Node 2i upgrade: Lumin or Auralic?

[Gus141]

I’ve been running the U1 Mini through its paces for a day and I’m very pleased with everything. After trying all the connection permutations I decided to turn off all the non-USB digital outputs of the U1 Mini and connected it to my RME ADI-2 DAC via USB. The Oppo 205 is now just used as a disc player and an occasional UPnP/DLNA renderer (don’t really need it for that now with the LUMIN pulling that duty though).

 

@Cebolla mconnect does indeed work with the LUMIN. Functionality is identical to how it worked with the Oppo, with the same issues too: gapless didn’t work, and since it’s not OpenHome, the app needs to be running to keep the playlist going. I much prefer the OpenHome capable LUMIN app anyway, which had no problems with either gapless or stopping playback if the iPad was shut off.

 

Now that I’m done playing the same tried-and-true songs over and over to determine the best connection, it’s time to sit back and enjoy the music. I love these streaming services and the quality players. Enough music to last a lifetime for a small fee.

[Cebolla]

48 minutes ago, Gus141 said:

mconnect does indeed work with the LUMIN. Functionality is identical to how it worked with the Oppo, with the same issues too: gapless didn’t work, and since it’s not OpenHome, the app needs to be running to keep the playlist going. I much prefer the OpenHome capable LUMIN app anyway, which had no problems with either gapless or stopping playback if the iPad was shut off.

 

I'd put money on you having forgotten to switch on the mconnect Player app's Gapless function (understandable given that no OPPO device has ever supported gapless playback operating as a UPnP renderer), rather than believe that Lumin have taken a step backward and now have a device that doesn't support gapless playback under standard UPnP!

[Gus141]

6 minutes ago, Cebolla said:

 

I'd put money on you having forgotten to switch on the mconnect Player app's Gapless function...

Yup. That was it. I turned on “Gapless to Renderer” and all is well. Thanks!

[wklie]

Since there are five(?) variants of mConnect, please confirm you're testing the paid version of mConnect Player (HD?).  Another user just told me he tried the free version and found that to be not much usable for his needs.

 

If you have Tidal, please check whether the app has some sort of indication of MQA for Tidal master albums, and whether Lumin front panel shows MQA when you're playing it using this app.

[Cebolla]

Hi Peter,

 

Not a fan of Conversdigital's mconnect naming scheme, but there are actually 3 variants of the mconnect Player app that can control standard UPnP renderers. The 2 mconnect Control app variants are for controlling their own mconnect renderer hardware and cannot be used to control UPnP renderers - see (especially, the Comparison between mconnect Player & mconnect Control table):

http://conversdigital.com/eng/product/product04.php

 

The webpage should also answer your question on the app's MQA indication (also displays the undecoded/distribution resolution of the MQA track when playing), ie, yes.

 

BTW, the mconnect Player's TIDAL connection gets TIDAL's online server to provide the hi-res/24bit MQA undecoded/distribution files untouched (so not 'doctored' to 16bit/44.1kHz) to the UPnP renderer, when selected, even in the free Lite version of the app (unlike other free TIDAL supporting UPnP controller apps, eg, BubbleUPnP) - if that was on your mind concerning the Lumin's front panel MQA indication.

 

[Gus141]

14 hours ago, wklie said:

Since there are five(?) variants of mConnect, please confirm you're testing the paid version of mConnect Player (HD?).  Another user just told me he tried the free version and found that to be not much usable for his needs.

 

If you have Tidal, please check whether the app has some sort of indication of MQA for Tidal master albums, and whether Lumin front panel shows MQA when you're playing it using this app.

Yes to everything you asked:

—Yes, I’m using paid versions of mConnect Player (on iPhone) and mConnect Player HD (on a 1st Gen iPad Pro 12.9”). These were the players that I mentioned that are implementing new Qobuz and TIDAL APIs (bringing Qobuz sorting in My Favorites, and to TIDAL, the algorithmically generated My Mix playlists).

—Yes, mConnect has very good indications of MQA tracks in TIDAL, and Hi-Res tracks in Qobuz. It’s one of the main reasons I started to use it with my other UPnP/DLNA streamer.

—Yes, if I select the U1 Mini in the “Play To” tab of paid mConnect Player, then play an MQA song, the LUMIN’s display at the bottom shows “MQA” and the fully decoded & rendered SR/bit values for “MQA Original”; if I hit pause, the line changes to “FLAC” and the compressed values sent by the server prior to decode/render (exact same behavior as I see on the LUMIN app; press play to unpause and the MQA indications return in both apps).  Example: playing “One Track Mind” from Thirty Seconds to Mars shows “MQA 96 kHz 24 Bit” while playing and then “FLAC 48 kHz 24 Bit” when paused.

 

Note: a couple of times the mConnect Player wouldn’t play to the LUMIN (even though it would connect to it via the “Play To” tab); force quitting mConnect then playing something momentarily via the LUMIN app, then going back to mConnect works every time.

[Gus141]

Also, Peter, a +1 from me for a feature request to the LUMIN app:

—please implement the capability to add a track while browsing TIDAL or Qobuz to one of the users TIDAL or Qobuz playlists (an option such as “Add to Playlist” in the press-and-hold popup, just above the “Add to Favorite” line, that would bring up a list of my playlists from that service.

 

All the other software I’ve used to access TIDAL and Qobuz have a means to add a song to a playlist (usually a 3-dot menu button).

 

Please consider it because I really like the LUMIN app and I could do most of my discovery in that app if I could add songs to my server-side playlists.

 

Thanks. Cheers,

Gus

[Gus141]

I don’t see a way to edit an older post; after a certain period of time, the “Edit” link disappears. So...here’s an update:

 

Since I mentioned above that I was connecting the U1 Mini to my DAC via USB, I wanted say that I’m back to S/PDIF Coax (I’d try AES/EBU if I could).

 

After listening to more varied music last night, I again tried out the S/PDIF. I’ll spare everyone my attempt to describe the differences and just say that the S/PDIF through my RME ADI-2 DAC sounded better to me than USB. I’ve put away the flashlight and will not be making any more changes to my cables and/or connections 😉

 

Cheers,

Gus

[Gus141]

I figured after 24hrs more burn-in time (4 days total running playlist in repeat) I should compare USB vs Coax again. The main reason I was curious is because I was noticing a glare from the U1mini-(coax)->DAC in the high-mids/low-highs that I don’t notice with two other streamers. So I plugged in USB and listened to the same songs that were displaying the brittleness, and the USB-delivered music was sublime. 

 

Example: one of the songs that was a problem was Durutti Column’s “Requiem for My Mother”; I usually love Vini Reilly’s guitar on that song, but over U1mini coax it had, to me, an unpleasant digital edge to the high notes. Switched to USB into the RME ADI-2 DAC and it was smooth, euphonic, and non-fatiguing; the way I was accustomed to hearing it.

 

Using USB will allow me to dabble in DSD now too.

 

I’m a very happy listener now with the LUMIN U1 Mini over USB. I’m definitely done doing A/B comparisons for a while 😉

 

Cheers,

Gus

[keeper]

On 11/25/2019 at 7:19 PM, Gus141 said:

I figured after 24hrs more burn-in time (4 days total running playlist in repeat) I should compare USB vs Coax again. The main reason I was curious is because I was noticing a glare from the U1mini-(coax)->DAC in the high-mids/low-highs that I don’t notice with two other streamers. So I plugged in USB and listened to the same songs that were displaying the brittleness, and the USB-delivered music was sublime. 

 

Example: one of the songs that was a problem was Durutti Column’s “Requiem for My Mother”; I usually love Vini Reilly’s guitar on that song, but over U1mini coax it had, to me, an unpleasant digital edge to the high notes. Switched to USB into the RME ADI-2 DAC and it was smooth, euphonic, and non-fatiguing; the way I was accustomed to hearing it.

 

Using USB will allow me to dabble in DSD now too.

 

I’m a very happy listener now with the LUMIN U1 Mini over USB. I’m definitely done doing A/B comparisons for a while 😉

 

Cheers,

Gus

I also have the Node2i

How much of an improvement would you say the Lumin has provided, I’m wondering if I should get a higher quality streamer for local music files.

[Gus141]

12 hours ago, keeper said:

I also have the Node2i

How much of an improvement would you say the Lumin has provided, I’m wondering if I should get a higher quality streamer for local music files.

That is a difficult question to answer. Based on sound quality alone (feeding USB from the LUMIN U1 Mini, Toslink from the Node 2i , and S/PDIF coax from the Oppo 205, each to an RME ADI-2 DAC) there is really very little, to no difference between them all. But, I love the LUMIN U1 Mini and the app, and I find I use it the most to stream my music; it has been problem free since I got it too.

 

I dislike the BluOS app (and reading their forums I was surprised that they don’t want to add the display of sampling rate and bit depth for some reason, which I really like to see) so I was using the mConnect HD Player app to stream through my Oppo 205. But that had compromises, mainly gapless playback and playlist stoppages if I sent the app on my iPad to the background. So, I went looking for a replacement streamer in my budget with software I liked, and I’m loving the U1 Mini.

 

Blue Sound is a great company (and the Node 2i a great streamer), but they are really getting into a lot of products and concentrating on the whole multi-zone speaker/synced-playing/multi-room thing and thus the quality of the user interface for folks who just want a great audiophile-quality streamer is second to their emphasis on speakers & multi-room payback (trying to beat out Sonos I guess; good luck). So they are falling behind on support and I think they are stagnating at adding functionality to their existing product line.

 

My research led me to choose LUMIN for my next upgrade: their awesome support, a great app, frequent updates to software and firmware, and great hardware design. Considering how long they have supported their earlier products, I can feel confident this U1 Mini will be updated long after I have upgraded to another device. And they offer multiple upgrade paths if I ever feel I need to go up a notch.

 

But seriously, if you don’t dislike the BluOS app, don’t care if you have a display on the device (I like the blue display of the LUMIN), don’t like the idea of a physical power switch on the back, then you are probably fine with the Node 2i. Now, someone with a LUMIN U1 or a X1 that upgraded from a BluOS or NAD device may have more to say about bigger differences, but the U1 Mini was more of a nice side-grade rather than a definitive upgrade from the Node 2i for me.

 

Cheers,

Gus

 

 

[Gus141]

@keeper I should also mention there are some things the U1 Mini has that the Node 2i doesn’t have that may matter depending on your setup: AES/EBU output via standard XLR connecter, S/PDIF coax via BNC, and USB out. The Node 2i as you know just has the Toslink and Coax S/PDIF digital outs. It’s rare to see a streamer or transport with so many output options at this price point.

 

The OpenHome implementation in the LUMIN is on par with the BluOS functionality, but better than standard UPnP/DLNA support like I have in the Oppo 205.

[keeper]

@Gus141 cheers gives me something to think about.....

[Melvin]

9 hours ago, Gus141 said:

Based on sound quality alone (feeding USB from the LUMIN U1 Mini, Toslink from the Node 2i , and S/PDIF coax from the Oppo 205, each to an RME ADI-2 DAC) there is really very little, to no difference between them all.

 

Considering the massive price difference between them this speaks well of the Node 2i. Seems your DAC is doing a fine job regardless of source/input. Thanks for sharing this.