Auralic Lightning DS App (Software) - Impressions and Information

[Wang Xuanqian]

Talked with Spotify about March this year but pretty hard to work with them as they have a lot of restriction. We will try later after current App is stable. Also looking for a integration of TuneIn too.

 

Streaming services such as Spotify which only offer 320K MP3 quality at maximum wont get sound quality benefit from native integration as AirPlay is in 44.1/16 lossless ALAC. But it do offer better user experience.

[Wang Xuanqian]

I thought I would update with my problems I'm still seeing with Lightning DS app...

 

• I've worked out an issue in having with the Lightning DS app - it appears to have issues where there is a : or ; and maybe a , and brackets in the tags. So for example I have an album title
  Back to Black [Deluxe Edition]
  I then get the artist listed beneath as
  Back to Black [Deluxe Edition]Amy Winehouse
  This may be a combination of Lightning DS app and Minimserver as on the LMS7.8 UPnP server and other control points they display correctly. I'll try to do more checking tomorrow.
  Update: as observed earlier this is caused primarily by having an "AlbumArtist" tag - removing AlbumArtist from tags scanned by MinimServer has removed this as an issue. However there is still the issue present where an album has multiple tags for the artist in each track.
  
• With the LMS UPnP server I don't get any composers read in.
  
• It appears if there is an & the Lightning DS app looses the space either side.
  
• Having removed AlbumArtist tags, a lot of the previously affected albums now have no tracks listed.
  

Separately there is functionality I think needs adding...

• There appears to be no support for having multiple Artist tags.
  
• There needs to be support added for "Various Artist" CDs.
  

 

Eloise

 

Various Artist is a function from server side. We just display what returned from server side.

 

PS: The first problem has been located and will be fixed by next release.

[Wang Xuanqian]

There is no so called 'sort order' from server side. They only return album ID which is a series of number, the control point just sort by what server sent back. What you are asking for is impossible: program dont know which word you want to remove and which one you dont. I am 100% sure none of the classical fan want Verdi's 'La traviata' to be displayed as 'traviata'. I can raise hundred of sample immediately, do you really want Celine Dion's 'A new day has come' to be displayed without first A?

[Wang Xuanqian]

Do you not receive tags such as "ArtistSort" and "AlbumSort"?

 

Certainly when I browse the folder view they are in my desired order as per the Artist Sort tags I painstakingly created.

 

In MinimServer I have tagOptions set as all.ignore.sort={The,A,Les} so that when I browse the tree they are in the "correct" place, order.

 

Eloise

 

We do not give special treatment for Minimserver, all DLNA server are considered same. What you mentioned wont effect our Library view function, it only effect folder view.

[Wang Xuanqian]

I understand that Wang ... but what I am saying in the first sentence is about tags independent of any server.

 

Where I want artists (or albums) to be listed in a particular way I have added ArtistSort and/or AlbumSort (I think those are the correct names of the tags). These are added with MP3Tag and I believe are standard tag types.

 

Why then can the application not read these tags and use them to sort the artists / albums in the way I have chosen them to sort?

 

I'm just trying to understand ...

 

Eloise

 

Because pretty a lot of server software return library description file with a lot of error (not to uPnP standard). We have to use minimum information from server side and apply restriction to make sure it wont crash the App. So basically, the best way is to do everything by App itself. Compatibility is always the 1st priority.

[Wang Xuanqian]

Thats all very well... but it means the app doesn't work in the way the user wants...

 

So Lightning DS only reads what tags?

 

Eloise

 

PS. it gets very confusing for a user (even when like me they have some idea how this all works together) gets the answer for one question it depends on the server; and then in another question the answer is we ignore what the server sends (as an order).

 

This is unavoidable for the solution relay on uPnP and all manufacturers have to face.

 

I think we only handle album title, track name, track number, artist, composer, genre and release date. We will probably add import time, sampling rate and file type if server support this in feature release.

 

Most of our target customers know little about tag and even network streaming. All they want is a solid solution never break out and can organize their library easily, they dont need complex and professional options which will make them feel puzzle. To make everything as simple as possible is the main purpose of Lightning DS.

[Wang Xuanqian]

It seems we need to host a wiki site for streaming product to face the tons of unusual problem...OK,start to preparing it!

[Wang Xuanqian]

Or perhaps setup either a forum where we can provide feedback ala JRIVER, or the type of support thread that Lumin has here on CA where PSME handles all Lumin queries from end users.

 

That's a good idea!

[Wang Xuanqian]

I agree with Cebolla this should work out of the box with JRiver... Can anyone who has the Aries confirm or deny compatibility?

 

Eloise

 

Switch to uPnP AV mode and it will be compatible with all uPnP control software. However, you wont have on-device playlist, radio, streaming, airplay and songcast at all.

[Wang Xuanqian]

I think the online user's guide has been a couple of minutes ago.

[Wang Xuanqian]

I tried going to the Auralic site to get the guide, but the site isn't working for me other than the home page.

 

edit: after about 10 minutes the site started to respond. all I see is the quick start guide:

 

http://www.auralic.com/download/aries_quick_start.pdf

 

Inside App setting menu

[Wang Xuanqian]

Why DSapp can not make it's own library index like Sonos? In that case you can get fast response, fast app. I believe that hardware is light year ahead of Sonos, and sonos is fast.

 

It has and is not slow at all. The App will download cover art at background AFTER index setup but going without any hint. It is indeed slow (on old iPad) before all cover has been loaded, but will return to normal speed after all covers have been loaded. We will add a hint in next version.

 

The search function will return result instant after you click 'enter' on keyboard which indicate the database is fast enough.

[Wang Xuanqian]

Sorry forgot to mention in update notice: Please delete previous version first before update to version 1.2!

[Wang Xuanqian]

Same here.

Also, the FF/RW button acts strangely (enter stop mode) and if I select a whole album into the playlist it only plays the first track. It only goes to track#2 if forced to (manual command).

 

I have similar report from a customer whom can not play track #3 automatically sometimes (track #2 played twice and stopped, select track #3 and play is OK). It is unfortunately that we can not reproduce this bug to confirm the location of the problem after trying for an entire day recently. It would be with much appreciate if you can help us to find the step to reproduce it.

[Wang Xuanqian]

Just go back to office after a long trip. Just a reminder that both V1.3 and coming V1.4 version of Lightning DS wont compatible with iOS8 so please dont update at right moment.

 

We will submit Version 1.5 right after 1.4 is available. The review from Apple store is very long recently, the Version 1.4 is still in 'Wait for Review' status for a week, just waiting now.

[Wang Xuanqian]

Hi ted_b

The funny thing is that the app is now working on IOS 8 I have nothing to compare it to, but it appears be functioning as it was designed. I will do the downgrade when V1.4 shows up to see how much more the app presents

Cheers

 

The 'Add to Queue' menu does not popup on my iPad Air after updated to IOS8 and the blue hint notice on the top of screen that tell refreshing album or downloading cover art wont show up. There are several other interface level problems.

[Wang Xuanqian]

Songcast sounds better than Airplay.

 

Aren't they both uncompressed? Maybe it's the

Fact that Airplay is from a iPhone and Songcast is from your computer

 

Apple claim that it is in ALAC format (lossless) but whom knows! For Songcast, it is nothing but original PCM so it should be better.

[Wang Xuanqian]

.....just my personal listening experience...... to me it sounds smoother and a lot more natural (musical) using the wired connection......

 

Smoother and more 'natural' is the result by close-in jitter effect usually under +/-50Hz. This could be introduced by some low frequency noise coupled into circuit though LAN cable either by source component or just the cable pick up. But dont worry about that, we are listening to music, not test data so just stick with what you preferred

[Wang Xuanqian]

I still can't get radio stations to play - Ive copied streaming links URLs for the relevant stations but they don't actually play - has anyone got this to work that can give a walk-through?

 

Also while Im on it I'm not sure how to get Songcast to work either?

 

The current function of Radio is quite limited only to the file types that ARIES support now plus the playlist type of station but only in M3U and PLS format. The ASX is not supported (I know this is important) yet but we will bring this in soon.

 

An integration with TuneIn is in working at early stage, we have a good start with TuneIn company right now.

[Wang Xuanqian]

Is this correct? The Aries must have an internet connection to boot properly? How did I miss this in the write-ups and specifications?

 

This is a fatal flaw in my opinion, and will cause me to not purchase it if that is true.

 

I want to be able to operate my audio system without connecting to the internet, and while I agree that updating the software and firmware through the internet is a nice convenience feature, it should not be a requirement for connectivity in any device like this.

 

An internet connection is not fundamental to what these products are, unless they believe or intended that these are primarily internet streaming boxes, in which case, I can see why they may have made that a prerequisite.

 

While I do enjoy listening casually to music streamed, my library of music is far and away my primary source material, and that is not likely to change in the near future.

 

---Michael

 

You dont need an Internet connection to boot ARIES, the device will 1) check and download latest firmware; 2) get current system time from Internet; However both are not a must be to boo up the unit.

[Wang Xuanqian]

Hello Mr. Wang,

 

since You stated the Aries does not need an internet connection to boot I tried it again.

 

After the Aries was still showing „Aries starting“ in its display after 35 Minutes had passed, I stopped this……… – let us call it experiment –

 

Might still be true that the device will end its booting sequence within the next 30 Minutes or so……

 

Sorry, but this is nothing I would call „being acceptable“.

 

My opinion still is that this is an issue that will be have to be fixed by Auralic with the next firmware upgrade.

 

 

B.t.w.: Booting time being connected to the internet is 52 seconds in my case.

 

 

Best,

Matthias

 

I think you probably disconnected ARIES from network rather than Internet...

[Wang Xuanqian]

I talked to Mr. Wang a couple of weeks ago regarding a Songcast bug and he told me that a Tunein Radio deal was nearly completed. I'm guessing that when the next firmware is available the end of November we will see Tunein Radio as well.

 

We gave up at last. They ask for $150K for API integration and the radio station still contant advertisement while playing. That's simply does not work.

[Wang Xuanqian]

So when I create a playlist, it works for a few days but then it stops being able to play. The list is there but the album art doesn't appear anymore and the songs won't play. Any ideas/solutions others have found (or is this just me)?

 

John

 

All uPnP control software like Lumin, Kinsky as well as current version of Lightning DS will this problem. This is because the DLNA server IP has changed since last time you create the playlist. All uPnP control software's playlist function is to save the absolute streaming address like 'http://192.168.1.100/albuem/track.flac'. When the IP has changed, the link wont work and the playlist is unplayable.

 

The resolution are:

 

1, fix the IP of NAS drive or the computer that running server software

2, wait for new 2.0 version of Lightning DS which we will introduce a patenting technology to mach the server without using IP address.

[Wang Xuanqian]

Hi guys:

 

We know what caused the online streaming interrupt problem. The current music player in Lightning platform (ARIES firmware) does not have a re-connect function. That means if the stream connection (socket connection) is closed by external reason (like unstable Internet or LAN connection), it wont retry but but just end the track and goes to the next. This is also the reason why some people is having this problem but some does not.

 

We are working on this re-connect function at right moment but since the firmware V2.0 is coming pretty soon, we can not guarantee this will be added in the next release.

 

For answer the question about adding a whole genre to the ARIES, this is unfortunately impossible as ARIES is queue based, the maximum tracks you can add to ARIES is 999. We probably can fill the track list with a random selected songs under particular genre but add all of them is really impossible.

[Wang Xuanqian]

They said on facebook LDS 2.0 is finished and now waiting for apple store approval and these was been on 10.6.

 

2.0 is not submitted yet. We are still doing final test in recent two weeks time. The binary will submit to Apple for review this weekend.