Lumin U2 Mini

Tuckers

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Nov 18, 2020
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I've tried the Farad L2 copper (which connects directly to the motherboard) and Audio Sensibility silver plated copper mod (with a Mundorf DC cable) with the U1 mini.

They sound totally different.

So the DC cable/mod alone will tilt the sound.
I have been wondering about upgrading the cable, or making my own. I was looking at the Farad ones. What's the difference between the two sonically?
 
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vert

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Oct 26, 2015
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I have been wondering about upgrading the cable, or making my own. I was looking at the Farad ones. What's the difference between the two sonically?

Mundorf silver/gold has a leaner sound than the Farad copper L2, but I love the tone and insight Mundorf provides.

Farad copper L2 has more body.

In any case, they sound totally different.
 
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vert

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Oct 26, 2015
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I settled on the Farad copper L2.

At first I didn’t like it, but once I went to Actinote cables, it all came together.

The U2 mini is impressive.

Lumin dropped the noise floor and upped the music and musicality big time with this.

I agree at this price, with a LPS, there is no competitor in sight.
 
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audiophilac1

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Dec 11, 2021
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@vert do you use the Audio sensibility mini-dc kit (occ silver) in your Lumin U2 or U1 Mini?

Also, anyone tested the Farad Super10 PSU on U2 Mini? would the U2 be a better upgrade instead?
 

vert

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Oct 26, 2015
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@vert do you use the Audio sensibility mini-dc kit (occ silver) in your Lumin U2 or U1 Mini?

Also, anyone tested the Farad Super10 PSU on U2 Mini? would the U2 be a better upgrade instead?

I used the Audio sensibility silver plated copper kit on U1 mini.

I now use Farad L2 copper on U2 mini.

U2 mini with a good LPS is going to be hard to beat at its price point. It's an end game server for most people.
 

jasond

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Aug 18, 2022
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So many users report about a massive improvement when using NAA/HQPlayer.
Has some also contacted LUMIN when this will finally be supported?
 

dminches

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Oct 22, 2011
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I doubt it will since Lumin considers their products to be the end processor. If you want to use HQPlayer i would start with a different product.
 

jasond

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Well in the end LUMIN is also customer oriented, and they also claim to be uptodate with their firmware updates concerning connectivity, other services etc.
And HQPlayer has become increasingly popular over the years. As ROON’s RAAT is a protocol so is NAA, so they should be able to include this too quickly.
 

dminches

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Oct 22, 2011
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You’d like them to add NAA endpoint capability? I guess that isn’t too hard. I just wonder how much they will cater to the DIY crowd. You should ask them if you haven’t already.
 
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jasond

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Yes it’s obviously really very quickly added and even far cheaper streamers like iFi ZEN stream have NAA support. In the end NAA provides great capabilities for improving the sound and that is what counts for the customers.
I wrote them via Facebook page but just got a standard „thank you for your feedback“ response. Maybe some here are better connected?
 

NekoAudio

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Oct 28, 2023
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is there someone from LUMIN around?
I'm not a LUMIN representative, but maybe I can help if you have a question? There are also LUMIN reps on the Audioshark and Roon Community forums.
 
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jasond

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I'm not a LUMIN representative, but maybe I can help if you have a question? There are also LUMIN reps on the Audioshark and Roon Community forums.
It would be great if you could get information when the long asked HQPlayer / NAA support will be available in LUMIN.
 

audio.bill

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May 27, 2013
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It would be great if you could get information when the long asked HQPlayer / NAA support will be available in LUMIN.
Peter Lie (Lumin Firmware Lead) responded on another forum that HQPlayer / NAA is not supported and didn't mention any planned implementation.
 

jasond

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Peter Lie (Lumin Firmware Lead) responded on another forum that HQPlayer / NAA is not supported and didn't mention any planned implementation.
Well people are asking this for years and once in a while Peter/wklie is posting that „default answer“. But I am sure as LUMIN claims to be very responsive and uptodate with its software they should finally address an integration.
I have no idea why they don’t provide more feedback on that topic. It’s increasingly becoming relevant as more people are using HQPlayer (especially those in highend which LUMIN addresses) and they already support ROON/RAAT.
I also read HQPlayer is gladly supporting them and an integration can easily be done.

So as a LUMIN user I very much would expect a transparent communication from the LUMIN team about that. I very much love the LUMIN products but when they won’t integrate it anytime soon I sadly would have to move on to other vendors. And I hardly can imagine that scenario as it could be easily done by them and further attract HQPlayer users to their products.
 

dminches

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Oct 22, 2011
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If you are focused on HQPlayer why don’t you get an optimized endpoint? I would have to think it would sound better than a Lumin if it supported it.
 

jasond

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Aug 18, 2022
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If you are focused on HQPlayer why don’t you get an optimized endpoint? I would have to think it would sound better than a Lumin if it supported it.
Well there are Holo Audio Red, iFi ZEN stream, Sonore, T+A etc. but I very much would love to stay flexibel with the LUMIN as the mentioned ones provide too.
I currently intend to use ROON as frontend/UX and have the streamer delivered via NAA.
Or would you suggest an alternative approach?
 

dminches

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Oct 22, 2011
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Well there are Holo Audio Red, iFi ZEN stream, Sonore, T+A etc. but I very much would love to stay flexibel with the LUMIN as the mentioned ones provide too.
I currently intend to use ROON as frontend/UX and have the streamer delivered via NAA.
Or would you suggest an alternative approach?

I love my Lumin but I don't use HQPlayer anymore. If I did I would probably have a Signature Rendu SE.

The Lumin is optimized for their own software. That's how it sounds best.
 

jasond

Active Member
Aug 18, 2022
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I love my Lumin but I don't use HQPlayer anymore. If I did I would probably have a Signature Rendu SE.

The Lumin is optimized for their own software. That's how it sounds best.
Well also the ROONONLYMODE (RAAT protocol) works very nicely on the LUMIN - and would be the equivalent of the NAA.
 

NekoAudio

Member
Oct 28, 2023
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I don't have any other information about HQPlayer in the context of LUMIN. Peter Lie's answer is what you should use.

FWIW, in my experience a significantly larger number of people are using Roon with their network streaming endpoints than are using HQPlayer.
 

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