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Article: Lumin Network Music Player Review


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Chris, I especially enjoyed the the introduction of your review, talking about how things don't always work in network audio. The gotchas that exist in products from reputable companies are discouraging (I own one such product). Audiophiles are paying thousands of dollars for gear that, though it sounds great under many circumstances, has serious bugs -- and the manufacturers are dragging their feet about fixing them. So in my mind, this issue can't be emphasized too strongly.

 

That's not to say your impressions of the Lumin's sound weren't also quite informative. If I were looking for a DAC and network player, I'd put it on top of my list.

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.....just my 2-cents on the subject player...i have had mine for about 4-5 months. it replaced a PS Audio PWD MKII. to my ears..it is everything and more that is detailed in the review. it couldn't be more user friendly. i use 'MinimServer' through my imac and use 'Kinsky' as my ipad app to controll it. i have had no gliches with it and sonically it is superb.the '$7200' is a relative price. i was fortunate to buy it at a price less than the $7200 currently being quoted but given its

superb design and workmanship and its great sound and the fact that it does 'DSD' makes it a no brainer even at its current price.Thanks for the great review of a truly great product..

 

How do you describe Lumin's sound against PWD MKII?

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How do you describe Lumin's sound against PWD MKII?

the Lumin is much more analogue sounding than the PWD...transients are quicker with more punch. depth and width of soundstage is better.there is a more natural sound to the music .AND..it does DSD..also..MINIM..which is what i use as a server is superb and the Kinsky app is light years ahead of Elyric....you can easily create playlists and play as many tracks as you want with one touch of the Kinsky screen.Life is great and my music is a huge part of it now..

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the Lumin is much more analogue sounding than the PWD...transients are quicker with more punch. depth and width of soundstage is better.there is a more natural sound to the music .AND..it does DSD..also..MINIM..which is what i use as a server is superb and the Kinsky app is light years ahead of Elyric....you can easily create playlists and play as many tracks as you want with one touch of the Kinsky screen.Life is great and my music is a huge part of it now..

 

Thank you for description! That's impressive because PWD MKII sounded real good to me.

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Linn developed "AV extensions" on top of the UPnP / DLNA, to deal with gapless...

Not sure if this are protected by any copyright...

Linn's AV Extensions are all open source so others can use them without any license.

 

There have been accusations of LUMIN copying Linn's designs but there is no real evidence of this beyond shared parts (Wolfson DACs primarily).

Eloise

---

...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

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Linn's AV Extensions are all open source so others can use them without any license.

 

There have been accusations of LUMIN copying Linn's designs but there is no real evidence of this beyond shared parts (Wolfson DACs primarily).

 

Strange that PS Audio never used the Linn's AV Extensions to implement it's gapless. Their customers would have appreciated...

If there were no royalties to pay, I wonder what stopped them...

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Strange that PS Audio never used the Linn's AV Extensions to implement it's gapless. Their customers would have appreciated...

If there were no royalties to pay, I wonder what stopped them...

 

It's been a long time since I had my PWD, but I was a beta tester for the Bridge (which is their streamer that plugs into the PWD) and, frankly, I don't think Paul McGowan or the folks at PS Audio realized there was a thing called gapless playback when it was designed, so why use the extensions?

 

Consequently, it wasn't designed with a large enough buffer (256MB). So when folks like myself started saying "WTF, what's with the gaps?" they couldn't do anything about it. If interested, you can find endless discussions on the PSA forums about when are we going to get gapless playback and endless promises from PSA that it will be coming soon. I think they are still promising a solution using software running on a PC or MAC.

 

For me, this was a deal breaker and I switched to Linn. Couldn't be happier.

ChrisG

Bend, OR

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  • 2 weeks later...
Pixel Magic is based in Hong Kong and many Hong Kong CAS audiophiles have been using Lumin for many months already.

Some of them have itchy hands. Tweaking Lumin's powersupply unit can achieve significant sonic improvement.

 

For example, here is the most popular source of improved linear powersupply for Lumin (#9; #18; #22; #23) :

訂製各類型Audiophile Linear Power Supply - 第2é* - 全新音響器材買賣區 - Hiendy.com 影音俱樂部 - Powered by Discuz!

 

CKKeung...

 

How does one reach Kenneth Lau for his Lumin LPS?

 

The link is to a website that is in Chinese with not enough English (for me) to send a message?

 

Thanks.

MG555

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I've just noticed the photos - I assume they are stock photos provided by Lumin ...

 

Where DID they get The Beatles in 24/192 :-)

 

Eloise

Eloise

---

...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

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  • 3 months later...

Chris,

 

I enjoyed the review. As the owner of one audiophile unit that won't do gapless, I'm glad that you are one critic who is emphasizing that now.

 

The latest issue I've become aware of is whether a network player can seek within a track or not. Some that cannot will also not accept Pause and Play commands in sequence without starting a track over. Both are a minor inconvenience with pop music, a big deal with Classical -- especially with older CDs that might have an entire work in a track and rely on index points (universally non-implemented in any modern player, network or disk) for finer control.

 

The first time you need to seek within a network-streamed track and find you can't, you realize that it's a feature long taken for granted in CDs and just beginning to be implemented in network players.

 

Mike-48

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  • 2 months later...

Is your iPad connected to the internet (as well as your wi-fi network)?

That's the only time mine doesn't give access.

When you tap and hold an album, does it give little 'i' icons so that you can look at last.fm album information?

If the 'i' doesn't appear next to the album title, then the LUMIN app doesn't think your connected to the internet.

Associated with LUMIN - The Audiophile Network Music Player.

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Hi Ole

Have you got the very latest version of the app?

Try that and then try an 'Update Library' while connected to your normal music library.

Is 'Ole' the unique tunein radio username?

 

If you're on the old version and want to remain on it, then you can try setting the

iPad's "Region Format" (Settings->General->International->Region Format) to either United Kingdom or United States.

That has helped users on the previous version, but shouldn't be required on the latest.

Associated with LUMIN - The Audiophile Network Music Player.

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  • 4 months later...

"In the not to distant future these USB ports will be usable for direct attached USB drive playback (USB flash drive, SSD, HDD)."

 

Do the Lumins offer direct USB connectivity at this point in time? I can't find any documentation regarding this issue.

 

Thanks.

 

PERFECT SENSE

www.perfect-sense.se

 

Showroom in Stockholm, Sweden | [email protected] | 08 518 368 00 | Follow us on Facebook

 

 

 

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"In the not to distant future these USB ports will be usable for direct attached USB drive playback (USB flash drive, SSD, HDD)."

 

Do the Lumins offer direct USB connectivity at this point in time? I can't find any documentation regarding this issue.

 

Thanks.

 

Yes. That is how I am using my A1, currently. Couldn't be easier. Plug in the drive, power it up, and your drive will show up as a source on the Lumin app.

Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not." — Nelson Pass

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"In the not to distant future these USB ports will be usable for direct attached USB drive playback (USB flash drive, SSD, HDD)."

 

Do the Lumins offer direct USB connectivity at this point in time? I can't find any documentation regarding this issue.

 

Thanks.

 

It has just been implemented in the latest firmware.

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It has just been implemented in the latest firmware.

The LUMIN USB Server has been available since October last year.

 

It's a full UPnP server that lives on LUMIN, so if you connect a USB drive to LUMIN, you can also browse the music on other devices on your network (another LUMIN for example).

 

The latest firmware simply included the ability to connect LUMIN L1 via USB (which would work in the same way as any other USB disk).

 

See this Facebook post for a little info on disk formats, etc:

Associated with LUMIN - The Audiophile Network Music Player.

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The LUMIN USB Server has been available since October last year.

 

It's a full UPnP server that lives on LUMIN, so if you connect a USB drive to LUMIN, you can also browse the music on other devices on your network (another LUMIN for example).

 

The latest firmware simply included the ability to connect LUMIN L1 via USB (which would work in the same way as any other USB disk).

 

See this Facebook post for a little info on disk formats, etc:

Thanks for the clarification, thingswelike.

My answer was too ambiguous.

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