LUMIN P1 Mini Digital Streaming Center > Fidelity Magazine Review

Meet the Lumin P1 Mini. With this new model, Lumin is rethinking the idea of a full-featured digital control center. The Mini is the company’s first preamplifier/DAC/streamer to be given physical controls by the design team. To the left of the familiar monochrome display is now a source selector switch, to the right a volume control. In between, there is a push-button on/off switch and an IR sensor. The remote control – an official IR transmitter with comprehensive functionality, not an alibi solution in the omnipresent Apple design – is within easy reach in the packaging. I am very impressed. Talk about winning the customer over with haptic charm!

Now I’ll praise the new feel one last time: Lumin doesn’t call the P1 Mini a “preamp” (despite the P in the name), but a “hub”. Think something along the lines of “control center”. The rotary encoders make the complex P1 Mini control center much more intuitive to use. According to Lumin’s mastermind Angus Leung, he wanted to make the P1 Mini “less intimidating”, i.e. more accessible for all those who do not see themselves as digital natives and have reservations about software. And he succeeded.

During the burn-in phase, I utilize the full set of the P1 Minis capabilities: It streams, it converts and it drives my Rowland power amplifier directly via an XLR-balanced connection. The result is impressive. The sound is extremely fine and highly resolving. This is followed by its use as a streaming DAC as well as a source for my Aqua La Voce S3 D/A converter. Gradually, an overall picture emerges. And that is, as you would expect, extremely pleasing.

What a bargain: Lumin’s smart all-in-one package combines streaming, a DAC with all the bells and whistles and a more than usable preamp in an extremely slim housing.

And what’s even better: with separate components, you would have to budget considerably more to even come close to the P1 Mini. Perfect!