Just wondering if any of you are using a Lumin U1 (DACless transport) into their DSD Sr.
Pretty sure I am going to end up with one of these. Anyone have regrets with theirs?
I purchased a used U1 about three weeks ago. I wanted to move away from Bridge II because of dissatisfaction with the Mconnect app. It just was too unstable in my system. Also the Bridge II was probably at the end of its development with Bridge III more than a year away. I have been a Tidal user for nearly three years and find MQA quite satisfying which almost certainly puts me in a minority postion on this forum. There was the hint(not sure if confirmed) that Bridge III would not include MQA capability.
I chose the Lumin U1 over the Aries G2 and Innous Zenith MkIII because the Lumin does the full rendering of the MQA signal. I rejected the Innous because I am cheap and object to paying for something I would never use(the CD ripper).
I am very happy so far with the Lumin. The Lumin app is much more stable than Mconnect and more versatile. I am not real technical so I am still learning the app. I first used the USB connection but switched to AES/EBU which sounds slightly better. I am searching the For Sale Forums for an upscale cable(both). My first impression was that the Lumin was somewhat better than the Bridge II but did not knock my socks off. The real revelation came when I sold the Bridge and removed it from the DSD. The jump in SQ was huge. I am not sufficiently technical to explain but the gain in all parameters of the music was immediately noticeable.
Now for the bad. The first is a bit picky. The Lumin’s construction is robust but quirky. All the rear connection hide under a nearly three inch overhang on the back case. It takes some doing to get everything connected. I am not sure about what is going on with the MQA rendering. Lumin advertises full rendering up to 24/382. The albums I have streamed at 24/192 show thusly on the Lumin app and the U1 screen but only show 24/96 on the DSD screen. Not sure what to make of that.
I am very glad I pulled the trigger on the U1. Sorry for the long-winded reply. Hope this helps!
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The U1 only does the first unfold of MQA, thus you will only get 24/96. Full rendering requires hardware support inside the DAC (the Bridge II counts).
I agree that the Lumin web site is a little vague on this for the U1, sorry.
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Count me in as a happy Lumin U1 user 
Got an U1 Mini last week.
From the Lumin website: "Lumin network players can automatically perform Core Decoding and(in Italics) Hardware Rendering of MQA-encoded streams to get the maximum Hi-Res music data(up to 24-bit 384Khz). I would consider that as more than vague and entering the realm of false advertising. I will keep the U1 as it is better than the Bridge but I am disappointed.
See the product categories of Lumin in the attached screenshot. They have “Network Player” and “Network Transport”, where the Transports have no DAC. MQA second unfold can only happen in a DAC by definition. There is no false advertising.
Lumin has maybe not made the best choice with their category naming, but a big part of the confusion goes to MQA. I see so many people struggling to really understand their “first and second unfolding” metaphor.
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I would love to hear how the u1 mini compares to the u1.
I have been wanting to compare the mini to zenith mkIIII (because I’m cheap as well)
How does the sq compare with the bridge ?
What do you mean by 1st and 2nd metaphor Philipp?
I have the U1 Mini, currently have the Curious USB cable and wanting to try its AES connection. Have you found a good AES cable?
MQA is way over rated. Flac sounds at least as good, usually better.
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