Lumin D2... Could it be a perceivable upgrade in sound quality?

I did just that. I wonder if the attenuation at -6dB in the amplifier affects the quality of the XLR connection and sound. Is there still sense in the XLR connection then?

Please do not worry about that. XLR is preferred.

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I have a D2 arriving today to replace my existing streamer and DAC. The D2 will be connected via XLR’s to a DSPeaker AntiMode 2.0 room correction processor which in turn is connected to a Simaudio i7 amp, also using XLR’s. I use a QNAP NAS for my Roon core and music files and also use Tidal. I’m curious if @wklie has any suggestions based on my gear. I’ve also been considering an SBooster PS to try to squeeze out as much performance out of my system as I can. Thoughts?

I have a similar setup (but no DSP)
QNAP with RoonCore > D2 > Amp

I’m waiting for a Nucleus to replace the qNAP which started struggling a bit…
I think it is the weakest point of the chain.

For a Roon Core upgrade, I suggest you consider NUC8i5BEH (or i7) with a fanless chassis and m.2 SSD.

Note that original parts inside must be intact in case the unit needs to be shipped back for repair. Especially if you are in the US, changing the internal power supply voids warranty.

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Hi Peter @wklie

I have a Lumin D2. I am wondering why you designed them where one would void the warranty by wanting to upgrade the power supply? Was this a purely commercial issue to try and force customers into the upgrade path within Lumin products rather than being able to obtain alternatives elsewhere? The price difference between the D2 and A1 is considerable, and its not something I for one would ever be able to afford, the D2 was a stretch as it was!

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Like almost all of the consumer electronics manufacturers, our warranty policy is that internals must not have been modified. We have always had this policy even before we started to design and manufacture Lumin products. (Before that we made Crystalio video processors that benefit projector users.)

When the warranty expires or is voided, we will still repair our products if they are repairable, for a repair plus shipping charge. (This is not like some manufacturers may refuse to repair a modified product. For a Lumin product that merely means you no longer enjoy free repair in most cases. In case the boards have something soldered to them (not talking about the power supply change) the whole board will need to be replaced and charged accordingly.)

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You bought a product for a price. Within that price ‘envelope’, there will be choices that a manufacturer has to make to ensure the product reaches the market at a price.
The D2 is Lumin’s entry-level network player. It is designed as a self-contained unit, without any user-interchangeable parts, to work ‘from the box’. It is not modular, and does not come in ‘pieces’ where one can pick and choose its configuration. The power supply within a D2 is intended to be a fixed-unit, and therefore not interchangeable. This is obviously a decision Lumin have made to ensure that buyers, like yourself, can enjoy Lumin quality at a price you can afford.
Hence, to answer your question:

As you have already pointed-out, superior Lumin products come with outboard power supplies. It’s a simple case of ‘you pays your money, you takes your choice’. The more you pay, the better the Lumin product you will own.
The D2 is an amazing product, and at a very reasonable price. Why anyone would want to take a soldering-iron to such a quality product, is beyond me. And this comes from someone who has owned both a D1 and an A1.

Hi Peter

Yes I understand and respect that, although not my quite question :slight_smile:

So essentially, you saying that if the unit is modified, in this case with a proper power supply (that dosent require any soldering) , if there were a fault to develop, this would be repairable at a cost?

It wasn’t actually my question :slight_smile:

If I rephrase, why was the D2 designed with an internal power supply knowing they are inferior, and that a low cost quiet switch PSU were available at a small additional cost which could possibly benefit the end costumer, which in a field that people like to experiment and try new things, would have been welcomed? I appreciate it was built to a price point, and totally accept that, my curiosity is around the decision to do it this way. Is it that, that I have answered my own question in my first post?

I couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to take a soldering out to a D2, but PSU’s, yes definitely having noticed the large benefit from LPS/s/IFI’s Quiet PSU’s to my whole digital setup.

It seems that changing to the third party power supply requires cutting a wire but not soldering. Yes if the warranty is found to be voided it’d be repairable for a cost.

The D2 contains an internal switching power supply that works well at its price point. Our own LPS is much more expensive to make.

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Yes, from the Sbooster instructions for example, its a wire being cut, which is easily repaired if needed. With a UK based product, would this void your warranty? If not, this would be very welcomed by myself to allow me to try an outboard LPS.

I appreciate the D2 was made to a price point,and your LPS is expensive, this isn’t the question I am asking though (again). Im not sure why you are giving me politicians answers! I praise Lumin products, as many do, but its only fair there that criticisms could be posed alongside the praise, do you not feel?

The manufacturing price would have been very similar, if not less to use an outboard PSU I would imagine, therefore allowing the user to make a basic upgrade which could improve the product on a small level without being extortioned to almost triple the expenditure. Therefore, my original curiosity still stands, is it that you just arent willing or prepared to answered that transparently?

I am curious to try an LPS but the D2 is only a few months old. It could be, it makes no audible difference as in the case of my previous RME DAC, that was designed so well, the switching PSU made absolutely no difference to the performance of the product.

The predecessor to Lumin D2 is D1. D1 did have an outboard power supply. D2 is a result of dealers requesting a single box unit, as some users did not like the idea of a dangling external power supply.

The D2 internal power supply is better than the D1 external power supply.

If you’re in UK, that depends on the Lumin UK distributor handling of the repair request.

As for the “quiet” switching PSU, I read some interesting comments about it by John Swenson.

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And this makes perfectly sense… :grinning:

The quiet switching PSU’s are fantastic. One of the most reasonably priced upgrades one can make to parts of their system using switching psus, a network switch being one. I’ fully understand that a company who makes extremely expensive LPS’s would want to discount an effective budget product though, thats part and part of what can be a sometimes ‘toxic’ hifi industry.

Ok, thanks for your thoughts. I can draw my own conclusions from that, being that a 13amp plug is not much bigger than a wallwart psu…so whatever the option, something is going to ‘dangle’. I’m definitely baffled as to why respectable dealers would want a switching PSU inside the actual component, given all the nasties they are known to give off? Sounds crazy to me.

Who is the UK distributer for Lumin? I will get in touch with them about the warranty handling if an LPS was added and report back

Select Audio in UK. Here’s our up-to-date list of worldwide distributors and dealers:
http://www.luminmusic.com/purchase.html

Cool, I’ll get in touch with them today and report back.

There are many audio equipment that have switching power supplies inside. Another manufacturer even has written a whitepaper arguing that their implementation is better than LPS…

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Have you got a link? I’d like to have a read! Give me another view point to study.

You don’t use this method though on any of your other devices , just the ‘budget’ end of the range, so I take it you don’t buy into this manufacturers concept?

I agree Peter.
My Linn Klimax Kontrol preamp and Linn Majik power amps all use switching PSU’s inside (‘Dynamik’), and they sound absolutely fine.
I think there is a lot of BS in the audiophile community about the so-called ‘benefits’ of LPS units.
Rob Watts at Chord is on record at Head-Fi as stating to avoid using LPS with their products, and to stick instead with the supplied external switching units:
.
Oct 16, 2019 at 11:56 AM

Post #7370 of 7820

Rob Watts

Rob Watts

Sponsor: Chord Electronics

Joined: Apr 1, 2014

Posts: 2,234

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rkt31 said: ↑

My question to rob, as you have been using 12v portable power solution for tt2 and HMS, can you please tell about how low the supply can drop below 12v before tt2 and HMS stop working ? I am asking because 12v is already 3v less than 15v .

Each device has different thresholds. In the case of TT2, the FPGA ADC measures the incoming voltage and if it’s too low will trigger a shutdown - so that pulling the PSU will mean no switch off thumps. If memory serves, I set that to 11v or so. If the supply exceeds 15.5v, then the power high error will trigger, ensuring that the super caps won’t get over-voltage.

For the M scaler the upper range is the same at 15.5v, and the lower value is more like 5v.

Don’t think about using audiophile linear PSUs, they will degrade the SQ and your warranty will be invalidated.

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