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

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:
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Oct 16, 2019 at 11:56 AM

Post #7370 of 7820

Rob Watts

Rob Watts

Sponsor: Chord Electronics

Joined: Apr 1, 2014

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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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And yet most Lumin products come with linear psu’s. lol, so working on your/Robs concept, Lumin are ripping people off with LPS’s and the additional cost?

Having owned a Chord Qutest before, and using it with an LPS was a good SQ upgrade, which is probably why Lumin use them on their more expensive modes. I use LPS’s on everything and the results have been extremely favourable. SQ is also subjective, what sounds better to one person, may not to another, for me, almost every component I’ve removed a switching supply from performed better so it’s best to leave it at that regarding SQ.

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Is this the same scenario for the T2 vs the T1?

Not the same, but overall we think T2 is better.

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Hello Peter…

So are you saying the the T2 switching PSU is better than the linear PSUs of the A1,T1, and S1.

Can you elaborate?

Thanks

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No. T2 has improved analog output stage based on X1, new clocking design, new DAC chip, new processor, DSD512, selectable USB audio output, etc.

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Maybe I’m missing what you’re trying to say… My original comment was about your remark on the PSU of the D2 being better than the D1.

Which is why I was inquiring if they internal power supply of the T2 was better than the external power supply of the T1?

No. The T1 LPS costs a lot more.

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I’m sure there are times when the better circuit designs overcome the shortcomings of a given power supply choice.

I hope you are correct… But there is a dealer suggesting that swapping the switching PSU for a Sbooster will add a significant improvement in sound quality.

Just looking to find out if that is actually possible… Or if the switching PSU of the T2 is at a quality level that no real benefit will be heard.

Thanks.