Thanks Peter. So there’s no difference of internal components between the U1 and the U1 Mini? I always thought that the U1 was equivalent to the digital section of the S1, X1 and the U1 Mini was equivalent to the D2’s digital section.
I would also like to know where I can get the X1 power supply, I can’t seem to find any online retailers carrying it in the US.
Thanks
Please check with our regional dealers as listed in http://www.luminmusic.com/purchase.html or contact our US Distributor.
Thanks for providing this info Peter.
Peter, I trust you’re well.
I’ve tried using the two USB outputs from the U1 to two different Chord M Scalers but only one works (the left one) as if it was the “master” output. When I unplug that one, then the right one gets the signal.
LUMIN website specifies that the U1 has 2X USB Output which I interpret as 2x outputs working simultaneously. As a reference, the U1 Mini also has two USB outputs but only one works at a time but that’s expected because it wasn’t advertised as 2x outputs.
Can you help clarify if the U1 is capable of outputting two USB signals simultaneously to two different DACs? Thanks
LUMIN U1 list of outputs and sample rates
LUMIN U1 Mini list of outputs and sample rates
Only one USB DAC output is supported. The other USB port can be used for other purposes like a USB thumb drive for friends to bring some music files, to be accessed from Lumin app (not seen by Roon).
This is true for both U1 and U1 MINI.
I’ll follow up with the staff responsible for the web site. Sorry for any misunderstanding.
Sorry, I am doubtful.
It seems to me there is not much in the box to justify the price. The pcb, even if equipped with quality compenents, does not reflects the price of the product. The box/chassis should be costly to manufacture but, is it the box you want to pay for? It is true that it looks nice.
I am afraid an allo usbridge can do the same for much less money and a worth look.
Has anyone compared the U1 to the SOtM sMS-200Ultra Neo? Is it a “no contest”, in favour of the Lumin?
I owned a SOtM sMS-200Ultra (no Neo), powered by the SOtM SPS-500.
To make a long story short: In my system and room, to my ears, they are on par regarding SQ. (Besides that they are very different concepts/approaches.)
But: my system has advanced quite a bit since I sold the SOtM so I can’t compare it today.
Thanks very much, Philipp.
I was using Sotm stack (sms-200, sps, txusbultra) but have taken out the sps and txusb for farad super 3 and innuos phoenix.
Was just curious if the U1 would be better than the sms-200, as the Farad lps innuos did better than the sotm counterparts.
Any complaints on the U1 user interface? Sotm is rather set and forget and I quite like it.
I don’t think that this is a fair fight given the big difference in price point. At the end of the day it does depend what you are playing these devices into, and how. In my experience with an ultraRendu going by USB to an integrated amp (Hegel H190) it sounded great. When I got a Lumin T2 and ran it into the Hegel via XLR that was a wholly different proposition - I’m guessing Lumin is just basically two orders of magnitude better than ultraRendu, and possibly SOtM and similar USB-dependent devices. Also definitely it showed up the limitations in the USB side of the H190 DAC - those limitations do not exist in the amplification side of the Hegel, and the DAC component of the T2 is clearly superior (as it should be given the relative costs).
Based on my experience with Lumin T2, I cannot imagine that the U1 is not an outstanding instrument that is well worth it’s not inconsiderable price tag.
To be honest, changing the DAC should make a (much) bigger difference than changing the streamer. Given a choice between our streamer (U1 / U1 MINI) or analog output products (X1 T2 D2), I always recommend the latter.
Thanks for the inputs, guys. The U1 certainly looks like it will perform well.
My chain is nuc8i7 Rock, ethernet, snh-10g, fiber, Uptone ER, sms-200, innuos phoenix, Singxer su-6 and finally i2s connection to a rockna wavelight dac.
The U1 is aesthetically agreeable to me, and the external box power supply seems a good design choice. Unfortunately, no chance to home demo or audition so as usual have to decide if I’m gg to bite the bullet and buy blind.
Regarding your question about the software: This was the main reason I went for the LUMIN U1Mini (besides obviously it has a great SQ). While the SOtM is a pure player that is limited to just one protocol (e.g. ROON or xyz), and USB out only, it does not provide an app to select and play music, the Lumin is very different: you can e.g. simply start playing a track via Roon while a song is playing from Spotify or via Airplay (which is important in my household, but can be disabled if you do not need it). I was able to get rid of my second network player, that was just there for Spotify (and where I had to switch inputs on my DAC).
Second: the App from Lumin allows to control your library. I do not use it, as I use Roon, but it’s good to know there’s a fallback (that e.g. integrates Tidal and Qobuz very well). It’s sometimes also handy when you want to compare a setting in Roon versus a direct playback from the Lumin.
The firmware and software is also 100% stable and well maintained, and much more easy to update (it does it by itself over the Internet, very fast, where with the SOtM it sometimes was a PITA and took a long time).
From your latest post seems like you decided on a LUMIN U1 - great choice, you will be pleased. It’s a machine that truly is “set and forget”, I even disabled the display from the Lumin, so it sits there, black, quite, no lights flashing, and just plays great music.
That’s a great reply. I haven’t completely decided on the U1 as yet. I’m using the Rockna Wavelight Dac so the upcoming Wavelight Streamer is also in contention, but unfortunately no clear mention of when it will be released.
You are right that the sotm UI is slow and a bit clunky. I have already had it crash on me once, requiring a sd card reflash. Took me a good few hours to troubleshoot and sort it out. Also, I tried using librespot to stream Spotify and it just wouldn’t play music. Oh well…
I found a Lumin distributor where I stay (Singapore) so may get in touch with them soon and try to arrange an audition or demo.
I have a Lumin U1 MINI user with Rockna Wavedream DAC. He recently went through a Wavedream DAC firmware upgrade (by dealer, not user upgradable) that allowed Lumin U1 MINI to send DSD256 DoP to it via USB. Since you’re using Singxer, this should not concern you - Lumin supports native DSD output to XMOS-based Singxer.
Lumin Spotify Connect implementation is using the official closed-source proprietary Spotify Connect SDK March 2020.
I’ve just invested in the U1 Mini having had the excellent SOtM Trifecta which for the money is incredible, however recently to upgrade my Aqua La Scala DAC to the MSB Descrete which having heard the DCS Bartok in my system is far superior. Anyway having added the U1 to replace my IMac the difference is substantial, much better detail and clarity with more on the bones sound. For the money I think the U1 is a cracking machine plus although I use Roon the Lumin App sounds very good
Martin,
Have you compared the U1 Mini to the U1? It’s difficult to find opinion on this. Thanks.
I was looking this up too. From what I’ve found on the interwebz… U1 is better than U1 mini. U1 mini + lps also supposedly does not match up to U1. Disclaimer is I’ve heard neither myself…
This might help. I use the U1.
So the U1 Mini + S Booster finally found a new home, I thought I would use it on my secondary rig but after getting used to the U1, there’s no way back to the Mini.
I’ve upgraded the power supply on my U1 to the X1 power supply and the leap was once again drastic, the noise floor dropped and as a result, the background became darker which in turn made the stage wider and more cavernous, the bass became tighter and dug deeper, very well controlled, refined and life like midrange and treble. One noticeable thing with these improvements is that it feels like I can play the same tracks way louder than before without any hint of fatigue or ear piercing notes whatsoever.
Had the chance to A/B the U1+X1 power supply against the X1 digital section both outputting USB to a Chord M Scaler + Dave (later on a dCS Bartok) and there was no discernible difference.
To all U1 owners, if you want to get to the X1 digital section performance without dropping $13k, I highly recommend the X1 power supply for a “fraction” of the cost ($2.1k).
I wonder if LUMIN is going to provide a standalone DAC based on the X1 DAC…if they do, I’ll be all over that.
