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Auralic Aries Mini


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Hi, as far as I am aware there is no capability for an internal SSD in the Aries Mini to "cache" music coming from a networked drive.

 

In fact if the music is streaming fine from your network drive to the Aries, then even if caching was possible there would be no advantage that I am aware of unless you were experiencing network drop outs.

I appreciate the further clarification. Thanks baddog.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I agree completely with baddog. I actually had a conversation with Chris at Auralic about this and he said that originally they designed Aries, and Aries Mini to perform best with a NAS device. But that subsequent firmware updates have narrowed the gap between NAS and a USB drive. I have been enjoying mine very much from a USB drive.

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Clearly there are use cases where the Mini has issues, as you're not the only one reporting them. Others have reported issues with large libraries. The only thing I can suggest is based on what has worked for me.

 

My thinking is based on the assumption that as a small standalone device, I expect the Aries Mini to have limited resources that I would prefer to have it devote to its core function - either as a DMR - i.e. a Renderer (if connected to an external DAC) or as a DMP - i.e. a Player (if using the internal DAC).

 

Specifically that means running the DMS - i.e. the Music Server off box. So what has worked for me (obviously YMMV):

 

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 500, align: center]

[TR]

[TD]Physical location of music files[/TD]

[TD]Synology NAS[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]DMS[/TD]

[TD]MinimServer[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Where DMS runs[/TD]

[TD]On NAS[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Library Size[/TD]

[TD]approx. 20,000 tracks[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Network type[/TD]

[TD]wireless 802.11ac[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

You indicated your music lives on a NAS. I know running a DMS on a NAS can be a fiddly process. My suggestion would be to run the DMS of your choice (see Recommeded 3rd party UPnP server software – AURALIC LIMITED) on a computer and then have the Mini connect to this DMS when selecting music library.

 

If this works, you can then decide if you want to go through the extra effort of running the DMS on your NAS instead.

 

All this said, I do agree that since Auralic indicates Lightning Server (running on the Aries Mini) as the preferred DMS solution, these problems people are reporting is quite troubling.

 

So take what I suggested as an alternative way to get to where you want to be - listening to your music!

I can tell you this issue is not limited to the Mini. I have an Aries and the Lightning DS app chokes when scanning my library when connected with Aries or my Aries Mini. It's infuriating. At about 35000 (of 42000) the prgram just freezes. I imagine there's a file in there it doesn't like but instead of the app being written to report which file, or skip it and send the error to a log, it.just.stops.

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As a alternate solution consider running Minimserver on your NAS ( if supported ) rather than Lightning Server till those issues get sorted out. It has worked flawlessly for me. I realize there are trade offs when opting for Minimserver it terms of some of the views available in Lightning DS.

 

Barr

Thanks baddog. I am doing that and while much better at seeing most of my music, I really do want that functionality that you can only get with the DS app. I'm a Roon believer and I'm hoping that integration will be available to us Roon users next week then for me, the problem will be solved. It's my hope that Auralic will consider updating the app to provide some useable error messages so people can correct what might be choking the app and fix the scanning issues.

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@digitalized - Yes I concur with your thoughts, as I understand the extra features available with the Lightning DS application. As to Roon, agreed, I have been a user since the early days, so have been anxiously awaiting the integration as well. One thought in the interim if you are using Minimserver, check the Minimserver log files ( available via Minimwatch ) to see if Minimserver is reporting any errors. There was a bunch of stuff I had to clean up in my music library when I first started using Minimserver. That being said, that does not mean it will resolve the issues with Lightning Server, but at least it is a good starting point to ensure a "clean" music collection.

 

I ended up using Yate to clean up much of the meta data errors I got in the Minimserver logs.

Seems like we went down the same path with Minimserver. I did check the logs and most of my issues were with m3u that had been created by a program a long time ago. Clearing them out helped in Minimserver, but did nothing for the Auralic app. At this point I'm not futzing with it anymore since Roon integration is imminent.

 

And I have been in contact with Auralic. I've been corresponding with Chris and he's been very kind. But they don't have an answer for this right now, maybe with the update coming for the app and firmware. His suggestion was a USB drive. I tried that. Copied my entire library over from my desktop drive. Set everything up in Lightning DS and let the scanning go. It completed the scan, but missed about 20k of the files. These are all FLAC's or DSF files. All readable by the app. And it was never my intention to use a USB drive plugged into the Aries or Mini. I want one place for my files and I want that to work over my network, which is very strong.

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Lots of good advice here - thanks for that. I'll work my way through those.

 

I'd be happy to consider abandoning the NAS if necessary. I'd actually be keen to buy an SSD drive to install into the Mini. I'd consider MinimServer - I think it even supports my NAS (fairly old NetGear ReadyNas Duo). My concern is that I can't even get the ipad app to stay up for more than a minute at a time without crashing. Not gracefully, no errors, no logs, no clues as to the issues. If that was stable I'd have a bit more confidence to invest the time and effort, but right now out of the box it plain doesn't work. What's the point of buying a streamer, then having to put all the music on the box, but not even being confident that you'll be able to talk to it.

 

Still - step by step.

Have you tried deleting the app and reinstalling it? And how new is your iPad?

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Anyone following the saga of MQA support on the Aries, LE, and Mini? Apparently they delayed release of MQA support at the last minute during CES, and issued a statement on their Facebook page.

 

I didn't buy the Mini for its MQA support, but am hoping it will work both with its internal DAC as well as downstream DACs.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile mobile app

Did I miss something in that TAS article that isn't just regurgitated marketing hype from MQA? I have nothing against the technology but they took a big hit in my mind on the way they handled this rollout, or didn't handle the rollout.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Thanks for the reply, baddog.

 

I have just tried a free membership of Roon to se how it works. I dont like that Roon only will work on a PC/Mac, so to listen to music I have to turn on both my PC , television and Aries mini. I bought an Aries Mini so I could get rid of using a PC in my livingroom. The second part is the yearly membership which I think is quite expensive considering you also need a Tidal membership. And Roon could not find my Nas. I hate when things get to complicated and are not plug and play. I have'nt used Roon enough to conclude on the interface but I have no doubt that its fantastic.

You don't have to have a Tidal membership past the 1 free year included with the Mini. But yes, Roon is expensive and depending on your needs may not offer anything over the Auralic Lightning app that is free and should easily connect to your NAS.

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