Lumin U1 vs Lumin U1 mini + sbooster?

Do you guys also consider a Kenneth Lau's LPS for the U1 Mini?

I have a U1 Mini en route and deciding if I should get an LPS for it and which one?

If I try to add an LPS, Do you all think a Keces P8 would be good and get a Dual Output if I decided to get an Etherregen or ISO Regen?

@paopawdecarabao I heard Kenneth is a good solution but I can tell you the P8 is a great solution in dual output mode. It does 4 amps per output and u1 mini only uses 0.4 amps consistently so it has tons of headroom. I plan to maybe to use it to power morion clock down the road and have configured it as such (you choose the voltages ahead of time). Now to be fair I have no compared it to any other external PSU. So feel free to research all the options. I do know many regard Paul Hynes and uptone JS2 as both excellent.

@steakster  Ya I know but i was still responding to what you said about what he said and your comment 'Your posts were just fine. ' and what my objection was to it because you did ask me before what the issue was.

Mrcypruz, thank you for your comparison, great info.  Curious - how did you compare the two?  Both connected simultaneously to DAC and quickly switching, or some time in between?  USB, coax, etc?
I have the mini and would definitely upgrade if the U1 was better.  My logical problem (without testing u1 against the mini) is using my Luxman D08 as a DAC, which is a great CD player, feeding the same 44.1 Hz file through the U1 mini, the CD playback IS better, but not huge.  So to buy the U1 to make up only some of that difference doesn't seem to be worth it. I do have a revealing system - Magico/Luxman/Nordost.
     I think my way of testing is a good test, using the same DAC via the original CD source as THE reference from which to judge.  Most people just using a DAC couldn't do this, obviously.  The CD playback presents a performance ceiling that theoretically couldn't be beaten, only strived to, and the Gap is very small in my case at least.  I wonder if the DAC receiving the signal from the streamer makes a difference, some kind of synergy issue between two different streamers?

@jimmy2615 thanks and you’re welcome.

I did the comparisons both on my speakers and headphones rigs, twice on each rig, using the U1 & U1 Mini (U1M) Coaxial BCN & USB outputs.

Below are both my speakers and headphones rigs for reference.

Speaker: LUMIN U1 Streamer —> Chord M Scaler —> Chord Hugo TT2 —> SPL Phonitor X Pre-amp (sometimes PrimaLuna Evo 400 pre-amp for some tube flavor) —> 2x SPL Performer s800 monoblocks —> KEF Reference 5 speakers

Headphones: LUMIN U1 Streamer —> Chord M Scaler (yes I have two) —> Chord Dave —> Woo Audio WA33 tube amp or RAAL-Requisite HSA-1a amp
The rigs feed the following headphones: Focal Utopia, HifiMan Susvara, ZMF Verite Closed a d RAAL-Requisite SR1a.

The first comparison was conducted on my headphone rig, using the BNC output from both the U1 & U1M going into the Chord Hugo M-Scaler Coaxial BNC inputs (it has two separate BNC inputs) using the same Nordost Heimdall 2 BNC-BNC digital cable model and just switching back and forth the inputs on the M Scaler. As shown above, the M Scaler is connected to the Chord Dave DAC via dual BNC cables.

The second comparison was conducted using the same principle, same exact USB cable brand and model (Audioquest Diamond) one coming from the U1 and other from the U1M and going to the M Scaler, but this time around I had to listen to a track then manually switch the cables from the back of the M Scaler as it only has one USB input.

The third comparison, which was on my speaker rig, was very similar to the first one, with two separate BNC cables each coming from the U1 and U1M, to another M Scaler feeding a Chord Hugo TT2 DAC.

The fourth and last comparison was similar to to second one, USB from U1 & U1M to the second M Scaler feeding the TT2.

All 4 comparisons led me to similar conclusions with the U1 being significantly better than the U1M, main differences being in the instrument separation, blacker background, deeper and wider stage, better resolution / clarity and overall a more refined presentation.

As for the differences between your CD player with an internal DAC vs U1M, I’ve had a "kind of" similar experience. I used the digital output (bypassing the DAC) on a Hegel Mohican CD player feeding the M Scaler via a BNC cable on my speaker rig and compared it to the U1M, and the CD player was better than the U1M. Did the the same comparison with the U1 and the U1 was better. The CD player digital output was between the U1M and U1 performance streaming 44.1 kHz files stored in my local library using Roon. I never use the analog output of the Mohican because the performance is inferior when compared to my external DACs.

Unfortunately I have no means to objectively quantify the differences I heard but I’ll say this, if I had the option to only keep one of the 3 (U1, U1 Mini and Hegel Mohican CD player), I would keep the U1 everyday and twice on Sunday.

I believe that your system is more than capable of revealing the performance improvement from the U1M to the U1 but I can’t tell if that is going to be case for your CD player, it could still be better than the U1 - only your ears will tell.

If you have the funds for the U1, get it from Upscale Audio, they have a 30 days return policy (if I recall correctly), you can give it a try to see if the upgrade is worthy, if not you can return it and remain happy with the U1M.

I hope this helps and happy listening.

Sounds like a varied and thorough group of tests.  I'll have to try the U-1 sometime.