MEET THE LUMIN U1 MINI

[BoyScout]

Let's put it this way:

Roon is server software. It's primary function is to serve up files from a drive somewhere to a DAC which can convert the digital data to an analog audio signal. Using it to access services like Tidal is icing on the cake. You could run Roon and not use it to serve files but it would be the most expensive Tidal or other streaming service interface you could ever hope to find. If that's what you want Roon for, my advice is to forget it and use other software.

The first thing you need to do is to work out what you want to do. Do you just want to stream a service like Tidal/Qobuz to your Devialet and use a disc player/turntable to play music from CDs/LPs or do you want to stream a streaming service and files from a hard drive. You can stream Tidal/Qobuz without the software/hardware involved in streaming files from a hard drive.

The second thing you need to do is to work out where the gear is going to be located. If your computer and internet connection are in the same room as your Devialet you can easily run a wired connection from the computer to your Devialet. That can be ethernet, USB, or possibly even an optical or coax digital connection. If the computer and internet connection are in another room you need a network connection, either ethernet or wifi. There are ways of streaming directly to your Devialet from the computer or you can use a streaming device like a Lumin or some other product and connect it via a wired connection to your Devialet if that device is in the same room as your Devialet.

Once you know those things you can start to work out how you're going to connect everything, what you're going to use to control what you stream, and how you get the signal from whatever your source device is to your Devialet.

There's lots of streamer/server products out there. Some come with their own software and control apps, some use software you can load on the steamer/server, some software can be loaded on your computer. Depending on where the software is going to run and what kind of source material it's going to send to your Devialet you can start to work out your software needs. You may not need software if you're using a streamer or server and it comes with its own software. You may even be able to stream to a Blu-ray player or AVR if it's near your Devialet or connect an Apple Airport device or Google device to your Devialet by an optical connection. If you're going to load software on your computer or on a server or streamer you need to look at what operating system that device uses. The OS could be Windows, MacOS, or Linux and some software only runs on one of those platforms, some on two, and some on all three. Some software/device combinations can send music to your Devialet over wifi, some over USB, some over ethernet, some over optical or coax digital connections and some over a combination. I'd recommend finding a software/device combination that can send music to your Devialet over at least 2 or more of those options so you've got some choice but if  you want to use a particular combination you just need a combination that can use the connection you want.

Some software/hardware combinations can also send music to other devices such as a Sonos or other wifi or Bluetooth device so if you want to send music to something else other than your Devialet you have to take that into consideration as well.

Some software products offer an iOS or Android app you can use to control things which means you can have the actual software running on a device in another room and control it from an app on your phone or tablet. If there's no app available then you're going to have to use the device's own touch screen/remote if it has one or use the computer's monitor, keyboard and mouse so if you're going to be running devices in another room to your Devialet, make sure you can control those devices from the room with your Devialet or you'll be doing a lot of walking which may be good exercise but can be annoying.

So work out what you want to do, where you want hardware devices, your internet connection located, and where those things are going to go in your house in relation to your Devialet and anything else you want to send music to, work out what connections you're going to use, and then work out how you're going to connect things (a physical connection of some kind or wifi) and how you're going to control things and then start looking for what you need to make that work. Don't start by buying things because someone says they're good and then find out that you can't use them the way you want to or that they don't all work together. Work out what you need first before making purchases.

When it comes to MQA, Tidal offers you the choice of the same music with MQA encoding and without (normal FLAC encoding in most cases). Some software such as Roon can do the first of the 2 MQA decoding steps which is the main one. I think the second step can only be done by some DACs at the moment and I'm  not certain if any of them offer digital output with both decoding steps done, I suspect the output after the second decoding step is going to be analog. I've tried MQA with Roon doing the first decoding step and I prefer using the straight FLAC stream instead so I don't bother with MQA. If you're interested in MQA I'd try to get a demo somewhere, either at a dealer's or at a friends, and compare the MQA version to the FLAC version and see which I preferred. If you prefer MQA then that will limit your hardware/software choices to those which offer at least the first decoding step. If you don't prefer MQA you can choose from products which offer it as well as those which don't offer it because you can always choose to stream the non-encoded version of the music anyway. The Devialet currently doesn't do any MQA decoding. That may change in the future but Devialet haven't made any promises about MQA so I wouldn't bet on them adding MQA decoding and who knows how long it will be before we see it if they do decide to include that capability in the future.

Good move, David.
That´s the right type of explanation for guys like me.
But, please, let me know how to solve my problem:
I have a mac with Tidal and roon as core and a iPad working as remote.
I´d like to put the laptop away and keep the rest. There´s a lot of expensive and complicated (too complicated for me...) solutions, .
If i can to increase the Sq, great, and keep  the system simple, just perfect.
Any tips?

[David A]

You say "I have a mac with Tidal and roon as core and a iPad working as remote." and "I'd like to put the laptop away and keep the rest."

You're really not being very clear about what you're doing and what you want to achieve.

The iPad is a remote and the Roon app on it only works if it's talking to Roon Core running on a computer somewhere so are the mac and the laptop you mention both the same computer. If the Mac is a desktop computer like a mac mini, and the laptop is a separate computer you can put the laptop away right now. You don't need it if you're running Roon on the desktop computer.

Then there's what do you mean when you say "put the laptop away". How are you using the laptop? Is the problem having to connect it and disconnect it from the Devialet or the network?

Finally, what do you mean by "complicated solutions"? What's complicated for one person isn't necessarily complicated for another. I get you want simple but what would be a simple setup for you? If you're going to run Roon, you need Roon Core running on a computer connected to the internet. That can be a desktop computer, a laptop, or a dedicated music server of some sort. If you keep the iPad as a remote you can put the computer anywhere provided you can connect it to the Devialet somewhere so what you really need to make clear are things like:

- whether you're running Roon on the laptop you want to put away in which case you're going to need to replace it with some other computer running Roon. or do you just want some way of avoiding a physical connection/disconnection process between the laptop and Devialet, or are you trying to achieve something else.

- whether you wan the computer running Roon to be in the same room as your Devialet or somewhere else because that determines your connection options.

When you want to ask for advice, especially advice about how to make or keep things simple, you really need to supply a fair bit of info so people can know exactly what you're trying to achieve and how your current setup fails to do what you want.

[Axel]

Let's put it this way:

Roon is server software. It's primary function is to serve up files from a drive somewhere to a DAC which can convert the digital data to an analog audio signal. Using it to access services like Tidal is icing on the cake. You could run Roon and not use it to serve files but it would be the most expensive Tidal or other streaming service interface you could ever hope to find. If that's what you want Roon for, my advice is to forget it and use other software.

The first thing you need to do is to work out what you want to do. Do you just want to stream a service like Tidal/Qobuz to your Devialet and use a disc player/turntable to play music from CDs/LPs or do you want to stream a streaming service and files from a hard drive. You can stream Tidal/Qobuz without the software/hardware involved in streaming files from a hard drive.

The second thing you need to do is to work out where the gear is going to be located. If your computer and internet connection are in the same room as your Devialet you can easily run a wired connection from the computer to your Devialet. That can be ethernet, USB, or possibly even an optical or coax digital connection. If the computer and internet connection are in another room you need a network connection, either ethernet or wifi. There are ways of streaming directly to your Devialet from the computer or you can use a streaming device like a Lumin or some other product and connect it via a wired connection to your Devialet if that device is in the same room as your Devialet.

Once you know those things you can start to work out how you're going to connect everything, what you're going to use to control what you stream, and how you get the signal from whatever your source device is to your Devialet.

There's lots of streamer/server products out there. Some come with their own software and control apps, some use software you can load on the steamer/server, some software can be loaded on your computer. Depending on where the software is going to run and what kind of source material it's going to send to your Devialet you can start to work out your software needs. You may not need software if you're using a streamer or server and it comes with its own software. You may even be able to stream to a Blu-ray player or AVR if it's near your Devialet or connect an Apple Airport device or Google device to your Devialet by an optical connection. If you're going to load software on your computer or on a server or streamer you need to look at what operating system that device uses. The OS could be Windows, MacOS, or Linux and some software only runs on one of those platforms, some on two, and some on all three. Some software/device combinations can send music to your Devialet over wifi, some over USB, some over ethernet, some over optical or coax digital connections and some over a combination. I'd recommend finding a software/device combination that can send music to your Devialet over at least 2 or more of those options so you've got some choice but if  you want to use a particular combination you just need a combination that can use the connection you want.

Some software/hardware combinations can also send music to other devices such as a Sonos or other wifi or Bluetooth device so if you want to send music to something else other than your Devialet you have to take that into consideration as well.

Some software products offer an iOS or Android app you can use to control things which means you can have the actual software running on a device in another room and control it from an app on your phone or tablet. If there's no app available then you're going to have to use the device's own touch screen/remote if it has one or use the computer's monitor, keyboard and mouse so if you're going to be running devices in another room to your Devialet, make sure you can control those devices from the room with your Devialet or you'll be doing a lot of walking which may be good exercise but can be annoying.

So work out what you want to do, where you want hardware devices, your internet connection located, and where those things are going to go in your house in relation to your Devialet and anything else you want to send music to, work out what connections you're going to use, and then work out how you're going to connect things (a physical connection of some kind or wifi) and how you're going to control things and then start looking for what you need to make that work. Don't start by buying things because someone says they're good and then find out that you can't use them the way you want to or that they don't all work together. Work out what you need first before making purchases.

When it comes to MQA, Tidal offers you the choice of the same music with MQA encoding and without (normal FLAC encoding in most cases). Some software such as Roon can do the first of the 2 MQA decoding steps which is the main one. I think the second step can only be done by some DACs at the moment and I'm  not certain if any of them offer digital output with both decoding steps done, I suspect the output after the second decoding step is going to be analog. I've tried MQA with Roon doing the first decoding step and I prefer using the straight FLAC stream instead so I don't bother with MQA. If you're interested in MQA I'd try to get a demo somewhere, either at a dealer's or at a friends, and compare the MQA version to the FLAC version and see which I preferred. If you prefer MQA then that will limit your hardware/software choices to those which offer at least the first decoding step. If you don't prefer MQA you can choose from products which offer it as well as those which don't offer it because you can always choose to stream the non-encoded version of the music anyway. The Devialet currently doesn't do any MQA decoding. That may change in the future but Devialet haven't made any promises about MQA so I wouldn't bet on them adding MQA decoding and who knows how long it will be before we see it if they do decide to include that capability in the future.

Good move, David.
That´s the right type of explanation for guys like me.
But, please, let me know how to solve my problem:
I have a mac with Tidal and roon as core and a iPad working as remote.
I´d like to put the laptop away and keep the rest. There´s a lot of expensive and complicated (too complicated for me...) solutions, .
If i can to increase the Sq, great, and keep  the system simple, just perfect.
Any tips?

It might also help us to help you if you composed a signature showing what gear you are using.

[BoyScout]

You say "I have a mac with Tidal and roon as core and a iPad working as remote." and "I'd like to put the laptop away and keep the rest."

You're really not being very clear about what you're doing and what you want to achieve.

The iPad is a remote and the Roon app on it only works if it's talking to Roon Core running on a computer somewhere so are the mac and the laptop you mention both the same computer. If the Mac is a desktop computer like a mac mini, and the laptop is a separate computer you can put the laptop away right now. You don't need it if you're running Roon on the desktop computer.

Then there's what do you mean when you say "put the laptop away". How are you using the laptop? Is the problem having to connect it and disconnect it from the Devialet or the network?

Finally, what do you mean by "complicated solutions"? What's complicated for one person isn't necessarily complicated for another. I get you want simple but what would be a simple setup for you? If you're going to run Roon, you need Roon Core running on a computer connected to the internet. That can be a desktop computer, a laptop, or a dedicated music server of some sort. If you keep the iPad as a remote you can put the computer anywhere provided you can connect it to the Devialet somewhere so what you really need to make clear are things like:

- whether you're running Roon on the laptop you want to put away in which case you're going to need to replace it with some other computer running Roon. or do you just want some way of avoiding a physical connection/disconnection process between the laptop and Devialet, or are you trying to achieve something else.

- whether you wan the computer running Roon to be in the same room as your Devialet or somewhere else because that determines your connection options.

When you want to ask for advice, especially advice about how to make or keep things simple, you really need to supply a fair bit of info so people can know exactly what you're trying to achieve and how your current setup fails to do what you want.

I wasn´t clear enough, sorry.
I have just my laptop (meanning computer...) running Roon core in another room connected with the Dev by wifi.
What i pretend is to replace the laptop for something that keeps the system simple (dev, speakers and something else) and could even be directly connected to the Dev.
I read a lot about several devices but I noticed that some do not dispense a computer.
I hope I have been clear enough now.

[David A]

I wasn´t clear enough, sorry.
I have just my laptop (meanning computer...) running Roon core in another room connected with the Dev by wifi.
What i pretend is to replace the laptop for something that keeps the system simple (dev, speakers and something else) and could even be directly connected to the Dev.
I read a lot about several devices but I noticed that some do not dispense a computer.
I hope I have been clear enough now.

You've already got things as simple as they can be, at least as far as components go. The only reason to replace the laptop is not going to be to make things simpler because replacing one device with another which performs the same functions in the system doesn't make a system simpler. What it can do is to make the sound better.

If you're going to replace the laptop you need to replace it with something that can do the same things. That means that you need to replace it with either another computer or with a dedicated music server of some kind. You've got several options for a server starting with some kind of NUC on which you install Roon Core since you're already using Roon (the Roon Nucleus and Nucleus + are Roon's own versions of a NUC option) or a server from some manufacturer like Innuos or Antipodes or quite a few other options including BluSound whose Vault is one of the cheaper server options I've seen if price is a factor.

Whatever one of those options you pick, you're going to have to give it an internet connection for Roon. I don't know how you connect your laptop to the internet at home but the only network connection most of the above devices have is via ethernet so you're going to have to come up with an ethernet connection somehow. I assume you have a wifi network. If that's in a different room to the Devialet and you want the computer/server next to the Devialet you could place some kind of wifi extender that works with your wifi router next to the computer/server and connect it to the router via ethernet. Alternatively you could place the computer/server next to the router and connect to the Devialet via wifi or place an extender next to the  Devialet and connect via ethernet. If the computer/server is next to the Devialet you are going to have a choice between connecting the Devialet via ethernet to the same network as the computer/server or to the computer server by USB or, in some cases, by ethernet to a second network connection on the computer/server. 

So, swapping the laptop for something else is easy. The real issue for you are the connection issues. Work out how you want to make the connections between computer/server and internet, and computer/server and Devialet first, then start working out what you're going to do about replacing the laptop.

I'll also add that you have another option: connect your laptop to your Devialet via USB when you want to play music and use a wifi connection to your router for the internet connection. You could still use the iPad for a remote while the laptop sits next to the Devialet. That's likely to produce an improvement in sound quality over using a wifi connection from the laptop and it doesn't require any expenditure. You simply connect the laptop to the internet over your wifi network rather than connecting the Devialet to the laptop over the wifi network.

If you want to get the best sound quality, whichever of the options above you want to try, I'd recommend using wired ethernet connections instead of wifi. Having the computer/server next to the Devialet and using a USB or ethernet connection between them is better than using wifi to the Devialet. Using ethernet for all network connections with no wifi stages between rooms will improve sound quality if the Devialet and the computer/server are in different rooms, and it will provide a more stable, less problematic network. Getting rid of the wifi connection between rooms in my house and replacing it with a wired ethernet connection is one of the best things I've done. Eliminating wifi in my setup was a really good move in my view.

[BoyScout]

I wasn´t clear enough, sorry.
I have just my laptop (meanning computer...) running Roon core in another room connected with the Dev by wifi.
What i pretend is to replace the laptop for something that keeps the system simple (dev, speakers and something else) and could even be directly connected to the Dev.
I read a lot about several devices but I noticed that some do not dispense a computer.
I hope I have been clear enough now.

You've already got things as simple as they can be, at least as far as components go. The only reason to replace the laptop is not going to be to make things simpler because replacing one device with another which performs the same functions in the system doesn't make a system simpler. What it can do is to make the sound better.

If you're going to replace the laptop you need to replace it with something that can do the same things. That means that you need to replace it with either another computer or with a dedicated music server of some kind. You've got several options for a server starting with some kind of NUC on which you install Roon Core since you're already using Roon (the Roon Nucleus and Nucleus + are Roon's own versions of a NUC option) or a server from some manufacturer like Innuos or Antipodes or quite a few other options including BluSound whose Vault is one of the cheaper server options I've seen if price is a factor.

Whatever one of those options you pick, you're going to have to give it an internet connection for Roon. I don't know how you connect your laptop to the internet at home but the only network connection most of the above devices have is via ethernet so you're going to have to come up with an ethernet connection somehow. I assume you have a wifi network. If that's in a different room to the Devialet and you want the computer/server next to the Devialet you could place some kind of wifi extender that works with your wifi router next to the computer/server and connect it to the router via ethernet. Alternatively you could place the computer/server next to the router and connect to the Devialet via wifi or place an extender next to the  Devialet and connect via ethernet. If the computer/server is next to the Devialet you are going to have a choice between connecting the Devialet via ethernet to the same network as the computer/server or to the computer server by USB or, in some cases, by ethernet to a second network connection on the computer/server. 

So, swapping the laptop for something else is easy. The real issue for you are the connection issues. Work out how you want to make the connections between computer/server and internet, and computer/server and Devialet first, then start working out what you're going to do about replacing the laptop.

I'll also add that you have another option: connect your laptop to your Devialet via USB when you want to play music and use a wifi connection to your router for the internet connection. You could still use the iPad for a remote while the laptop sits next to the Devialet. That's likely to produce an improvement in sound quality over using a wifi connection from the laptop and it doesn't require any expenditure. You simply connect the laptop to the internet over your wifi network rather than connecting the Devialet to the laptop over the wifi network.

If you want to get the best sound quality, whichever of the options above you want to try, I'd recommend using wired ethernet connections instead of wifi. Having the computer/server next to the Devialet and using a USB or ethernet connection between them is better than using wifi to the Devialet. Using ethernet for all network connections with no wifi stages between rooms will improve sound quality if the Devialet and the computer/server are in different rooms, and it will provide a more stable, less problematic network. Getting rid of the wifi connection between rooms in my house and replacing it with a wired ethernet connection is one of the best things I've done. Eliminating wifi in my setup was a really good move in my view.

Thanks David,
It helps a lot.
The idea is exactly to use my laptop just to work and get something else just for music, improving the quality.
The price is always a factor.
Between NUC and dedicated music servers i´ll check among your suggestions and other in the market.
Another question: i´m not the kind of computer expert to do it myself, so do you know if there are in the market any NUC already in a fanless case dedicated to audio (Nucleus excluded, of course...)?
Thanks again.

[David A]

Thanks David,
It helps a lot.
The idea is exactly to use my laptop just to work and get something else just for music, improving the quality.
The price is always a factor.
Between NUC and dedicated music servers i´ll check among your suggestions and other in the market.
Another question: i´m not the kind of computer expert to do it myself, so do you know if there are in the market any NUC already in a fanless case dedicated to audio (Nucleus excluded, of course...)?
Thanks again.

Sorry, I have no idea about what's available in the way of different NUCs on the market.

There was one thing I forgot to mention and that's about adding music to your library. Some servers (mine included) have an internal CD  drive and software for ripping discs to their internal storage. That may or may not be an advantage for you, otherwise you're going to have to rip any discs you want to rip using your laptop and then transfer the files over the network to your music computer/server.

[BoyScout]

Thanks David,
It helps a lot.
The idea is exactly to use my laptop just to work and get something else just for music, improving the quality.
The price is always a factor.
Between NUC and dedicated music servers i´ll check among your suggestions and other in the market.
Another question: i´m not the kind of computer expert to do it myself, so do you know if there are in the market any NUC already in a fanless case dedicated to audio (Nucleus excluded, of course...)?
Thanks again.

Sorry, I have no idea about what's available in the way of different NUCs on the market.

There was one thing I forgot to mention and that's about adding music to your library. Some servers (mine included) have an internal CD  drive and software for ripping discs to their internal storage. That may or may not be an advantage for you, otherwise you're going to have to rip any discs you want to rip using your laptop and then transfer the files over the network to your music computer/server.

Yes, it would be an advantage ripping cd´s, i´ve a lot of them.
In that case, i suppose a NUC is not an option.
Things are a bit clearer for me now.
Thanks.

[mmorrison55]

While I can see the convenience of having a cd ripper all in one unit, I’ve heard arguments against saying you want that type of device far away from your output source for noise isolation.

[mmorrison55]

Received my lumin u1 mini today and have only had a few hours listening over usb. I was told both by the cable maker and the lumin salesperson to give both 75-100 hours of burn in, but so far I’m pleased. Only issue is same as I’ve reported with other connections, it seems the same dev volume setting (say-32.0) is a good bit louder over WiFi than usb.

Also, I can’t seem to get the volume control set correctly. Both the lumin app and Roon app show the volume set to 100 and I basically have to control volume with the devialet app or dev remote.

But As I said, I’ve only had a short few hours ofdemoing the unit, so I’m sure I will figure out a lot of the ins and outs of the lumin in the coming days.