Auralic Aries (Hardware) - Impressions and Information

[pl_svn]

As detailed in the thread above, Brian has clarified his point, which is basically that the fento clock does not matter for USB audio but does matter for SPDIF/AES audio. But this is not something specific to Roon.

 

might explain why, in my system, using USB direct to my DAC the Mac mini (on JS-2 LPS) sounds better than the Aries, Mac mini + Regen + Audiophilleo is on par with Aries + Regen + Audiophilleo, Aries on JS-2 LPS + Regen + Audiophilleo bests the Mac

 

:-(

 

AES-EBU from the Aries was better than plain USB but nowhere close to what I get adding Regen and Audiophilleo to USB

[pl_svn]

you're sure it's the ground wire your cable is missing?

I've always been told USB doesn't work at all without the ground wire

 

now... the vBus wire is a different matter: in fact I'm using a *no* vBus wire cable between the Aries and Regen

[pl_svn]

How do you do Aries + Regen + Audiophileo? I thought Audiophileo was soft on the computer.

 

by soft you mean software?

no: the Audiophilleo is an hardware USB to S/PDIF converter

[pl_svn]

Yes, they will send you an email to print out the shipping documents and arrange a collection.

 

I have asked twice how long I am going to be without my unit. The first request was ignored, the second was answered and all they've told me is that it takes them a couple of hours to fix the unit, so I've no idea what to expect. Quite poor really given that their update bricked the unit. I'm surprised that people seem so laid back about it really.

 

shipped mine on Monday 18 and according to UPS tracking it's been *finally* delivered to Auralic this morning

we'll see how long it will take to be back

 

laid back? seriously considering selling my Aries once it comes back: after one week with just my *well tempered* Mac mini I'm seriously questioning if it was worth the investment :-/

I might probably get the same SQ by just spending time killing all unnecessary processes on the Mac

 

I'm more and more convinced a powerful machine doing some very light work sounds at least on par (if not better) than a "just powerful enough" one

[pl_svn]

Will test out my macbook retina with audiravana and compare self! God damned , hate to wait so long! Did you send to China??

 

yes: back to the factory in Bejing

 

mind, though, that I'm sure the Aries as it comes out of the box outperforms a "shared general use" computer

it's a dedicated and well tempered one it doesn't (if not by a small margin that can be overcome )

[pl_svn]

mine too has been shipped back this morning

[pl_svn]

Mine has been repaired and is on it's way back. However there seem to be some customs problems in Hongkong. Expected turnaround 3 weeks.

 

seen those alerts, on the way to China, here in Milan, then in Poland, Hong Kong and once more in Bejing before final delivery :-/

though it actually took one week total to be delivered nonetheless

 

think it's like when you connect a (new) device to a Windows computer: you're immediately warned about everything being wrong then... the system catches up

[pl_svn]

you know we all hate you, right?

[pl_svn]

Describe your well-tempered mini please...

 

dedicated to music playing only

just the OS installed and all unnecessary processes (plus usual Apple stuff) are turned off

only Roon running

 

SSD

Uptone Audio JS-2 and MMK

nothing else plugged in but a Regen to one USB port (followed by an Audiophilleo 1 on battery PS)

Regen too is powered by the JS-2

 

connected via ethernet to a PaulPangAudio switch

NAS connected to the same switch

both NAS and switch powered by an HD-Plex LPS

optical isolation between the PPA switch and router (and everything else on the network)

MC converter too powered by the HD-Plex

 

 

the Aries, as I already wrote, only beats the Mini when powered by the JS-2 and using Regen + Audiophilleo on its USB out (so... using all the tweaks I was using with the Mac. but the latter cost 1/3 )

[pl_svn]

so... not even really "well tempered": just some basic tweaks (and a great LPS)

[pl_svn]

Roon... bright? :0

moving from A+ on a Mac mini to Roon and the Aries I found both (either standalone or combined) to be warm-ish and darker than what I like and was used to

 

to me the Aries (non beta fw) sounds slightly better standalone than as RAAT

but the difference is small and Roon is such a pleasure to use that I subscribed

[pl_svn]

I found USB + Audiophilleo better, by far, than AES-EBU

 

even though my DAC has both RCA and BNC coax... I only have a Kimber BNC cable (for the Audiophilleo) and the Aries uses instead RCA so... no: haven't tried

[pl_svn]

ok: will do once my Aries, stuck in Dubai since last Thursday , is back

[pl_svn]

got my Aries back this morning

 

looks it is running fw 4.0.6b and, when trying to set it up again (from scratch), couldn't get its wi-fi hotspot to show long enough to connect to it from my iPad :-/

 

is this a result of the new function (the one that bricked it when first introduced by 4.0.5b) that automatically switches to wired connection if an ethernet cable is plugged in?

 

 

 

apart from this... struggling to re-accostumate my ears to it: way, way, way darker than what I remembered

[pl_svn]

LOL: it is indeed

 

though...

[pl_svn]

might be!

 

today heath and heavy humidity are back after a couple of nicely fresh-ish days

[pl_svn]

given I either use my Aries in RAAT mode or to stream from Qobuz... I'm back to *non* beta fw 3.3

 

beta 4.0.6, despite what release notes state, does not play some of my AIF files

(very same files do play from Roon, do not from Lightning DS)

 

plus, today, something really weird happened: spent half an hour trying to get why no music was coming from the Aries in RAAT mode (all fine standalone) then finally... found output set to "digital" :-0 (I didn't touch any setting since yesterday's listening session)

weird as in standalone mode it was working fine nonetheless via the only connected device... on USB

[pl_svn]

About the only Lightning feature I missed was sort by album import date.

 

semi-OT but... one great feature of Roon is you can have it set import date to file/folder creation or modification date so, when I moved from Audirvana, years of import history were back

[pl_svn]

MQA (might as well just do this for bells and whistles)

 

means it must have an internal DAC -> No, thanks!

[pl_svn]

Why do you think that Roon will never make changes to its playback engine?

 

IMO they should consider doing so since in my experience it has fallen behind others.

To my ears, in my system Roon did not sound as good as HQPlayer OR the latest beta firmware of the Auralic Aries.

Anyone using Roon with the Aries is giving up something in doing so.

 

I truly hope they do, as to my ears too it doesn't sound as good as A+

 

though on their forum... the prevailing attitude is "bits are bits" and all bit perfect players sound the same so... must be something else in your settings/system

[pl_svn]

I agree with that. I love the software whilst on trial period, but was not convinced initially by the sound quality I was getting and, when I raised it with them, I got a similar response. In fairness, there are so many variables that they are probably safer staying well out of it.

 

I did resolve the sound quality issues in the end which persuaded me to go for a Lifetime subscription.

 

I went for lifetime too

in the end sound is good enough and when I want something better... I use the Aries in standalone mode

[pl_svn]

My Aries updated to the new 4.0 and now I don't have USB as an output choice in DS Lightening! I know the port is working as my AudioAlchemy DPA-1 shows a sync on USB!

 

I don't see "USB" among output options: I see the device connected via USB (Audiophilleo, here) and... it works just fine

[pl_svn]

4.0 no longer allows Roon to control Aries volume, has anyone else experienced this?

 

I usually keep it disabled but I just tried and... works fine

 

after enabling "Software volume control" in Lightning DS you'll see a tiny "Refresh" grey button in the sidebar, underneath your device: click it and...

[pl_svn]

Are you referring to Aries control software or Roon? With mine, it works ok when using Lightning DS but not when using Roon. If you adjust volume in Roon, it just keeps jumping back to whatever it is set to under LDS.

 

right, same happens here

sorry: at first I only tried setting it without playing any music (and it was sticking to whatever level I was setting in Roon), but as soon as I did... :-/

 

looks a bug to write Auralic support about

[pl_svn]

btw... tried playing, from Lightning DS, a DSD64 but forgot the Chord Mojo was connected via coax, not USB

the Aries was really struggling at downsampling it to 192: I was getting 3-5 seconds of music then 8-10 of "buffering" and so on :-/

 

tried playing the same track from Roon (to the Aries) and all was fine