This review page is supported in part by the sponsors whose ad banners are displayed below

The most currently relevant issue about the DFF/DSF format resides with its limited tag abilities though DSF seems more open than DFF (J.River for instance appears capable to tag the former). This is a twice-valid concern with the Lumin app’s exclusive tag browsing. Other control points like Kinsky will recognize DFF/DSF files through Minimserver and display the cover art if a jpg file has been included in the folder. It's not very practical but works. It's also possible to create a specific DSD folder within the NAS tree and browse this folder through the Kinsky app each time you want to play a DSD file. Another solution is changing the original file’s DNA by creating a DoP file. DoP stands for DSD over PCM. It's a new bitstream format that packs DSD inside a PCM container and simply flags the PCM file as containing DSD so any enabled D/A converter knows what to do with it. Again, the Lumin can natively play back DFF and DSD files. Thanks to a modification of its SACD plugin, Foobar 2000 can tag such files. This modification adds the extra convert to DSD over PCM option and creates 24/176.4 DoP files packing native DSD. Such DoP files can be written in any lossless format like WAV, AIFF, ALAC or FLAC. Now it becomes child's play to tag your DSD files through your usual metadata editor and DoP files should work in any UPnP server which supports these common lossless formats.

The Lumin obviously detects the flags which announce DoP content to automatically switch to native DSD playback mode. One issue is that DoP file sizes slightly exceed that of their DFF originals. Depending on its container, a DSD album could require 3-4GB of storage which could become relevant. I also found original DFF files to be more stable than their DoP versions. This might have been linked to Foobar's conversion/packing process but could also relate to file size. I would strongly recommend FLAC containers which produce smaller file sizes which from a streaming view might be easier to handle than AIFF equivalents. Unfortunately this requires a metadata editor other than the ubiquitous iTunes. For now DSD tagging remains a factor. One hopes that the growing number of DSD-enabled DACs will create a climate that introduces better tagging conventions in the near future. For the time being the best options seem to be DSF rips with J.River tagging or DoP/FLAC extraction via Foobar. Coming back to the machine under review, measurements provided by the manufacturer are as follows - 20Hz-20kHz response within + 0.01/-0.18dB, A-weighted noise of -110.9, dynamic range of 112.dB, THD of 0.0022% and stereo crosstalk of -110dB. Power consumption is 20 watts in use and 15 watts in standby.

Sound. Until now each computer-based music solution I've hosted had me gleefully persist in thinking that good CD players definitely had a rosy future. And I still think that. My conviction based on sound rather than old habit is simply weakening. That's how enlightening the Lumin's exceptionally positive experience proved to be. But I continue to believe that it will be as difficult to completely eradicate CD players as it has been to consign turntables to the scrap heap. The coincident distribution of CD and audio files grows from the same recording process. It presents no particular reason why CD production should get terminated [this argument would seem very weak relative to distribution and the ongoing decline of actual disc resellers – Ed.] A significant example is Channel Classics’ parallel offering of SACD discs and DSD files. Another aspect is the reciprocity between the files extracted from a CD and the ones you can burn to a blank. The huge personal collections of CDs might thus not become dead stock anytime soon.

That said, the convenience of computer audio solutions has already led to a massive embrace of downloaded or ripped files. The diversity of playback software, computer architectures, D/A conversion tools and reclocking devices has simply created a true maze on how to pursue the best sound. Jitter, playback algorithms and D/A converters introduce so many different flavors that one could feel compelled to claim the complexity of the most sophisticated perfume creations. If at times computer audio may lack a bit transparency or not create as wide and deep a soundstage, its primary criticism must be stability. Here the Lumin streamer retaliates with a very stable environment whose only possible changes are firmware updates and any possible variance introduced from using its digital outputs. I didn't have opportunity to test the HDMI output with an external DSD-capable DAC. But I did test the S/PDIF output with my Esoteric K-03. This provided me with very good results against the Lumin's internal digital mode. The K-03 only had a slightly different tonal balance with an airier treble. Clearly Lumin's designer didn't add their outputs as just a convenience feature. Whilst personal preference gave the nod to the Lumin's own DAC over the Esoteric, this really was just a matter of taste.


In comparison with the K-03, the Lumin’s Redbook performance was plainly superior. There was not one area where the Lumin could be considered inferior. Tonal balance seemed a bit more neutral, timbres were more realistic, three-dimensional imaging was just as good, dynamics were outstanding and the Lumin's liquid character provided the in my opinion greater listening pleasure. Let that sink in! This was astonishing performance against the Japanese deck which to me remains one of the very best CD/SACD players on the market and trades for a much higher sticker [$13.000 – Ed]. Comparing DSD playback, I must confess that even though Esoteric is well known for their accuracy, it sounded digital and narrow against the Lumin. It was the latter's streaming which sent me to the concert hall with that very rare feeling of truth and evidence - naturalness, sweetness and scale. The walls of my listening room really seemed to vanish. Still it's quite difficult to describe precisely just how good this sound was. When I listened to Ivan Fischer conducting Mahler's 4th Symphony [Channel Classics DSD download], I had the sensation of listening to a completely different recording or mastering than with physical disc playback. It was just like comparing a good recording to a direct live event. The Lumin added a kind of analog sound comparable to what can be achieved by the best turntables - but with more realism, depth, dynamics and detail. I felt amazed like a kid listening to the Lumin's DSD playback.

But not all DSD files I explored over my allotted two months delivered the same amazing contact high. Rude awakening? Not really. I simply realized that DSD isn't any superior-most format unless the whole production process occurred in the DSD domain starting of course with the recording equipment itself. DSD is an amazing medium but it's far from obvious what was done to the original master before it got finally stamped to disc for distribution. The differences are worlds removed from being academic. A record company like Channel Classics who only process in 100% DSD have reached such an exalted level of realism that returning to Redbook becomes a true and real yawn. The main issue really is about what exactly has been the DSD signal's journey between microphones and stamper. It unfortunately appears that most these travels cross PCM land at some point.