the Tidal integration with my library and many other nice features, but I can't find a way to stream to my Lumin. Does anyone know if this is possible?

Any assistance greatly appreciated!

[wklie]

@Chiller

Plex has a DLNA server - you can try using Lumin app with it and see whether it works or not.  Our standard recommendation is to use MinimServer with Lumin app.

 

If you want to use the Plex player UI and stream to Lumin, I don't think that's generally possible.  However, on an Apple device perhaps you can try to see if you can use Plex player in conjunction with AirPlay to send music as 16/44.1 to Lumin (with "Lumin Streaming" setting enabled).

[Chiller]

14 hours ago, wklie said:

@Chiller

Plex has a DLNA server - you can try using Lumin app with it and see whether it works or not.  Our standard recommendation is to use MinimServer with Lumin app.

 

If you want to use the Plex player UI and stream to Lumin, I don't think that's generally possible.  However, on an Apple device perhaps you can try to see if you can use Plex player in conjunction with AirPlay to send music as 16/44.1 to Lumin (with "Lumin Streaming" setting enabled).

Thanks Peter, I've tried Airplay from my macbook and it works, but was hoping to use the LAN connection

[wklie]

AirPlay works on LAN as well, but it'll be limited to 16/44.1.

[One and a half]

Getting back to network isolation, audioshark members have positive success with the Gigafoil filter in their systems, with short even boutique cables from the output to their Lumin/Streamer. 

 

What bothers me about the Gigafoil, is that the 5V power supply is shared between the output and input. 

 

After some searching, there's an Ethernet Isolator from Fibresystem AB Sweden, that provides for two FMC at either end, with POE on the input, and on the output a Fibre connector as well as RJ45 in the one package. The important issue here is that the dirty and clean side have separate power connectors (18-45V DC). This makes a little more sense than the Gigafoil, since it's possible to use an SMPS on the dirty side, and even batteries on the clean side. Additional protection like 6kV spikes are taken care of. 

 

The dealership has yet to provide pricing details, and answers to technical details, hopefully next week. The Fibresystem's product doesn't include the ugly sheet steel of the Gigafoil with the messy soldering for shielding. Most X1 users would use a FOC directly, but for those of use with Ethernet, the device caters for both.

[wklie]

I believe the steel has a reason to be there.  I must have missed the "messy soldering" discussion - is there any photo showing that?

 

If you primarily want separate power supplies, it'd be cheaper to use just a pair of TP-Link MC210CS (for newer Lumin models) or MC110CS (for older Lumin models S1 / A1 / T1 / D1).

[wklie]

This article from a Hong Kong web site has a lot of photos showing the internals of the Lumin (class AB) AMP (google translate):
http://www.avbuzz.com/audio-video/201905/lumin-amp/

Here's a review of the SQ - note that the google mis-translation "(drum) is really dead" should be "to die for":
http://www.avbuzz.com/audio-video/201905/lumin-t2-amp/

Please ask your dealer for promotion deal of Lumin X1 + AMP.

[Doak]

7 hours ago, wklie said:

This article from a Hong Kong web site has a lot of photos showing the internals of the Lumin (class AB) AMP (google translate):
http://www.avbuzz.com/audio-video/201905/lumin-amp/

Here's a review of the SQ - note that the google mis-translation "(drum) is really dead" should be "to die for":
http://www.avbuzz.com/audio-video/201905/lumin-t2-amp/

Please ask your dealer for promotion deal of Lumin X1 + AMP.

Wow,,, the Lumin amp IS "to die for" both inside and out - quite stunning design.

Also, but obviously, somehow the large transformer is termed a "ring cow" in the translation.

[Barfly]

Hi,

I'm using my D2 as streamer/DAC/preamp feeding my Simaudio 330a power amplifier via XLR. I believe it sounds great! Thank you. However, I find myself only using volume between 1 and 10 (out of 100). More than that is way too loud. And in fact 1 is also too loud, I would like to play music at nighttime in a low volume. Could this be changed in some future firmware? It would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks.

[wklie]

15 hours ago, Barfly said:

I'm using my D2 as streamer/DAC/preamp feeding my Simaudio 330a power amplifier via XLR. I believe it sounds great! Thank you. However, I find myself only using volume between 1 and 10 (out of 100).

 

For lower volume please use the RCA connection instead of XLR (this works for power amps that have the same input sensitivity for RCA/XLR, and does not work for those with XLR doubling the input sensitivity of RCA).  For even lower volume, you may also set Analog Output Level to Low.

 

If after doing these you still think the volume is too high, you can consider adding attenuators.  We have not tested any of those but I recall some users who like Rothwell attenuators.

 

Please also set Digital Audio Output to OFF if the BNC-SPDIF output is not needed.  This allows a better volume control implementation to be used in the current firmware.

[Barfly]

Thanks for a quick reply. I have already the recommended settings and it is way too loud. I will now look for attenuators to solve my problem. Thank you. 

I experience a great sound improvement using XLR so changing to RCA is not an option. 

[brw]

Why not try a preamp such as the companion 350P? I think you’d be happier.

[wklie]

If the problem is too much gain, adding an active preamp (i.e. with more gain) needs to be really careful.

 

There is a manufacturer which makes a $2k active buffer preamp with resistor ladder volume without additional gain below volume 63, but they have announced a replacement model last year.

[Barfly]

23 hours ago, brw said:

Why not try a preamp such as the companion 350P? I think you’d be happier.

Thanks for the suggestion. My idea was that I could spend my budget so I would not have to buy a preamp (and cables to match), in which case I could afford higher quality products. My budget (for this year) is spent but next year I might be looking at a preamp or possible an integrated. Meanwhile I will try out the suggested attenuators.

Thanks for all input!

[stellablues]

On 6/21/2019 at 8:58 PM, wklie said:

There is a manufacturer which makes a $2k active buffer preamp with resistor ladder volume without additional gain below volume 63, but they have announced a replacement model last year.

 

I have been waiting for this new preamp to emerge for a while. i have the current model with some mods... want to try the new one and see if its worth the cost.

[JMD54]

The Rothwell attenuators will get you a long way to solving your problem without doing any harm to the sound.

[wklie]

Previously Lumin DSD256 and DSD512 USB output worked on modern models of XMOS-based DAC and Esoteric / TEAC DAC but not Amanero-based DAC such as most models of LampizatOr.

There are now experimental firmware upgrades for both LampizatOr / Amanero-based DSD DAC and Lumin U1 / U1 MINI / T2 / X1 to enable Lumin to send DSD512 (not for U1 MINI) or DSD256 to DAC via USB.

There are risks involved in DAC firmware upgrade procedure and the use of experimental firmware, so proceed with caution.

If you're running an Amanero USB firmware older than 2002BE on your LampizatOr, you need to ask LampizatOr for upgrade instruction suitable for your particular DAC model.  If you're using a non-LampizatOr DAC that uses Amanero USB board, please consult your DAC manufacturer.  Important:
1. Take note of which firmware version you are currently running before proceeding to upgrade to a new firmware.
2. Some DAC need DSD channel swap firmware, some don't. Getting this wrong will result in DSD left/right channel being reversed.

After upgrading LampizatOr / Amanero, please test playback of different tracks of PCM and DSD64 / DSD128 to be working with no new and unexpected issue (e.g. pop / noise / left right channel swap / mute issues) with track changes.

Then you may get an experimental firmware from me to upgrade the Lumin U1 / U1 MINI / T2 / X1. If everything works as expected you can then play DSD256 music files, or upsample to DSD512 / DSD256 via Roon.

In case there is anyone using a current model of Mytek (e.g. Brooklyn DAC+) or a modern XMOS-based DAC but Lumin USB output of DSD256 does not work, this firmware may also fix it.