Hello i have question i have dac Denafrips Pontus. Amp is unison unico primo.
I want to buy streamer to Tidal. I want to buy
lumin D2 or lumin U1 mini.
And want to connect him to denapris
The qualitty of sound will be the same on Lumin d2 and U1 mini??
I want only to have better sound i dont care about the dac of Lumin D2.
Or the sound will be the same ?
Greetings.
Michal
For connection to external DAC, use U1 MINI. It will be better.
Hi wklie.
I am in the market to get either a Lumin U1 mini or a D2.
It will be used with a Naim XS2 integrated amplifier. I want a Dac/Streamer combo. Are both the U1 mini and the D2 streamer/dac combos. It seems like the U1 mini is only a Dac from what I read in this forum. Correct me if I am wrong. Also I have a tidal subscription so can the D2 fully decode the MQA content? I read about decoding and unfolding. Does tidal unfold and the D2 decode? I just want to be prepared that I go with the correct unit as I do want to take advantage of MQA in tidal so its highest sample high res rate. Will it just do up to 24/96 or will it go higher to 192? I don’t think there is much for MQA past 24/96 anyways bit I have not peeked around much yet it tidal. Thanks
The U1 mini is a streamer only, and the D2 is a streamer/DAC. D2 will fully handle MQA (unfold and render) so it will handle whatever sample rate is in the MQA file (up to 384kHz I assume), and will play native DSD up to 128 and native PCM up to 384kHz. Note D2 does not have any other digital inputs other than ethernet (USB input is for attached file storage only). I’m sure @wklie can correct me if any of this is wrong and provide any further info.
Hi Rockhound.
Thanks kindly for the info. As far the no other digital inputs, what sources would a person be missing? Possibly a CD player but anything else? You could still use another Dac with this unit if you wanted to on the digital output. Any other digital devices that may not be able to be used? Being that it is a streamer and a Dac I think for my purposes that is all I would need but you may have other info.
On a different topic, for flat, DSD and any other high res files, I am sure I can just use a NAS drive plugged into one of the USB A ports. Will these all sync with the Lumin App/Interface and show up in thr music library with all of the Metadata and artwork? Also, if I run roon will everything appear in Roon? I would assume so.
Thanks a bunch,
Chris
Hi Chris, yes you could certainly use another DAC for additional digital inputs - I use the DAC in my Hegel H190 to plug my CD transport (which never gets used these days). I just mentioned it as some people see streaming DAC and think it has other digital inputs and that could be an expensive mistake.
I would certainly assume that an external USB drive connected to the T2 would show up the music in the Lumin app with all metadata, album covers, etc. - although I have never done it as all my music is on a networked NAS - which does of course show up in the Lumin app as do all my Tidal faves. Everything also shows up in Roon - local files, Tidal and, if you have it, Qobuz. The thing is literally plug and play, make a few settings in the Lumin app and away you go. The Lumin app is also excellent, but I use Roon exclusively except for making firmware updates on the T2. Also, it is ethernet only, no wifi.
Hi Rockhound. So basically just a CD player is all I would miss as far as plugging into the D2? What else can you think?
And ya I would be using either an external drive or a NAS drive for all of my music files.
Chris
Being that the D2 is a streamer and needs to be hard wired with an ethernet cable, what other digital devices besides a CD player would I need to plug into it if it had a digital input? Just making sure I am not missing anything as yes you are right it is a big price to pay to be looking back if you need a certain option.
Chris
Only an issue if your CD player is just a transport without a DAC. I guess some folks take an SPDIF out from their TV or cable box if they don’t have an AVR, something like that.
Ohhh yes there you have it. My TV. I won’t be able to plug that into it.
But I guess I can still plug it into my integrated amplifier not.
Wouldn’t sound that good probably as you would only be using the crappy DAC in the TV and then into the Naim XS2?
Hmmm
You could pick up a cheap DAC to take care of that - something like a Topping D30?
Thats a good point.
Thanks.
Maybe a Sim Audio 280 D Rockhound. It does MQA and has digital inputs. Wonder how good it is. They make good products.
You need to install MinimServer on the NAS, and let it remain connected to the network. Roon can also scan the NAS via network. This way both Lumin app and Roon can access those music.
If you plug in a USB drive to Lumin, the music is not visible in Roon. They are only visible in Lumin app, but browsing is much slower this way. MinimServer is recommended if you use Lumin app instead of Roon.
TBH I would run a mile from MinimServer - I served a lot of time there, and it is very buggy. Just use Roon with a NAS or some other networked storage.
At Lumin we have been using MinimServer for more than 8 years, we did not experience any bug with MinimServer for our usage.
Fair enough - I don’t use the Lumin app. My previous (poor) experience with MinimServer and UpNP was with a CXN.
Ohh and you needed to load Minim Server and UpNP with thr Cambridge unit? I see. When plugging in a Nas drive or external drive you mean?
This was in my before Roon times. MinimServer was loaded on the Synology NAS and using Bubble UpNP on an Android tablet.
Hi wklie.
I guess the big factor in my decision will be the fact that the D2 does not have a digital input so not sure.
Maybe I can just plug the TV into my integrated Amp but without no Dac I am not sure that will sound very good.
Any thoughts of how I could get good TV audio being that the D2 doesn’t have a digital input?
Rockhound commented briefly on this.
Thanks