Auralic Aries (Hardware) - Impressions and Information

[Nebeljäger]

Aries Mini 5.0.beta 1, all my playlists went to nirvana... they still exist in LDS but are not able to play... library paths broken?? :-(

[Leeuwarden]

Probably, this was mentioned at the release of this beta...

[Nebeljäger]

@Leeuwarden

do you think beta2 will fix it? Sadly at the moment it isn`t available for me...

[Doak]

2 minutes ago, Nebeljäger said:

Aries Mini 5.0.beta 1, all my playlists went to nirvana... they still exist in LDS but are not able to play... library paths broken?? :-(

Same with my Aries Femto.... what a bee-atch!!!

Will take hours to recreate these.

[Leeuwarden]

2 minutes ago, Nebeljäger said:

@Leeuwarden

do you think beta2 will fix it? Sadly at the moment it isn`t available for me...

I don't think so. Maybe you can read the beta release note to see why your library is gone...

[pl_svn]

33 minutes ago, Nebeljäger said:

@Leeuwarden

do you think beta2 will fix it? Sadly at the moment it isn`t available for me...

 

no, but you can update to beta 2 and then go back to release 4.1.0: if you haven't re-scanned your library everything *should* be back

 

though you will *have to* rebuild the library once fw 5.0 is out of beta and you'll be back to where you are now

[Nebeljäger]

@pl_svn @Leeuwarden

 

thanks for your help! But i am afraid i have to open my best Pinot Noir and spend few hours to fix it... ;-)

[mikey8811]

On 13/04/2017 at 4:36 PM, mjb said:

 

Not sure if I'm imagining it, but I'm sure it sounds better with the volume control disabled, versus enabled and set to 100%.

Disabling the volume control stuffs up your iPhone's audio output - it mutes it for other purposes and you then have to turn up the volume with the iPhone volume buttons.

 

Hopefully Auralic will make the disabling of volume control ONLY for Lightning DS control purposes.

[alice]

Does anyone know what the Aries 2 will feature and what the price would be.

[Booster MPS]

38 minutes ago, alice said:

Does anyone know what the Aries 2 will feature and what the price would be.

 

Maybe something at AXPONA but more than likely will be Munich next month.  The most that I recall reading was something Darko (I think) had from Mr Wang saying the next gen would be more of a flagship/premium product.  

[Hauser]

8 hours ago, mikey8811 said:

Disabling the volume control stuffs up your iPhone's audio output - it mutes it for other purposes and you then have to turn up the volume with the iPhone volume buttons.

 

Hopefully Auralic will make the disabling of volume control ONLY for Lightning DS control purposes.

You are comparatively lucky.  I disabled volume control via the web interface and it disconnected Aries.  Haven't been able to get Aries past 'Aries starting' despite reboots, resets, wired or wireless to router.  Hopefully Auralic can sort.

 

Martin.

[Guido Del Giudice]

how do I go back to 4,1 on my Aries mini?

 

I am on 5,0  beta 2 and my music library will not load no matter what I do:(

[mjb]

Guido, go into your "User" profile, and uncheck "I want to receive Beta's"...

 

I had the same problem, it just would not find/add my library. Futzed with it all yesterday afternoon, went back to 4.1 and everything ok again.

[alice]

2 hours ago, Booster MPS said:

 

Maybe something at AXPONA but more than likely will be Munich next month.  The most that I recall reading was something Darko (I think) had from Mr Wang saying the next gen would be more of a flagship/premium product.  

Premium Flagship means more money.

 

I thought we had peaked in source performance.

Was there compromises made in designing the Aries ?

[atletico]

I'm back on on v. 4.1. Comparing the SQ performance from v 5.0 beta 2 and v 4.1.

I have now listening critical to some of my reference music tracks from my NAS and Tidal Hi-Fi  ( no files including MQA Master tracks are used ) .

I prefer the overall presentation from v. 4.1. Some of the things I noticed was the soundstage has a bigger/wider presentation and the bass notes goes deeper. Also the overall presentation from v.4.1 reveals the dynamic from the instruments better.  5.0 beta 2 overall sound at first very nice but after som listening I noticed something was missing. The best way to explain this is the overall sound was presented a little bit "flatter" and had lost a bit of weight. This is what I experience from my setup and this is still a beta version so I hope when Auralic finishing the new v 5.0, it will be closer to the 4.1 version in SQ.

.

[Jay Tee]

Athletico

V5.0 beta2 includes a bunch of new features, including signal processing. You didn't indicate which processor option you used to come to your conclusions in the listening tests. The filter options are available on the browser setup page.

 

Auralic's default seems to be 'smooth', but there are three other filters and they all sound different. My preference so far: 'precise'. In my system it sounds open and much less tampered with.

 

When I first installed the 5.0 beta I was also disappointed with the sound. It felt artificial - until I used the web setup page to refine my options.

 

It would be interesting to hear the experiences of others who have experimented with the beta's signal processing filters.

[pl_svn]

at first, after installing beta 1, I thought... wow! (default settings)

then I went back to 4.1.0 and couldn't actually get any meaningful difference in SQ

 

issue I have with betas, so far, is... I'm hearing *light*, intermittent, "static noises"

more frequent with beta 1, a lot less in beta 2

as soon as I go back to 4.1.0 they vanish

[eligeorgia]

Looking forward to the new update, and appreciative of those who take the leap into beta for the benefit of all of us. 

 

My question is in regards to the Aries soon being "Roon ready" or enabled.  Does that mean that the Aries will serve as the "computer" that is needed to run the Roon software on the network?  Will there still need to be another computer somewhere on the network running Roon software?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Doak]

4 hours ago, atletico said:

I'm back on on v. 4.1. Comparing the SQ performance from v 5.0 beta 2 and v 4.1.

I have now listening critical to some of my reference music tracks from my NAS and Tidal Hi-Fi  ( no files including MQA Master tracks are used ) .

I prefer the overall presentation from v. 4.1. Some of the things I noticed was the soundstage has a bigger/wider presentation and the bass notes goes deeper. Also the overall presentation from v.4.1 reveals the dynamic from the instruments better.  5.0 beta 2 overall sound at first very nice but after som listening I noticed something was missing. The best way to explain this is the overall sound was presented a little bit "flatter" and had lost a bit of weight. This is what I experience from my setup and this is still a beta version so I hope when Auralic finishing the new v 5.0, it will be closer to the 4.1 version in SQ.

.

Did you play around with the filters on the Processor Setup page of the web browser?

[atletico]

2 hours ago, Jay Tee said:

Athletico

V5.0 beta2 includes a bunch of new features, including signal processing. You didn't indicate which processor option you used to come to your conclusions in the listening tests. The filter options are available on the browser setup page.

 

Auralic's default seems to be 'smooth', but there are three other filters and they all sound different. My preference so far: 'precise'. In my system it sounds open and much less tampered with.

 

When I first installed the 5.0 beta I was also disappointed with the sound. It felt artificial - until I used the web setup page to refine my options.

 

It would be interesting to hear the experiences of others who have experimented with the beta's signal processing filters.

 

All my serious listening and testing with v. 5.0 beta 2 are based on filter setting "smooth". I have also used the web browser setup and played a little around with the different settings but there should also be an option without any signal processing   "no filter" but I can't find this ..?

Waiting now for a new beta 3  5.0 version and will then test more a round the different signal processing but the default setting should have been "no filters".

The sound from version 4.1 still are better in my ears and with my equipment..The overall dynamics are better and more weight in the low end...

 

[pl_svn]

1 hour ago, eligeorgia said:

My question is in regards to the Aries soon being "Roon ready" or enabled.  Does that mean that the Aries will serve as the "computer" that is needed to run the Roon software on the network?  Will there still need to be another computer somewhere on the network running Roon software?

 

RoonReady devices are Roon *output only* devices: you need Roon running on another machine

Separating "renderer" and "core" is the way to get better SQ

[austinpop]

All these comparison of 4.1 with 5.0 beta are confusing, because there are so many devices and modes. Going forward, may I suggest you preface your remarks with this information:

1. Aries Model
2. Operation Mode - Lightning device, uPNP renderer, Roon endpoint
3. DAC (Mini) - internal or external. If internal, what DAC settings
4. MQA playback - passthrough, auto, or 2x, 4x, 8x
5. DSP or Upsampling: if not defaults, specify changes.

[Doak]

1 hour ago, atletico said:

 

All my serious listening and testing with v. 5.0 beta 2 are based on filter setting "smooth". I have also used the web browser setup and played a little around with the different settings but there should also be an option without any signal processing   "no filter" but I can't find this ..?

Waiting now for a new beta 3  5.0 version and will then test more a round the different signal processing but the default setting should have been "no filters".

The sound from version 4.1 still are better in my ears and with my equipment..The overall dynamics are better and more weight in the low end...

 

The "Precise" setting by description is the closest to "no filter" (there's always a filter). 

Smooth IMO sounds "nice" and I find it useful i=on material that is less than stellar in SQ.

However, on many of my "reference" cuts/albums I find Precise a better choice. In comparison smooth limits dynamics and shaves the edges of transients. YMMV

[atletico]

40 minutes ago, austinpop said:

All these comparison of 4.1 with 5.0 beta are confusing, because there are so many devices and modes. Going forward, may I suggest you preface your remarks with this information:

1. Aries Model
2. Operation Mode - Lightning device, uPNP renderer, Roon endpoint
3. DAC (Mini) - internal or external. If internal, what DAC settings
4. MQA playback - passthrough, auto, or 2x, 4x, 8x
5. DSP or Upsampling: if not defaults, specify changes.

I can understand this is confusing..but my comparison of 4.1 with the 5.0 beta 2 is done this way:

Tested  44.1/16 bit, 96/24 bit , 192/24 bit and DSD 64 all some of my"reference" music files from my NAS and  played also from my favorite music saved in TIDAL, all in 44.1/16 bit Hi-Fi.

1. Aries femto clock wifi mode.

2. Using Lightning Server , wifi 60 Mb/sec ,  all my music on NAS. TIDAL on my wifi.

3. External usb dac (Mark Levinson connected with Curious usb cable)

4. No MQA playback used for testing

5. No up sampling, but the 5.0 beta 2 filter "smooth"

 

[2string1]

When posted as a "Aries femto clock", what are you meaning?