Lumin - Roon ready

Hi Peter,
Thanks for your quick reply, it’s really useful.
There is still a few things that a bit confused to me.
According to this article, the NAS needs to have Intel Core i3 or i5 and at least 4GB of RAM. Based on that my NAS cannot be used with Roon.
https://kb.roonlabs.com/Roon_Server_on_NAS

However it’s for Roon Server. If I use NAS with Lumin Network player do I have to run Roon Server on the NAS or just a folder to store music?

If you don’t mind having Mac Mini always powered on for Roon, you can keep Roon running on Mac Mini and let Roon retrieve the music from QNAP 251+. In this setup the NAS is for providing music only, not to run Roon.

Only if you want to remove Mac Mini from your Roon setup, then you can consider this alternative setup: add RAM to QNAP 251+, then install RoonServer there. With a slower CPU it may not be sufficient to do the more intensive DSP engine stuff. However, I guess it should still be possible to upsample to DSD64 if Roon DSP Engine - Parallelize Sigma Delta modulator is enabled.

By the way, it’s usually best to use balanced XLR cable if you use Lumin analog outputs, because Lumin uses a true balanced design.

Basically I want to take advantage of Lumin onboard DAC and its network play system, so I want to get rid of the Mac mini.
Can I have the QNAP to store my music folder only, connected with Ethernet router, then Lumin to Ethernet router, then browse music using Roon app on my Ipad, I can use my laptop to manage the music library from the NAS. Is this possible?
The reason I asked this because I believe Lumin is better than the Mac Mini as a player, and its onboard DAC is outstanding, so there is no reason to keep the Mac Mini in the chain. The other hand I don’t want to invest too much on the NAS, just use it for storing music.
By the way my amp (Leben CS600) doesn’t support XLR balance so I have to stick with RCA.

It’s possible with either QNAP with added RAM running RoonServer, or Mac Mini running Roon. It’s not possible if you don’t run Roon on anything (computer or NAS).

When you use Mac Mini running Roon and use a Roon Ready player, the Mac Mini sends music data via network to the Roon Ready player - the Mac Mini does not perform the task of a player in the traditional sense. The Roon Ready player is not directly attached to the Mac Mini, so the Mac Mini can be physically far away from your Roon Ready player.

If you have not paid for a Roon subscription yet, you may also consider installing the freeware MinimServer to QNAP, then use Lumin app to control the D1 using iPad. Mac Mini is not involved in this case.

I have iMac, Macbook Pro and Mac Mini, if I use one of these to run Roon do I have to leave it on 24/24 ?

and what Roon do you refer to? Is it Roon Server or Roon Core ?

PS: I have bought full version of Roon so I have to stick with it.

If you have multiple computers to choose from, choose one which has SSD (to store the Roon database), and a faster CPU. I think (but am not sure) you can turn it off if you’re not playing music, please check other threads on this, e.g.:

When I said Roon I refer to both Roon Core or RoonServer. On Mac I think it’s more convenient to have Roon with GUI, but if you don’t need the GUI you can use RoonServer instead.

Hi Peter,
I think I will upgrade the QNAP to run Roon Server, only that way I can get rid of the Mac Mini.
If I can use QNAP to run Roon server, and Lumin as network player + DAC, I can also get rid of my current DAC which is Bel Canto 3.5.
I’d love to have a minimal system as possible, but I also want good sound. I think Lumin is a good choice.
Thanks for all the information, much appreciated.

Kyle

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@wklie
I found a post on another forum, stating:

Lumin HDMI port conforms to standard HDMI - it can output PCM or DSD to an AV receiver. It does not do I2S over HDMI, which is non-standard.

I’m looking for a mod to get IIS from my T1 Roon endpoint. I like IIS best as an interface to my modded Gustard X20. Using BNC now, not my favorite.
Can it be done?

That was written by me.

Sorry, Lumin does not output I2S to external DAC. Please do not attempt to connect Lumin HDMI output to your DAC HDMI I2S.

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This came out of nowhere:

http://www.luminmusic.com/lumin-d2.html

I mentioned it here a few days ago:

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Thanks! I don’t get the decision to include the PSU internally

Follow-up question for Peter - is it a linear PSU design or SMPS inside?

We have received request to move the Lumin D1 power supply from external to internal, because they considered the external power supply to be inconvenient.

Responding to that request, Lumin D2 with the new internal switching power supply offers better sound quality, in terms of clarity and imaging, than D1 with the original external power supply.

For customers who prefer to use an external LPS such as Sbooster, we have reserved a limited number of units of D1.

A step backwards if you ask me. Pretty much everyone I know uses D1 with an external linear power supply

Hi Peter,
Any chance for our D1 users to upgrade to D2 with an additional cost? I love mine Lumin but it would be great if it can support DSD 128.

Since we do not currently provide any upgrade plans, your best option is an external LPS.

Hi Peter, I have upgraded to the Sbooster PSU and it works really nice with the Lumin. Thank you

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Just got the D1 w/ LPS and can’t believe how good it is out of the box!
I previously had a NUC w/ ROCK directly feeding the pre/pro’s (Classé SSP) USB DAC. Now, I moved the NUC out of the way, running balanced XLR to the SSP from the Lumin and it sounds so much better.

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How come there’s no ‘track count’ when tracks play through Roon? As with the Lumin app, e.g. ‘4/10’ (playing track 4 out of 10)
I’m sure there’s a perfectly logical explanation, just being curious!

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