Auralic Aries Mini vs. Sonore microRendu vs. SOtM SMS-200 Listening Impressions

[austinpop]

Rajiv, are you doing any of this listening with speakers?

 

No, I use a headphone setup, as described.

 

Although as it happens, I had a listening session today at another CA'ers ( @limniscate ) house, on his Maggie 3.7 based setup. We compared the mR and sMS-200 there, and reached the same conclusions.

[welldone]

Hi austinpop,

I've seen that you've been using many isolation tweaks in your setup (FMC, Intonna and Vbus). Does it work well with all the stuffs? Do we really need to add Intonna and Vbus more?

Thanks.

[austinpop]

Hi austinpop,

I've seen that you've been using many isolation tweaks in your setup (FMC, Intonna and Vbus). Does it work well with all the stuffs? Do we really need to add Intonna and Vbus more?

Thanks.

No, you do not need this stuff. I already had these tweaks, so retained them for all the comparisons.

 

The only way to know is to try them in your own system. If it helps, great - if not, move on.

[mirekti]

• But - caution - it's only when you upsample to DSD512 that the magic really happens.
  

 

I understand the higher the upsample the better HQPlayer's engine can work on the file, but is the difference between let's say DSD256 vs DSD512 really magical or the difference is similar to your findings between NAA vs DLNA?

[austinpop]

I understand the higher the upsample the better HQPlayer's engine can work on the file, but is the difference between let's say DSD256 vs DSD512 really magical or the difference is similar to your findings between NAA vs DLNA?

 

I don't have a DSD512 capable DAC, so I don't actually have experience with this.

 

Someone who's done this should answer.

[Confused]

Austinpop - I was wondering if you had thought of trying the sMS-200 playing direct from a USB drive or similar? There has been much talk recently of the improved sound quality derived from direct Ethernet connection, but what is the music files skipped the Ethernet bit altogether? This might be an interesting thing to try?

 

Another question I have. You did a good job describing the difference between the mR and sMS-200. I get the impression that the difference is quite small, so would you say the difference is maybe on the limit of what could be discerned in a blind test? It's always hard to equate someone else's words with your own listening experiences.

[austinpop]

Austinpop - I was wondering if you had thought of trying the sMS-200 playing direct from a USB drive or similar? There has been much talk recently of the improved sound quality derived from direct Ethernet connection, but what is the music files skipped the Ethernet bit altogether? This might be an interesting thing to try?

 

No, I did not, because that brings USB drive noise right into the SMS. Everything I've read so far has strongly discouraged the practice of attaching USB drives to an endpoint/renderer.

 

Remember, the network is not your enemy but your friend. In addition to enabling much richer functionality, it is providing an isolation barrier to noise as well.

 

Another question I have. You did a good job describing the difference between the mR and sMS-200. I get the impression that the difference is quite small, so would you say the difference is maybe on the limit of what could be discerned in a blind test? It's always hard to equate someone else's words with your own listening experiences.

 

I don't do blind tests, since I don't have another person here with the patience to conduct them! I am pretty confident I could tell them apart. The differences are not huge, but definitely consistent.

[austinpop]

BTW - I noticed someone else who has both the mR and the sMS-200 discussing the differences in this post - and at other points in the thread. His findings seem similar.

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f10-music-servers/novel-way-massively-improve-sq-sms-200-and-microrendu-31110/index23.html#post633005

[Confused]

No, I did not, because that brings USB drive noise right into the SMS. Everything I've read so far has strongly discouraged the practice of attaching USB drives to an endpoint/renderer.

Yes, I agree on both counts. There is a 'but' here though. What I'm thinking is that you could try a few tracks from a USB thumb drive. (Maybe your playlist posted earlier). OK, all Ethernet driven functionality is lost, but a thumb drive itself will not add noise. (Maybe just using the USB port might though?). Easy enough to do and might yield an interesting result. Entirety up to you if you can be bothered with the hassle of course!

[austinpop]

I can try. I guess on the sMS I'd have to run MPD? Not sure. Never tried this.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

[hicr49]

Especially since I know that SOtM are working on an enhanced sMS-200 using their sCLK-EX clock, and I'll bet Sonore have something in the pipeline too.

Hi, just wondering where you receive the info of an enhanced sMS-200 on the work? And is there more info you can share? I'm on the edge of purchasing an sMS-200 and wondering if I should wait. Thanks!

[austinpop]

Hi, just wondering where you receive the info of an enhanced sMS-200 on the work? And is there more info you can share? I'm on the edge of purchasing an sMS-200 and wondering if I should wait. Thanks!

 

Reported in this post: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f10-music-servers/novel-way-massively-improve-sq-sms-200-and-microrendu-31110/index21.html#post629749

 

and this post: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f10-music-servers/novel-way-massively-improve-sq-sms-200-and-microrendu-31110/index23.html#post633011

 

I've also asked May Park about it, and she confirmed they are working on an sMS-200Ultra, which should be available in a couple of months, but no info on pricing.

[hicr49]

Thanks for the info! It's indeed an exciting time to be a computer audiophile =)

[austinpop]

In this installment, I'll cover my listening experiences with Audiophile Optimizer. While this may, on the surface, appear orthogonal to the comparisons between the 3 endpoints, there is a unifying theme.

 

Having discovered the benefit of network bridging and running the music server on the bridged Windows machine, I was urged to take it one step further and optimize my Windows environment using Audiophile Optimizer. Given the glowing accounts from CA'ers I trust, I decided to just take the plunge and buy it. They do offer a trial, but it's tied to using an evaluation copy of Windows, and I didn't want to bother with another Windows install as a dual boot.

 

Thanks to some detailed guidance from @clipper, setup and install was a snap. Thanks also to @lmitche , who pointed me to this thread - http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f11-software/windows-10-optimization-script-community-effort-25361/ - from which I found some registry tweaks, additional services to disable, and the idea to run my music server at realtime priority.

 

The result is quite outstanding! Initially, I didn't think much had improved, but using the sMS-200, I just browsed around my library and listened to familiar music at random. Another big step up in detail, coherence, air, and a smoother, more relaxed feel.

 

AO is truly a worthwhile upgrade. Yes, it's not free, but the results are indisputably worth it. And I haven't yet got to the best part. AudioPhil has provided a couple of tuning "knobs" called Sound Signature (values 1-4) and Digital Filters (A-D). The details are proprietary, but change the way the operating systems handles the running tasks and their priorities as they relate to the operational state of the CPU.

This is where things get interesting, as it relates to the comparisons. I found that the optimal settings for these filters were different between the 3 endpoints. @romaz described his experience in this post - http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f10-music-servers/novel-way-massively-improve-sq-sms-200-and-microrendu-31110/index23.html#post633005 - and I can confirm his findings.

 

I found that the higher resolution and detailed sMS-200 sounded best with a setting of 3C, while with the mR, I liked 2C. The Aries Mini sounded best to me at 2B. These different settings do tend to reduce the perceived differences between these endpoints, although not quite. While the lower values tend to "goose" the tone a little brighter, it also flattens the soundstage, while the higher values are mellower, but more holographic.

 

Here again, I found I ultimately liked the sMS-200 at 3C just a bit more than the others, because of the organic mix of inherent resolution with the mellowing effect of the AO filter at 3C.

 

All in all, a very interesting experiment. I may experiment with further optimizations like Process Lasso and Fidelizer, but not sure when.

[austinpop]

My Aries Mini had been powered down for the last several days while I was focusing on the mR and SMS-200 listening impressions, so when I listened to it for the AO experiments, it had been a while.

 

I must say, even though my findings about the mR and sMS-200 being just a slight bit "better" still hold, I have to say, I still love the musicality of the Aries Mini, even if it lacks that extra resolution of the others. And with the direct connect and AO mods, I was struck by how lovely it was sounding in my system.

 

Yes, I will eventually upgrade to a "better" endpoint, but as I mentioned in Parts 1 and 2, if you already own one, you shouldn't feel at all deprived! It is an outstanding piece of kit, and it scales like a champ with any number of tweaks you throw at it.

[Cornan]

My Aries Mini had been powered down for the last several days while I was focusing on the mR and SMS-200 listening impressions, so when I listened to it for the AO experiments, it had been a while.

 

I must say, even though my findings about the mR and sMS-200 being just a slight bit "better" still hold, I have to say, I still love the musicality of the Aries Mini, even if it lacks that extra resolution of the others. And with the direct connect and AO mods, I was struck by how lovely it was sounding in my system.

 

Yes, I will eventually upgrade to a "better" endpoint, but as I mentioned in Parts 1 and 2, if you already own one, you shouldn't feel at all deprived! It is an outstanding piece of kit, and it scales like a champ with any number of tweaks you throw at it.

 

Thanks for the heads-up Rajiv!

 

I especially appreciate your honest approach.

 

The pc path is something that I have left behind after many years of optimizing with scripts, Filderlizer Pro, Process Lasso, Jplay and other countless enhancements. I am not going back using a pc in my setup even if it might improve things. However, if you want to explore that path I would recommend that you visit the Jplay forum where many are using both AO and Jplay together with good results. You will surely recognize many of them from CA, but not all of them.

 

I actually started out with my Auralic Aries Mini connected to my optimized W10 Pro pc, but quite quickly realized that I want to concentrate all my efforts to get the best possible SQ with on cloud content like Tidal via a OpenHome media protocol.

 

I have got a much better SQ since then but have made countless tweaks & experiments on that path as well as you might have noticed. Summing it all up I have come to the same conclution as many others that isolation is the key to success. However, by far the best improvements is done by galvanicly isolating the AC mains. The Peaktech 2240 tech style isolation transformer made a huge difference to my system and lately when I powered my router with a galvanicly isolated lab psu (Voltcraft FSP-1134) I was amazed by the improvements.

 

Another thing. For the only purpose of trying to hide my 10m fuchsia coloured fiber-optical cable running through my appartment I connected a TP-Link RE450 range extender in wireless bridge mode ten times closer to my audio rig. I added the FMCs between the RE450 and my Aries Mini with the same 10m F-O cable and expected a change for the worse. Surpricingly not at all. It actually sounds smoother and more relaxed without loosing in any other parameter. Nothing that I can explain why, but surely a fact in my own setup.

[tapatrick]

As mentioned before Cornan I purchased a Voltcraft (the FSP 1132 in my case) on your glowing praise. This has to be one of the best deals that I've added to my system for cost to benefit, only £43 + shipping. I had trouble initially as the barrel connector on my router is not a standard one. I've set up a temp connection as I want to add silver wire for the DC cable. Suffice to say the Voltcraft is a significant addition. More detail and depth, more sparkle and richness but not bright or harsh in any way. Thanks for the heads up a real find as other 'audiophile' LPS options can run into the £100's.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cornan]

As mentioned before Cornan I purchased a Voltcraft (the FSP 1132 in my case) on your glowing praise. This has to be one of the best deals that I've added to my system for cost to benefit, only £43 + shipping. I had trouble initially as the barrel connector on my router is not a standard one. I've set up a temp connection as I want to add silver wire for the DC cable. Suffice to say the Voltcraft is a significant addition. More detail and depth, more sparkle and richness but not bright or harsh in any way. Thanks for the heads up a real find as other 'audiophile' LPS options can run into the £100's.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Great to hear that it turned out good for you as well tapatrick!

My Voltcraft FPS-1134 (sorry, I noticed that I got it wrong on my previous post..ie not FSP-1134 which is actually another psu) is likely my best audio purchases ever in terms of price vs performance.

[austinpop]

Thanks for the heads-up Rajiv!

 

I especially appreciate your honest approach.

 

The pc path is something that I have left behind after many years of optimizing with scripts, Filderlizer Pro, Process Lasso, Jplay and other countless enhancements. I am not going back using a pc in my setup even if it might improve things. However, if you want to explore that path I would recommend that you visit the Jplay forum where many are using both AO and Jplay together with good results. You will surely recognize many of them from CA, but not all of them.

 

I actually started out with my Auralic Aries Mini connected to my optimized W10 Pro pc, but quite quickly realized that I want to concentrate all my efforts to get the best possible SQ with on cloud content like Tidal via a OpenHome media protocol.

 

I have got a much better SQ since then but have made countless tweaks & experiments on that path as well as you might have noticed. Summing it all up I have come to the same conclution as many others that isolation is the key to success. However, by far the best improvements is done by galvanicly isolating the AC mains. The Peaktech 2240 tech style isolation transformer made a huge difference to my system and lately when I powered my router with a galvanicly isolated lab psu (Voltcraft FSP-1134) I was amazed by the improvements.

 

Another thing. For the only purpose of trying to hide my 10m fuchsia coloured fiber-optical cable running through my appartment I connected a TP-Link RE450 range extender in wireless bridge mode ten times closer to my audio rig. I added the FMCs between the RE450 and my Aries Mini with the same 10m F-O cable and expected a change for the worse. Surpricingly not at all. It actually sounds smoother and more relaxed without loosing in any other parameter. Nothing that I can explain why, but surely a fact in my own setup.

 

Hi Micael,

 

Appreciate your kind words. Yes, I have had my honesty tested with my recent experiments, because the results were actually contrary to what I had hoped!

 

Unlike you, I never even got into the whole mess of tweaking PCs. I preferred the elegance and simplicity of running Minim on my NAS, directly consumed by a renderer like the SBT, and then the Aries Mini. As you well know, I focused my attention of isolation in many dimensions, including AC and DC power.

 

But two findings in recent times, have drawn me, kicking and screaming, into the PC tuning space. First was the Romaz Result - that attaching the endpoint to a PC directly, avoiding a switch led to increased SQ. We still don't know why. The second finding was that running MinimServer on the bridged PC sounded much more coherent and better than Minim running on the NAS. Even though the data in both cases lives on the NAS! Again, a very perplexing result, although perhaps at least conceivably related to OS implementation, and HW resources.

 

Essentially, my hope with the isolation approach was that by isolating as many dimensions immediately upstream of the DAC at the renderer, it would be immune to everything upstream. Sadly that appears to not be true. Which opened Pandora's box.

 

At this point, I am at a crossroads. Yes, I could now go down the long and deep rabbit hole of PC tweaking - mobo's, cards, chassis's, LPSU's blah blah. It just makes me ill. Or I will wait for someone to build a "bridged Roon server appliance" - a micro Roon-du if you will - and go with that.

 

Did I mention? It's an exciting time to be a computer audiophile!

[austinpop]

As mentioned before Cornan I purchased a Voltcraft (the FSP 1132 in my case) on your glowing praise. This has to be one of the best deals that I've added to my system for cost to benefit, only £43 + shipping. I had trouble initially as the barrel connector on my router is not a standard one. I've set up a temp connection as I want to add silver wire for the DC cable. Suffice to say the Voltcraft is a significant addition. More detail and depth, more sparkle and richness but not bright or harsh in any way. Thanks for the heads up a real find as other 'audiophile' LPS options can run into the £100's.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Very exciting find, indeed. I recently picked up a used HDPlex, and am using 3 of its 4 taps to power my bits and bobs of network gear up in my closet: my broadband modem, router, and a switch - basically everything connected to the router, or in the path to my audio gear.

 

Except my NAS. Not sure I want to spend a lot for a high current LPS there.

 

I have to say, the improvement was quite modest, but noticeable. Of course, the HDPlex does not claim (or at least isn't) galvanically isolating.

 

Further discussion on this topic should probably head back to the isolation thread!

[Cornan]

Hi Micael,

 

Appreciate your kind words. Yes, I have had my honesty tested with my recent experiments, because the results were actually contrary to what I had hoped!

 

Unlike you, I never even got into the whole mess of tweaking PCs. I preferred the elegance and simplicity of running Minim on my NAS, directly consumed by a renderer like the SBT, and then the Aries Mini. As you well know, I focused my attention of isolation in many dimensions, including AC and DC power.

 

But two findings in recent times, have drawn me, kicking and screaming, into the PC tuning space. First was the Romaz Result - that attaching the endpoint to a PC directly, avoiding a switch led to increased SQ. We still don't know why. The second finding was that running MinimServer on the bridged PC sounded much more coherent and better than Minim running on the NAS. Even though the data in both cases lives on the NAS! Again, a very perplexing result, although perhaps at least conceivably related to OS implementation, and HW resources.

 

Essentially, my hope with the isolation approach was that by isolating as many dimensions immediately upstream of the DAC at the renderer, it would be immune to everything upstream. Sadly that appears to not be true. Which opened Pandora's box.

 

At this point, I am at a crossroads. Yes, I could now go down the long and deep rabbit hole of PC tweaking - mobo's, cards, chassis's, LPSU's blah blah. It just makes me ill. Or I will wait for someone to build a "bridged Roon server appliance" - a micro Roon-du if you will - and go with that.

 

Did I mention? It's an exciting time to be a computer audiophile!

 

You're worth it! ?

 

*Haha* exciting times indeed Rajiv! ?

 

What ever path you choose you'll find a deep rabbit hole. You'll just need to find the right one to jump into! ? I've found my personal OpenHome rabbit hole to explore (just because it sounds best with Tidal) and I ain't leaving there until I'm all done! ?

 

You are really a rare kind of rabbit. You explore things with an open mind and only trust your own big ears to find out the truth...not depending on what other rabbits tells you to. It makes me trust your judgements much more than many other rabbits! ?

 

Minimserver and Bubble UPnP Server is probably the greatest of them all. I have chosen the latter lately since I use Bubble UPnP and Bubble DS Next as my preferred control points. Combined with FB2k and Bubbleguuum UPnP add-on it is more or less a one-stop solution with unlimited options.

 

The PC path do not necessary needs to be deep if you learn your lessons before you dig deep. I have just personally promised myself never ever go down that rabbit hole ever again. I intend to keep that promise. Touch wood! ?

[austinpop]

You're worth it! 

 

*Haha* exciting times indeed Rajiv! 

 

What ever path you choose you'll find a deep rabbit hole. You'll just need to find the right one to jump into!  I've found my personal OpenHome rabbit hole to explore (just because it sounds best with Tidal) and I ain't leaving there until I'm all done! 

 

You are really a rare kind of rabbit. You explore things with an open mind and only trust your own big ears to find out the truth...not depending on what other rabbits tells you to. It makes me trust your judgements much more than many other rabbits! 

 

Minimserver and Bubble UPnP Server is probably the greatest of them all. I have chosen the latter lately since I use Bubble UPnP and Bubble DS Next as my preferred control points. Combined with FB2k and Bubbleguuum UPnP add-on it is more or less a one-stop solution with unlimited options.

 

The PC path do not necessary needs to be deep if you learn your lessons before you dig deep. I have just personally promised myself never ever go down that rabbit hole ever again. I intend to keep that promise. Touch wood! 

 

Yes indeed!

 

It's good to step back once in a while and reflect on what's important. We each have to navigate this space according to our interests, our time, and our preferences.

[artur9]

Minimserver and Bubble UPnP Server is probably the greatest of them all. 

I use MinimServer and Linn Kazoo on my iPad. Sadly, no Bubble for iOS.

[Cornan]

I use MinimServer and Linn Kazoo on my iPad. Sadly, no Bubble for iOS.

Considering how cheap those Android tablets is it is not a big obstacle. The control point do not need to be powerful. For me it is perfect since my family is using iPads (on 2,4Ghz) and I can use my Android tablet (on 5Ghz) for music and CA only! ?

[austinpop]

Assuming we're talking about the Aries Mini, and iOS, I found Lightning DS to be head and shoulders better than the "free" apps.

 

I tried Kazoo, Lumin, and Audionet iMM, and while I won't claim to have done a comprehensive review, I found all of them to be quite disappointing.

 

Lightning DS has come a long way over the last year, and to me, it's one of the strengths of the AURALiC ecosystem now.

 

Still not perfect - I find its handling of multiple composers on albums to be completely brain dead, for example.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile