Auralic Aries (Hardware) - Impressions and Information

[kennyb123]

Marky-Appreciate the update.

 

Me too.

 

Which Aries do you have Marky? The one with the external PSU?

[kennyb123]

Alright. I'm going to go on the record and say subjectively the ARIES sounds better (to me) than my tweaked Mac Mini. I am now using it full time!

 

Nice job AURALiC.

 

Very cool! Thanks for that update.

[kennyb123]

I am using an Airport Extreme (previous gen) along with an Airport express as an extender due to our basement being like a bank vault....

 

When the Express is used as a repeater, I believe bandwidth is halved. In that case you should use the 5 Ghz network. I doubt the halved bandwidth of 2.4 ghz 802.11n is sufficient for audio. May be more latency with a repeater too.

[kennyb123]

You're confusing bandwidth with frequency band.

 

I don't think I am. Bandwidth is 300-450 Mbps for 802.11n on the 5 Ghz band with Apple Airports. It's around 130 Mbps at 2.4 GHz.

[kennyb123]

Sorry for the hassle :~)

 

Not a hassle. I could have been more clear.

[kennyb123]

The Aries does support 802.11n at 5 GHz. The WLE350NX card inside it is capable of 450Mbps with 3 x 3 MIMO (3 receive and 3 transmit antennas). I wonder how many antennas are actually employed in the Aries.

 

I have an Airport Express in my listening room that's connected to my home's ethernet backbone. Devices in my room pretty consistently get about 260 Mbps. I find this too slow for my Mac mini running A+ as there is too long a delay when switching tracks (due in part to A+ slowly loading tracks into memory). My Mac mini is thus connected to my wired network - even though I do think wireless sounds a little better.

[kennyb123]

Pardon if this has already been mentioned, but to get DSD128, 32/384 or DXD files crackle-free sent wirelessly, what real-life bandwidth is needed?

 

Hmm. Check out this graph that I found in this article published at the start of this year at AudioStream: Auralic Aries: DSD & DXD over Wi-Fi. Very surprising to me that the Aries did not ship with support for 802.11ac. I guess their own testing must have indicated that 802.11n is sufficient. I would imagine, based on this graph, that it would have to be at full strength.

 

[kennyb123]

I believe he did state that 802.11n was sufficient.

 

It would be helpful if he'd provided greater specificity about minimum requirements. Throughput with 802.11n can of course vary greatly depending on frequency selected (2.4 GHz vs or 5 GHz) and reception quality.

 

I can't imagine that 802.11n would be sufficient for DSD128 or DXD if reception quality, plus use of the 2.4 GHz frequency, plus the use of a repeater reduced the actual rate to around 50 Mbps.

[kennyb123]

DSD128 is not an issue with my G4 Apple Extreme. I've played it for hours without issue.

 

Good news - but absent any mention of the rate this only tells us that it can work well.

 

I'm not so worried about this for myself as I have an Airport Express in my listening room. Just trying to bring attention to the following (bold text mine):

 

Pardon if this has already been mentioned, but to get DSD128, 32/384 or DXD files crackle-free sent wirelessly, what real-life bandwidth is needed?

[kennyb123]

Crappy sound

My cdplayer has superior SQ

 

Impossible to put that in context as your don't list your system.

[kennyb123]

I received my Aries LE today. It came loaded with firmware 1.8.2 and I can’t update it as I'm told I have the latest version. My Mytek DAC isn’t recognized - I guess I need at least v1.9 for that.

 

My dealer mentioned that he received a mail indicating that the Aries server will be down until next Tuesday. This likely explains why I can't retrieve updated firmware.

 

Shutting down the update server just in time for Christmas doesn't seem to be the smartest move. People who receive an Aries for Christmas won't be able to take advantage of the latest features until next week. That's just crazy.

 

I’m really disappointed. I’ve been looking forward to receiving this for months. I put it back in the box, as my DAC isn't recognized.

 

Is anyone else able to receive updated firmware?

[kennyb123]

Just send AURALiC an email and maybe they can help. The latest firmware is 1.10. Plug it in hardwired and let it do it's thing...it's not instant anyway. Did you get everything else all setup within DS Lightning? Your dac will work so hang tight.

 

Mail sent at least three hours ago. No reply yet.

 

Lighnting DS app all set up with MinimServer running on my Synology NAS. I attempted an update via this app and it reported that I already has the latest version. Connection is via wired Ethernet.

 

Mytek just blinks indicating no connection. On Facebook it is mentioned that the Mytek driver is included in 1.9.

 

I will try it again later. I hope I'm wrong about this. I can't imagine that updated firmware would be taken offline just in time for Christmas. My LE shipped from China last week with 1.8.2. Anyone receiving theirs for Christmas will also need an update.

[kennyb123]

The latest firmware is 1.10. Plug it in hardwired and let it do it's thing...it's not instant anyway.

 

It's been sitting for an hour hard wired. Still at firmware 1.8.2 with the message "Your firmware is up to date" displayed in Lightning DS.

 

Terrible out of the box experience, as it's useless to me until I can get the firmware updated. Extra dollars were wasted on expedited shipping so I would get this by Christmas.

 

No reply to my mail yet either.

[kennyb123]

No reply to my mail yet either.

 

I've exchanged a few mails with Xuanqian Wang. He's been helping me. I should hopefully have this baby running soon. :-)

[kennyb123]

A completely unexpected surprise is the sound quality. I've tried many approaches to streaming music for the last three years. But I never had that sq in my home. The soundstage got deeper and the separation of the instruments is more "visible" than before. Even my wife asked from the other room , what happened to my system?!

 

I will do more listening during weekend. But even if there is no more development in sq, I'm totally satisfied with the decision to buy this funny looking piece of equipment.

 

+1

 

I received mine this week too. Same impression. I posted some of the details in another thread, but plan to provide more detail here this weekend.

[kennyb123]

Having said this, the issue seems to be that the DAC loses sync with the Aries for some reason. My DAC switches modes (eg PCM vs DSD) with some clicking noises (apparently EmmLabs thinks transistorized switches are not optimal and they have implemented relays). When the dropout happens you hear the click as if the DAC thought the DSD signal switched to a PCM signal and then reverts back up to playing the DSD stream normally. I would be surprised if such a thing was a network issue as I would expect the buffer to have emptied and the playback to stop for more than just a fraction of a second, but then again, I don't know.

 

I may have experienced something like this on Saturday. I was playing DSD, then all of the sudden there was silence. I looked up and saw a red light on my preamp because the dropout actually activate the protection circuit. Also, my DAC's front panel indicated that PCM was playing. It occurred about 3 times and went away after I changed songs. It hasn't come back yet.

 

I'm thinking the Aries and my DAC may have gotten out of sync for some reason.

[kennyb123]

The device is connected with Ethernet CAT5 cable to my router but:

- is invisible to the iPad with Auralic Lightning DS App installed.

- the front display of Aries tells me connection problems.

 

Do you see a light blinking when the CAT5 cable is attached? Make sure it has a really good fit. Try another cable if you can.

[kennyb123]

Is it OK to claim something that is not true? In my book not a great way to build satisfied and loyal customers. I took the wrong decisions because of these claims and spent money I could have saved!

 

Why can't you return your Apple router for a refund? Most sellers will allow you to do this.

[kennyb123]

Kenny, I did keep a close eye to the specs of the product that is actually shipping... (this is on their website, check): AURALIC STILL CLAIMS ARIES DOES 802.11AC WIRELESS CONNECTION

 

My mistake - you are absolutely correct. I can see your point.

 

I think it would be a mistake to let this error spoil your enjoyment of this wonderful product. The sound quality I've been getting has been blowing my mind. I have been having the most enjoyable time I've ever had listening to digital.

 

Please try to return the router. And then enjoy the music. Trust me, you will! And you will look back on this at some time in the future and kick yourself for getting so worked up about the router.

[kennyb123]

I STILL BELIEVE MR WANG AND AURALIC OWE US A PUBLIC RESPONSE ON THIS ISSUE AND AN APOLOGY TO ALL THOSE WHO WERE MISLEAD TO BUY A 802.11AC ROUTER. That is what great companies who aspire to have a loyal customer base do.

 

Those specs did not say that 802.11ac was required - only that it was supported. Nowhere in their literature did Auralic require that you by an 802.11ac router. You made the choice on your own to purchase that router.

 

You could have easily posted a question here before buying that router if that purchase was such a big deal. You would have been told that 802.1ac is not only not required, it's not supported.

 

You are asking Auralic to take responsibility for their mistake. You made a mistake too, didn't you?

[kennyb123]

How about this. Rather then repeat the same thing over and over. Email Mr. Wang and report back what he says. That would be more useful as you've stated your position many times at this point.

 

+1

 

Regardless, my ARIES is streaming DSD128 as I type this with my Apple Airport Extreme (Gen 4 - 10/2009) router on 802.11n without any issue whatsoever so I really don't care.

 

This works for me too.

 

Oh, and return your new router if you don't need/want it.

 

I suggested that twice with no response. The router purchase isn't really the issue, is it? It just seems as though he feels he's owed a public apology.

[kennyb123]

A very frustrated customer.

 

Did you buy an Aries, and if so why?

 

Maybe you should consider another device if 802.11ac support is more important than the ability to get great sound out of every music format it supports.

 

Digital has improved significantly in my system. 802.11n has performed flawlessly.

 

That people would get so worked up about the lack of a feature that would provide no further benefit is unfortunate.

[kennyb123]

What One might find suspicious is he same 3 guys answering on behalf of the company when I am asking a fair and direct question to the CEO.

 

What's suspicious is someone coming to a public forum and demanding that a CEO answer him directly.

 

I'm a happy customer and I think it would be terribly unfortunate for others to be steered away from this wonderful product - all because a couple people purchased a router they were never required to purchase. That's both unjust and ridiculous and needs to be called out as such.

[kennyb123]

Sorry, should have included - no, single partition. Thanks...

 

Have you just be reformatting the existing partition? Or have you tried creating a new partition?

 

There are three different options for partition type. You may want to experiment with this.

[kennyb123]

I subscribe to the notion that all digital products have clocks, which are very sensitive and need to reach thermal steady state to sound good, so I NEVER turn off my digital components.

 

+1

 

A person who regularly powers down digital might never get to hear how good these components can sound.