Why LightningDS still sucks

[Fridolin]

In three words: Because it is primitive!

The user interface is still nearly as bad as it was before

 

 

• Missing (rating)stars
  
• Random play starts with first title every time. Must manually jump to other title
  
• No replay gain. Each title is playing at a different level
  
• No external playlists supported
  
• Characters way too small. Still nearly unreadable on iPad mini
  
• Much wasted real estate on screen
  
• Can't select arbitrary files to put in playlist. Only selecting one track/album or the whole library is possible
  
• If i think a little longer then i will find more items
  

Improved

 

• Cover art display in better resolution than before
  

What the hell were they doing for nearly one year?

[wgscott]

In three words: Because it is primitive!

 

I take it counting isn't your strongest asset?

[Fridolin]

I take it counting isn't your strongest asset?

Seems you're right! :-).

 

Planned to write "Because it's primitive!"

But that doesn't make my complaints less troublesome

[wgscott]

What, by the way, is LightningDS?

 

Sorry, nevermind: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lightning-ds/id887436741?mt=8

 

Would Lumin work? http://www.luminmusic.com/app.html

[wanta911]

I must admit that I am a little disappointed with the pace of change/improvements with LDS. At the very least I was hoping for some major changes with version 3.0 as far as layout and aesthetics are concerned for iPad.

[wanta911]

 

Would Lumin work? LUMIN - App

 

Yep, I've been using Lumin while waiting for LDS to get better

[Fridolin]

What, by the way, is LightningDS?

 

You may put a space between Lightning and DS if you like.

 

But i'm sure you recognized what i meant. Programmers tend to write CamelCase all the time if they don't pay attention.

 

 

Would Lumin work? LUMIN - App

 

No, unfortunately not. The app crashes my 1st gen iPad mini when starting.

 

 

Don't you take care of the poor functionality and design of the Lightning DS app?

[wanta911]

 

No, unfortunately not. The app crashes my 1st gen iPad mini when starting.

 

 

Strange....Lumin worked fine on my 1st gen iPad mini. I don't use it too much anymore though, I have an iPad Air for remote duties now.

[tranz]

There was a bug in Lumin, so try the appstore for updates. I use it daily along with Kazoo once in a while.

[Fridolin]

I had the Lumin app deleted from my iPad mini because it crashed.

So i didn't realize that there is a new version.

I installed it again - and now it works!

 

I like the user interface much more than that of Lightning DS.

Now i can read the text because the characters aren't so small.

 

But unfortunately a bunch of functionality is missing here.

No Tidal and no web radio available.

Of course that's not Lumin's fault and Auralic is responsible for their own software.

 

One more complaint on Lightning DS:

Once you select a web radio as favourite, you can't edit the sequence of the station list. You have to remove all the radio stations and begin from start if you want to order the list - crazy.

[baddog]

You could also use Kazoo - that provides Tidal support as well - however it does require setting the Aries into uPnP mode, and installing BubbleServerUPnP. FWIW.

[Fridolin]

Thanks for the tips!

 

But i really would like Lightning DS to work satisfactory.

I like the Aries Mini hardware very much, but the software isn't working well.

 

A new feature in version 3.0 allows you to play your complete music library:

 

• Add Random Play function of entire music library (Go Queue and click 'Play Now')
  

 

But what means "Go Queue"? I can't get this to work.

[Fridolin]

You could also use Kazoo - that provides Tidal support as well - however it does require setting the Aries into uPnP mode, and installing BubbleServerUPnP. FWIW.

I use the Aries Mini with an internal SSD in my car.

So BubbleServerUPnP unfortunately would not be an option for me.

[wanta911]

 

A new feature in version 3.0 allows you to play your complete music library:

 

• Add Random Play function of entire music library (Go Queue and click 'Play Now')
  

 

But what means "Go Queue"? I can't get this to work.

 

Touch the icon in the top right corner that looks like a stack of papers, that will open the queue window (make sure it's empty first) and it will display a "play now" button. Hit that and it will populate and start playing random selections from your whole library.

 

See the attached screenshot:

 

[MikeJazz]

I had the Lumin app deleted from my iPad mini because it crashed.

So i didn't realize that there is a new version.

I installed it again - and now it works!

 

I like the user interface much more than that of Lightning DS.

Now i can read the text because the characters aren't so small.

 

But unfortunately a bunch of functionality is missing here.

No Tidal and no web radio available.

Of course that's not Lumin's fault and Auralic is responsible for their own software.

 

One more complaint on Lightning DS:

Once you select a web radio as favourite, you can't edit the sequence of the station list. You have to remove all the radio stations and begin from start if you want to order the list - crazy.

 

Lumin has Tidal alright!

[wanta911]

Lumin has Tidal alright!

 

Sure but you can't use the Lumin app to access Tidal for playback on an Aries :

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f22-networking-networked-audio-and-streaming/auralic-aries-and-lumin-app-questions-26902/#post505208

[Fridolin]

Touch the icon in the top right corner that looks like a stack of papers, that will open the queue window (make sure it's empty first) and it will display a "play now" button. Hit that and it will populate and start playing random selections from your whole library.

 

Thanks, that works - sort of.

 

I have a library of nearly 9,000 of my favourite songs on the internal SSD.

Doing like you suggested fills the queue with exactly 999 songs (not 9,000) and i can play them. This is better than before, but not what Auralic promised.

 

By the way, i found a workaround for the different levels of loudness of each single song.

In JRiver Mediacenter you can convert files in an other (or the same) format, including volume levelling. This works but is very time consuming. Auralic should implement some sort of replay gain mechanism. How do you handle this problem?

[speavler]

I want to be able to just select an artist and shuffle play that entire artist. Easy peasy on the apple remote and jremote. There was some method offered where you have to go to folder view, select artist and then something and then another thing.

[2string1]

Mine doesn't display a "play now" button.

[Fridolin]

The queue must be empty first.