Auralic Aries (Hardware) - Impressions and Information

[Hauser]

11 minutes ago, atletico said:

I'm now on beta 5 with my Aries femto and it sounds good too. However the Lightning web interface with all the options still works fine with beta 5. I think the web interface actually works better and quicker with this current beta 5.  Among this I can choose between the four filter settings and I prefer the "precise" setting. I can't understand why you can't use the web interface with this current beta 5 ??

 

I got some serious trouble with the last version 5. beta 5 when trying to rescan my library (Lightning server on NAS). The Aries stoppet several times, losing contact with my network and at last nothing would work.  I have to do several resets to get it up and go again..back to version 4.1.0 i managed at last to rescan my library. There was a little moment I think i also have to contact my local dealer to get it working again...

 

Now testing beta 5 version I haven't tried a rescan of my library... before doing this" for safety" I will go back to  current device version 4.1.0. 

Hi Atletico,

I just had another look on the web interface to see whether I had missed something but I still can't find any filter settings,  maybe my advanced years.   Could you point me in the right direction?

 

Thanks, Martin.

[Hauser]

1 hour ago, atletico said:

Hi Martin,

This is my current web interface showing the processor option..

Aries beta 5.tiff

Hi Atletico,

 

Thanks for the screenshot.  Unfortunately my web interface hasn't got the 'library setup' or the filters.  I suspect I'll have to try and reload the web interface and see what happens.  Appreciate your efforts to help.

 

Martin.

[Hauser]

20 hours ago, Hauser said:

Hi Atletico,

 

Thanks for the screenshot.  Unfortunately my web interface hasn't got the 'library setup' or the filters.  I suspect I'll have to try and reload the web interface and see what happens.  Appreciate your efforts to help.

 

Martin.

Just done the reload and now get library setup but processor setup still doesn't include DSP options.  Happy enough with the sound, occasionally a bit much base.

 

Martin.

[Hauser]

19 hours ago, Doak said:

Very good to know.

Now, does that make sense though??

 

I agree, good to know but doesn't make sense or I would have figured it out myself.  I don't do upsampling and don't understand there should be a connection between upsampling and the filters.  Auralic could have made this clear in the sidebar explanations.  The new dedicated forum may be the solution to these sorts of problems, depending on Auralic's attentiveness.  Saying that, Mr Wang has shown reasonable interest on this site.

 

Martin

[Hauser]

7 hours ago, George Hincapie said:

Has anyone with an Aries Femto had an issue with the black lettering coming off? I've just had my Aries replaced (I've had issues with it from new - it was a lemon basically) and the first 'A' had come off. The new one has been out of the box 3 days and my idiot Brother in Law knocked it off the rack tonight (actually knocked the whole top shelf off the rack winding the dog up) and the 'U' has now broken in two and fallen out.

 

I am so annoyed.

 

I am now trying to decide whether to take the rest of the letters off and just have the recessed silver.

I've had mine for over a year with no cosmetic issues except a very slight ding along the top front edge, I think it was there from new.  The front edges are almost sharp, so prone to damage.  At one time I was thinking of sanding them back but suspect the silver colour is only on the surface.  The design overall is not very practical; hard to dust, connect cables and see display.  All shortcomings probably addressed by new version.

Rather than removing all lettering, possibly try gluing the 'u'back in.

 

Martin.

[Hauser]

1 hour ago, pl_svn said:

 

and... here's the Aries G2 

and how much?

[Hauser]

8 hours ago, George Hincapie said:

 

I sold it instead.

 

Currently using the Mini while I decide what to go for next.

Have you considered the Innuos Zenith?  Slightly different sound according to review on Six Moons.

 

Martin.

[Hauser]

15 hours ago, George Hincapie said:

 

Thanks for the suggestion; it has no DAC does it? I've had a look, reminds me of a Brennan B2 I had.

 

I've been looking at the Aurender A10 - really tempted, but terrified to spend £5500 only to find it's no better sonically than what I already have...

No, purely server with SSD storage.  Price I saw , around 2500 Euros.  Not as versatile as the Aries.  Another suggestion is Antipodes at various price points  but still less than 5000 Pounds.  Aurender's software isn't as nice as Auralic.

 

Martin.

[Hauser]

18 hours ago, MNG said:

I've just been trialling a Zenith Mk II and it's the best sound quality I've ever had in my system for files and streaming. I was previously running a Melco into Aries then replaced Aries with mRendu with LPS-1.  I went for the Zenith because it can run Roon direct into the DAC without having to go via the network. It also has Ethernet output so you can use an endpoint like Aries or mRendu if you prefer, so it is future proofed in that respect. 

 

I'm running it into a Chord Blu II into a Chord Dave and it sounds very good indeed. Losing the network makes a good difference.

 

I have two Aries and was originally planning on building a multi room system around them and Lightning DS, but they changed their app so that you could no longer control other streamers from other manufacturers and then they started messing around with the sound quality. I also found that they became unreliable on my network, so I went with mRendu instead and haven't used the Aries in months. 

 

Anyway, I used it again recently in my main system and was impressed with the changes to both the sound quality and the app. It is much improved. I particularly like the way that you can control the music on the iPhone or iPad from the lock screen, even using the hardware volume control for casual listening. All very good, and the app seems to have taken a few cues from Roon, so it is all looking very much better.

 

Any news on the G2 streamer and what that's like?

Interesting that you have revisited Aries within your chain.  I use Aries with Dave but not tempted by Blu2 (no need for a CD player).  Despite occasional frustrations with the Aries and considering Rob Watt's comments that Dave is relatively immune to the quality of input signals, i'll stick with it.  For myself, I see potentially greater benefits in an amp upgrade.  Your now very,very expensive Dac should sound incredible.

 

Martin

[Hauser]

3 hours ago, MNG said:

 

I'd say so, but bear in mind that I'm using Roon so that will be bypassing any sound processing effects of the Aries firmware. The comparison then is both units simply passing as clean a signal as possible into the DAC. Previously, when my system involved a round trip through the network to a PC running Roon, the mRendu was superior and this will likely have been due to better noise suppression compared to Aries. Now that I have a Zenith in the rack running Roon directly into either the DAC or an endpoint without having to do the network round trip, then noise suppression is less important and so the differences between the two do become marginal. The Zenith direct to DAC sounds better than using either Aries or mRendu as an endpoint. 

 

The one thing I have learnt is that electrical and network noise is a barrier to obtaining the best sound from my system.

I have concentrated more on Aries other attribute; just plug a hard drive into its butt.  My library is less than a terabyte, so no problem.  I haven't been able to hear a difference between hard drive or SSD.  My Crucial SSD gave problems after one year.  Purchasing the Vinnie Rossi DC forever has improved depth of sound and after Auralic applied caching to Aries, sound has become smoother.  I agree that quality of source does make a difference with Dave but as to degree, always subjective.

 

Martin.

[Hauser]

Interesting that the Beta 6 for Aries G1/G2 doesn't seem to apply to or be available for Aries/ LE.  The beginning of a divergence?

 

Martin.

[Hauser]

For those that may be interested in Aries sound improvement mods, I have a post on page 422 of the 'massively improve' thread in 'Music Servers'.

 

Martin.

[Hauser]

1 hour ago, wanta911 said:

Firmware 5.6 now up and running on my original Aries. Apart from a slow initial rescan, no hiccups to report after a few hours.

5.6  has been running in beta since 31/10

 

Martin.