Thread: The amazing Lumin P-1 is now the Heart of my system.

Does the P1 come with a remote?

I have an X1 and bought the remote. The X1 Leedh volume control is the best I have heard on a DAC but still not as good as my Benchmark LA4 preamp, so I am not going DAC-to-amp with the X1. I noticed the difference in volume at very low levels which I sometimes use late at night while working. The LA4 volume increases in equal steps while the Leedh seems to jump a bit in non-equal steps. Nothing major but that bugged me.

I am selling DACs and optical streamers from my system(s) and I am now thinking of getting a second X1 with another LA4 preamp or just the P1. I think the simpler P1 may win out even though I expect the Leedh volume to be the same quality as in the X1. I do not need low volume listening in the room the P1 is slated for.

This forum has really helped me decide which way to go on my next purchase. Thanks.

Originally Posted by thingswelike

Yes, the remote control is included with LUMIN P1. It has an Infrared receiver on the front, so no need to use a USB port for it.

Thanks, that is very useful so that a USB streamer out is not lost to the remote control.

Can you tell me if the X1 and P1 are AES48 compliant? My Benchmark LA4 preamp is, and I run 15-foot StarQuad pro cables, and it is perfect. I have tried shorter much costlier consumer XLR with the LA4 to my Benchmark AHB2 amps and there was no difference. I believe gear that is AES48 compliant (especially the preamp), will mitigate the need for costlier XLR's which I do know improve sound in other situations. My next Lumin P1 or X1 is going to go into my Livingroom where I would like to use 25-foot XLR to both get the gear away from the speakers, and also have the SPFID streamer output from the Lumin close to my headphone amp (a Peachtree GAN1 in the Livingroom).

BTW - if anyone is looking for a Lumin X1 remote control. I have one that is 2 weeks old and not going to be used anymore.

Originally Posted by No Quarter

You can also increase/lower the volume with your IPad/IPhone. Personally I think the volume is easy to control with the P1, no issues with low volume listening either.

Agreed. Sometimes I use the Lumin physical remote control, but mostly I just adjust the volume in my iPhone. Or, if I am in Roon, which I usually use in conjunction with my laptop, I just use the pop-up menu in Roon for the P1 and adjust it from there. Of course, Roon works with the iPhone this way, too. So, you can adjust volume with the remote, with the Lumin app on your phone or tablet, or using Roon with your phone, tablet or computer.

It's really nice having all these very convenient means to adjust the volume on the P1. 👍

Again, the thing I am really impressed with is just how WELL Lumin thinks things through.

Originally Posted by jmusica

The Lumin remote is a joy, and the irony is it almost never gets used because it’s so easy to adjust volume with the app.

Yep, agreed. The times I generally use it are to switch inputs from the P1's optical input to the RCA input from the turntable. It also sounds fab when used just as a "preamp" for the TT.

Can the Lumin remote be used to program an action. I want to switch between analog out and SPDIF streaming out. I really hate using the Lumin app on my iPhone to do this. It takes a few repetitive swipes to get this done. I am doing this nightly (and every morning) to flip back and forth between my Lumin X1 and another DAC which I use for headphones.

Originally Posted by Hear Here

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Any streamer suggestions welcome, short of adding hardware and a subscription and resorting to Roon. Thanks

I have spent the last 2 weeks comparing the X1 internal DAC with fibre along with SPDIF out and USB out. The SPDIF was to a Benchmark DAC3B and the USB was to a Musetec 005. The comparison was with the same DACs streamed with fibre using the Sonore OpticalRendu. I have 3 oR's and I am a ROON user. I GROUPED the ROON end-point streams so that I could quickly switch between the endpoints via my Benchmark LA4 preamp or the DAC source digital inputs. I did not run oR into the X1 to test that via USB (I should). The fibre stream was comping out of a Ubiquiti network switch with 2 SPF outputs.

There were differences in sound between the 2 streamers. The X1 was louder and more in your face. The Sonore OpticalRendu seemed to have all the details of the X1 but was not as loud and seemed a bit more refined. Not saying one was better than the other. However, at around $1K-$2K the oR is a great streamer. I have 3 of them.

I just sold 2 of my Musetec 005 DACs this week and will likely get rid of 1 or 2 oR.

The Lumin X1 is really growing on me in my office system. Not too warm or too dry, just right with amazing features. It goes into my LA4 preamp in the office.

Originally Posted by No Quarter

I am curious of your thoughts on the Musetec 005 Dac, I was close to buying one of these ( unheard) last year, based on all the good things I read about it.
At that point I was using an IFI Zen stream with Sbooster BOTW power supply as my streamer. I was using it with my Musical Fidelity MX Dac. I also demoed a Saturn Dac with the Zen stream.
There just became too many boxes, cables etc. to deal with so I went with the P1.
I will try and find a photo of the Zen/Saturn Dac with the jungle of cables, power supplies that drove me nuts. This was a temporary location for the gear, until I sort things out.
I never did get to hear the Musetec.

The Musetec 005 is a very good DAC. The sound is as detailed as the Lumin X1 and it is mostly similar to the X1 except for the slight warmth and additional smoothness that it has. I have done side by side comparisons with the same gear and it is easy to hear. Sometimes I liked the Musetec over my Lumin X1 and Benchmark DAC3B. My last 005 is going to be picked up by a local buyer tomorrow and I will do a final listen to hear what I will be missing.

I tested out my KEF LS50 Meta + KC62 sub in my small office with the Benchmark LA4 preamp and CODA #16 amp. You are really hearing the interaction with the Musetec and CODA here since the LA4 gets out of the way. This combo was sometimes favored by me over adding the Lumin X1. That extra smoothness of the 005 seems to play nice with the slightly warm CODA #16. The Lumin X1, LA4, and CODA #16 are very good, but I am not sure if it is the best combo. I am kicking that decision down the road since I will not be using the CODA #16 for another 9 months. I will be buying KEF Blade 2 Meta to go with the CODA #16. I am most likely going to get another X1 direct-to-amp, a P1, or another DAC (maybe 005) with LA4.

My office system is Benchmark LA4 + AHB2 mono amps and now the Lumin X1. I really love this combo. I was not planning on using the X1 in my office, but the sound is way too good to ignore. I like this better than the Musetec 005 with the same gear. I thought the 005 was great with this gear but the X1 is even better in this setup.

Near the end of the year, I will have to get another DAC that will work nicely with KEF Blade 2 Meta and CODA #16. I think the X1 or P1 for both sound quality and simplicity are the 2 favorites.

BTW - another reason that I sold both 005's this week is because they do not sound good with my RAAL VM-1a headphone amp. The sound of this amp with the SR1a or CA-1a phones approaches unbelievable levels with the Benchmark DAC3B and to a lesser extent the Lumin X1. With the 005 it is not too good.

Originally Posted by No Quarter

There just became too many boxes, cables etc. to deal with so I went with the P1.

I will try and find a photo of the Zen/Saturn Dac with the jungle of cables, power supplies that drove me nuts. This was a temporary location for the gear, until I sort things out. I never did get to hear the Musetec.

Ha! Yeah, exactly! That looks very comparable to my previous set-up. It was just so complicated, it was getting ridiculous. Moreover, it would not function consistently, based on my home network's wonkiness. Here's a photo of just part of all the gear: components, digital cables, analog cables, power supplies, power supplies for the digital components, power cords for the power supplies for the digital components, blah, blah, blah. Gah! And, this doesn't even show the amp...



All that gear inside the red borders, now replaced with this:



The current system main rack...


The P1 is cornerstone and foundation that allowed all of this...

SO happy, it always works, never gets wonky like the Eunhasu server for my SOtM network bridge, and it sounds frickin' amazing...

Originally Posted by MichaelsMinute

Looks great!!!

Thanks. Yeah, it looks nice.

Only need 1 pair of ICs and 2 PCs; no digital Ethernet cables, no digital USB cables, no power supplies, no power cords for power supplies, no external DAC, no IC for the DAC, no PC for the DAC, yada, yada, yada.

Simple. Most important thing is...it always works.

Looks great Puma 👍🏻

Originally Posted by MaxH13

Looks great Puma 👍🏻

Thanks, Max. Sounds great (actually, REALLY great), too. Listening to it right now.

Originally Posted by brodricj

Far more condensed system. I see the Altaira-SG and Altaira-CG there, they can't be condensed into anything else. I'm told my Altaira-SG isn't far away.

Actually, it's two SG-Altaira hubs. Which is Shunyata's guidance for configuring a segmented system. The P1 is plugged into it's own Altaira-SG, and the other is Altaira-SG solely dedicated to the Constellation Inspiration integrated. If I was using a single Altaira for an entire system, then it would be a Altaira-CG.