Auralic Lightning DS App (Software) - Impressions and Information

[jtwrace]

Some more

 

 

 

 

[mjb]

I am very new to all this, but from my limited experience with minimserver and Lightning DS, I'd like to see two improvements:

 

1) Lightning DS should send a Wake-on-LAN message before looking for the server at startup, and

 

2) miniserver (OS X) doesn't survive sleep, which is a big pity. The pain can be reduced with: Properties>Advanced>startupScan>"false", but it still requires a remote desktop session just to restart it.

 

Can anyone recommend another OS X server that works well with Lightning DS?

[speavler]

this is extraordinarily frustrating. i took a break from trying to get lightning server stable. thought i had everything working fine, listening to several tracks, and then it seems my lg nas drops from the network. go to set it up again and encounter new problems just connecting to the music folder. Keep getting the 'Ooops! Something was wrong' error when selecting the network folder. then i thought i had minimserver running on my mac mini working, but now all my tracks say 'Modified or deleted item'.

[JohanS]

this is extraordinarily frustrating. i took a break from trying to get lightning server stable. thought i had everything working fine, listening to several tracks, and then it seems my lg nas drops from the network. go to set it up again and encounter new problems just connecting to the music folder. Keep getting the 'Ooops! Something was wrong' error when selecting the network folder. then i thought i had minimserver running on my mac mini working, but now all my tracks say 'Modified or deleted item'.

Sorry to read bout your problems. You may or may not welcome my feedback here... I come from a setup with a Macbook Pro and Audirvana. During the past 2,5 years I have had a ongoing trouble with either the NAS (all tracks detected as new tracks, thus doubling up everything in the library), lost connection, and various other (non-NAS) related problems.

 

I have an Aries Mini and have none of the abovbe mentioned problems and a far better sound quality. I can stream from my NAS - gives me sometimes interruption. I'm not the only WiFi user here. My eldest daughter and wife stream Youtube HD video's.

 

Thus, I put an SSD into the Mini. Works as a charm, no hick-ups, easy and FAST updates of the library and without doubt the same fine SQ (some say it's even better with the internal SSD - didn't A/B yet, so no comment on that).

 

My recommendation: stop fiddling around - it may well be your NAS, router, something in the Mini's software, .... Put a SSD in the Mini

[speavler]

Sorry to read bout your problems. You may or may not welcome my feedback here... I come from a setup with a Macbook Pro and Audirvana. During the past 2,5 years I have had a ongoing trouble with either the NAS (all tracks detected as new tracks, thus doubling up everything in the library), lost connection, and various other (non-NAS) related problems.

 

I have an Aries Mini and have none of the abovbe mentioned problems and a far better sound quality. I can stream from my NAS - gives me sometimes interruption. I'm not the only WiFi user here. My eldest daughter and wife stream Youtube HD video's.

 

Thus, I put an SSD into the Mini. Works as a charm, no hick-ups, easy and FAST updates of the library and without doubt the same fine SQ (some say it's even better with the internal SSD - didn't A/B yet, so no comment on that).

 

My recommendation: stop fiddling around - it may well be your NAS, router, something in the Mini's software, .... Put a SSD in the Mini

 

I do welcome feedback. Thanks, I will take your advice. While I'm waiting for the SSD drive, I'll continue fiddling with my network. I transferred my music files from my NAS to my mac mini's hard drive. I'm not sure yet, but that may be giving me more stability with minimserver.

 

When you rip new cd's, I assume you just drag the folder/files into the Aries shared folder and rescan to add to the library?

[baddog]

Alternatively you could install Minimserver on your NAS and use that instead of Lightning Server.

 

That has worked well for me for over a year.

[speavler]

Alternatively you could install Minimserver on your NAS and use that instead of Lightning Server.

 

That has worked well for me for over a year.

 

I don't believe that's an option with my LG NAS. It does have it's own media server, which I also attempted, but something is going on with either the NAS or my network. But my setup has worked fine for years using the mac mini with Audirvana and also streaming blueray ISO movies all from the NAS, so not sure what gives.

[badlyread]

When you rip new cd's, I assume you just drag the folder/files into the Aries shared folder and rescan to add to the library?

 

Yep, that's more or less it. Very easy. I had to do mine in batches due to the occasional reading error. No big thing.

[JohanS]

Yep, that's more or less it. Very easy. I had to do mine in batches due to the occasional reading error. No big thing.

I do the same - and in batches.

[JohanS]

Quick beta test update: LDS on iPhone works fine after an additional beta update. Found no glitches so far. LDS 2.4 for iPad is in beta as well (since yesterday). Both LDS versions still are incomplete on functionality, so I'm expecting another update. Then we can test all planned features for this 2.4 release.

[maniac]

im not sure where to report issues from beta LDS for iphone so I'm posting here..

it seems search function is not implemented (tapping the loupe icon does nothing)

beside this it works like a charm, what a relief - no need to fetch iPad to adjust playlist anymore, just grab the phone

[mjb]

im not sure where to report issues from beta LDS for iphone...

[email protected]

 

Search isn't yet implemented...

[Iansr]

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

I've tried streaming Spotify from my iPad to my Mini using AirPlay but it sounds slow and and distorted. I've read that this is because AirPlay does not work with MP3. Am I missing something here - is there a solution?

[digitalzed]

I received my Aries Mini yesterday and I'm having the strangest time getting Lightning DS to finish scanning my library. Everything is set up correctly. The app finds my shared folder on my network, it begins scanning and no matter what, it stops at file 33690 (I have about 41000 files). I have tried resetting everything, I have tried wired and wireless setups, made sure my router firmware is the latest and have done everything I know to do. Has anyone else had this issue? Or any advice on how to get the scan to finish? The mini does me no good if I can't access my collection.

[kennyb123]

IThe app finds my shared folder on my network, it begins scanning and no matter what, it stops at file 33690 (I have about 41000 files).

 

Just a wild guess - but it sounds like maybe it got stuck on a media file it can't understand.

 

Any chance you can run MinimServer on the device where your files are stored? If you can this will get you up and running. MinimServer will just skip over problematic files and write the errors to a log file.

[digitalzed]

Just a wild guess - but it sounds like maybe it got stuck on a media file it can't understand.

 

Any chance you can run MinimServer on the device where your files are stored? If you can this will get you up and running. MinimServer will just skip over problematic files and write the errors to a log file.

Thanks kennyb123. I'm thinking the same thing. I've installed MinimServer and it's scanning my folder now. Do I then go back into the Lightning DS app and set this up through the Server or choose my own DLNA server? EDIT: I got it. Wow, that really worked! Amazing. I've been beating my head against this for a day. Thank you for your help. There were some files that MinimServer skipped because of bad tags.

[kennyb123]

I got it. Wow, that really worked! Amazing. I've been beating my head against this for a day. Thank you for your help. There were some files that MinimServer skipped because of bad tags.

 

Awesome - glad it worked.

 

I actually prefer MinimServer because I can customize how files are sorted and displayed. In particular, I like to sort "The Beatles" as "Beatles, The" so The Beatles are found in the "B" section.

 

I accomplish this by setting TagOptions in MinimWatch as follows:

 

Album.sortTags={Album, Artist}, Artist.ignore.*={The}, AlbumArtist.ignore.*={The}, Album.ignore.*={The}

 

I also do this for album covers so that "The Yes Album" appears at "Y" as it is treated as "Yes Album, The".

[digitalzed]

Awesome - glad it worked.

 

I actually prefer MinimServer because I can customize how files are sorted and displayed. In particular, I like to sort "The Beatles" as "Beatles, The" so The Beatles are found in the "B" section.

 

I accomplish this by setting TagOptions in MinimWatch as follows:

 

Album.sortTags={Album, Artist}, Artist.ignore.*={The}, AlbumArtist.ignore.*={The}, Album.ignore.*={The}

 

I also do this for album covers so that "The Yes Album" appears at "Y" as it is treated as "Yes Album, The".

Great tip. I'm finally streaming hi res content into bedroom from my main machine. The sound is really nice. I'm going to have fun playing with this over the next few days.

[markwb]

LDS on iphone 6S plus working pretty well considering the early problems with LDS ipad versions. I have had a strange thing happen with current LDS ipad though. Blur effect seems to have almost gone away completely. Now it's just kinda matches the background color of the album. Any of you see this? I could add a screen shot if helpful.

[markwb]

Looks like this.

[Misterpete]

Awesome - glad it worked.

 

I actually prefer MinimServer because I can customize how files are sorted and displayed. In particular, I like to sort "The Beatles" as "Beatles, The" so The Beatles are found in the "B" section.

 

I accomplish this by setting TagOptions in MinimWatch as follows:

 

Album.sortTags={Album, Artist}, Artist.ignore.*={The}, AlbumArtist.ignore.*={The}, Album.ignore.*={The}

 

I also do this for album covers so that "The Yes Album" appears at "Y" as it is treated as "Yes Album, The".

 

Hi, great tip, got my tags sorted. excuse my ignorance, but how do I sort my album covers in the same way?

cheers.

[baddog]

Hi, great tip, got my tags sorted. excuse my ignorance, but how do I sort my album covers in the same way?

cheers.

 

The example provided above sorts both artists and albums by ignoring the leading "The".

[Misterpete]

The example provided above sorts both artists and albums by ignoring the leading "The".

many thanks, my index on the left has been arranged properly, but my album view still shows the original format ie. The Who. I will try a refresh cache and see if that sorts it.

i appreciate your reply, seasons greetings to you!

[baddog]

many thanks, my index on the left has been arranged properly, but my album view still shows the original format ie. The Who. I will try a refresh cache and see if that sorts it.

i appreciate your reply, seasons greetings to you!

 

Hey, you know what? You reminded me of something. This may be a quirk of Lightning DS wherein it does not ignore "The" for albums. It has been a while since I played with the tag options in Minimserver, and I do recall that depending on the client I was using, ( i.e. Lightning DS, versus Lumin versus Linn Kazoo/Kinsky ) the results varied. I may be leading you down the wrong path. I need to spend some time again with the tagging options, and will circle back. Happy holidays to you too!

 

Barr

[Misterpete]

No, it's all fine, just needed some time to sort itself out. Everything is as it should be, excellent. Cheers again!