Thoughts on Lumin D2 Upgrade from Node 2i


Picked up a Lumin D2 and have had some time to enjoy it! I have some thoughts about my upgrade from a Bluesound Node 2i.

The sound quality improvement was apparant instantly, so no complaints there...BUUU-HUUUT...

The UI and general useabilty of the Lumin app is, unfortunately, completely inferior to Bluesound.

A knowledgeable friend recommends Roon as an alternative. I have not been motivated enough to learn a new app, so I guess the app isnt too terrible, but my addiction manifests itself in thinking I should get a Chord Qutest or similar and take digital signal from Bluesound, etc...

My system: TIDAL HiRes > Lumin D2 > Bryston B60R > Focal Sopra 1
alienqueen

I 100% agree with you that the Lumin app is terrible at best. I sent mine back and bought an Auralic instead which has a far superior UI and sound in my opinion. I had the Bluesound Vault 2i digital out to my Anthem STR Pre and the sound quality jump when I got the Auralic was also a drastic increase connected the same way.

It’s funny when I find my own post and realize how bad I am at this…

@rockrider I still believe the Bluesound OS was “better” but I have fully adapted to the LUMIN and have no complaints. The Node 2i is a great piece and has moved on to another home but is a great gateway. There is no comparison with the Lumin in SQ but that’s why it’s 4.2X more!

As I primarily use Tidal with the LUMIN, it works and I can type in anything and be listening in seconds 

A fellow at work has a tube collection so I’m spending some time today ROLLING my Prologue Premium! 

You could always go with the Lumin U1 mini and the Chord Qutest... ;^) Roon is a nice media database/server service and does a good job of managing your hardware, music archives and streaming services...  You might want to look at Audirvana too...
Rooon had better be amazing for $120/year plus tax.
All OS takes a while to maximize. Orange Squeeze a longer while but that's because it's powerful. Volumio not quite as good but use BubbleUPnP for streaming services and it joins O Squeeze as both being better than BluOS for Qubuz, Tidal and local files.
@alienqueen,
How long have you had the LUMIN vs the Node 2i? Just wondering because I’ve had Bluesound, LUMIN, Roon, and Conductor. I thought they all took a bit to get used to, but not so bad after a while.
when you say the lumin sounds better than the node, are you taking analog output from the node?

or are you comparing the sound of the lumin vs node both as digital streamers only - taking their respective digital outputs?