Auralic Lightning DS App (Software) - Impressions and Information

[miguelito]

I am very interested to buy an Auralic Aries streamer, but dont know if the Lightning DS is available for my Macbook Pro 2014 because I dont own an iPad. Could I command the Aries also with Macbook or is an iPad a must, sorry for dumb question, but I am new to the streaming world. Many thanks Eric.

 

Simply cannot do without an iPad. Kinsky will let you control it from a mac (not 100% sure to what extent you can control playback) but for some features it's just Lightning DS or the road. Get a used older iPad, that should be cheap. Alternatively you could use an iPad emulator on OS X, that might work.

[jtwrace]

Simply cannot do without an iPad. Kinsky will let you control it from a mac (not 100% sure to what extent you can control playback)

 

As I said, iPad for setup but Kinsky can control all playback functions. I use it quite frequently when I'm working on my MB Air. It's just an easy three swipe to toggle between screens.

[InfernoSTi]

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

[wanta911]

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

 

Same here. Does this happen if you clear the cache?

[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.

[wanta911]

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.

 

Thank you sir,

easy then - I will fix the IP address of my NAS to make sure I don't have to create playlists again

[miguelito]

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.

Is there a way to export a playlist to a file and import it back? I would like this feature to either create playlists on my mac or simply have a backup if I need it. Thx.

[DerekR]

Is there a way to export a playlist to a file and import it back? I would like this feature to either create playlists on my mac or simply have a backup if I need it. Thx.

 

Auralic support say this is in the works.

[DerekR]

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.

 

I have a static IP address on the NAS where the library is located so have not had the 'disappearing playlist' problem but I would really appreciate an explanation and possible fix for the scrambled playlist issue. An explanation as to why the playlists scramble would, if it is a Minimserver issue as Auralic support maintain, allow an approach to Simon armed with some kind of information rather than '...hey, this doesn't work and Auralic say its your fault...'

 

Over to you Xuanqian.....

[jtwrace]

Just an update that there is a new Minimserver & Minimwatch update. 0.8.3 has been installed on my unit successfully You can download from here and see the release notes here. Don't forget that Simon is extremely helpful on his forum should you have any issues.

 

Oh, and don't forget to donate to this project. ;-)

[Glisse]

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.

 

Outstanding!!

[FIndingit]

Track numbers of albums with more than 100 tracks/songs have a minor problem. The 100+ tracks are displayed among the 1-11, 200+ among 2-22 etc. Lumin shows them correctly.

[Ultrarunner]

I still can't get my Aries to play from USB. But the one time I managed to get it to import my music, the organization was disconcerting. I use MPaD and have labelled my folders properly. For example, with "Last Name, First Name" or "Group Name, The". Does the Lightning not use my labeling?

[baddog]

I suspect not as it depends on the meta data within your files. However if you use Folder view rather than Library view you may see your folders/files organized in the manner you expect.

[Ultrarunner]

I suspect not as it depends on the meta data within your files. However if you use Folder view rather than Library view you may see your folders/files organized in the manner you expect.

 

I've tagged my WAV files so that they are consistent with my Folder names. So maybe it gets the info from another source for Library mode? Anyway, I guess I'll wait until i can get the Aries working before concluding anything.

[MarkyRotterdam]

I've tagged my WAV files so that they are consistent with my Folder names. So maybe it gets the info from another source for Library mode? Anyway, I guess I'll wait until i can get the Aries working before concluding anything.

 

WAV files can't have tags in them, so the server would not be able to index them, other than by folder and file names. FLAC allows you to properly tag every file for much improved indexing and searching. Are both library mode and folder view failing, or is it just library mode?

[DerekR]

I had emailed Auralic re the order of the songs in my playlists getting scrambled after updating to a different firmware version and rescanning the Minimserver library after adding new files to the library. They replied this was a Minimserver issue.

 

I have now updated Minimserver to 0.83 and the Aries firmware to 1.11. In an effort to return the playlists to their original order I thought I would try reordering my playlists via the Edit option in LDS rather than deleting them and re-entering them. However, when I select Edit and drag a song to a new position it simply returns to its original position in the playlist. Anyone else had this issue? I have sent feedback to Auralic.

[Ultrarunner]

I've tagged all my WAV files with Artist, Album Name, release date, genre using "Tag" by sbooth. MPaD uses my file names, but I use Tag to delete the track names because it interferes. I thought I would tag all the WAV files with genre because Mr. Wang told me at RMAF that this would work. So if the Aries uses my file names or the tags, I should be fine, but this wasn't the case on first import. I don't know about the differences between library mode and folder view since I was only able to get albums showing up briefly one time. This afternoon I'm going to take my hard drive to the store where I bought the Aries and try it on their unit so see if mine is faulty. I hope it's this and not an issue with my tagging the files. I really don't want to go back and erase tags from my whole library!

[fabien44]

WAV files can't have tags in them

Hello,

Yes they can.

WAV & BWF Metadata Guide

FYI: JRiver, Foobar and other players supporting ID3v2 can tag and read tags wav files.

[fabien44]

I hope it's this and not an issue with my tagging the files. I really don't want to go back and erase tags from my whole library!

Hello,

Here a trick which can speed up the processus if your files are well named and organised as follow for exemple:

- (folder) Genre

- (folder) Artist

- (folder) Album

#track - title.wav

 

Use a soft like foobar (free) to tag automatically your files from file names. You have just to set a pattern and in one click all your files can be tagged in one process

[Distinctive]

I would like to embed metadata (tag) into wav files, but am reluctant to do so because some renderers show unpredicted behavior during playback of such files (e.g. pops).

I need a water-proof system that just work on a bigger scale.

Does there exist a batch de-embedder for this?

[Ultrarunner]

Hello,

Here a trick which can speed up the processus if your files are well named and organised as follow for exemple:

- (folder) Genre

- (folder) Artist

- (folder) Album

#track - title.wav

 

Use a soft like foobar (free) to tag automatically your files from file names. You have just to set a pattern and in one click all your files can be tagged in one process

 

That's a great tip. My folders are in this structure and I've taken great care with the folder names. Thanks!

 

It looks like Foobar is PC only. Are you aware of any Mac program that do the above?

[fabien44]

I don't use mac but you can try audio softs for Mac like:

Cog

Play

Songbird

 

Maybe some of them would offer the feature.

[baddog]

The Mac program Yate should be able to do that. However I believe you need to create an "action" to automate this. I don't know how to do it, but if you perhaps post on their forum they should be able to assist.

[ksalno]

JRMC for Mac will also automatically do this using a template approach and the directory\file name structure of your files. Ted B has posted links in other threads that describe "how to" in great detail but it's pretty straight forward.