Auralic Lightning DS App (Software) - Impressions and Information

[Jimmypowder]

Spotify, Pandora, and other such popular music service integration is a total no brainer.

 

I wouldn't now buy a product like this until they were included.

 

Just sayin..

 

cheers.

 

 

If you have an Apple device,isn't it just easier using Airplay for music services with compressed audio?

What difference will it make if it's integrated?

[Jimmypowder]

Looked at my ipad mini and noticed that the daily backup failed .I went into settings to manage what gets backed up and noticed that the Lightning Ds app was 1.5 gb's of data to be backed up! I turned off the backup for the app and I was well back under the 5 gb free Apple data cap.

[Jimmypowder]

Well this is not a promising post . Why would it work at night then the following morning it would

Not?,

 

And what's up with the marks near the power input? To mask a mistake on the polarity on the hardware,??? Never seen anything like that on any piece of hardware,ever,,!!

[Jimmypowder]

Maybe auralic needs to develop their own music server software much like Slim Devices/Logitech did with the squeezebox .

 

Just a thought

[Jimmypowder]

Based on my last post just above, bplexico, did you notice that your DS is doing the same thing I just described? Look at the very Liz Phair album you just pointed out in your attached image. You commented on it being lower case, but what I notice is that instead of the artist name, you get the album name listed twice. So the answer to my question about others having this issue was staring me right in the face lol

 

Any thoughts bplexico?

 

Mr. Wang has let me know that they are aware of the Artist view errors .I have the same issues as I like to look at artist view and there are albums littered all over place.

 

The Lumin app has everthing in perfect order ,artists and albums.

 

This is supposed to be fixed on an upcoming software update to the Lighning DS app.

[Jimmypowder]

Every time I press Collection or Playlist the app crashes .

[Jimmypowder]

Is Airplay currently functioning?

[Jimmypowder]

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.

 

Thanks for the heads up .I have found the Lightning DS app works very well .I have had no crashes and have not noticed any bugs

after two days of use.

 

Hopefully the iphone and android apps will be coming soon .

 

I'm very happy that your development team is working on adding Tunein Radio to the Aries. It is a real hassle to add radio Url's.

[Jimmypowder]

This would explain my great disappointment with the app. An Aries arrived a couple of days ago and my iPad had updated itself last week. While Lightening DS sort of worked, the experience was highly unsatisfactory. I'm downloading the 7.1.2 downgrade at this very moment. Thanks for posting this.

 

I can tell you the first couple of software versions are a huge step up from the original Slim Devices Squeezebox I used to have .

 

I have full confidence in Auralic to get this app right down the road.

[Jimmypowder]

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

[Jimmypowder]

Well I updated the Lightning app a few days ago to 1.4 version. Now I have an Apple update for the Lightning app this morning showing a 1.4 update with same description . This is not 1.5 as far as I know , is it?

[Jimmypowder]

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

 

Uh, I unplugged my internet and my Aries booted up in about one minute. minimserver as far as I know also has a player you can download to control music.

[Jimmypowder]

Wang says no to pandora for the time being

 

Downloading Songcast on your computer and playing lossy music services from there sounds pretty good. Not that impressed using Airplay with the Aries. Use Songcast and there are iOS apps that can remote control music services like Spot Remote for Spotify

[Jimmypowder]

In the meantime, you can use Songcast to play Spotify and Pandora through the Aries.

[Jimmypowder]

Sure.. but how easy is it to do that? What steps are required? Thanks

 

Just download Songcast from Linn on your computer. Toggle the switch on the Aries to Songcast. I use Spot Remote to control Spotify and Remoteless for Pandora to make it easy to control my computer.

[Jimmypowder]

This is just a nonsense argument from a manufacturer IMHO...a manufacturer can't have their cake (and eat it).. These services simplify an end users streaming experience dramatically

 

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.

[Jimmypowder]

JimmyP..Ok I've got Songcast happening streaming Spotify and Pandora direct to a LinnDS.. So how are you finding the stability of this to the Aires? And what's going on with this workaround..? they need to pay Linn a license for this or something? Cheers. Wap.

 

Stability is good except for one bug that will be fixed in November's firmware update .

 

After you are done using Songcast, you have to switch the computer from the Aries to off or you

will not be able to play your music library . It will just not play .

[Jimmypowder]

I don't own an Aries, but I have loaded the Lightning DS software 1.5 on my iPad and Minimserver on my server.

My impressions of the software aren't good. Maybe it's because I don't own an Aries, but the problems/limitations I see seem to be built into the software:

 

1. The LDS is slow compared to something like JRiver/JRemote or even compared to Logitech Media server and its iPad app - it just responds noticeably more slowly

 

2. The LDS doesn't give much in the way of "smart" playlists. Nothing like programmable smartlists on JRiver (which is mostly what I use to listen) and not even as useful as the built in capabilities of the Logitech software, which exist, but are very limited compared to JRiver.

 

I'm interested in something like the Aries, but the LDS UI seems to me so limited that it's a no go for me in terms of usability.

 

Am I totally missing something here?

 

1) I have an Aries and LDS is not slow. Not even a little bit.

2) You can queue different songs and save as a playlist. I have done this many times.

 

There are still issues(bugs) with LDS but Auralic has been very responsive to correcting the

ones I have found.

[Jimmypowder]

That's odd. Why is my LDS that slow? I have tested the "Add to Queue" with a normal album:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]15224[/ATTACH]

 

When I tap at the album title it takes about 10 seconds till I can hear the first track playing. The whole album is queued in about 66-67 seconds. With the Kinsky app I can hear the first track playing within the first second. The whole album is queued in not 3 seconds!??? And now try to imagine how much time a playlist with 100 tracks takes, added to queue via LDS... Am I the only one with this lag? Removing the app and reinstalling I already have done.

 

The Android version of Kinsky needs about 3 seconds till you hear the first track playing but adding a complete album to queue is as fast as with the iOS Kinsky. BubbleDS Next (Android) is as fast as Kinsky with adding an album or playlist but needs about 10 seconds till the playback is starting.

 

Im running Minimserver and using the Aries wirelessly. I can queue up an album and hit play and it plays almost instantly . Certainly

not 10 seconds or so .A second tops.

[Jimmypowder]

So I just got my Aries and I have a few thoughts and observations. First off I can't belive no freaking batteries for the remote, are you kidding me.. And not even a basic power cord? I know that's been mentioned but Wang if you are reading this .. Come on man!

 

The quick start guide is sorely lacking the basic setup info! The unit must be hooked up wired to set up the unit.Nowhere is this mentioned, not once.. Without a wired connection one can't do any setup. A manufacturer can't assume folks will just guess or figure it out...

 

Once I got it setup everything else was pretty simple... I did have an issue with trying to run the unit wireless.. It wouldn't work because the app and the unit firmware aren't in sync.. I spoke at length with the Auralic Tech support fellow and I was able to get it back to working.. But it needed a complete reset...

 

As far as SQ excellent.. I had minimserver all ready to go and the Aries found everything right away.. Got a couple of radio stations loaded, just would like if it had Pandora support..

 

Overall very pleased with the unit, oh last nit to pick p, how about some little rubber feet for the power supply..

 

Yeah there should be a way to do the intitial setup wirelessly. I figured it out after a few minutes trying to do it wirelessly but still.....

 

Even a little note in the box would have been helpful.

[Jimmypowder]

Has anyone made any SQ comparison of Tidal with and without Aries? (i.e. Tidal -> Aries -> DAC vs. Tidal -> PC/CAPS ->

 

Tidal sounds better to me with the Aries vs the Tidal desktop app with nearfield monitors in a separate room .

 

Of course this is not comparing apples to apples but that's my subjective opinion .

[Jimmypowder]

Can you compare the sound quality of Tidal streaming on Aries vs Transporter? (Assuming you tried the ickStream plugin on the latter.) Likewise, assuming you were able to try it on both, can you compare the UI implementation of Tidal? (i.e. Tidal implementation on LDS vs something like iPeng.)

 

Thanks.

The sound quality is much better on the Aries then the Transporter .I am currently using both.

The Transporter sounds dull and not as musical as the Aries and thats with my music library,Tidal in particular,etc.

 

The one caveat is the LDS software to control the Aries is in its infancy and there are kinks to work out .Using Tidal ,however

on the Aries is better then using Ickstream on the Transporter from a software perspective.

Logitech Media Server is more functional along with Ipeng but give Lightning some time.

 

The Aries definitely needs a internet radio service though using Songcast from the computer is ok.

[Jimmypowder]

Hello,

 

Is the Android version still planned for january?

 

I have Spotify premium subscription, may i stream through Aries?

 

Thanks

Fabien

 

You can use airplay or Songcast to play Spotify via the Aries. I have tried both and find Songcast to have better audio quality.

[Jimmypowder]

Well I saw my Aries doing update , it downloaded , asked to reboot , then said there was a network problem and please connect to Lan . It was connected wirelessly . I unplugged moved to computer .

 

Now it starts up but lightning app does not see the Aries .

 

Anyone else have this problem

 

Update : oh it changed the name back to numbers . I see it now .

[Jimmypowder]

Actually I don't see any progress with 1.7. I have lost my playlists and radio stations and received a list of categorized but unsorted and not searchable or filterable radio stations. That was not a good deal.

 

The good things will come with 2.0 hopefully soon.

 

Yeah I agree . A search feature with Internet radio with the stations not in alphabetical order

Is needed badly .