Auralic Lightning DS App (Software) - Impressions and Information

[WilCox]

I like the update . It's a big improvement over the first version .

 

I agree. A good step forward.

[wanta911]

Anyone know how to get double albums to show as singles in Lightning Server?

[jtwrace]

Can I ask ... what do people feel the advantage of using SMB from the NAS to the Aries and then allow the Aries to provide the UPnP (Lightning) server vs just running Minimserver or other on the NAS?

 

The advantage for many will be that they do not have to install Minimserver. While not difficult some people (OK, many) struggle with reading and following the steps required. So, it's really just an ease of use kind of thing. All in one.

 

As of today, keep in mind that SMB does not show "The Beatles" as "Beatles" so if that's of concern stick with Minimserver.

[Ric]

Can I ask ... what do people feel the advantage of using SMB from the NAS to the Aries and then allow the Aries to provide the UPnP (Lightning) server vs just running Minimserver or other on the NAS?

 

Probably nothing, if Minimserver is giving you the same feature set as using LightningServer. But if you're using a NAS or DLNA server that doesn't, the ability to mount the network drive via SMB is absolutely essential.

 

That's my case. I've had my Aries for several months now, and honestly I've barely used it. With the interface to my NAS's DLNA server was unusable, and my other network player works much better. I'm hopeful that the new update makes my Aries useful.

[dmormerod]

All Remotes and PC or Mac players I used till now have some kind of smart results filtering or Smart playlists but lightning server is very poor in that aspect.

For example, when I browse by Genre I get big bunch of albums and that's it. I can't further filter results by standard CD or high resolution, or sort albums in Genres by Artist name.

 

Submit an enhancement request. I submitted one just the other day for 'Smart Playlists'.

[audiobenpdx]

I finally got my albums to show up in the library, but on some of the albums none of my tracks show up, is anyone else having this issue? The tracks were showing up in playing fine in earlier versions before 2.0 .1

[atletico]

Can't add new radio stations manually anymore. All my manual added favourit radio stations has gone. :-(

Also slow on my 2.gen 32 GB iPad..

[eintom]

My old Ipad2 is too slow for controling my music-library with lightningDS. With V2.0.1 it is still the same. Auralic wrote about that in their news for V2.0.1.

Therefore i used my Aries with BubbleUPNP on Android and the minimserver on a synology NAS and i am very happy with that.

 

Now that i have the SMB Server running from my Aries with the music on my NAS, i can choose the "LightningServer[Aries]" as a library under BubbleUPNP on Android.

That`s fantastic for me, so i have the new functions from the server under BubbleUPNP (LastImportDate, SamplingRate...)

 

regards

tom

[baconbrain]

Hi Everyone,

 

I am new to the Aries and impressed by the overall SQ of the device but the app is really giving me problems. I am running my main music library on a synology NAS and a mac mini hosted Jriver server to which I use the Aries as a upnp device with the jremote app. (works like a charm and sounds great)

 

I have also set-up a lightningserver (app version 2.0.1) for a smaller library of dsd files located on a usb drive attached to the Aries and stream through my Qobuz account. Here is where the problems start. In particular on the streaming service side, the app just dies on occasion and then refuses to start again. I have had to delete and reinstall the app twice just to get it up and running again. Has anyone experienced something similar? Thx.

[JohanS]

Well my dream run of Auralic updates has come to a screeching halt:

 

* 2.0.1 is much slower than before - I have a 1st gen iPad mini. Whilst this issue was identified in the release notes, I hope it will get faster in further updates. I hate to think that this would necessitate buying a new iPad?

 

[snip, snip]

Well, if you want some advice: I would give app development about 3-4 months and see if it really gets faster. If not (or if it gets a bit faster but not fast enough to your liking), sell your iPad mini 1st and get an iPad mini / iPad Air 3rd gen. in November. Don't know about the second hand market in Perth, but here in the Netherlands you can easilily sell your older iPad for about 30 - 60% of the price (depending on condition, one, or two generations difference - older won't do). Unfortunately that's the price of progress...

[dr.sah]

Have second generation of ipad mini with retina, and app is still not fast enough. He should wait on Auralic team, to improve their app.

[Jimmypowder]

Have second generation of ipad mini with retina, and app is still not fast enough. He should wait on Auralic team, to improve their app.

 

So do I and I have no issues at all with speed.

[miguelito]

Have second generation of ipad mini with retina, and app is still not fast enough. He should wait on Auralic team, to improve their app.

Are you using it in uPnP mode? You should be using OpenHome.

[guildenstern]

Well, that was a surprise. Opened the iPad Air 2 anticipating good old Lightning DS and instead I got the (apparently automatically) updated Version 2.0.1.

 

I went through the setup process, and so far all seems to work as it should. But one new behavior of the app is a little annoying, and I wonder if others are experiencing this:

 

When I switch to another app on the iPad, or close the iPad cover, and then later come back to Lightning DS, it takes a long time (20-seconds plus) for the app to refresh and activate. I get the "spinning circle" icon in the center of the screen, and can't use any DS controls until the icon has disappeared.

 

The previous version of the app took a few seconds to re-activate. Why does the new app take so long?

 

Also, if I close the new Lightning DS app, whenever I re-open it, I first get an "Auralic" screen, and again it takes a while before the app is ready -- why all this lag and delay? Any fixes, or do I just have to wait for an update to the app?

 

[JohanS]

Have second generation of ipad mini with retina, and app is still not fast enough. He should wait on Auralic team, to improve their app.

Yep, that's why I wrote 3rd gen iPad mini. Guess Apple will release an updated iPad mini en iPad air (thus both gen 3) later this year around November.

 

Btw, I don't have an Aries (yet, I'm saving money for the Aries Mini Streamer), but I tested the app with my NAS and MininServer and iPad 3 / New iPad

- opening screen with spinning circle for about 15-20 seconds after each exit of LDS

- once in the app, it feels overal responsive, except that thumbnails of covers load a bit slow or sometimes not (have to move albums out of the window and then back in again in order to force the covers to load)

[kennyb123]

When I switch to another app on the iPad, or close the iPad cover, and then later come back to Lightning DS, it takes a long time (20-seconds plus) for the app to refresh and activate. I get the "spinning circle" icon in the center of the screen, and can't use any DS controls until the icon has disappeared.

 

The previous version of the app took a few seconds to re-activate. Why does the new app take so long?

 

I noticed the same thing.

 

Seems like the latest version of Lightning DS isn't able to run in the background. Note in this from Apple that:

 

"Some apps will run for a short period of time before they're set to a suspended state. This means they're not actively in use, open, or taking up system resources. When you return to these apps, they'll open instantly."

 

Well that certainly isn't happening now with Lightning DS 2.0.1. It's as if the app is being terminated instead of being set to a suspended state.

 

Apple suggests enabling Background App Refresh in Setting. I'll have to check my iPad when I get home to see if this can be enabled for Lightning DS.

[kennyb123]

The Lumin app provides an interesting contrast. This does seem to go into a suspended state - and it comes out of that state quickly. I don't think it even re-scans for the Aries when awoken (which is something Lightning DS seems to do every time it's run). I could be wrong, but Lumin seems to just pick up from where it left off after coming out of suspended state. I wish Lightning would do this. Why does it have to take a few seconds to search for my Aries every time? Can't it just assume it's there?

[audiobenpdx]

Lightning DS version 2.0.1 has been nothing but a complete headache to deal with, and is not ready for prime time. Between the music library not seeing my music, tracks not showing up when I do manage to successfully load the music library, and the disappearance of the ability to manually add radio station, I went back to version 1.8 which I luckily still had a backup of in itunes. Much happier now, hopefully all the kinks will get worked out, but I think version 2.0 is like a major crippling downgrade compared to the earlier versions.

[jtwrace]

Lightning DS version 2.0.1 has been nothing but a complete headache to deal with, and is not ready for prime time. Between the music library not seeing my music, tracks not showing up when I do manage to successfully load the music library, and the disappearance of the ability to manually add radio station, I went back to version 1.8 which I luckily still had a backup of in itunes. Much happier now, hopefully all the kinks will get worked out, but I think version 2.0 is like a major crippling downgrade compared to the earlier versions.

 

I don't get it. I have no such issues.

[guildenstern]

Lumin seems to just pick up from where it left off after coming out of suspended state. I wish Lightning would do this.

 

+1

 

Make that +1,000,000!

[baddog]

Anyone know how to get double albums to show as singles in Lightning Server?

 

As far as I know this is a feature not yet available with Lightning Server. This can be done with Minimserver when one uses the DISCNUMBER tags when editing the meta data for multi disc albums. So for me, with Minimserver, all my multi disc albums show up under one title, with Lightning Server they show up as multiple titles (albums). FWIW under Roon they also display as a single title.

 

Barr

[jtwrace]

As far as I know this is a feature not yet available with Lightning Server. This can be done with Minimserver when one uses the DISCNUMBER tags when editing the meta data for multi disc albums. So for me, with Minimserver, all my multi disc albums show up under one title, with Lightning Server they show up as multiple titles (albums). FWIW under Roon they also display as a single title.

 

Barr

 

That's always a constant battle I have with myself. There are albums I want to be shown as two and there are others that I want as one. I just leave 'em as two.

[wanta911]

As far as I know this is a feature not yet available with Lightning Server. This can be done with Minimserver when one uses the DISCNUMBER tags when editing the meta data for multi disc albums. So for me, with Minimserver, all my multi disc albums show up under one title, with Lightning Server they show up as multiple titles (albums). FWIW under Roon they also display as a single title.

 

Barr

 

Yeah thanks Barr, I am already using it in Minimserver and was wondering if it was a feature in Lightning Server. Maybe later....

[audiobenpdx]

I don't get it. I have no such issues.

 

Yeah, I don't know why I was having so many issues with version 2.0 I was on call with an Auralic tech, and the issues would keep repeating. But are you able to manually add your own radio station? It looks that feature was left out in version 2.0? In version 2.0 it seems that you are stuck with the radio choices in the LDS app.

[audiobenpdx]

I don't get it. I have no such issues.

 

Yeah, I don't know why I was having so many issues with version 2.0 I was on call with an Auralic tech for over an hour, and the issues would keep repeating, so I gave up. But are you able to manually add your own radio stations in the updated version? It looks that feature was left out in version 2.0? In version 2.0 it seems that you are stuck with the radio choices that are pre-selected in the LDS app.