[normie610]

And I love my T2. It sounds so natural and full bodied

 

[thingswelike]

Hi guys,

I am interested to move from Roon app to either Lumin or Aurender Conductor native apps for better SQ over rich info. However, I prefer to control music playback right on PC (not Mac) over the apps on phones and tablets.

Is it possible to use Lumin or Aurender Conductor from PC desktop (windows 10) with android emulator programs like Bluestacks, MemuPlay or Noxplayer? Anyone has such experience? Is there any issue?

Thank you.

For PC apps, the simplest ones are Linn's Kazoo and Kinsky. Kazoo is the newer version. These use OpenHome (a flavour of UPnP AV) that our own apps use.
They don't do anything fancy (like DSP, music recommendations, transcoding, etc), but they are a nice easy and clean way to operate LUMIN from your desktop.
Note that only the LUMIN App has control over settings/setup/etc so you'll need to use the LUMIN iOS/Android apps for initial configuration.

On Mac desktop with Apple Silicone, you can use the LUMIN iOS app - it has been enhanced to take advantage of the large desktop screen.

 

[slazhx]

For PC apps, the simplest ones are Linn's Kazoo and Kinsky. Kazoo is the newer version. These use OpenHome (a flavour of UPnP AV) that our own apps use.
They don't do anything fancy (like DSP, music recommendations, transcoding, etc), but they are a nice easy and clean way to operate LUMIN from your desktop.
Note that only the LUMIN App has control over settings/setup/etc so you'll need to use the LUMIN iOS/Android apps for initial configuration.

On Mac desktop with Apple Silicone, you can use the LUMIN iOS app - it has been enhanced to take advantage of the large desktop screen.

Thank you for sharing this. I will dig it further.

 

[chesebert]

For PC apps, the simplest ones are Linn's Kazoo and Kinsky. Kazoo is the newer version. These use OpenHome (a flavour of UPnP AV) that our own apps use.
They don't do anything fancy (like DSP, music recommendations, transcoding, etc), but they are a nice easy and clean way to operate LUMIN from your desktop.
Note that only the LUMIN App has control over settings/setup/etc so you'll need to use the LUMIN iOS/Android apps for initial configuration.

On Mac desktop with Apple Silicone, you can use the LUMIN iOS app - it has been enhanced to take advantage of the large desktop screen.

Lumin started essentially as a Chinese (okay Hong Kong) knockoff version of Linn. Not surprised all Linn control apps work on Lumin.

Always found it funny when people would recommend Lumin but not Linn.

 

[bluenight]

How good is the built in DACs in Lumin players? If i want to connect outside digital sources? Can they compete with dedicated DAC makers?

 

[tesarpa]

I heard only D1 on my home stereo. Compared to Linn Akurate DS/1, Lumin sounded more warm, but still quite pleasant, while Linn was detailed, airy, more "audiophile". I also heard Linn Majic, and there Lumin D1 certainly wins.
Compared to separate DACs, not bad, I guess. Somewhere in 500-1000 price bracket.

 

[bluenight]

I heard only D1 on my home stereo. Compared to Linn Akurate DS/1, Lumin sounded more warm, but still quite pleasant, while Linn was detailed, airy, more "audiophile". I also heard Linn Majic, and there Lumin D1 certainly wins.
Compared to separate DACs, not bad, I guess. Somewhere in 500-1000 price bracket.

I have been wondering about Linn if they are better then Lumin or about the same.

 

[tesarpa]

Linn is flying under the radar here on head-fi, but this company is top notch in digital audio (streamers, DACs).

 

[soulrider4ever]

I would say from a pure SQ they are top notch but - Lumin software is really bad, especially compared to Auralic, BluOS, and Naim apps for example. It’s slow, clunky and doesn’t have any features (similar artists, add to favorites, bio, etc.)

The reality is Lumin needs Roon to be viable IMO - Downside is another box is required for Roon.

I had a Lumin U2 mini and loved how it sounded as a transport… literally wanted to throw my iPhone at the unit because of how bad the native app was (I don’t have Roon) and sold it. Normally I value SQ above all other things but in this case it was so brutally terrible I chose to just sell it and move on.

 

[bluenight]

I would say from a pure SQ they are top notch but - Lumin software is really bad, especially compared to Auralic, BluOS, and Naim apps for example. It’s slow, clunky and doesn’t have any features (similar artists, add to favorites, bio, etc.)

The reality is Lumin needs Roon to be viable IMO - Downside is another box is required for Roon.

I had a Lumin U2 mini and loved how it sounded as a transport… literally wanted to throw my iPhone at the unit because of how bad the native app was (I don’t have Roon) and sold it. Normally I value SQ above all other things but in this case it was so brutally terrible I chose to just sell it and move on.

I thought many people liked there software.

Its the same with my Cambridge CXNv2 streamer very bad internal app like you describing for Lumin. But i never use it for playback. On Tidal i used tidal connect and now on Qobuz i use the inbuilt chromecast. So i use the streaming platforms own apps. It also have Spotify connect if i wanted to use that. But Lumin dont support connect stuff for Tidal, Qobuz or Spotify?

 

[bluenight]

The reality is Lumin needs Roon to be viable IMO - Downside is another box is required for Roon.

I Haven't tried roon but couldn't you just download the roon app for smartphone and control your Lumin player from roon app playback from every streaming platform and add favourites etc.? Why you need another box?

 

[thingswelike]

I thought many people liked there software.

Its the same with my Cambridge CXNv2 streamer very bad internal app like you describing for Lumin. But i never use it for playback. On Tidal i used tidal connect and now on Qobuz i use the inbuilt chromecast. So i use the streaming platforms own apps. It also have Spotify connect if i wanted to use that. But Lumin dont support connect stuff for Tidal, Qobuz or Spotify?

All current LUMIN models support Spotify Connect
Most current LUMIN models support TIDAL Connect (D2 is the notable exception)
AFAIK, there isn't a Qobuz equivalent yet. We offered to help them develop it, but I'm not sure of the status of that.

 

[thingswelike]

I Haven't tried roon but couldn't you just download the roon app for smartphone and control your Lumin player from roon app playback from every streaming platform and add favourites etc.? Why you need another box?

Roon isn't just an app. It requires a Core processor which can be a PC/Mac or their own box. Because of this is also provides upsampling/DSP and other processing features.

 

[bluenight]

Roon isn't just an app. It requires a Core processor which can be a PC/Mac or their own box. Because of this is also provides upsampling/DSP and other processing features.

So the core processor is a must need for playback on Lumin player? I couldn't just download the app and playback whatever i like to a Lumin player?

 

[thingswelike]

So the core processor is a must need for playback on Lumin player? I couldn't just download the app and playback whatever i like to a Lumin player?

Not at all. That's just Roon - it's a completely different beast. LUMIN support Roon, but we also support UPnP AV (OpenHome), TIDALand Qobuz directly in our own App and then TIDAL Connect and Spotify Connect via their own apps. We also support AirPlay.
So absolutely no need for Roon or more hardware.