Auralic Aries Mini

[agillis]

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.....

 

The Sonicorbiter SE does what's it's specs indicate. We decided to go with small size over putting a DAC inside since most people don't need a DAC. For people with active speakers and less funds we have what I call a cable DAC. It's a small inline DAC, USN in and RCA out.

 

VortexBox USB DAC

 

For $39 you can buy one with your Sonicorbiter SE and it will still be cheaper then the mini.

 

What I'm really excited about is the support for large music collections using Roon. Roon scans everything in real time and lets you start listening to your music before it's all indexed. So a 100K track collection becomes much more manageable.

 

It doesn't need to send 100k pieces of artwork to your iPad. It just send the ones you are looking at at the moment. Amazing design.

[RhythMick]

Partial success - followed by repeated tragic failures.

 

I found a setting on the ASUS under LAN - IPTV labelled "Enable Multicast Routing (IGMP Proxy)" and enabled that. I also renamed the 5GHz SSID unique from the 2.4 and ensured the IPAD was ONLY connecting to that. Went through the setup again, giving the Mini the new 5GHz SSID and login (even though it's wired) and hey presto - the app saw it ! It even recognised the USB connection to my SOTM DAC.

 

Unfortunately I have yet to get it to play anything. I've had about 30 attempts with various failures.

 

The Lightning App crashes at various points.

 

It has tried a few times to load the library of tracks on my NAS (about 2,000 of them) and the app usually crashes at around 60 to 70% (not consistent).

 

Restarting the app after a crash it will sometimes not see the device (10%) and the rest of the time not see the music library (90%). In both cases, selecting "Just Start Up" gets me to the main screen. From there I can go to the music library and try refreshing the cache, whereupon it usually crashes.

 

I bypassed the library and went to browse folders once and was able to see music files. First file I tried it couldn't play. Second file it tried, but no music and after about 40 seconds the app crashed anyway.

 

I also tried radio - was able to get a list of stations, but no sound.

 

Frankly I'm not in the mood to listen to music. I'll give it another go over the weekend, after which it's going back. I'm the geek/tinkerer of our household - lord knows the reaction if I ever gave this to my wife to play some music.

[RhythMick]

Your best bet would be to enlist Auralic support.

 

Are you sure your home network is a single logical subnet (I.e. all devices get an IP address in the same address range, for example 192.168.1.xxx, there is exactly one gateway and exactly one DHCP server)?

 

It sounds like your iPad and your Mini are not connecting to the same subnet, so they can't see each other.

 

But again, don't try to use the forum to debug, you may just get more misinformation.

 

To reiterate, contact support.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile mobile app

 

Thanks Austin. Yes it's one subnet 192.168.0.xxx, subnet mask is 255.255.255.0. There's one gateway, one DHCP server. See above, I managed to get a connection, but sadly couldn't make the app stay up for more then 30 seconds or so.

[Artie S]

I am using the internal Dac in my Mini and find the percise fiter to sound the best.

 

Was wondering what other people think?

[misterdog]

I can't understand why people don't try to operate the Mini with a simple USB thumb drive first.

 

Walk before you can run ?

 

People seem to want to stream 2500000 tracks from a NAS 2 streets away via 3 networks. Then Blame their new toy for being crap and sending it back.

 

I have mine running using Android, though I required an Ipad to set up initially. Yes I have had teething troubles and some hoops to jump through, but what do you expect from a small company and at this price ?

 

If someone like Cisco built a similar device it would work perfectly with any system...But what price ???

I have seen their testing facility, several dozen aircraft hangers full to the rafters with

every piece of digital hardware that has ever been built.

 

Sound quality is excellent with LPS through Quad ESL's.

[austinpop]

Thanks Austin. Yes it's one subnet 192.168.0.xxx, subnet mask is 255.255.255.0. There's one gateway, one DHCP server. See above, I managed to get a connection, but sadly couldn't make the app stay up for more then 30 seconds or so.

 

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!

[davide256]

Nope.

 

Connecting to the Auralic WIFI is fine - gets the device ID, reads the details. Give it the password to the Lounge access point. IPad connects back to the home network, but then it can't see the Mini.

 

I guess my home network is a little more complex than most simply because of the age, shape and size of the house. The BT Home Hub 4 serves modem duties and is the DHCP - I keep it that way because BT always want to blame the router if it's not one of theirs. I have an ASUS D55 upstairs and a Netgear in the lounge. There's also a Netgear gigabit switch in the lounge but that's just a dumb device. The Mini is ethernet wired into the Gigabit switch so it shouldn't need the lounge wifi details.

 

It gives a message about "UDP SSDP Multicast" ? Googling tells me there's no option to enable that on the BT Home Hub 4.

 

I've tried connecting the ipad both to the HH4 and to the Netgear - nothing doing.

 

Any pointers gratefully received.

 

Bypass the switch and go direct to router

[davide256]

Oh, and you may have to check your router config if that doesn't work to see if it has multicast enabled, there a note to that effect somewhere in the Aries FAQ's

[baddog]

This tip was buried many many messages back....

 

Additional message: Some of the WiFi router will block UDP multicast completely by default as they consider SSDP multicast message as a DDoS attack package. If customer is using this type of WiFi router, they need to make sure not active the 'firewall' function. or add an exception for SSDP multicast.

 

[the_bat]

I think the HomeHub may not be passing the multicast messages between the wired and wireless halves of the LAN side. I had this issue a while back and ended up buying a different router. Can you try the mini wireless?

[digitalzed]

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.

[baddog]

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

[pvanosta]

@misterdog,

If your dig about walking before you run was aimed in my general direction, the Aries mini in my brother's house was hooked up to Ethernet as he has his whole house properly wired with gigabit. There is nothing visibly weird about his setup and I am now clearly no longer the only one reporting issues with network connections and reading medium to large libraries.

As to the other question about how I acquire this size library: I have been collecting music for over 30 years .

[Tintinabulum]

I think the HomeHub may not be passing the multicast messages between the wired and wireless halves of the LAN side. I had this issue a while back and ended up buying a different router. Can you try the mini wireless?

 

My HH5 doesn't work, I need to select a separate wifi network (local network set up using Airport Express, that happened to be there).

 

Aries works very well for me, great SQ with the Vega but there will always be some tinkering, preserve! Auralic are are great but small company IMHO.

[digitalzed]

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.

[baddog]

@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.

[digitalzed]

@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.

[RhythMick]

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.

[Albrecht]

Deleted

[digitalzed]

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?

[Gary Pearce]

In my cabin onboard the oil tanker I work on!

I'm using Plex as a server on my MacBook Air, then BubbleuPnP as the controller. Aries Mini connected to my wireless network.

I couldn't get the Mini to work with my 5TB WD drive straight to USB though, I'll investigate but it's doing its thing nicely in this configuration.

Sounding very very nice in this environment, certainly value for money in SQ terms.

[baddog]

Wow Gary - that is quite the environment! Hope it's warm.

 

Barr

[bruny]

sorry about the basic question. but which connection do I use on the Mini to make use of the Dac. connecting to my A/V reciever. wanting to bypass receivers Dac.

[baddog]

If you wish to use the DAC within the Aries Mini you should use the standard RCA line outs. They are Line Out - Left and Line Out - Right on the Aries Mini.

 

See this picture.

[bruny]

thanks baddog. did I also read somewhere that you can change Dac settings from balanced to precise, can't remember where I read it now. If so could you point me in the direction of that setting in the app. cheers