Lumin or Innuos

[OPM]

Hi, I want to buy a high-end streamer or server. The other day I listened to the Lumin U1 and U1 min and I really liked them. But since I use Roon, I am also thinking about Innuos Zenith + Phoenix but I can't audition them.
Has anyone been able to compare them? Any recommendation?

Regards,

[wklie]

What hardware are you currently using for Roon Core?

[OPM]

a powerful pc for engineering although i don't use dsp for oversampling, i don't like it.

[wklie]

For Roon Core without need for DSP, you may consider NUC8i5BEH (or i3 at least) with m.2 SSD for ROCK OS, 8GB RAM, and 2.5" HDD for music in a fanless chassis.

[OPM]

I already have a roon core, I don't understand why I want another one.

[Foggie]

May want to list your setup, any specific goals and budget?  Dedicated space, shared, HP only / spkrs only etc..  A lot of great + varied experience here. 

 

There is no best/right or wrong approach with regards to your orig question.  A lot of variables (can) come into play.  If you are just plug and play and not interested in any futzing around v.s. squeezing every once from network config, power management, direct or endpoint connection types etc.. 

 

Not trying to make it difficult or seem overly complex, it's just nice to know as much upfront as possible so as to maximize the recommendations you may receive.

[wklie]

2 hours ago, OPM said:

I already have a roon core, I don't understand why I want another one.

 

I thought you wanted another one because your alternative choice in post #1 is a Roon Core.

 

8 hours ago, OPM said:

a powerful pc for engineering although i don't use dsp for oversampling, i don't like it.

 

I also misinterpreted "it" to be the powerful pc you don't like.

[jcn3]

@wklie -- i interpreted has pc comment the same way!  was very confused.

[OPM]

I'm sorry, i do not speak english well.

i mean i don't like oversampling

[creativepart]

1 hour ago, OPM said:

I'm sorry, i do not speak english well.

i mean i don't like oversampling

Oversampling? Or Upsampling? From your comment it sounds like you don't like using your computer to do upsampling of PCM files to a higher sampling rate.

 

I don't have experience with either Lumin or Innuos, so I'm afraid I can't help you there. Hopefully, someone will chime in on your initial question. I think when I read about the two company's products they appear to cover much of the same tasks, but many say it depends on which company's player software and media app you prefer.

 

Since you use Roon as your player software and app, you may want to look into less full-featured network streamers that are not servers but connect to your DAC and play music from the computer network. These would include SoTM, Sonore Rendu and other network attached streaming devices.

[wklie]

@OPM No need to be sorry.  Your post #1 asks about Lumin, as a Roon Ready streamer, against an alternative brand of Roon Core.  This is rather different in terms of the architecture.

 

The Lumin philosophy matches the Roon Labs recommendation, i.e. to separate Roon Core and output in different devices.

 

If you use the other brand, normally you run its built-in Roon Core and direct connect your USB DAC to it.  (That's why I asked about your current Roon Core PC.)  I guess it should be possible to use it as a Roon Bridge only and not use its Roon Core function, but I guess that's not how it's used usually.

[OPM]

10 hours ago, creativepart said:

¿Sobremuestreo? ¿O sobremuestreo? Según su comentario, parece que no le gusta usar su computadora para realizar un muestreo superior de archivos PCM a una frecuencia de muestreo más alta.

 

No tengo experiencia ni con Lumin ni con Innuos, así que me temo que no puedo ayudarte en eso. Con suerte, alguien intervendrá en su pregunta inicial. Creo que cuando leo sobre los productos de las dos compañías, parecen cubrir muchas de las mismas tareas, pero muchos dicen que depende del software de reproducción y la aplicación multimedia de la compañía que prefiera.

 

Dado que usa Roon como su software y aplicación de reproducción, es posible que desee buscar transmisores de red con menos funciones que no sean servidores, pero que se conecten a su DAC y reproduzcan música desde la red informática. Estos incluirían SoTM, Sonore Rendu y otros dispositivos de transmisión conectados a la red.

I wanted to say upsampling ...

I have read about Sonore and SOtM and they are interesting for their software, they seem like a high quality RPI. The problem with these two brands is that you end up with many boxes and cables and after a while with a fever to update. I don't want that, although if it sounds the same or better than Lumin / Innuos then I could decide. Here in Spain there is no official distributor or stores to test them.

[creativepart]

10 hours ago, OPM said:

they seem like a high quality RPI.

Yes, a much higher quality in many different ways.

 

And, you do end up with multiple boxes - I have the SoTM SMS200 Ultra with the SPS-500 Power supply and they sit on top or next to each other and connect with an Ethernet cable to my network router and a single USB cable to my Chord Qutest DAC.

 

These devices are ordered online usually and no, there isn't a way to test them ahead of time. I bought mine used and if I did not like it - I do like it - I would have simply sold it online to someone else.

[OPM]

18 minutes ago, creativepart said:

Sí, una calidad mucho mayor de muchas formas diferentes.

 

Y terminas con varias cajas: tengo el SoTM SMS200 Ultra con la fuente de alimentación SPS-500 y se colocan encima o uno al lado del otro y se conectan con un cable Ethernet a mi enrutador de red y un solo cable USB a mi Acorde Qutest DAC.

 

Por lo general, estos dispositivos se solicitan en línea y no, no hay forma de probarlos con anticipación. Compré el mío usado y si no me gustara, me gusta, simplemente lo habría vendido en línea a otra persona.

I am afraid to buy without listening. Then you have to sell it for half its price.
I have read very good things about SotM and Sonore, I know they are good. But how do they compare to Lumin or Innuos? Are they at the same level?

I want to make a final purchase, even if it costs me a lot of money.
I would like to buy the Lumin U1 as the sound is fantastic but I find it very expensive as it is only an endpoint. It is a model that has been on the market for 3 or 4 years and I think that maybe some update will come soon, I don't know. Here the question of the Innuos Zenith arises since it costs half.

[creativepart]

1 hour ago, OPM said:

But how do they compare to Lumin or Innuos? Are they at the same level?

That's where I can not help you. No experience with them. They cost more, but then they provide a lot of things I don't need since I rely on Roon for library organization, Qobuz integration and music playing.  Part of what you are paying extra for in the Lumin and Innuos products is the software that does all the Roon does already.

[RikkiPoo]

Innuos has a set up called experimental mode using squeezelite.  I think there is buffering of the data.  It is very nice, you will find several people raving about it.  I go back and forth between the experimental mode and running the Roon core on an Antipodes Core which also sounds nice in a different way but the Antipodes Core  needed a SOtM switch with the  clock and very high end SOtM ethernet cables with the filters between the Innous/SOtM switch/Antipodes Core to sound nice.  

 

A lot of what you are paying for are the upgraded power supplies and reduced electrical noise.  You don't know what the noise sounds like until it is gone..  

[stefano_mbp]

@OPM ... you could consider Lumin U1 mini, it’s cheaper.
Considering the many enthusiastic opinions about it you shouldn’t mistake ... and their app is fantastic.

Innous are mainly music servers, and streamers too, with hdd onboard.

Lumin are streamers, no hdd onboard, and they strongly suggest to use a nas with MinimServer installed to manage the music library.

Sotm sms 200 (I own the Neo not the Ultra, and I’m very satisfied) and Sonore are quite different beasts, they are just network players/renderers then no radio, no upsampling, no hdd onboard and no streaming services.

In my opinion Sonore has just one minus (quite big for me) as it is not possible to download the software and burn it to a micro sd on your own but you need to ask Sonore a new sd if something goes wrong ... SOtM let you download the software.