Lumin MQA Settings

wklie

wklie

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Lumin offers the most flexible MQA settings in the market. This post explains the Lumin MQA Settings. Currently this post applies to Lumin S1 / A1 / T1 / D1.

To understand MQA terminology, please read this first:
https://www.computeraudiophile.com/ca/ca-academy/mqa-for-civilians/

MQA Analog Output Mode:
- This is case D in the article
- This is the default mode suitable for most users who use the Lumin analog outputs
- Lumin offers Hardware Full Decoding to analog outputs
- Digital output is disabled
- Lumin upsampling is disabled
- This mode will not be available for Lumin U1 because U1 does not have analog outputs

MQA Digital Output Mode:
- This is (usually) case B in the article
- If you use Lumin digital output to connect to an external DAC, this is the mode to be used
- Lumin does MQA Core decoding and outputs 24/96 or 24/88.2 to external DAC in this mode
- If used with an external DAC that is a MQA Renderer such as Berekeley Alpha Reference 2 with (announced) MQA upgrade, this becomes case C - please keep Lumin volume at 100, otherwise MQA Rendering will fail
- Note that in MQA Digital Output mode, the front panel and the app sample rate display refers to the MQA sample rate of the MQA music, not the actual sample rate of the digital output (either 96kHz or 88.2kHz)
- Analog outputs are disabled
- Lumin upsampling is disabled

MQA Passthrough Mode:
- This is case A (for Lumin) in the article.
- If you use Lumin digital output to an external DAC that is a MQA Full Decoder (case D), e.g. Mytek Brooklyn, this MQA Passthrough Mode allows Lumin to send raw MQA data to the external DAC to be fully MQA decoded.
- Note that in MQA Passthrough mode, the front panel and the app sample rate display refers to the MQA sample rate of the MQA music, not the actual sample rate of the digital output (either 48kHz or 44.1kHz).
- Analog outputs are disabled
- Lumin upsampling is disabled (otherwise subsequent MQA decoding will fail)
- Lumin digital volume is disabled (otherwise subsequent MQA decoding will fail)

Off Mode:
- This is case A in the article.
- Starting from Firmware 9.01, if MQA is set to Off, Lumin retrieves the 16/44.1kHz version of Tidal master instead of the 24-bit version for any MQA decoding.
- Lumin upsampling can be used. This is the mode to be used if users do not care about MQA decoding and would rather upsample Tidal Masters to DSD, or to lower the download bandwidth required
 
wklie said:
Firmware 9.01 is released.
Click to expand...

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wklie said:
Firmware 9.01 is released.
Click to expand...
Peter - Congrats on receiving MQA certification, I know you've been working hard on it for quite some time! Is any consideration being given to the possibility of adding MQA Core decoding to the Lumin U1? TIA
 
audio.bill said:
Peter - Congrats on receiving MQA certification, I know you've been working hard on it for quite some time! Is any consideration being given to the possibility of adding MQA Core decoding to the Lumin U1? TIA
Click to expand...

Thanks, I think we should have U1 performing MQA Core decoding in beta firmware soon.
 
wklie said:
Lumin offers the most flexible MQA settings in the market. This post explains the Lumin MQA Settings. Currently this post applies to Lumin S1 / A1 / T1 / D1.

To understand MQA terminology, please read this first:
https://www.computeraudiophile.com/ca/ca-academy/mqa-for-civilians/

MQA Analog Output Mode:
- This is case D in the article
- This is the default mode suitable for most users who use the Lumin analog outputs
- Lumin offers Hardware Full Decoding to analog outputs
- Digital output is disabled
- Lumin upsampling is disabled
- This mode will not be available for Lumin U1 because U1 does not have analog outputs
Click to expand...

Thank you for the MQA information. At this point I am still learning about this, but expect to try it at some point in the future.

I have a question about the Lumin upsampling being disabled. Currently, I have different playlists that consist of PCM and DSD files, and I sometimes use different upsampling rates on the PCM files. At some point in the future, I expect HD Tracks to offer MQA downloads, and this will be when I start to experiment with MQA.

My question is, what will be the Lumin behavior when it deals with a playlist consisting of PCM, DSD, and MQA files? Will upsampling be disabled on all files, or just the MQA files?
 
BlueFox said:
My question is, what will be the Lumin behavior when it deals with a playlist consisting of PCM, DSD, and MQA files? Will upsampling be disabled on all files, or just the MQA files?
Click to expand...

Upsampling will be disabled for MQA music only. It does not affect other music in your playlist.

You don't have to wait for HD Tracks:

60-day Tidal HiFi / MQA Free Trial:

http://tidal.com/masters/
 
As a FYI: in the Lumin app, the main page ( Browse Page,) the user will see a Masters music collection. By clicking on the masters albums music selection the number given ex 457, is not all inclusive of the MQA albums on TIDAL. From what I've been told its the music Lumin added to the collection. Peter can correct me if I'm incorrect.
 
A user at CA forum reported:
https://www.computeraudiophile.com/...k-music-player/?do=findComment&comment=705306
I must admit, I was very biased against MQA when it was first announced/launched. After all, not ANOTHER codec, and surely the industry could agree on FLAC, DSD etc. Is this another VHS/Betamax, or Blu-ray/HDDVD battle? I was always settled on FLAC via Qobuz (or from my L1), but was thankful of my D1 for playing the few DSD files I had.

Well, with MQA I'm literally speechless! How the hell can Chicago's '17' sound as good as this? I have this album on vinyl, CD and in 24/96, but NOTHING touches the MQA version. I have the D1 decoding MQA feeding the analogue outputs, directly into my Linn preamp, and I have never heard my D1 sounding as good as this. It literally sounds like a different player.

I have also had the chance to compare other recordings, and the same findings apply: More 'depth' to rendition, more realism, and the notes seem to be clearer and 'stand out' more. It all adds to a much more musical experience all round.
Click to expand...
 
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24/352 MQA. Wow! This is a game changer.

Lumin rocks!

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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