Auralic Lightning DS App (Software) - Impressions and Information

[tranz]

Glad to hear it; you made me doubt my memory and I was going to test again when home. Saved me some time with your edit.

[Distinctive]

The Lumin control point is on its way to the Android platform, however there will be no Tidal support from within this app from what I understand.

[Backwell]

Are you using Minimserver?

It happens that the uPnP server needs a refresh as well.

Aah! The penny drops. I was unaware I had to download MinimWatch on a nearby PC in order to enable my Lightning DS Library to see changes to files and folders on my NAS. I was amused to note that now my folders have been updated my artwork is very confused ! Perhaps another day I will find out how to put that right, as long as the music comes out of the speakers I won't complain ! Many Thanks to all who have steered me in the right direction !

[baddog]

Backwell, the key is that anytime you make changes to your music library if you are using Minimserver, then you need to either re start Minimserver or invoke the "Re-scan" command via Minimwatch. That way Minimserver will detect any changes and modifications to your music library.

 

If you are running the Lightning DS application once the above occurs the changes are sent to the Lightning DS application. And it is at that point that your artwork (cover art) is messed up.

 

To fix the cover art merely force quit Lightning DS as noted previously in this thread and re launch Lightning DS and no more issue with cover art.

 

 

1. To force the application to close:
    
   
   • Press the Home button two times quickly. You'll see small previews of your recently used apps.
     
   • Swipe left to find the app you want to close.
     
   • Swipe up on the app's preview to close it.
     

 

 

 

[*]

[Backwell]

Backwell, the key is that anytime you make changes to your music library if you are using Minimserver, then you need to either re start Minimserver or invoke the "Re-scan" command via Minimwatch. That way Minimserver will detect any changes and modifications to your music library.

 

If you are running the Lightning DS application once the above occurs the changes are sent to the Lightning DS application. And it is at that point that your artwork (cover art) is messed up.

 

To fix the cover art merely force quit Lightning DS as noted previously in this thread and re launch Lightning DS and no more issue with cover art.

 

 

1. To force the application to close:
   
   • Press the Home button two times quickly. You'll see small previews of your recently used apps.
     
   • Swipe left to find the app you want to close.
     
   • Swipe up on the app's preview to close it.
     

 

Thank you bplexico, I had refreshed the cache on the Lightning software and that was enough to correct the art work mix- up. I will have to make notes of all the useful information you and other CA members have kindly shared. It will come in handy to pass on to a friend who is taking delivery of an Aries next week. Happy Listening to all !

[kennyb123]

To fix the cover art merely force quit Lightning DS as noted previously in this thread and re launch Lightning DS and no more issue with cover art.

 

That was really helpful. Thanks!

[wanta911]

Backwell, the key is that anytime you make changes to your music library if you are using Minimserver, then you need to either re start Minimserver or invoke the "Re-scan" command via Minimwatch. That way Minimserver will detect any changes and modifications to your music library.

 

If you are running the Lightning DS application once the above occurs the changes are sent to the Lightning DS application. And it is at that point that your artwork (cover art) is messed up.

 

To fix the cover art merely force quit Lightning DS as noted previously in this thread and re launch Lightning DS and no more issue with cover art.

 

 

1. To force the application to close:
   
   • Press the Home button two times quickly. You'll see small previews of your recently used apps.
     
   • Swipe left to find the app you want to close.
     
   • Swipe up on the app's preview to close it.
     

 

 

I have found that this will fix the cover art in the main library but not anything saved in "collection". Also, playlist artwork has disappeared since adding new content.

[dr.sah]

If I have let's say 10.000 albums in library, would app run smoth without hiccups?

[jtwrace]

If I have let's say 10.000 albums in library, would app run smoth without hiccups?

 

Yes, once it's loaded it will be fine.

[jtwrace]

From AURALiC:

 

Busy doing some testing on this right now. It is running reaaaaaaly fast!

 

[baddog]

They can be sorted by Album, they can be sorted by Artist. You can reverse sort. If you sort by artist you will see them listed by artist, so for example you would first see all of Britney Spears albums, followed by all of of Bruno Mars' albums.

[jtwrace]

for example you would first see all of Britney Spears albums, followed by all of of Bruno Mars' albums.

 

Very nice artist choices.

[baddog]

Very nice artist choices.

 

My personal homage to you. After all, you built me the "special" power cord that I use to power my Aries!

[baddog]

i know these. what I mean is for example Genre → Jazz and there is all sorted by Album names and not by artist

 

Ah, my mistake. How is the directory structure for your music files laid out? Are they organized by Artist or otherwise? And are you using the USB port on your Aries ( and thus the Lightning Server application as your music server ) or a NAS and something such as Minimserver?

[Murrayb]

I'm on the verge of buying an Aries and have been trying to find a definitive answer as to whether I will be able to continue to use JRiver (which I currently use to stream music to my PS Audio Directstream via its ethernet bridge) and JRemote to control music going to the Aries. I know I have to use the Lightning app to configure the Aries and to control Tidal (which is one of the reasons I'd like to get the Arties), but would much prefer to use the JRiver/JRemote combo for my own music. I've downloaded the Lightning app to my ipad and loaded my library, but I'm not liking the interface, especially since the genre option doesn't work as it just lumps all the music in "unknown" even though all the files are tagged.

 

In looking at various threads, it seems as if the answer was originally "no", but with the various updates to the Aries, I think the JRiver/JRemote combo will now work, but I'm not 100% certain. Can anyone provide a definitive answer. Thanks.

[jtwrace]

I'm on the verge of buying an Aries and have been trying to find a definitive answer as to whether I will be able to continue to use JRiver (which I currently use to stream music to my PS Audio Directstream via its ethernet bridge) and JRemote to control music going to the Aries. I know I have to use the Lightning app to configure the Aries and to control Tidal (which is one of the reasons I'd like to get the Arties), but would much prefer to use the JRiver/JRemote combo for my own music. I've downloaded the Lightning app to my ipad and loaded my library, but I'm not liking the interface, especially since the genre option doesn't work as it just lumps all the music in "unknown" even though all the files are tagged.

 

In looking at various threads, it seems as if the answer was originally "no", but with the various updates to the Aries, I think the JRiver/JRemote combo will now work, but I'm not 100% certain. Can anyone provide a definitive answer. Thanks.

 

You can only use JRiver/JRemote if you still use your computer connected to the ARIES. If you have a NAS and want to rid yourself of the computer then the answer is no. ARIES with Lightning DS is your option. The good news is that the new version is going to take it to a new level.

[Murrayb]

Thanks, jtwrace. No NAS server (yet). I intend to continue using my computer. Built it a couple of years ago with "quiet" fans and sound dampening case. It runs dead quiet and I leave it on 24/7. My plan is to simply take the ethernet cable going into the bridge on my Directstream and move it to the Aries and then hook the Aries into the Directstream via a USB cable. Then I would simply continue to use JRiver / Jremote the same way that I do now but with the music streaming to the Aries rather than directly to the Directstream. This will work, right?

 

I would then use the Lightning app strictly for configuring the Aries and streaming Tidal to it.

[aliaswolf]

Hi Murrayb,

I'm also using the PSA DS and went through all the hassle with the bridge. I also build myself a "silent PC" with jRiver and controlled it via jRemote.

I don't want to bore you with all the steps I made in between. Actually I have a 2,5" HDD (2TB) connected directly to the Aries. The DS is connected via a jCat USB cable. And I'm using the Lightning DS app. That's all you need and everything works fine, incl. Tidal (or wimp in my case). I just checked the "genre" issue. Out of 2.300 albums about 100 are in a folder called "unknown". Although I never use this option, I believe there is something wrong with your way of tagging if all of your files show up as "unknown".

So my advice would be to get rid of all PC/NAS/jRiver/minimserver etc and relay on the Lightning server and the Lightning DS app. It works stable and smooth and will be improved even further.

[Murrayb]

Hi Murrayb,

I'm also using the PSA DS and went through all the hassle with the bridge. I also build myself a "silent PC" with jRiver and controlled it via jRemote.

I don't want to bore you with all the steps I made in between. Actually I have a 2,5" HDD (2TB) connected directly to the Aries. The DS is connected via a jCat USB cable. And I'm using the Lightning DS app. That's all you need and everything works fine, incl. Tidal (or wimp in my case). I just checked the "genre" issue. Out of 2.300 albums about 100 are in a folder called "unknown". Although I never use this option, I believe there is something wrong with your way of tagging if all of your files show up as "unknown".

So my advice would be to get rid of all PC/NAS/jRiver/minimserver etc and relay on the Lightning server and the Lightning DS app. It works stable and smooth and will be improved even further.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Isn't it a bit of a pain whenever you download or rip a CD. Wouldn't you have to unplug the HDD from Aries, plug it into your computer, load the new music and then reattach it to the Aries.

 

In any case, if I only had one system, then I might very do well what you suggested. However, I have a separate HT / music system with my old DAC (PS Audio Perfectwave DAC). Not getting 2 Aries and the second system will be fed by JRiver / Jremote. Since the computer is going to be running in any event, it doesn't make sense to me to be running two separate music libraries.

 

Not sure what is going on with the genres. I've used JRiver to tag all of my music. The genre function works perfectly in Jriver. Must be a case that the Jriver tags aren't recognized by the Lightning app. What do other people use to tag their music files?

[aliaswolf]

One more thing concerning the genre tagging via jRiver: as far as I know jRiver doesn't write the tags into the files, but stores them in the program. That's why these tags are only working within jRiver and not with other progs.

I'm using dbPoweramp for tagging purpose. Just go to the folder, choose all files, than right click on "edit ID-Tag" and choose the proper genre from the table or add a new one. Click on "save" and you're done. These tags are now written to the files itself and e.g. Lighting server can work with it.

 

P.S.: you're right, it's a bit of extra work to store new files on the external HDD. But since I store everything on my NAS I only have to connect the HDD via USB3 to my NAS and let the NAS do the update. That takes usually only some seconds per folder, so I'm done within minutes. Alternatively I could use minimserver on my NAS to stream to the Aries.

[ted_b]

JRiver writes tags to files. They are fully ID3V2 compliant. The only time they write them to the JRIver library file is for things like play counts or non-ID3 created tags.

[jtwrace]

If you have a Mac and want to easily fix all your tags use Yate. Best $20 I spent. JRiver works but I never have good luck with it for that. Maybe I'm just not smart enough.

[Murrayb]

Seems like the tagging issue is a Jriver issue. I installed minimserver to give it a whirl and when I load the minimserver library, tags are there.

 

I picked up the Aries yesterday. The good news is that it is rock solid when run as a uPnP render. Streaming my music from the Lightning App is no problem and, more importantly to me, Jriver sees it and I can stream music to the Aries either right from my desktop when running JRiver or via Jremote. Very impressed with the sound, even though just using a coaxil cable as I wait for my jcat usb cable to arrive.

 

The bad news is that when run in OpenHome, the Lightning App keeps losing it and showing no devices. It does not happen when used in uPnP mode. It can either disappear for long periods or just a second or two, just enough to disrupt the music. I want to use it for Tidal. Login into Tidal with no issue but then the Lightning App loses the Aries. Happens whether I have the Aries hard wired into the network or when running it wireless. I'm using an Asus AC68U router with the current firmware. Both the Aries and my ipad are on the same 5g network. I've tried making both addresses static but that didn't fix the problem.

 

I contacted Tidal support and they got back almost right away. The tech said the current firmware version for the AC68U has some sort of an issue which he thought was causing the problem. Suggested rolling back the firmware. As I wasn't quite sure how to do that, so I put back in my older Asus AC66U router, with older firmware (v. 3.0.0.4.270). Have exactly the same problem. Not sure if this is an issue with Asus routers, although it seems others are using them without this issue.

 

Does anyone have any suggested solution? If not, may have to try a new and non-Asus router. The DLink DIR 880L router is on sale at Best Buy and so I'm thinking of trying it. Anyone else using it? Any suggestions on a different router?

[ted_b]

Seems like the tagging issue is a Jriver issue. I installed minimserver to give it a whirl and when I load the minimserver library, tags are there.

 

 

I might be wrong in my logic but if you tagged the files with JRiver, and they work in JRIver and now they work when moved to Minimserver..but they don't work when Lightning (OH control point) reads the JRiver library, I would not assume it is a JRIver issue.

 

I wonder if the OH instability is also a Lightning/JRIver thing or does it drop off when trying to read Minimserver too (I forget if it even reads a JRIver library in OH mode, sorry)..

[baddog]

I believe you need to set the Aries as a uPnP Renderer for it to work with JRIVER in the manner that Murray is using it.

 

Not sure why the Aries is disappearing from the Lightning DS application. That is worthy of an email to Auralic support.