Michael Evans is beguiled by this svelte-looking, inexpensive community music participant…
LOSE
D3 Networked Audio Participant
£2,195 RRP
Hong Kong-based LUMIN Music has made a formidable title for itself over the previous few years, with a formidable vary of streamers that cowl the high-end and center sectors of the market. It is solely eight or so years in the past that Pixel Magic Programs – an organization that specialises within the playback of UHD video information – determined to design its personal specialist, DSD-capable audiophile product, and thus the corporate was born.
Warp again to the current, and LUMIN provides a welter of merchandise, with vary refreshes going down often. The D3 is the newest addition to the community streamer vary, changing the extremely regarded D2; it is the entry-level mannequin within the firm’s foremost streaming line-up, mentioned to deliver audiophile streaming “inside everybody’s attain”. The D3 is greater than only a fast makeover, although, as important {hardware} enhancements have been applied, with upgrades to the primary processor, DAC, analogue output stage, software program and end.
UP CLOSE
The headline information is LUMIN’s newest central processor. This has not been carried over from its D2 predecessor however, as a substitute, is fully new – with the software program it runs additionally being bespoke for this software. The processor boasts elevated processing energy and storage capability, which means that there’s better flexibility for resampling and future-proofing, the corporate says. The D3 supplies upsampling and downsampling to each supported format as much as 384kHz PCM and DSD256. As you’ll anticipate, it is TIDAL Join and Airplay 2 appropriate, in addition to being Roon Prepared; Spotify Join, MQA, TIDAL, Qobuz, Plex and TuneIn performance are provided.
The corporate is clearly a fan of ESS silicon, so this new mannequin receives the ES 9028 Professional chipset, a DAC with a status for clean however crisp sound. It drives a completely balanced analogue output stage with LUMIN’s analogue buffer, together with the corporate’s X1 know-how. That is mentioned to be ultra-low noise and claimed to supply a large dynamic vary.
The brand new floor end – taken from the corporate’s high-end P1 community participant – is beautiful. This, along with the thick CNC-machined aluminium entrance panel and enclosure, provides the unit the aura of a very costly product; it is a world away from the same old brushed aluminium fascia fronting a pressed-steel chassis. This is not simply all present and no go, although, because it’s much less resonant than typical hi-fi case designs, which, in flip, ought to cut back sound-degrading microphony.
Across the again of the good-looking case is a cleanly laid-out rear panel – sporting the compulsory balanced XLR analogue outputs subsequent to unbalanced RCA phono sockets. There’s an earthed 75-ohm coaxial digital output, do you have to want to use the D3 solely as a digital transport along with your personal (presumably) high-end DAC. As per most high-end streamers, there isn’t a Wi-Fi connectivity, with LUMIN’s engineers involved that this would possibly compromise sound high quality; this implies the one community connectivity comes through an Ethernet socket. Lastly, there’s a USB port to attach a tough drive with exterior music and a typical IEC mains enter with a grasp energy swap.
The D3 is unquestionably some of the versatile streamers out there. As beforehand talked about, it helps virtually each streaming format out there and has an ace up its sleeve with the inclusion of Plex compatibility. For me personally, it is a deal maker as I like its performance; I’ve all of my offline music saved on a Plex server, and such seamless integration is an absolute deal with. Along with the {hardware}, the LUMIN app supplies a welter of choices which might be repeatedly evolving. For instance, the corporate says that previously 12 months, it has added Free Flac Lossless Radio Stations, Leedh Processing Steadiness Management (for ESS DAC fashions), improved Spotify Join sound, an experimental ‘Roon Solely’ mode, plus JPlay iOS app assist and extra.
THE LISTENING
The brand new D3 is a most spectacular performer – particularly contemplating its promoting worth – whereas boasting lovely construct high quality and operational panache. Simply because it would not appear to be a median streamer, it would not sound like one. It has a straightforward, clean and open character, but is a dynamic and grippy system too. There may be not one of the brightness and even harshness related to some inexpensive streamer designs, and nor does it sound bland, boring or opaque. The result’s a product that does not draw consideration to itself; the listener can simply sit down and get into the music.
The important thing to its character is its tonal smoothness, allied to excessive ranges of element retrieval. Take the beautifully recorded and produced Poison Arrow by ABCfor instance, a terrific early nineteen eighties Trevor Horn manufacturing. This could sound skinny on common streamers and lack the vibrancy that is so apparent on the unique vinyl LP. But the LUMIN fortunately showcased the superb recording high quality and made the music come alive. I’ve heard this monitor sound decidedly under par if the supply element is missing, however not on this case. Likewise, the one that Horn made after the ABC album, Frankie Goes to Hollywood‘s Two Tribesactually stood out for its spectacular dynamics.
Staying with well-recorded eighties tracks and Grace Jones‘s masterly cowl of Chrissie Hynde‘s Personal Life proved a terrific litmus take a look at for the D3. It is a gorgeous slice of sunshine reggae with attractive rhythmic backing equipped by Sly and Robbieand if a streamer fails to have interaction the listener right here then it’s sport over! The D3 did not have this drawback, nonetheless, and as a substitute conveyed the monitor’s sinewy bass line brilliantly. On the similar time, the percussion and rhythm guitar work got here throughout as being completely syncopated. The dynamic velocity and presentation of the burden that the kettle drum was being struck confirmed how trustworthy this streamer was to the unique recording.
The fashionable pop of The Final Dinner Social gathering‘s Nothing Issues was additionally impressively carried. This can be a denser, extra compressed combine than the aforementioned eighties classics and sounds a bit extra claustrophobic resulting from extra processing. All the identical, the LUMIN was capable of arrange a spacious recorded acoustic that positioned the assorted components of the combo very precisely. Soundstaging was impressively broad and vocals sat rock-solid within the combine, sounding vibrant and powerful. With the D3 being so impartial, comparatively talking, there isn’t a sense of harshness, however neither is bass significantly sturdy sounding. Which means the unit will work throughout a variety of music varieties, displaying no worry or favour. I loved the whole lot from the luxurious early seventies jazz funk of Donald Byrd‘s Streetlady to the dreamy late nineties indie rock of Mercury Rev‘s Holes.
THE VERDICT
Do not be fooled by the LUMIN’s minimalist exterior – its look is totally at odds with its nice depth of performance. Sonically, the brand new D3 is a winner, too – with a crisp, clean and open sound that does not privilege one kind of music over one other. It isn’t good, in fact, and the corporate’s costlier merchandise higher it when it comes to outright sound high quality, however it’s nonetheless extraordinarily aggressive in its class. Higher nonetheless, do you have to so want, you possibly can feed its digital output to a high-end DAC and additional enhance the sound.
All the identical, the LUMIN faces stiff competitors from the likes of Auralic’s stylish G1.1 and Naim Audio’s Unity Atom Headphone Version, for instance. There’s additionally the Melco choice, ought to you have already got a succesful digital-to-analogue converter. Then, final however not least, there are extra price range designs comparable to the superb Cambridge Audio CXN v2 which are not shut when it comes to construct high quality however nonetheless carry out surprisingly nicely. But regardless of all of the above, the brand new D3 stays a extremely fascinating factor – it appears like an genuine slice of inexpensive esoterica reasonably than a tarted-up cheaper design. As such, it comes extremely really useful.
