Auralic Aries (Hardware) - Impressions and Information

[miguelito]

5 minutes ago, Krutsch said:

Huh? MQA has published specs on their file format such that anyone could write software to perform the first stage of decoding without software/license/permission from MQA?

No. They have said they would backward-engineer the unfolding and post-process algos (or try to anyway). Unclear whether this is just unfolding, or upsampling or both. It might be a good testing ground for whether MQA can indeed change their encoding to block them out (ie apply DRM).

[miguelito]

1 minute ago, miguelito said:

10 minutes ago, Krutsch said:

Huh? MQA has published specs on their file format such that anyone could write software to perform the first stage of decoding without software/license/permission from MQA?

No. They have said they would backward-engineer the unfolding and post-process algos (or try to anyway). Unclear whether this is just unfolding, or upsampling or both. It might be a good testing ground for whether MQA can indeed change their encoding to block them out (ie apply DRM).

I would think MQA has no legal grounds to say what math people can use to play MQA encoded files. If someone figures out the encoding just to listen to files (as opposed to profiting from encoding other files) then I suppose they are not breaking any laws by doing so. But of course what do I know...

[FIndingit]

This is big! This thread will explode soon. 

[atletico]

My aries will not connect to the Lightning server..I tried to roll back to v. 4.1 and it will not connect to the Lightning Server.. 

[austinpop]

@auralic @Wang Xuanqian

 

 

This is an amazing upgrade of features! Kudos, and thanks very much.

 

Since I have the Aries Mini:

• I was able to confirm the Roon Ready feature. Works great so far.
• I got MQA encoded flac files to get decoded. It will take some time to determine if this approach has any sonic value, compared to true MQA decoding. A couple of clarifications though:
  • There doesn't seem to be a way to toggle this MQA decoding in the control app - i.e. it is always ON. I think it would be good to have control.
  • I have FLAC to WAV transcoding on by default in my MinimServer, and that seems to defeat the MQA decoding. I.e. the WAV stream does not trigger the decoding. It has to be FLAC. For now, this is a nice way to toggle the MQA decoding, but not quite apples to apples, since I have found the WAV stream to sound better in general.
• I did not see any control for Processor Engine, or Resampler plug-in, which may be due to my being on the Mini, as the release notes say: "All streaming device an now upsampling to 384K except for ARIES MINI (down sampling only)."

[sebassie]

1 hour ago, pl_svn said:

wait guys: my Aries doesn't see anymore the NAS share where all my music files are

as soon as I hit "Rescan" it just unmounts it 

 

contacted support and waiting for a a reply

My music is on a NAS running minimserver. So far no problems.

[austinpop]

Just now, austinpop said:

• I was able to confirm the Roon Ready feature. Works great so far.

 

I particularly like the fact that Roon Ready mode can coexist with DLNA. I could quickly switch between playing a track via Roon from the Roon app, to the same track via DLNA from the Lightning DS app.

 

This is distinctly less clunky than the microRendu or the sMS-200, where you have to toggle the mode of the endpoint - i.e. switch between the DLNA/MPD or the Roon Ready "app."

 

To be fair, in actual operation, people usually just pick the mode they want and use that, but for reviewing and comparisons, this is very nice.

[austinpop]

And... just confirmed the MQA decoding kicks in with Tidal Masters tracks.

 

Again, no comment on the sonic qualities of this ersatz, or faux-MQA decoding, but hope to do some critical listening tonight.

[pl_svn]

11 minutes ago, sebassie said:

My music is on a NAS running minimserver. So far no problems.

 

so... you're not accessing it as an SMB share from the Aries, which is what brings up the issue I have

[sebassie]

2 minutes ago, pl_svn said:

 

so... you're not accessing it as an SMB share from the Aries, which is what brings up the issue I have

correct:-)

[Doak]

Uh-oh,,, Just read that Aries will now  "upsample everything" to 384khz with 5.01.

Glad it in Beta so I have a chance revert back if necessary. I do not usually like upsampling. but time and listening will tell.

 

[Krutsch]

1 hour ago, miguelito said:

I would think MQA has no legal grounds to say what math people can use to play MQA encoded files. 

 

Unless they have been issued patents. 

[Frankie61]

8 minutes ago, Doak said:

Uh-oh,,, Just read that Aries will now  "upsample everything" to 384khz with 5.01.

Glad it in Beta so I have a chance revert back if necessary. I do not usually like upsampling. but time and listening will tell.

I really hope that you have a choice !! 

8 minutes ago, Doak said:

 

 

[Doak]

Guess you mean one the 5.01 becomes standard issue. 

Yes, hope we ALWAYS will "have a choice" and Auralic needs to KNOW that very clearly. 

[pl_svn]

... and on fw 5.0beta-1 my Aries was also abruptly stopping playback after a while, when used as RoonReady output device, and vanishing from the network :-/

 

I'm back to *non beta* fw 4.1.0 and won't move from here 

also back to non beta Lightning DS

 

still can't access the NAS share anymore 

[Leeuwarden]

You have a choice to upsample or not upsample in the webbrowser.

[Doak]

13 minutes ago, Leeuwarden said:

You have a choice to upsample or not upsample in the webbrowser.

THANKS! 

[atletico]

42 minutes ago, pl_svn said:

... and on fw 5.0beta-1 my Aries was also abruptly stopping playback after a while, when used as RoonReady output device, and vanishing from the network :-/

 

I'm back to *non beta* fw 4.1.0 and won't move from here 

also back to non beta Lightning DS

 

still can't access the NAS share anymore 

I tried moving back to fw 4.1.0 and no way the Aries will find my NAS Lightning Server with my 1400 albums...back to 5.0 beta1 and all my music and Lighting Server will appear again. Tried the same once again and Fw 4.1.0 will not work with my NAS Lightning Server...I'm stuck with beta 5.0...

[atletico]

9 minutes ago, atletico said:

I tried moving back to fw 4.1.0 and no way the Aries will find my NAS Lightning Server with my 1400 albums...back to 5.0 beta1 and all my music and Lighting Server will appear again. Tried the same once again and Fw 4.1.0 will not work with my NAS Lightning Server...I'm stuck with beta 5.0...

Fw 5.0 beta1 issue 2 : Now playback DSD files from my NAS  L. Server will  stopp every 15 seconds and starts "buffering"?

[pl_svn]

at least on 4.1.0 I can still use it as RoonReady device (playback is again flawless) and for streaming Qobuz

 

as soon as I get confirmation SMB is working again I'll *maybe* re-try a beta. *MAYBE*!!!

[Anthro]

It is called a beta for a reason. Do not try this beta if you can't live with the possibility of losing a stable audio platform.

[Morph]

So I've just streamed a Tidal Masters track. I have a Mytek Brooklyn DAC and I'm no longer seeing the blue MQA icon on the DAC's display. Any suggestions as to what this means in relation to this new firmware update?

 

Morph

[pl_svn]

8 minutes ago, Anthro said:

It is called a beta for a reason. Do not try this beta if you can't live with the possibility of losing a stable audio platform.

 

darling... I have no problem living with it

even though... I'm really astonished they released even just a beta with such a big bug in such a basic function 

 

and I just though it would be wise to alert others about it

[mjb]

5 hours ago, pl_svn said:

 

darling... I have no problem living with it

even though... I'm really astonished they released even just a beta with such a big bug in such a basic function 

 

and I just though it would be wise to alert others about it

After hardware reset (and a lot of patience) thankfully everything appears to be working again in my case. I think the setup "wizard" tries to idiot proof things, but instead just messes it (or me) up. Once I chose the "Just Startup" option, and manually entered things, it all went a little smoother.

[mikey8811]

I've just tried it.

 

It updated and then found the Lightning Device.

 

But the Music Library is now empty. Do I setup Lightning Device or just go to Music Library?

 

I tried the latter and it seems to have automatically located the Network Drive. It is still scanning files after 20 or so minutes and the Music Library still has 0 songs.

 

I guess I just leave it to scan? How long does a full 2 Tb drive take to scan?