Auralic Aries Mini

[jaaptina]

IMHO buying any new component is really a question of where your system weak links are. Before with PC/Server2012 and AO, then with Oppo103, then later with SOTM SMS-100 mine was my digital transport solution. Now with the Aries Mini as digital transport, the limits I'm hearing are in the Metrum Octave I and in the Prologue Premium amp section. So beware... those that egg you on to "buy the best" are providing useless advice if they have no context of what your system is... you could be making upgrades the rest of your system won't pass along.

 

I've got a Metrum Octave and a Pioneer N-30 streamer. Thinking of upgrading the N-30 to Aries mini or Octave to Musette. What upgrade will improve sound quality most?

[jaaptina]

I'd suggest starting with the Aries mini... should be a night and day difference in favor of it feeding the Metrum Octave vs the N-30 feeding a Musette. And if you get an LPS, be prepared for its DAC section to have greater sparkle and transient impact than the Octave. In my system the Octave I wins out mostly on greater mid range detail and because of a slight coarseness on voices in the Aries DAC section.. tempts me to buy the Aries LPS vs the cheap china LPS I bought.

 

Thanks a lot for this!

I suggest to have a look at Sbooster LPS. Based on your answer I'll be auditioning both!

[jaaptina]

I use MinimServer on a Synology DS112. Transcoding all file types to 96 bit WAV is a breeze.

 

 

I don't have a Aries Mini yet. John, I have a queation about your explanation the Aries streams only individual tracks over Upnp. I want to keep using Bubleupnp as controlpoint. Can the Aries Mini play gapless that way? My current streamer can't.

 

Greetings,

Jaap

[jaaptina]

Hi Jaap

 

Short answer, yes.

 

Long answer ... (post 949)

Even longer answer... (post 949)

 

The Aries renderers can operate in either standard UPnP mode or OpenHome mode. Unusually, for a UPnP control point, the BubbleUPnP Android app can control OpenHome renderers as well as standard UPnP ones. Both the Aries streamers and the BubbleUPnP Android app support standard UPnP gapless option and OpenHome is gapless by design. So, regardless of the Aries Mini being in either standard UPnP mode or OpenHome mode, if it is being controlled by the BubbleUPnP Android app, the answer to your question is yes.

 

Thank you for the very extensive answer. The longer and the even longer answer explain the complicated interaction between streamer and server clearly.

 

I've been looking for an explanation on playing music gapless when not using the proprietary app. Reviews usually leave it at a "yes" and Aries doesn't make a use of this unique selling point.

 

Yours is the first comprehensive explanation given. I suggest to make this a first of a new thread on gapless playing so it will be easy to find.

 

Thanks again!

[jaaptina]

I'm buying new songs and albums at Qobuz.com. I've ripped my cd's with EAC (or iTunes). All files as m4a or flac files.

[jaaptina]

For Android use, try the excellent Bubble DS Next App

 

I've bought an Aries Mini and set it up with an iPhone. However I want to use my Android to control the Aries Mini.

 

I have tried three apps: Bubbleupnp, Bubble DS and Lightning DS for Android.

All apps both in Lightning mode and uPnP mode.

 

I run into some issues though:

 

1) The first track of the day starts playing on screen but without sound. I have to restart the track to get sound. This happens every day. Regardless of the app I use and also when I use the iPhone.

 

2) With Bubbleupnp in Lightning mode Qobuz and Tidal tracks can be selected but won't start playing.

 

3) Qobuz and Tidal tracks can be played with Bubbleupnp in upnp mode, however it doesn't play the next track of the playlist.

 

4) Airplay only works in Lightning mode. Airplay does not work in uPnP mode.

 

5) With Bubbleupnp in uPnP mode the playlist stops after three tracks.

 

6) When Airplay is used first and Bubbleupnp after, instead of album art it keeps displaying "Airplay".

 

Bubble DS and Lightning DS for Android don't seem to do better than Bubbleupnp.

 

Help is appriciated!

[jaaptina]

Cebolla and Cornan, thanks for the response. Before I used a Pioneer N-30 streamer that does Airplay and Qobuz flawlessly with Bubbleupnp and minimserver. But the N-30 it doesn't do gapless when using Bubbleupnp and I hope for better SQ with the Aries.

With the Aries I haven't tried Bubbleupnp OpenHome server yet. With choosing between 3 apps and 2 modes (upnp and lightning) its difficult to get a good start. I have got a Job INTegrated amp with internal dac. I seek to combine: Qobuz, Airplay (for my wife), Minimstreamer on a NAS (for me) and Android as controlpoint. This weekend I'll try your suggestions. Thanks.

[jaaptina]

I use the Mini without a server or hard drive installed. Just Mini>BubbleDS Next>Tidal and it works like a charm.

 

Hai Cornan,

I have tried BubbleDS Next again. I assume Qobuz works excactly like Tidal. What library do you select? I've got several (see picture) but only in "Local Media Server" I can select Cloud/Qobuz. I have acces to my Qobuz account but the tracks won't start.

 

 

If I select LightningServer[Aries] its emty and it doesn't show cloud server services.

 

 

 

When a track won't start I get the above error message on an iPad.

 

Don't ask why I don't switch to iPhone or iPad for remote control of the Aries. The iPad is the family iPad and thus always in use. The iPhone is my work phone. I don't want to see work e-mails gathering when I listen to my music :-)

 

Hello Cebolla,

I installed Bubbleupnp server on the NAS. But it doesn't recognise the Aries in Lightning mode (see picture). I could switch to uPnP mode but than I lose Airplay. I will give it a try later this weekend.

 

 

Greetings,

Jaap

[jaaptina]

I installed Bubbleupnp server on the NAS. But it doesn't recognise the Aries in Lightning mode (see picture). I could switch to uPnP mode but than I lose Airplay. I will give it a try later this weekend.

 

To my astonishment also with the Aries in uPnP mode I can't create an OpenHome renderer. I get the same error message:

[jaaptina]

Hi Jaap!

Just select Aries as Linn DS and choose Cloud/Qobuz. Make sure to add Qobuz account details in BubbleDS Next under Settings/Local Media player.

If you cannot find Aries under lighthing I assume that you did'nt set it up with the same wifi that you are using. If you have both 2,4 & 5G make sure to choose 5G during the setup and when you are playing music.

 

I selected Linn DS and found Cloud/Qobuz. Still no luck though. I can select tracks but they won't play. However if I select a 'purchased' song it does play. Thinking it could be something with the account. I logged out on all devices and logged in with Bubble DS Next. Still only the 'purchased' songs do play. Damm.

 

Going to do a fresh installation of the Aries on 5G as you suggest.

 

Thanks :-)

[jaaptina]

ps. When I use an iPad Qobuz streaming works fine. So it's only on Android in combination with Lightning mode I can only play purchased Qobuz tracks.

[jaaptina]

Qobuz streaming problem with Bubbleupnp/BubbleDS Next and Aries Mini in Lightning mode:

I can stream and play purchased tracks but no other tracks. I can select other tracks but they won't start playing. After trying all that was suggested above still no luck.

 

So now I'm on a Tidal trial account. No problems with streaming with Tidal. So it seems to be a Qobuz/Bubble issue.

 

Let you know if I get this solved.

 

Greetings

[jaaptina]

Qobuz streaming problem with Bubbleupnp/BubbleDS Next and Aries Mini in Lightning mode:

I can stream and play purchased tracks but no other tracks. I can select other tracks but they won't start playing. Seems to be a Qobuz/Bubble issue.

 

Solved!

 

On XDA/BubbleUpnp I found an old post stating the problem was Bubbleupnp asking for flac files while I have a cheaper mp3 account. Bubbleguuum advised me to use Aries in uPnP mode and Bubble UPnP Server on the NAS. I tried that to get Bubble UPnP Server running OpenHome before but without succes. Now I tought to restart Bubble UPnP Server after changing the Aries to uPnP mode. That dit it. After restarting Bubble UPnP Server I could activate Aries UPnP as OpenHome server. With Aries UPnP OpenHome as renderer I could finaly play Qobuz mp3 tracks. Hurray!!

 

Thank you all (and Bubbluguuum) for helping.

 

[jaaptina]

Anyone using Aries Mini with Bubbleupnp and Qobuz Premium recognise this problem?

 

I can play non purchased Qobuz tracks with Aries set up as upnp renderer (also with Lightning DS on iPhone).

 

Unfortunately I can't play non purchased Qobuz tracks with Aries set up in Lightning mode.

 

Bubblesoft, Qobuz and Auralic all say I should be able to play non purchased Qobuz tracks with Aries in Lightning mode. But still with Bubbleupnp non purchased Qobuz tracks won't start.

 

ps. I want to use Aries in Lightning mode because I like to use Airplay now and than. Airplay doen't work with Aries set up as upnp renderer.

 

Greetings

[jaaptina]

Hi jaaptina! Sorry to hear that you still have'nt solved your issues completely. Just checking: under Local Media Server in BubbleDS Next. Is the box "Enable to browser and play local and cloud media to your render" ticked? I have this option checked. Qobus is not available in my country so unfortunately I cannot try it out to see If it works for me.

One more thing. Under Local Media Server in BubbleDS Next make sure to check under Qobus and Amazon Cloud drive that both are enabled (ticked). You might also want to tick "Use proxy" to force cloud streams.

 

Hello Cornan,

 

Tried all your tips. But it won't work. It did help with sorting out other things out but not this.

 

Greetings,

Jaap

[jaaptina]

The problem I have is during playback a song will play 49-50seconds and then goes to the next song. It is like you are only previewing thesong. On the playback screen it shows the entire song times….it just neverfinishes a song. I am trying to recover these files without the labor ofreripping the entire collection.

 

I would advise to connect this harddisk to a pc as external or internal harddisk. See if the pc can play the songs as they should. If you get the same problem with a pc you know the files are corrupt.

 

For setting a fixed IP you need your internet browser to log on to your router. In the router settings you assign a fixed IP to the iPad and Aries. See your router manual how to do this.

[jaaptina]

I tried the playback with a pc and had the same problem....guess I will try and get another backup from the NAS and hope the files on the NAS are not corrupt as well...if so...I will be spending some quality time reripping. I just find it weird all the files are corrupt with the same issue.

 

I think a harddisk in a NAS is still a harddisk. I would remove it from the NAS and hook it up to a pc as external harddisk. I'm not an expert on this (I would just try). So you could ask for help on a NAS forum. Good luck retreiving your files!

[jaaptina]

With Qobuz Premium subscribtion (mp3) I can select tracks but they won't play. However if I select a 'purchased' song (Flac) it does play. Thinking it could be something with the account. I logged out on all devices and logged in with Bubble DS Next. Still only the 'purchased' songs do play.

 

News:

On Facebook Auralic informs us Qobuz has fixed the streaming issued from server side for track seek and bitrate display problem:

 

 

This does indeed solve my problem. Finaly I can stream tracks using Bubbleupnp with my Qobuz Premium (mp3) account and Aries Mini in Lightning mode. (before this only worked in upnp mode). Great!

[jaaptina]

Anyone voluntered for the Auralic Beta Testing Program?

https://www.facebook.com/auralic.ltd/?notif_t=notify_me_page&notif_id=1466776925400597

[jaaptina]

I give up with networking, tweaking comes to nothing - hard -wire here I come

 

I am thinking about using the internal storage capability. My library is such that to cover everything I should go for 1TB. However a 1TB SSD is expensive - the HDD option is much more attractive.

 

Is this a bad idea?

 

What drives would be recommended? eg this one?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-1TB-Laptop-SSHD-2-5-inch/dp/B00BSH3CCC/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1474368220&sr=1-2&keywords=seagate+momentus+1TB

 

Hmm, with a HDD in the Aries Mini you still need a network connection to upload new music to the HDD.

Given the networkconnection streaming NAS-router-Aries (without further tweaks) is said to have better SQ than Aries with HDD because of disturbance of the spinning HDD on the signal (former posts).

An Aries Mini with SSD is an attractive package. No cables, no extra moving parts, no NAS tweaks. However I have not read any comments on SQ of using an SSD with Aries Mini. Anyone?

 

On HDD's: http://files.computertotaal.nl/2016/06-tabel-schijven.pdf