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Basic updated intro to Auralic Aries, please?


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Will I be able to play all audio from my laptop wirelessly through this streamer?

The Aries supports Airplay, so if you were using iTunes on your Windows system you could stream music to the Aries via Airplay.

 

The Aries support Songcast, Songcast software is available for Windows or the Mac, and similar to Airplay in that you can send Audio from your PC to the Aries when it is put into Songcast mode ( note - I have little experience using Songcast on the Aries ).

 

You cannot plug your laptop directly into the Aries, usually people either connect a USB drive with their music files to the Aries to playback music, and control it with either the Aries Lightning DS control point ( which only runs on iPads and there is a beta version for Android phones ) or a third party control point such as Lumin, or the Linn Kinsky application (which runs under Windows and other OS's).

 

Alternatively people put their music on a music server and "stream" it to the Aries. There is music server software which will run under Windows, Mac, Linux, many brands of NAS's, etc. Again this would be controlled using control point software such as Lightning DS, Lumin, Kinsky, et al.

 

To configure the Aries you do need to have a supported device to do so, this is either an iPad, or at the moment, and Android phone. There is no workaround for setting it up initially with one of these devices ( ie. wired versus wireless, network, output mode, etc).

 

Some people have JRIVER running on their laptop and put the Aries into uPnP mode and stream their music from JRIVER to the Aries.

 

 

That is, can I play system sounds, J.River Media Center, internet videos and iTunes without audio lagging behind video?

 

Yes, you can use JRMC, see my note above, you will have to setup JRMC to use the Aries as a renderer. Yes you could use iTunes and enable Airplay on the Aries.

 

As to system sound, and Internet videos, I don't know, it is best to ask a dealer this question, and provide them specifics on your setup.

 

 

Will it be as simple as now when a USB connection lets my Benchmark DAC1 PRE play anything without any fuzz?

Well, probably not as simple as that for the initial setup. As I am sure you know, your laptop is not directly connected to the Aries, you will need to provide it (the Aries) either a wired ethernet connection or a good quality wireless connection ( 802.11n using 5 Ghz band is recommended ).

 

Then you will need to get used to control point software, given you have a laptop and a android phone, you will probably find the Kinsky application running on your PC a better control point experience than running something on your Android phone.

 

Or if you wish to use JRIVER, you can always use JRMC on your laptop to control music playback.

 

 

Will I need major changes and/or additional investments to make the Auralic Aries work?

Is your primary goal to play music? Where are all your music files stored? Are they all on your laptop? How is the quality of your wireless network?

 

 

Genelec 8351As only accept digital input in the form of AES/EBU, which my Benchmark DAC can’t provide.

I have a Windows 7 laptop connected to a Benchmark DAC1 PRE via USB. The reason I intend to change this reliable and simple setup is that I plan to go digital all the way to my loudspeakers. Soon, my new Genelec 8351A digital studio monitors will arrive. They accept analogue input, but analogue signals are converted to digital inside the speaker in order to make use of digital filtering and an elaborate digital room correction system. It seems “anti-audiophile” to let my signal be converted back and forth two times between analogue and digital.

I don't know alot about the Genelecs, do they include a DAC? I cannot tell by reading the literature I looked at. I assume they do based upon what you have written?

 

 

(I don’t play esoteric hi-def files, I do like to have a volume control outside my PC so as not to accidentally blast my system – and ear drums – if there is a computer mishap. I’d love to get rid of that USB connection and go wireless, I don’t have an iPad, and my phone is Android.)

If the question is, can I control the volume with the Aries Lightning DS software, the answer is no.

 

 

Sorry I don't have all the answers, but hopefully this helps a bit.

 

Barr

Silver Circle Audio | Roon | Devialet | Synology | Vivid Audio | Stillpoint Aperture | Auralic | DH Labs

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