Lumin - Roon ready

[Kevin_Camel]

Lumin works as Roon Ready device exactly as expected. What an incredible combination! Using the balanced analog outputs with my Hegel integrated amp, the sound quality is amazing. The digital output is equally good passed through the DAC on Hegel.

One question not answered yet is whether the custom resampling settings on the Lumin app apply to files sent to the unit by Roon.

[Kevin_Camel]

The resampling settings do apply to Roon streamed files, but looks like Roon control must be restarted for changes to apply.

[wklie (Peter Lie)]

Lumin Firmware 8.02 fixes this problem by having Lumin stop Roon playback if you adjust the Lumin resampling. This way, when you resume playback from Roon the playback will be re-established and resampling will take effect.

You could also compare it with Roon’s built-in own DSP engine for resampling, but beware of Roon’s default gain settings:

DSP Up-Sampling features in Roon 1.3

A few things: There’s a DSD gain adjustment setting that defaults to -3dB. This is conservative. you can try increasing it to 0dB if you haven’t already: [image] If you have a headroom adjustment configured, you might try adjusting that up too, assuming it doesn’t cause clipping [image] It’s proper (according to the SACD/Scarletbook specifications) to master DSD content at -6dBFS, whereas PCM content is generally mastered to at or near 0dbFS. Roon follows this recommendation when convert…

[wklie (Peter Lie)]

For those who are using Roon + Lumin, please upgrade Roon Core to Build 234, and Lumin to Firmware 8.04. The new Lumin firmware contains optimizations for Roon Build 234, and may possibly improve SQ.

Feedback on SQ for this upgrade is much appreciated. Thanks.

[Kyle_Vuong]

Hi Peter Lie,

I’m about to buy the Lumin D1 as a network player. Currently I have QNAP 251+ to store my iTunes library and a Mac Mini with Roon core installed.
Moving to Network player, may I ask for the best set up in this scenario?
Here’s my questions:

1. Can I leave the Lumin on 24/24 ?
2. Should Lumin D1 connect with QNAP via usb or Lumin and QNAP connect to router using ethernet cable?
3. As Lumin is now roon-ready, do I have to install anything to use Roon?
4. Is there any guide to set up Lumin to use with Roon? Do I have to buy any extra device?
   Many thanks for your help.

Kyle

[wklie (Peter Lie)]

Hi Kyle,

Thanks for your interests.

1. Many of our users leave Lumin powered on 7x24, including our own demo units.
2. Lumin network players USB port is for USB storage (flash drive and HDD) only. Lumin network players cannot be used as a USB DAC, so they cannot be connected to QNAP via USB. They should be connected via a network cable to your WiFi router or an Ethernet switch that is connected to the WiFi router.
3. In Lumin app settings for Lumin D1, check that Roon Ready setting is already enabled. In Roon Audio Setup, you’ll need to enable Lumin D1 manually.
4. You don’t have to buy anything else. In case you’d like to consider a third party LPS upgrade, check this out:
   http://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/lumin-d1-audiophile-network-music-player/

[Kyle_Vuong]

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?

[wklie (Peter Lie)]

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.

[Kyle_Vuong]

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.

[wklie (Peter Lie)]

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?

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.

[Kyle_Vuong]

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.

[wklie (Peter Lie)]

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.:

Server Sleep and Wake on Lan

Unfortunately Roon aren’t very green (no integrated WOL) and encourage a leave-it-on 24/7 mentality. It depends what you are using for an endpoint. It’s easy to configure a Raspberry Pi to send a WOL command to your server. For my main Trinnov system, I have an a Pi whose sole job is to send a WOL command when the system starts and then shut itself down. Edit: there are also numerous iOS and Android Apps that can be configured to send a WOL command. It’s just less convenient and less ‘ot…

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.

[Kyle_Vuong]

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

[Egbert_Braam (Egbert)]

@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?

[wklie (Peter Lie)]

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.

[thyname]

This came out of nowhere:

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

[wklie (Peter Lie)]

This came out of nowhere:

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

I mentioned it here a few days ago:

Lumin supports Spotify Connect

Coinciding with the release of Lumin D2, Lumin Firmware 10 (for all Lumin network players and transport) introduces support for Spotify Connect. Note: Requires a Spotify Premium account. Firmware 10.0 runs Roon Ready RAAT SDK 1.1.22. Although it was possible to use Spotify Connect via AirPlay, the Lumin native support of Spotify Connect offers the following advantages: Better sound quality - as confirmed by beta testers and our own listening tests Support for multiple platform includin…

[thyname]

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

[dabassgoesboomboom]

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

[wklie (Peter Lie)]

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.