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

[Cornan]

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

 

Nothing wrong with Lightning DS IMO. It is very good indeed. Bubble UPnP and BubbleDS Next is in my opinion by far the best alternative control points. But as always with GUI it is very personal. No guarantee that you'll like it. You'll have to try it to know it. ?

[Cornan]

I might also add that I think that BubbleDS Next (via LightningDS/OpenHome) actually sounds slightly better to me with Tidal as source. The difference is not big..but it is there. I would say LightningDS sounds brighter and BubbleDS Next more full. That was the main reason why I choosed it instead of LightningDS in the first place.

 

I use BubbleUPnP for my secondary setup without Aries Mini. BubbleUPnP does'nt sound as good as BubbleDS Next with Aries Mini.

[MrUnderhill]

Hi Rajiv,

 

Thank you for all your hard work. Your conclusion echoes that of Hans Beekhuysen:

 

 

As you suggest I will stick with the microRendu, especially as I am getting more and more from it.

 

Currently I am working on the other end, following the work of rb2013 with the StarTech:

 

Ultra USB Chain USB/Ethernet Hybrid Startech/ICRON/LanRover - PC Audio and Music Servers • US Audio Mart

 

I completely agree that these end point are very transparent of the changes in the chains that feed them.

 

M

[Cornan]

I wish rb2013 was a bit more open minded. He have the potential to do great things if he learns a little respect and understand to listen to other peoples suggestions. To me he is exploring the frontiers without dealing with isolation.

[austinpop]

Hi Rajiv,

 

Thank you for all your hard work. Your conclusion echoes that of Hans Beekhuysen:

 

 

As you suggest I will stick with the microRendu, especially as I am getting more and more from it.

 

Currently I am working on the other end, following the work of rb2013 with the StarTech:

 

Ultra USB Chain USB/Ethernet Hybrid Startech/ICRON/LanRover - PC Audio and Music Servers • US Audio Mart

 

I completely agree that these end point are very transparent of the changes in the chains that feed them.

 

M

 

Nice.

 

Maybe I should adopt a Dutch accent and start a YouTube channel!

[austinpop]

I wish rb2013 was a bit more open minded. He have the potential to do great things if he learns a little respect and understand to listen to other peoples suggestions. To me he is exploring the frontiers without dealing with isolation.

 

Yeah I lost patience there.

[artur9]

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

 

That's one of the things I like about the MinimServer/Kazoo interaction. I can configure MinimServer to present custom metadata and Kazoo has no problem navigating such.

 

Not that I believe that Kazoo is somehow unique in this respect. But it's less crash-y than some of the other control points I've used.

[MrUnderhill]

Hi Rajiv,

 

I enjoy Hans' videos, but on this occasion I preferred your write up. It went into a lot of interesting detail and gave me a greater feel on whether a switch would add in any significant way.

 

From my POV with the work that can be done in terms of Isolation & system tuning I am happy to continue tweaking, by which time Jesus and the team may well have come out with an update. Either way I am getting better digital music at home.

 

M

[Rexp]

Hi Rajiv,

 

Thank you for all your hard work. Your conclusion echoes that of Hans Beekhuysen:

 

 

As you suggest I will stick with the microRendu, especially as I am getting more and more from it.

 

Currently I am working on the other end, following the work of rb2013 with the StarTech:

 

Ultra USB Chain USB/Ethernet Hybrid Startech/ICRON/LanRover - PC Audio and Music Servers • US Audio Mart

 

I completely agree that these end point are very transparent of the changes in the chains that feed them.

 

M

 

Indeed the comparison I would be interested in is server like Innuos Zen plus rb2013 USB chain v PC plus streamer. As my network is patchy I hope the former might win..

[austinpop]

Hi Rajiv,

 

I enjoy Hans' videos, but on this occasion I preferred your write up. It went into a lot of interesting detail and gave me a greater feel on whether a switch would add in any significant way.

 

From my POV with the work that can be done in terms of Isolation & system tuning I am happy to continue tweaking, by which time Jesus and the team may well have come out with an update. Either way I am getting better digital music at home.

 

M

Thanks for your kudos.

 

Yes, exactly. Just having someone say to you that A is better than B is not useful. You need the system context, and how it fits their sonic objectives.

[mozes]

Cornan, to my ears BubbleUPnP on my Android Tablet with Jplaytreamer is the best for using Tidal. I tried Mconnect from my iphone, but didn't like the sound, more clinical & less musical

 

I might also add that I think that BubbleDS Next (via LightningDS/OpenHome) actually sounds slightly better to me with Tidal as source. The difference is not big..but it is there. I would say LightningDS sounds brighter and BubbleDS Next more full. That was the main reason why I choosed it instead of LightningDS in the first place.

 

I use BubbleUPnP for my secondary setup without Aries Mini. BubbleUPnP does'nt sound as good as BubbleDS Next with Aries Mini.

[Cornan]

Cornan, to my ears BubbleUPnP on my Android Tablet with Jplaytreamer is the best for using Tidal. I tried Mconnect from my iphone, but didn't like the sound, more clinical & less musical

 

I started out using BubbleDS Next with Jplaystreamer. BubbleUPnP is really the holy grail of control points. It is extremely versitail and can control just about anything. Video or music. Sounds great too. BubbleDS Next is not at all as versitail. It is concentrated to music only, works seemless with OpenHome & Tidal, a little bit quicker respons time and I would say it sounds slightly better than BubbleUPnP too. Not intirely sure everyone would hear the difference between the two though, since the differences in SQ are very small. BubbleUPnP is a one stop solution, BubbleDS Next is more of a specialized solution.

[mozes]

Thanks for sharing your impressions, I will check out BubbleDS and see if I can hear any difference

 

I started out using BubbleDS Next with Jplaystreamer. BubbleUPnP is really the holy grail of control points. It is extremely versitail and can control just about anything. Video or music. Sounds great too. BubbleDS Next is not at all as versitail. It is concentrated to music only, works seemless with OpenHome & Tidal, a little bit quicker respons time and I would say it sounds slightly better than BubbleUPnP too. Not intirely sure everyone would hear the difference between the two though, since the differences in SQ are very small. BubbleUPnP is a one stop solution, BubbleDS Next is more of a specialized solution.

[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?

 

I spent a half hour beating my head against this, but I have to report I couldn't get this mode - playing music from a 32GB USB 3.0 stick directly attached to an sMS-200 - to work.

 

I suspect this is MPD mode? I did some googling, and it looks like I need a paid app on my iPhone, but it looked sort of sketchy.

 

Sorry.

 

If someone can describe the exact steps I need to take, I can give this another shot. I only have the sMS-200 for another day.

[artur9]

I spent a half hour beating my head against this, but I have to report I couldn't get this mode - playing music from a 32GB USB 3.0 stick directly attached to an sMS-200 - to work.

I suspect this is MPD mode?

I've done this in MPD mode with mpod, which is a free iOS app. Download that, start it and go into connections. I think it should show up under DISCOVERED PLAYERS as MPD on eunhasu. If it doesn''t you can manually add it if you know its IP address.

 

I connect the stick(s), go into mpod settings, hit refresh local cache and update database a few times. Then I go into Browse and I can see the USB sticks.

 

It's doesn't seem to be the quickest at noticing that sticks have been added/removed so it's a bit frustrating.

[austinpop]

I've done this in MPD mode with mpod, which is a free iOS app. Download that, start it and go into connections. I think it should show up under DISCOVERED PLAYERS as MPD on eunhasu. If it doesn''t you can manually add it if you know its IP address.

 

I connect the stick(s), go into mpod settings, hit refresh local cache and update database a few times. Then I go into Browse and I can see the USB sticks.

 

It's doesn't seem to be the quickest at noticing that sticks have been added/removed so it's a bit frustrating.

Hmm, either Mpod has been pulled, or it's not available in the US.

 

I only see MPDluxe, a $2.99 app.

[austinpop]

This is the last weekend I have with the sMS-200 and mR, as they get packed up and shipped back Monday. I will be sad to see them go, as I have learned a lot from their presence in my system these last few weeks.

 

In this final report, I want to talk about the use of FMCs and the effect of the LPS-1, because in my extended experiments, I found this is one of the key factors in narrowing the gap between the Aries Mini and the mR/sMS-200.

 

As you may recall, I discovered that running MinimServer on my bridged W10 box yielded the best results. I also discovered that for the mR and the sMS-200, the bridged connection sounded better direct - i.e. without any FMCs.

 

Not so with the Aries Mini. Why? Well - this gets to the heart of what the LPS-1 does. In some cases, it's just a good quality LPS. But in other cases - it has a WOW effect - presumably when it's galvanic isolation from the AC mains breaks a ground leakage loop. Note - read John Swenson's treatise(s) on this here on CA to understand this better.

 

Even before I got the mR and sMS-200 in house, I had discovered my LPS-1 gave me the WOW experience when I had it power my downstream FMC. The entire chain looks like so:

 

• W10 bridge > FMC (Teradak) > FMC (LPS-1) > Aries Mini (Auralic LPS) > Intona > Vbus2 > RUR (el cheapo LPS) > Ayre Codex DAC
  

Interestingly, the LPS-1 did not give me any WOW when powering the RUR instead. So clearly in my system, there was a leakage loop that the LPS-1 broke right upstream of my Aries Mini. And there wasn't a sufficiently noticeable loop at my RUR. Perhaps it's due to the DAC, perhaps it's due to the Intona. Be that as it may, in my system, the FMC location was the winner.

 

Now - since both the mR and sMS-200 were powered by LPS-1's, I saw a different result with them. I guess because whatever leakage loop existed at that point was being broken by the LPS-1 powering the mR/sMS-200, there was no WOW from the (separate) LPS-1 powering the downstream FMC.

 

As a result of that, I discovered that the presence of the FMCs themselves was hindering the SQ, and I got best results with the mR/sMS-200 connected direct without any FMCs!

 

So - to net this out. Here are the optimal chains for each of the streamers:

 

• Aries Mini: W10 bridge > FMC (Teradak) > FMC (LPS-1) > Aries Mini (Auralic LPS) > Intona > Vbus2 > RUR (el cheapo LPS) > Ayre Codex DAC
  
• mR/sMS-200: W10 bridge > mR/sMS-200 (LPS-1) > Intona > Vbus2 > RUR (el cheapo LPS) > Ayre Codex DAC
  

Moral of the Story

 

For my system, this resulted in two key lessons learned:

1. In general, direct connection to a bridged music server sounds better without FMCs... unless some other effect gets intertwined. In my case, the breaking of a leakage loop by the LPS-1. So with my Aries Mini, I still need FMCs - not for the fiber isolation, but rather for the LPS-1 powering the FMC!
   
2. At worst, the LPS-1 is a very good LPS. But at best, when it happens to kill one or more leakage loops, its effect can be transformational. The problem is - you don't know until you try it. So - manage your expectations. And try as many alternate locations for the LPS-1 as feasible in your system until you find the best one.
   

[artur9]

Hmm, either Mpod has been pulled, or it's not available in the US.

I only see MPDluxe, a $2.99 app.

OK. I wouldn't download it from the Zimbabwean store either. Good thing I already have it. ;-)

 

You could try using the command line client, mpc. Or maybe one of the Bryston MPD apps. Theremin on the Mac worked fine. Or are you Windows-based?

[austinpop]

It's ok. MPDluxe is working. $2.99 towards science!

 

Listening now.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

[Confused]

 

I spent a half hour beating my head against this, but I have to report I couldn't get this mode - playing music from a 32GB USB 3.0 stick directly attached to an sMS-200 - to work.

QUOTE]

Understood. In fact this is one of my pet hates, you try something that should be really simple, it does not work, you are determined to get it to work, the next thing you find is most of the day has gone. Frustrating! I'm glad you chose to give up at 30 minutes!

[austinpop]

 

I spent a half hour beating my head against this, but I have to report I couldn't get this mode - playing music from a 32GB USB 3.0 stick directly attached to an sMS-200 - to work.

Understood. In fact this is one of my pet hates, you try something that should be really simple, it does not work, you are determined to get it to work, the next thing you find is most of the day has gone. Frustrating! I'm glad you chose to give up at 30 minutes!

 

I lied - I did try harder.

 

Actually, I opened my wallet and spent the 3 bucks for the MPDeluxe app, after which it all worked - after an initial delay for the USB drive to show up on the app.

 

Listening Impressions

 

Caveat: my music server machine is tweaked with AudioPhile Optimizer and Process Lasso. I've tuned the sound signature to 3C in AO.

 

On the whole, the SQ from the USB flash drive was excellent. I would say it was on par with streaming from my music server before AO. With the AO/PL optimizations in place, the streaming configuration sounded better - smoother, more relaxed, but I'm fairly confident these are the attributes that AO contributed to.

 

Usability wise - there's no contest. MPD is like using a command line instead of a GUI. I know I'm fairly ascetic, but even for me, there is a night and day difference between using Lumin or Lightning DS compared to MPDeluxe. And Roon is, of course, a whole different level of sophistication.

 

Of course, you're also limited to the capacity possible on a flash drive.

[Confused]

I lied - I did try harder.

 

Actually, I opened my wallet and spent the 3 bucks for the MPDeluxe app, after which it all worked - after an initial delay for the USB drive to show up on the app.

 

Listening Impressions

 

Caveat: my music server machine is tweaked with AudioPhile Optimizer and Process Lasso. I've tuned the sound signature to 3C in AO.

 

On the whole, the SQ from the USB flash drive was excellent. I would say it was on par with streaming from my music server before AO. With the AO/PL optimizations in place, the streaming configuration sounded better - smoother, more relaxed, but I'm fairly confident these are the attributes that AO contributed to.

 

Usability wise - there's no contest. MPD is like using a command line instead of a GUI. I know I'm fairly ascetic, but even for me, there is a night and day difference between using Lumin or Lightning DS compared to MPDeluxe. And Roon is, of course, a whole different level of sophistication.

 

Of course, you're also limited to the capacity possible on a flash drive.

Good work getting this sorted. Your comments on usability are clear and duly noted. However, because there has been so much talk recently of the sound quality hike gained by direct Ethernet connection of the SMS-200, what I was wondering is how sound quality running direct off a USB compared to Ethernet direct connection, or 'traditional' connection via a router etc. Any ideas?

[austinpop]

Good work getting this sorted. Your comments on usability are clear and duly noted. However, because there has been so much talk recently of the sound quality hike gained by direct Ethernet connection of the SMS-200, what I was wondering is how sound quality running direct off a USB compared to Ethernet direct connection, or 'traditional' connection via a router etc. Any ideas?

 

Oh, was I not clear about my chain? My configuration was with a direct Ethernet connection.

• Network: W10 bridge > sMS-200 (LPS-1) > Intona > Vbus2 > RUR (el cheapo LPS) > Ayre Codex DAC
  
• USB: 32GB flash drive > sMS-200 (LPS-1) > Intona > Vbus2 > RUR (el cheapo LPS) > Ayre Codex DAC
  

[Confused]

Oh, was I not clear about my chain? My configuration was with a direct Ethernet connection.

• Network: W10 bridge > sMS-200 (LPS-1) > Intona > Vbus2 > RUR (el cheapo LPS) > Ayre Codex DAC
  
• USB: 32GB flash drive > sMS-200 (LPS-1) > Intona > Vbus2 > RUR (el cheapo LPS) > Ayre Codex DAC
  

Actually that was clear, I think the issue was that I was being a bit slow and interpreted 'streaming from my music server' as being streaming direct, that is without the SMS-200. I now realise that you have actually answered my question quite clearly, and an interesting result it is too. Thanks!

[artur9]

Usability wise - there's no contest. MPD is like using a command line instead of a GUI.

Firstly, thanks. Good to have results from a consistent set of ears and hardware.

 

Secondly, yeah, mpd is something else, UI-wise. I use minimserver, upmpdci and Linn Kazoo to tame it. Roon, not my thing.

 

AO/PL is running where?