Auralic Aries UPnP Renderer: Double DSD Over Wi-Fi

[jtwrace]

I have confirmed that we support JPG, GIF, TIFF, PNG as well as cover art embedded into file.

 

Lightning DS will create album index first then load cover art at background. You wont see cover right after the initlization is done. If you have a very large library, it will take tens of minutes for all cover to be loaded. The App performance will be slower during this stage too.

 

Lumin have similar way to load cover art. You can clear their cache and see which one load library faster, I believe we are 30% faster than them no matter when the program is trying to creating index or loading cover art.

 

Those are the key graphic file types. The issues could be due to how some of the conversion/editing programs save the art into those formats.

 

Right. Still an issue.

[andyv]

I have confirmed that we support JPG, GIF, TIFF, PNG as well as cover art embedded into file.

 

Lightning DS will create album index first then load cover art at background. You wont see cover right after the initlization is done. If you have a very large library, it will take tens of minutes for all cover to be loaded. The App performance will be slower during this stage too.

 

Lumin have similar way to load cover art. You can clear their cache and see which one load library faster, I believe we are 30% faster than them no matter when the program is trying to creating index or loading cover art.

 

JRemote is much, much quicker than Lightning or Lumin.

[jtwrace]

JRemote is much, much quicker than Lightning or Lumin.

 

No doubt about that. I can also say that JRemote overall is fantastic. It's truly the benchmark IMO. Of course there are many years of development involved though. So we all must be patient but AURALiC will need to continue development nonstop for it to be on par.

[Wang Xuanqian]

JRemote is much, much quicker than Lightning or Lumin.

 

JRemote is based on different structure. We are doing optimization but I dont think Lightning DS will be as fast as JRemote unless we use a private protocol that is not compatible with uPnP/DLNA.

[Cebolla]

JRemote is much, much quicker than Lightning or Lumin.

No doubt about that. I can also say that JRemote overall is fantastic. It's truly the benchmark IMO. Of course there are many years of development involved though. So we all must be patient but AURALiC will need to continue development nonstop for it to be on par.

JRemote is a remote control for JRMC, so its only tasks are to display what JRMC is telling it to show (within the limitations of the iPad) and to allow the user to indirectly control JRMC (eg translate screen touches & taps to virtual mouse pushes & clicks) over the network.

 

So it's a bit unfair to compare that device with a true control point device (eg the Lightning and the Aries apps) which is NOT being told what to display by a powerful computer running powerful software and is NOT relying on that same computer and software to control the music playback on its behalf. A lot more thought, ie development time, has to be put in to achieve a similar user experience.

[earflappin]

Well said.

[Distinctive]

JRemote is a remote control for JRMC, so its only tasks are to display what JRMC is telling it to show (within the limitations of the iPad) and to allow the user to indirectly control JRMC over the network.

 

So its a bit unfair to compare that device with a true control point device (eg the Lightning and the Aries apps) which is NOT being told what to display by a powerful computer running powerful software and is NOT relying on that same computer and software to control the music playback on its behalf. A lot more thought, ie development time, has to be put in to achieve a similar user experience.

I was thinking the same thing.

JRemote is virtually a kind of 'Remote Desktop' connection towards JRiver.

[jtwrace]

JRemote is a remote control for JRMC, so its only tasks are to display what JRMC is telling it to show (within the limitations of the iPad) and to allow the user to indirectly control JRMC (eg translate screen touches & taps to virtual mouse pushes & clicks) over the network.

 

So its a bit unfair to compare that device with a true control point device (eg the Lightning and the Aries apps) which is NOT being told what to display by a powerful computer running powerful software and is NOT relying on that same computer and software to control the music playback on its behalf. A lot more thought, ie development time, has to be put in to achieve a similar user experience.

 

Right.

 

Have you used it yet?

[dr.sah]

if it is fast as Sonos, than they did a good job.

[Cebolla]

Right.

 

Have you used it yet?

Unfortunately, not yet. The wife's iPad is away with her for a week. I mostly use the BubbleUPnP Android control point, on my phone and tablet.

[jtwrace]

Unfortunately, not yet. The wife's iPad is away with her for a week. I mostly use the BubbleUPnP Android control point, on my phone and tablet.

 

I think once you use it you will understand.

[ErikM]

I see there is an update to lightning

[jtwrace]

I see there is an update to lightning

 

That's firmware (1.5) to the hardware.

[MikeJazz]

No doubt about that. I can also say that JRemote overall is fantastic. It's truly the benchmark IMO. Of course there are many years of development involved though. So we all must be patient but AURALiC will need to continue development nonstop for it to be on par.

 

Altought great, JRemote does not allow multi-dimensional browsing troughout unlimited tags...

something that you can do with the combination minimserver + lumin...

[jtwrace]

Altought great, JRemote does not allow multi-dimensional browsing troughout unlimited tags...

something that you can do with the combination minimserver + lumin...

 

I still prefer something that works flawless first over something that has options. I do understand that this is the first crack at it but with all the delays I would have thought it would have been better at this point. That's all.

[Distinctive]

I think once you use it you will understand.

I have used it.

What also is interesting to me is the feeling and layout of the GUI.

Like Logitech, it reminds me of the eighties. Miles away from the Lumin app.

[MikeJazz]

I still prefer something that works flawless first over something that has options. I do understand that this is the first crack at it but with all the delays I would have thought it would have been better at this point. That's all.

 

Nothing is flawless when is software-based..

But, in my experience, lumin is now stable and minmserver as well.

[jtwrace]

Nothing is flawless when is software-based..

But, in my experience, lumin is now stable and minmserver as well.

Oh gosh.

[andyv]

JRemote is based on different structure. We are doing optimization but I dont think Lightning DS will be as fast as JRemote unless we use a private protocol that is not compatible with uPnP/DLNA.

 

I know you are working flat out, and I know you are proud of your achievements and goals, but I do think it would be worth spending a little time to see if you can get the Aries to work with JRiver/JRemote. This would keep all the current JRiver/JRemote users who want to buy an Aries very happy, and might take a little pressure off your development guys. As Lightning matures, people who come from the JRiver/JRemote paradigm could switch to LIghtning when it offers comparable performance.

 

I have JRiver/JRemote doing exactly what I want. I'm sorry, but there's absolutely no way I would consider buying an Aries with the current state of your control point. Why not have another look at JRiver and see what's involved in getting Aries to be seen as a zone - the JRiver developers are very helpful, and who knows, it might not take much work.

[firedog]

Well, Lightning DS still has the wrong album art, album titles, and tracks with my Library. Just a complete crapshoot which album art is placed with each album. I don't have this problem with ANY other software (and I've used many), so it isn't my folders/tagging.

 

I also could never buy the product when this is the level of the UI.

[Cebolla]

I know you are working flat out, and I know you are proud of your achievements and goals, but I do think it would be worth spending a little time to see if you can get the Aries to work with JRiver/JRemote. This would keep all the current JRiver/JRemote users who want to buy an Aries very happy, and might take a little pressure off your development guys. As Lightning matures, people who come from the JRiver/JRemote paradigm could switch to LIghtning when it offers comparable performance.

Who said you can't? JRMC has a built-in UPnP/DLNA control point which you should be able control the Aries with, as you should be able to any other UPnP renderer. I don't see why you shouldn't then be still able to use JRemote to remote control JRMC to therefore indirectly control the Aries. Bit of a sledgehammer to crack a nut, mind!

[Cebolla]

Well, Lightning DS still has the wrong album art, album titles, and tracks with my Library. Just a complete crapshoot which album art is placed with each album. I don't have this problem with ANY other software (and I've used many), so it isn't my folders/tagging.

If that other software includes other UPnP control points accessing the same UPnP media server, then clearly there's an issue with the Lightning DS app. Inconclusive, otherwise.

[Jimmypowder]

If that other software includes other UPnP control points accessing the same UPnP media server, then clearly there's an issue with the Lightning DS app. Inconclusive, otherwise.

 

I have used Lumin and all the artists and albums are categorized properly using Minimserver.

 

With Lightning ds,many albums are listed as Artists . A delete and reinstall of the app and still the same issue.

I am not having the album art issue though.

[jtwrace]

JRemote

 

Lumin

 

Lightning DS

[TubeLover]

I understand that there is some perfectly logical frustration over the Aries, of which everything I've noted of significance is software based, and should be addressable, over time. Granted, perhaps the device really wasn't ready for release, and might, ideally, have been delayed until further software upgrades and development were completed. Of course, were that the case, people would have been endlessly going on about the delay in it being shipped and demanding to know when it would.

 

I also think that making comparisons to the exceptional JRiver software and it's years of development is not entirely fair. We were told upfront that it would not work with the Aries. No one could honestly expect that the brand new Lighting app would be remotely comparable. Usable, yes, but certainly not comparable, though expected to improve over time, of course.

 

In the end, many of us are certainly hoping that the Aries, and the Lightning app are successful, as they are nearly the only game in town short of a CAPS Zuma, or something from Aurender. And the Aurender gear is very pricey, while even just the parts for a good CAPS Zuma cost as much as the higher end Aries. And then you have a full blown computer to deal with and likely tweak for the next few years getting where you want to be.

 

You might also consider that not everyone has been spoiled by the quality of the JRiver software, and would be happy with less. I'm coming from an Olive 4HD. You want to talk about software limitations and glitches? Almost anything would satisfy me.

 

Lastly, as Ted noted earlier, it's important to be patient, and to allow Auralic to work out the bugs. I'm certainly going to give them every chance, as I really would prefer not to have to default to any of the other options out there, either because of major expense, or difficulty of use. And again quoting Ted:

 

"I will still go out on a limb and say, at this juncture, that the Aries is easily a better alternative than a stock Mac Mini or a stock small CAPSserver if one already owns a NAS and is not interested in tweeking their pc/MACs out. The sound quality of the Aries is equal or better than a stock version of either of them (stock defined as no special 3rd party cards, no special internal mods/cabling, etc, no upgraded power supplies). But the bigger deal is two-fold..simplicity and features. The Aries gives you an almost-plug and play lightweight renderer, plus with music streaming services (Qubuz and Wimp currently) and the DoP flexibility of a great USB-SPDIF converter (coax,AES, toslink). Oh, and it sits anywhere wirelessly and streams DSD128. "