Lumin Owner Feedback

[Dpod4]

We have three Lumin music servers. Our current reference room system consists of KEF LS50 speakers and an Ayon Crossfire amplifier. The source includes a Mac Mini music server, Drobo disk array and Bel Canto reference stack.

While the Lumin is a very nice sounding server it does not transcend the Bel Canto stack and certainly is not better than a dCS Puccini (at least in this system). I would characterize its sound as pleasant and non-offensive. There is no digital harshness. The bass is full bodied and rich but somewhat muddled. Don't get me wrong - I really like the Lumin and use them for listening in my home and reference system.

SETUP:
Many people have already spoken about the setup. I recommend that you find a good IT guy to help you if you are not good with computers and network setup. It was a bugger and I had an ex-Boeing IT guy to install it. The problem is not technically with the Lumin but with the setup of the network disk server. We used a QNAP which worked fine once everything was installed correctly. Technical support from Lumin is first rate (in US). They are very helpful and friendly people.

OPERATION:
The app is one of the best I have used. Very easy to use. Playback response is almost instantaneous (less than a second). I have not found any clicks or inter-track noises or other anomalies even when playing DSD files. A suggestion would be for Lumin to provide a good app that tags the music files and handles cover art. This is especially a problem with DSD (.dff) files.

UPGRADE: The Kenneth Lau power supply
This power supply is a definite upgrade to the standard Lumin power supply. It substantially improves dynamic contrast and reduces opacity. It cleans up the bass significantly and improves pace, rhythm and timing. I did not hear any downside to vocals or anything else for that matter. All positives and worth the price. If you are looking to replace a top transport and DAC you will want this power supply.


Caelin Gabriel
President
Shunyata Research

Many thanks for visiting the forum and sharing your thoughts.

 

[Mike]

Thanks Caelin. Ken mentioned to me that you had his PS for your Lumin. Glad you like it.

 

[the professor]

Out of curiosity,

What power cords do you recommend w the Lumin?

I'm using Alpha Digital going into my triton/typhon. Would your DPC-6 be better?

 

[sharkmouth]

Very nice to hear a voice of reason. Although in my hearing the Lumin & Aurender in my system, I chose the Aurender, I still think the Lumin was worth the money, albeit, not in my system........

 

[mdkim]

Caelin:

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It's nice to get as many first hand opinions of gear as possible - even if they don't completely jive with your own. It definitely helps temper over-enthusiasm and fuels excitement for gear you want to audition.

 

[Mike]

Don't you just love people on other forums talking down about the Lumin and then sheepishly admitting "but I've never heard it". Unbelievable.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rrwmd]

OK, I'll chime in here...

I've had my LUMIN now for about 2 months, I believe, and have played it quite a bit. So I would imagine it's fairly well broken in. It replaced a dedicated Mac mini (solid state hard drive, the usual audiophile software players like Amarra and Audirvana) feeding a Berkeley USB/Berkeley Alpha DAC combo using various "audiophile" USB cables, etc, etc.

I already had my music on a Synology NAS, which is what made the LUMIN a natural move for me. After the installation of Minimserver and Java on my Synology (not a piece of cake, but i did it and am by no means a computer expert) the LUMIN has worked almost flawlessly (more on that below).

Overall I've been extremely pleased. I would describe the sound as "vivid" (and in my vernacular that equates to analog, though I realize analog is used for all kinds of things where someone wants to convey digital that sounds pleasing to them...). It's detailed enough, but not hyper detailed. Excellent tonal balance. Bass is deep, full and powerful (I've heard "bloated" used once or twice, but it doesn't' strike me as being this extreme). It's just a tad drier sound than my Mac/Berkeley combo--actually a good thing in my system. Very smooth and above all engaging.

I've had combinations of gear that sounds more detailed and analytical, but these didn't have the sense of timing and musicality (perhaps another overused term) that the LUMIN does.

As others have said, it really just makes you want to listen to music and not think too much about the specifics of the sound.

Very high in my ranking of "value for the dollar" audio purchases.

Right now I just have the stock PSU, but am certainly curious about the Kenneth Lau PSU.

The app is beautiful, well laid out/logical, and almost always works without a hiccup. Two things, though, that aren't perfect in my experience with the app are:

1) Every once in a while the app just loses connection to the LUMIN. What I notice when this happens is that my playlist vanishes, then when I hit the setup button to tell the app to connect to my LUMIN, the player just isn't listed there. Usually it takes closing and opening the app along with turing my wifi off then on again. Maybe it's just my wifi network, but I don't seem to have any other problems with my fairly robust network.

2) When I have songs/albums in the playlist, the album art that appears in the playlist sometimes isn't correct, and belongs to another album that is also in my playlist. This happens quite a lot. The "now playing" album art in the upper left corner is always correct though. So I can have an album playing and one album cover is displayed in "now playing" but the wrong album cover is displayed for that particular album in the playlist. This really bugs me, and if anyone has any suggestions about this I would appreciate it.

 

[still-one]

I'm still smitten with mine. How they pack everything into an elegant one box streamer/DAC that performs well and offer it with proprietary software (this is how Meridian, Burmeister, Aurender and others justify their exorbitant pricing) is totally refreshing.

I love mine so much I bought one for my father. Is there better out there? Perhaps, but right now I'm not prepared to pay $30k+ to find it.

Since when is $4k MSRP exorbitant (for Meridian Sooloos) in this hobby? That is a pair of power cords.

 

[mdkim]

Since when is $4k MSRP exorbitant (for Meridian Sooloos) in this hobby? That is a pair of power cords.

Am I wrong that a stand-alone DAC is required in addition to the Sooloos?

Don't get me wrong, as I'm not knocking any particular brand. I still love Aurender and am looking forward to auditioning a W20 one day. But, it seems a lot of value or cost justification is placed on the app or software development. My point was merely that the Lumin has done this AND included an onboard DAC for a more "modest" sum.

To be frank I didn't know the Sooloos was $4k; I thought it was more. I recall thinking it was pricey but that was a while ago when my perspective was...um...different. Now I'm drunk on kool aid.

 

[still-one]

Am I wrong that a stand-alone DAC is required in addition to the Sooloos?

Don't get me wrong, as I'm not knocking any particular brand. I still love Aurender and am looking forward to auditioning a W20 one day. But, it seems a lot of value or cost justification is placed on the app or software development. My point was merely that the Lumin has done this AND included an onboard DAC for a more "modest" sum.

To be frank I didn't know the Sooloos was $4k; I thought it was more. I recall thinking it was pricey but that was a while ago when my perspective was...um...different. Now I'm drunk on kool aid.

You can spend a lot for a multiple piece SooLoos set-up but it is much easier to purchase a MC-200 which includes a Core (Sooloos software) built in DAC's and a 1TB drive for the MSRP of $4k. That is all you require if you have a iPad. To maximize the SQ you are better off running the ethernet out to a Meridian endpoint (808v3/5 or a 861v8) It then competes with the best available. The internal DAC's are good but not great.