Lumin U1 Mini - how to set up Network *without* Ethernet cables?

Runs off the Lumin USB power. Works great. TP-Link N300 wireless travel router. TL-WR802N

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TQEX8BO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Very nice indeed - I've had my Ares II in for 24 hours now and it's already sounding amazing.

@jabbaman 

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I am using a Pontus II DAC. Before that I had a heavily modified MHDT Pagoda and this sounded very good as well.

@jabbaman I owned Auralic Aries G1. Replaced it with Lumin U1 Mini. Each has pros and cons. I had constant issues with AURALiC’s Lightning DS several times a week where it would drop network connection, the network would see the G1 but the G1 was not seeing the network. I use Roon and the G1 sounded better using the Lightning DS but a lot of album artwork from my HDD (ripped CDs) was missing.

When I switched to Lumin I also preferred the sound of Lumin over G1, Roon or without.
Lumin sounded great wired with Supra Cat 8 ethernet cable with none of the dropouts and network related issues I experienced with the wireless G1. Adding the Eno improved the sound of lumin even further. 
I never looked back after switching to Lumin. 
 

I’m pretty sure a good ethernet cable like an Audioquest Vodka would be a nice addition but I never tried. 

Since I’m using Roon, the Bricasti M3 DAC with a built in network player looked like a perfect one box solution so I sold my Lumin and Benchmark DAC 3 HGC to get the Bricasti. No regrets with simplicity and sound of the new set up. 
 

Bottom line, whatever you end up with, use good cables all around and you’ll be alright.

@ozzy62 - that's really good to know and it's also what I would expect from a brand such as Lumin. Out of interest which Lumin streamer do you happen to have, and which Denafrips? I've got an Ares II winging its way to me tomorrow and I'm a tad excited.

I don't use any add ons with my Lumin. Just ethernet (plain jane cable) in and balanced out to a Denfrips DAC. Sounds great to these ears.

Thanks again @audphile1.

In my head, if I'm paying over £1k for a network transport - a device whose job it is to connect to a network and grab high-resolution audio files to send on to a DAC, then I don't really want to spend another £1k to make the network bit work to a level where the audio is noise free!

I'm leaning more and more towards Auralic Aries for this very reason.

I am planning to compare Eno to higher ethernet cables but not sure when I’ll get around to it. The only cable I compared it to was the Supra cat 8 and cheap yellow and blue ones. 

Thanks @audphile1, that is encouraging.

Did you compare the Eno to "just" better cables"? As the Eno is not a cheap add on I'm assuming it gave you sufficient bang for your buck?

@jabbaman does it require any exotic ethernet conditioning? No. As long as you use a good ethernet cable your sound quality will be fine.
If you want to use “exotic “ ethernet conditioning you can and depending on what it is you can obtain a pretty audible slight improvement in sound quality but it will not be night and day. I used Network Acoustics Eno streaming system with my Lumin U1 Mini and it was better than using low end ethernet cable. But if you get a decent cable, I wouldn’t sweat it. Just enjoy the music!

I've just found this thread and it is interesting indeed.

I currently have a Zen Stream as my network bridge/transport and it has excellent Wi-Fi which has allowed me to get rid of a lot of complexity (I experimented with FMCs, SFPs, Cisco switches, Audio Switches, exotic USB cables and Ethernet filters.)

I really don't want to go back to anything that requires a tonne of extra (expensive) boxes to make it sound good.

I'm in the market for a new network transport and I have my eye on Lumin and Auralic products. Auralic are famed for their excellent Wi-Fi circuitry but they also don't do MQA (not a deal breaker but worth noting).

So my question to the Lumin folks here is: does the Ethernet interface in the U1 and U2 mini require any exotic Ethernet "conditioning" or does it take care of all of that itself?

My router is within a few feet of my kit so I can easily run a good-quality cable (I have a couple of Audioquest Pearl Cat6a still), I also have a Cisco Catalyst 2960 spare that I could deploy inline. But I don't want to spend hundreds, nay thousands on Ethernet exotica on top of the cost of a Lumin mini.

OK so I use coaxial SPDIF cable into RME (from my Limetree Bridge). This gives me 192khz in 24bit. Great sound, in a small package. 

Thanks to all the helpful responses. Lumin probably for another day.  

I tried it with usb, NOS is better.

@ozzy62 

Yup 100%. 
 

@audiotroy 

I’m gonna give it another shot later today but last time I tried it resulted in a somewhat  diffused soundstage (which can be interpreted as larger but less precise and less defined) and a skinnier bottom end. Are you upsampling 16/44 only or all sample rates? 

You must use usb to get higher sampling you could not run a comparison of NOS vs dsd without running from usb

So you never heard what it It is capable of dsd is a huge improvement 

@julie_priest 

FYI - Tidal is always 44 kHz, 16 bit, with usually 1411 kbps as I have a 1 GIG wifi connection in a big city. No need for upsampling etc, although Bridge II also does upsampling with a hardware switch. I've never needed it. Sound is great without doing all this tinkering. 
 

Are you serious? I’m listening to albums on Tidal in 24/192. 
 

@audphile1 

I completely forgot about break in. That will certainly be poo pooed by many here, but the Lumin does sound better with some hours on it.

Optical digital cable? Really? Well there’s your issue right there! You opted for the worst possible way to connect your transport/streamer to DAC. 
Use USB or AES or SPDIF…anything but optical. 

Also, U1 Mini needs about 150-200hrs to break in to sound best. 
Sending it back now without giving it a chance is up to you but know that you didn’t give it fair chance. 

@audiotroy 

I have tried upsampling PCM to DSD, but my dac sounds best in NOS mode, so that’s not the best option for me. And probably the same for most using NOS dacs.

Oz

@ozzy62  great Lumin U1 works for you. I don't walk all over, but it's handy as one is often on phone and toggling quickly to music is helpful. No need to pick up another device. I suspect Bridge II would be a sufficient enough upgrade for you from Node as it was for me, and it's a tiny physical profile which is a marvel of German manufacturing...but let's enjoy what we have.

I'm grateful for all the informative posts here! 

I did try Lumin Ethernet-wired (no other way) with Eero 6 Pro Wifi-6 mesh network router. Connected to my RME by Optical digital cable. Used via Tidal Connect. I will ONLY ever use these streamers through Spotify and Tidal themselves, never their own app. (The own app is used for other settings like firmware upgrade or upsampling etc.)

I also play Limetree Bridge II with wired, but it also works flawlessly via wifi only.

Sound quality on both options was the same, running via RME to my Dynaudio speakers. But Limetree is smaller, upgrades are totally automated via web one click inside app, and optionally works completely wirelessly.

FYI - Tidal is always 44 kHz, 16 bit, with usually 1411 kbps as I have a 1 GIG wifi connection in a big city. No need for upsampling etc, although Bridge II also does upsampling with a hardware switch. I've never needed it. Sound is great without doing all this tinkering. 

Limetree Bridge II it is for me. Lumin U1 I'm sure is nice I’m sure for people who don’t mind a large clunky gadget and twice the price for the same SQ.

If you never used the Lumin hard wired then it’s not a fair comparison. And as far as the phone is concerned, any app will look and perform better on a larger platform. I love using an iPad to control my music. I don’t wander around the house, I sit in the listening chair and it’s perfect for that.

Sorry it didn’t work out for you, but I think the U1 mini is a great value when you look at all it does. I came from a Node, an Allo Digi One before that,  SB Touch before that. It certainly sounds better than all of those. Look on the bright side, you just saved yourself 2k.

Oz

Sounds like the OP bought Lumin used without doing much research at all then Wanted this forum to do tech support….😉

First, a wireless access point is super easy to buy, install and integrate with any streamer. It’s also about $25.

since you didn’t know that, I pretty much discount what you say across the board….

if you can tell the difference between some German bridge and a Node 2i but can’t understand a wireless access point, the. You live in a parallel universe to mine…😂😂😂😂

Your bridge or streamer affects SQ very little if at all it just needs to get the stream to the DAC. The Limetree should be fine or even a raspberry pi. I use the Lumin U1 mini as a Roon endpoint and it has AES3 out which I need I don't exect it to improve the SQ. 

How were you using it? Usb would be your best option from the streamer to the dac

Also upconverting to dsd sounds far better then 16 44k

That is done in the options menu set custom sampling 16 44k  all to dsd and then listen to it

Thank you so much for all the helpful posts. Love this community even if I've been more an observer for a few years. 

Lumin U1 is ultimately not for me. My honest "review" if I am qualified to do that.

First the basic lack of features. 

1. Ethernet-only was a disappointment and should be mentioned more prominently in their brochureware. I tried it with Eero 6 Pro and the speed etc is fine, but even more cable spaghetti everywhere needs to be called out.
2. iPhone app is horrid. Like, really horrid. iPad-only is a stupid decision. Not everyone will lug an iPad around their home at all times. 
3. Their manuals need help too, as does their support. 

Most importantly the sound quality. My comparison is with Lindemann Limetree Bridge II that this was meant to replace. The Bridge is a tiny German made device, which unassumingly produces stellar sound -- and I thought their app was 'basic' until I saw this Lumin rubbish. The Lumin SQ is not all as stellar as raving fanboys make it out. What were they listening to before? Coming from Bridge II there's absolutely no sonic difference. 

My chain: 
Streamer (Bridge II or Lumin U1 Mini) --> RME DAC --> Dynaudio powered speakers so amp is built in  

When I had gotten Bridge II from Hifishark I was moving from Node 2i. It was a huge and audible upgrade. Node has horrid networking issues even in its version 3 (which is just called Node) and the sound was stupid, worse than my Mac Mini before. Bridge II brought joy. 

I thought I was 'upgrading' from Bridge II to the raved-about Lumin. Not at all. The streamer's job is to unintrusively pass high end signals to my DAC. The RME is a joyful piece of kit (I've also tried Denafrips Aries II and all the foaming adulation is similarly unclear to me; Aries II was an improvement over Modius for sure, but RME is perfect for me--transparent, lovely sound stage, no coloration added to make it "analog" and all that pablum) and I think the biggest difference comes from speakers anyway. 

Net net: U1 sent back. Pointlessly large piece of kit when we have options like Limetree Bridge. 

I use eero mesh and run Supra Cat8 from eero to my Lumin U1 Mini. 
Excellent sound. 
@ozzy62 

Agreed…Lumin app is unusable on phone. Overall by far not the best UI around. 

But if you use Tidal as your streaming service lumin has this nifty feature called Tidal connect. When configured you can use Tidal app on your phone or tablet to stream and the sound quality is excellent. You won’t get your local library that way though. 

Do yourself a favor and run Ethernet to your Lumin. My router is upstairs and at the other end of the house, but I made it work. This is truly your best option.

BTW, don’t plan on using your phone for the Lumin app. It really needs to be on a tablet and the app works better in the apple world than Android. Speaking from experience here.

Oz

True for the crappy link. I had the TP-Link out in my shed. It worked but not robust enough. Sent it back and got another Node for my mesh system. Rock solid.

@julie_priest as others have mentioned, the Lumin devices are Ethernet-only. You must use an Ethernet cable. Fuzztone's link is broken, but I think he was linking to something like the TP-Link AC750 which we've also used many times.

The Lumin will use DHCP to acquire all of the network information, at which point the Lumin app on your iOS, Android, or M1 Mac computer will be able to find it. You can also use any other OpenHome compatible apps, like Linn Kazoo, and it is also supports several other protocols if you want to use other apps.

Lumin owners rave, some of them.

You have to use a mesh router or a wifi access point.

$20

When you get it going please report objectively if the SQ is different enough to be worth it.

+1 @audiotroy 

A specific solution to what Audiotroy posted would be to setup a Mesh Network with a satellite close to your Lumin / audio system. Run ethernet out from the satellite to the Lumin. Most satellites offer at least one ethernet output...I'd recommend considering those that offer more than one output.

The lumins use ethernet you can't run them via wifi 

You can use  a wifi to ethernet bridge

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