Auralic Aries (Hardware) - Impressions and Information

[dmormerod]

Hi

 

I'm just about to pull the trigger on buying an Aires and had a quick question.

 

From reading the previous posts in the thread am I right in thinking that with the latest firmware I can connect to my Synology via Samba and therefore don't need either MediaServer or Minimserver? Also, even if that doesn't work I don't actually need Minimserver as MediaServer supports DSD?

 

TIA

Mike

[dmormerod]

The current firmware does not support access to your Synology via Samba ( using the Lightning Server software ). It is believed that the next release of the firmware may/will add this support. At that point you will not need to run music server software such as MediaServer, Minimserver, et al.

 

Barr

 

p.s and yes Mediaserver supports DSD.

 

Great, Thanks. Reason I wanted to double check is that it's listed in the latest firmware pdf for 2.0 on the Auralic website :

 

"Lightning Server can now use samba network path as source and switch between USB and Network mode. No 3rd party uPnP server will be required in the future (waiting for new Lightning DS V2.0 to enable this function)."

[dmormerod]

Yes the firmware supports it, but it can be utilized until Lightning DS V2.0 is released.

 

Any ideas on when DS v2 will be released?

Thanks

[dmormerod]

Finally took the plunge and purchased an Aries (I bought the one Colin was selling on the forums here) and I seem to have a slight issue.

 

Everything appears to be set up OK, the unit updated itself to v2.4, I'm running it wired with a statically assigned IP address, and I have MinimServer running on a Synology DS415+. The issue I've experienced twice now is that after listening (and BTW this blows my MacBook Pro with JRiver out of the water), I just pressed the display button on the remote to dim the display and left the unit on. After a couple of hours I came back to the unit, turned the display back on, selected a track in DS Lightning, the PLAY Icon flashes for a second on the unit and then the unit goes into PAUSE. If I select any track it does the same thing, PLAY appears for a second or so, and then it goes into PAUSE. The only way I seem to be able to get anything to play is to power cycle the unit. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

TIA

 

Mike

[dmormerod]

@Mike - This sounds familiar and yet I cannot recall what might be causing that issue. Obviously you keep your Synology NAS powered on all the time, and you may well have assigned a static IP address to it as well. Regardless if the Aires could not find the music server ( Minimserver) it would report an error.

 

I actually power down the Aries using the remote as opposed to dimming the display, though it is six of one and half a dozen of another, and it is an OLED display. I might have actually had this same issue when dimming as opposed to powering down so I will check that and report back.

 

In the meantime I would drop an email to Auralic support, [email protected]

 

Barr

 

Thanks Barr.

 

I have dropped Auralic support an email so I'll see what they come back with. I'll also try powering down using the remote tonight and see what happens in the morning. One thing I have realized is that my statically assigned IP is below my DHCP range (I start my range at x.x.x.100 and my static is x.x.x.10) but DS Lightning shows the Aries with the correct IP address and it can't be lease related as my DHCP lease is set to 1 day and I've not been running the Aries for 1 day yet!

[dmormerod]

Yes, I have. This has happened when my router had a hick-up. Restart your router. If you log into your NAS to wake it up and reset the ARIES (as you've done) it should be good.

 

Thanks, I'll give it a try and see if it makes a difference.

[dmormerod]

I played around for a couple of more hours last night and it seems to be something to do with the static IP. Whenever I turned the unit off,using the remote, it wouldn't play when turned back on and showed the same symptoms as earlier. So I removed the static IP and that seemed to fix the problem. (Both wired and wireless). I turned it off last night and this morning it played as expected when I turned it back on. I'm using the crappy actiontec router supplied by my cable company for dhcp (wireless I use an airport extreme) so I think I'll set up a dhcp server on my Synology and see what happens.

[dmormerod]

Spoke too soon. It looks like it was playing the last song from last night from some form of cache. The issue seems to be that it keeps losing connection to the server, either MinimServer or the media server running on my Synology. I don't see why as MinimWatch shows no issues and I can stream from my Synology perfectly using any number of apps. Everything is hard wired through managed switches and the Synology and Aries are on the same network switch. I do use link aggregation on the Synology but I can't think that's the issue.

[dmormerod]

The problem here is the iFi micro DSD. Disconnecting and reconnecting the USB cable solves this problem. The same problem exists when connecting an iFi micro DSD to a Mac. I discussed this problem both with Auralic and iFI. They blame each other. I guess Mr. Wang is right in saying that the Aries uses the right USB 2.0 protocol. Anyway, when the Aries goes into pause mode after starting to play this means that the DAC is not 'seen'.

 

That would seem strange as DS Lightning still shows the ifi as the output device. I'll give it a go but I'm sure the issue is now around the connection to the server. I'm now getting server is offline messages and I can see that DS Lightning shows the servers as greyed out.

 

Just for laughs I change the Aries to PnP and I could instantly play through it using The Synology DS Audio app on my iPad!

[dmormerod]

Interesting developments. As noted previously, the Lightning DS application will report if the Aries cannot be found ( device not found ) and if the music server cannot be found ( music server offline ). However to the best of my knowledge it does not report if there is a problem communicating with the DAC.

 

Mike, it appears you have changed a number of things around since yesterday? It does sound a bit like the connection between the DAC and Aries. At least in your original configuration.

 

Good luck and happy Sunday.

 

Barr

 

Thanks Barr.

 

I've gone back to basics, the Aries is wired using DHCP, so no static IP for now. If I leave DS Lightning open on Settings > Music Library screen, when I restart MinimServer I can see it become available in the App. However, within 60 seconds it disconnects and becomes greyed out, so obviously any tracks I then try and select I get the 'Current Server is offline' message.

 

So I need to try and track down why MinimServer is disconnecting within 60 seconds. MinimWatch running on my MAC shows no issues and I can see nothing in the MinimServer logs to indicate any issue, which makes me believe it's something in the Aries.

 

I think the DAC connection maybe a red herring due to the fact that when the music library shows as connected tracks play perfectly without issue!

Maybe I'll just have to wait for DS v2.0 so I can just connect directly to my Synology.

[dmormerod]

Might have missed it previously but as long as we are having fun, your Synology NAS has a fixed IP address correct?

 

I'll download & try Kazoo, and yes my NAS has a fixed IP

 

This maybe a complete red herring, but does anyone have Sonos & an Aries? The one constant in the Music Library list no matter what happens with everything else isI can see my Sonos Play 3 as a Media Server, I wonder if there is conflict?

[dmormerod]

What happens if you try Linn Kazoo on your Mac? Can you see the Minimserver library the whole time and play music?

 

Ok, so I have the same issue with Kazoo It see's MinimServer for a short period of time then it becomes unavailable! So I'm not sure what's going on now!

[dmormerod]

That tells me the issue is with the Minimserver/NAS and not the ARIES.

 

OK, I think I've figured it out! I was running Link Aggregation on the Synology using a NetGear managed switch. I'm running DSM 5.2 Beta which has a new network option 'Adaptive Load balancing' which means you can disable LAG on the switch ports and let the NAS load balance without needing special networking gear.

 

To cut a long story short I disabled LAG & enabled 'Adaptive Load Balancing' and all of a sudden the server became available again.

 

I've been running for 30 mins now without it losing connection to the server, so fingers crossed that's the issue. Now as to why LAG would cause issues is beyond my networking knowledge, but I don't care so long as it works. I'd be curious to know if anyone else is running LAG on the Synology with an Aries & MinimServer.

 

Time to go and listen to some music Thanks for all the suggestions from everyone, and apologies for hogging the thread!

 

Although I do have one last question, why use MinimServer vs the Synology Media server given they both support DSD?

Thanks!

[dmormerod]

It depends on which model you have as to whether it's available or not. If you have a NAS with multiple ethernet ports you can create a bond in the networking options under control panel. When you create the bond you get a number of choices on how you want the bond to operate and one of those is LAG. In DSM 5.2 they've introduced the new balanced option so you don't need the switch support. It also means that you can now use a different switch on each network port which is great for redundancy.

[dmormerod]

Oh and yes I'll post in the MinimServer forum too.

 

Thanks

[dmormerod]

This is email from Chris Morris that works for Auralic here US regarding crackling

 

As for the clicking. This is a firmware problem we pushed the boundaries to far for the USB protocol for some systems. People with Aries and Vega using the USB cable that came with the Vega are ok. But some Audiophile cables have had an issue with this firmware. So were going to back off what were doing with the protocol and get a new firmware out this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyone know if a new firmware did get pushed this week? I don't see any update available.

[dmormerod]

Thanks Barr

[dmormerod]

After some initial problems which turned out to be NAS related, not the Aries, it's worked perfectly. I will add I never turn it off, I just turn off the display when I'm not listening.

[dmormerod]

Automatically updated overnight and working fine with iDSD.

[dmormerod]

Just a note. For the Aries to see the music on the NAS you need some music server software. (This will change in the impeding DS Lightning update). Most folks here use MinimServer which you can find for many different NAS's and it's free!

[dmormerod]

Does anyone know if the AirPlay option only works if you're using a WiFi connection with the Aries vs a wired connection? If I enable airplay in LDS I don't see the Aries as a valid Airplay destination. I am using a wired connection on my Aries. (I also use a wired connection on a yamaha receiver but that still shows up under airplay).

TIA

Mike

[dmormerod]

Figured with the new firmware I'd take Roon up on the 14 day trial, and I agree it was easy to set up (my music is on a NAS) and on my humble system at least, there is a distinct sound improvement to my ears using Roon versus LDS 2.4. The question is whether or not it's worth the yearly fee plus a dedicated PC/Mac to run the Roon server. Now if Roon server ran on my Synology then the decision would be a lot easier!

[dmormerod]

For those who've made the switch, how does Roon compare vs using the Aries as a streamer with a NAS, purely in terms of SQ?

 

I'm my humble system I noticed a definite improvement in SQ using Roon vs just streaming using LDS from my NAS. I'm just not sure I can justify a dedicated server plus the cost of Roon. Now if Roon core ran on my Synology then that would be a different matter!

 

 

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[dmormerod]

Just tried mine and I'm seeing the same issue, DS cannot see my Aries. I have a wired connection.

 

 

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[dmormerod]

Is there no way to get it to switch to wireless? Or a remote key combination to reset? Seems crazy is not! I guess I best email Mr Wang

 

 

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