Auralic Aries Mini

[jackinvestor]

Would LPS still be a worthwhile upgrade if I don't plan to use the internal DAC? Just want to use it as a streamer to feed signal into my DAC... also, any recommendations for android 3rd party solution for control? Not of the Apple camp here...

 

I use the Mini with an external dac and upgrading to a third party powersupply made a significant increase in soundquality in my system and to my ears. But the Mini with the standard powersupply also sounded good and better than using a Windows PC as a streamer.

 

Only your ears can deceide if the increase in soundquality is enoughf to justify the cost of the LPS.

 

I would suggest to buy the Mini and see if you are satisfyed with the soundquality. If not you could for instance buy this powersupply and home demo for two weeks. If the powersupply does'nt bring any or enoughf increase in soundquality you can sent it back for a full refund.

 

Teddy15/2 - 15V 2A Power Supply | Generic power supplies | Power Supplies | TeddyPardo

 

Thats the powersupply I have bought and therefore this is the one I recommend. I have no experience with the Booster or the LPS from Auralic.

 

The Aries Mini uses a 5.5/2.5 connector.

[jackinvestor]

The big Aries ofcource has a better soundquality (lower jitter) because of its liniar powersupply and its two femto clocks. Its design and outputs is also more optimised which also means a lower noice floor (lower jitter = better soundquality). And some time in the future the big Aries wil have room correction.

 

But what if you upgrade the Aries mini with a third party powersupply that is better then the LPS from Auralic that comes with the big Aries? Will the Mini them be close to, the same or even have better soundquality then its big brother?

 

The third party powersupplies that are better costs the same or a little more then Auralics LPS. The Aries mini with a third party powersupply/LPS is only half the cost of the big Aries. You can ofcource also upgrade the powersupply of the big Aries but then it will be even more expensive.

 

If you have a lot of money you will buy the big Aries and upgrade its powersupply or buy another much more expensive Streamer. The interesting question is how to get the best digital front end for the lowest amount of money. Aries Mini + Third party powersupply is a good bet.

[jackinvestor]

3 different dealers told me this, that is where my info is from, so could be inaccurate?

All basically said that it's really not that good of an LPS compared to others, but the better ones are more $ ($450-$1000) price range.

 

A very good and not so expensive (370$) powersupply that matches the Aries mini in Black ��

 

 

I have been running in this powersupply for 3 weeks now and it sounds very good.

 

From the left: Aries Mini / TeddyPardo powersupply / TeddyDac with assynchron USB reclocker.

[jackinvestor]

Conclusions

 

Apologies for the length of this review. Overall, the Aries Mini exceeded my expectations, especially the performance of the DAC. While I'm sure it can be bettered, it is good enough that I plan to live with my current setup for a few months. After that, my suspicion is that I will be looking to improve my headphone amp before I consider a DAC upgrade (unless the two go together in a DAC/Amp, of course).

 

Comments and questions welcome.

 

The mini have also exceeded my expectations but I have a different experience then you regarding the Dac of the Mini.

 

I would expect you would benefit from upgrading to a highend dac if the other parts of your system is good enough to show the improvements. Design of Dac's is not all about advanced new chips but also great powersupplys, quality of output components etc which is the filosofi behind the TeddyDac I have. But its probably just down to definition of what highend is and cost.

 

This is a review I wrote 10 minutes ago on another forum:

 

...................................,..,,

 

Question.....How good is the dac in the Aries Mini?....is it good enough to be used as the main dac in ones highend system...

 

Answer.....No.

 

The Aries Mini and the powersupply I use from Teddy Pardo is now fully run-in, so it was now time to test if the dac of Aries Mini was good enough so it could be used instead of my TeddyDac in the interest of reducing the number of boxes in my system.

 

Up until now everyting about the Mini has been better then my expectations....but using the Mini as a streamer+dac with a very good third party powersupply (that probably is better then the Liniar Powersupply from Auralic) was a disapointment at first. I got a headache after one hour of listening (I was tired)...swithing back to my TeddyDac the headache disapeard. Some of it could be because the dac section of the mini has not been used before so a bit of running-in is probably required. But the difference in soundquality is so huge that no running-in period will be able to decrease all of the difference. The sound was lacking the black bagground, there where alot less detail and seperation/air between instruments and the sound was much more stressfull to listen to.

 

Realistically this was to be expected because the Dac section in the Mini is ofcource not designed/optimised to be used as a highend dac considering its low cost and many features....I know I just state the obvious......considering the price of the mini and all the other features its a bargin and its probably good enough to be used as a streamer+dac in mediocore to low end hifi systems.

 

Using the Mini as a stand alone streamer with a good upgraded powersupply is on the other hand a highend streamer solution at a very competative low cost.

 

....................

[jackinvestor]

But its probably just down to definition of what highend is and cost....

 

.....and personal opinion/ expectations/taste/experience and systembalance.....

[jackinvestor]

Yes, (in addition to forced purchase of Tidal on the Mini).

 

Thanks for your comment.

 

Are you forced to purchase Tidal?....As I understand it, you get Tidal for free (in some countries)..... and the Mini also supports Qobuz directly and Spotify via AirPlay.

[jackinvestor]

Double post......text deleted.

[jackinvestor]

Jack,

 

This is just proof that each of us should use our ears to decide what's best for ourselves.

 

For me, the Mini was not at all as fatiguing (or indeed, headache-inducing) as it was for you. And my system was neither mediocre nor low end!

 

The way I look at it is that I can live with the Mini for a while until some higher-end components I have my eye on (like the Mytek Brooklyn DAC/Amp) are released and reviewed.

 

Your are right....one must deceide for themselves if the Dac in the Mini is good enough for them.

 

I use your very informative and well written review to indicate to me that the Mini used as steamer+dac (with liniar powersupply) comes close to a Oppo BDP Bluray player used as a streamer+dac. I hope others will use my review to indicate to them that the Mini's Dac does not even come close to the TeddyDac in relation to soundquality (In the system I use).

 

My filosify in Hifi is to upgrade the signal-chain (music files+streamer+dac+preamp) first before considering upgrading amps (if the amp you have is good enough to drive the speakers and the speakers are a good match for the room they play in).

 

So if you are to put some extra money towards your system, then your review indicates to me, that you could get a significant increase in soundquality by upgrading your Aries Mini dac and also Oppo BDP with a better dac (my answer to your objective nr. 3).

 

If we take the low cost of the Aries mini and compares it to all its features then it afcourse is obvious that the dac in the Mini is not designed/uptimised to be a highend dac and there should be much better dacs out there then the mini. Iam more surpriced that the dac in the Oppo BDP isnt better.

[jackinvestor]

Yeah, - it has USB and optical. A DAC that can go in a $300 box is necessarily going to make it inappropriate in a high-end system.

Fine if that's not what one is using it for....

Most importantly however, UPnP doesn't work in the Aries Mini, - severely limiting its functionality and value.

 

Of course it's YMMV, - but at some point, - no amount of apologies or bandwagon jumping can compensate for a non-working or working-poorly, product, - especially one that has less functionality at double the price.

 

Has anyone tried the Orbitor yet?....if not then we dont know how good it sounds or if it can do all what the specifications indicates. Maybe the Orbiter will also have some issues to start with.

 

But its an interesting product and more competition is always a good thing.

 

Regarding the price difference between the Mini and Orbiter it is small.....I used to have a Nad M50 streamer costing 2000 us$ and a Naim streamer costing 3000 us$ and they where both not as good as the Aries Mini. Iam just glad that streaming has become much cheaper.....

 

Personally I could live without a dac in the Mini but I understand why Auralic has put one in. You only need active speakers and the Mini will do the rest and thats good for your secondary system or for people with less funds for their main system.....

[jackinvestor]

Is the Mini now RoomReady after the firmware 3.1 update?

 

I have installed Roon on my Windows PC but Roon can only find my Aries Mini if I turn on Apple AirPlay.....if the Aries is RoonReady then Roon should see the Mini as a seperate player?

[jackinvestor]

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.

 

No the Aries Mini is not RoonReady as of the latest firmware update.