AURALiC G2 series digital components (ARIES G2, VEGA G2 and etc) information

[hmartin]

17 hours ago, Dr Tone said:

 

You can program your own remote to do it as I said.  No need to buy another remote.

 

https://support.auralic.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000394414-What-is-Smart-IR-

Thanks that sounds perfect, I have play etc on my remote so would be perfect to program them to support Roon play etc.

[the_bat]

On 10/12/2017 at 1:47 AM, The Computer Audiophile said:

I have the Vega G2 and Aries G2 and will publish a review in about one week. 

Any update on when we might see the review?  This was over three months ago.

[tdimler]

Ditto.  Pretty concerning.  I understand via the Auralic help page/forum there are some issues with USB communication to the Aires G2 which remain unresolved.  Either a lack of communication or ticks and pops in the audio signal..... 

[hemidemisemiquaver]

Chris posted some photos of the Auralic Aries G2.

He said that he "can't wait to publish my (his) full review in the coming weeks". 

I hope that his review of the Vega G2 is not too far behind, as I am very interested in buying the two together.

 

 

 

[thyname]

I read "R2R" mentioned on Auralic Vega G2 page - when talking about volume control. Pardon my ignorance, but is Vega G2 considered a R2R / discrete ladder DAC (like Holo Spring) or delta/ sigma?

[saturdayboy]

It’s based on a customized ESS Sabre chip, which is described as differing from a standard delta sigma chip. It’s the first non-R2R dac that I actually like.

[Emerald Core]

On 4/26/2017 at 3:36 PM, Wang Xuanqian said:

 

The reason we have a separate processor unit is because current CPU inside streamer and DAC is not powerful enough to provide highest quality of resampling, signal process (such as room correction). The processor unit itself is not just designed for using with VEGA DAC but can be used as a standalone unit as well, it has regular digital and USB input and digital, USB output. 

 

The Display on VEGA G2 is as same as on ARIES G2 which is NOT OLED but retina resolution IPS LCD.

 

There is currently no way to pack all new features we developed in the last three years into one single box and I do not believe other manufacturer have the technology to do that either.

 

DCS Vivaldi One ?

[MNG]

I’m surprised at the lack of feedback on the G2 Aries given that the original Aries was quite a popular device. My initial reaction to the G2 was that it looked nice but I couldn’t identify enough of an upgrade to warrant the difference in price compared to the original. Maybe others thought the same and it could possibly be that the lack of feedback indicates that not many are being sold?

 

I would actually be very interested in how the G2 compares against the original as well as the dCS Network Bridge which looks like the main competition at this point.

[atletico]

3 hours ago, MNG said:

I’m surprised at the lack of feedback on the G2 Aries given that the original Aries was quite a popular device. My initial reaction to the G2 was that it looked nice but I couldn’t identify enough of an upgrade to warrant the difference in price compared to the original. Maybe others thought the same and it could possibly be that the lack of feedback indicates that not many are being sold?

 

I would actually be very interested in how the G2 compares against the original as well as the dCS Network Bridge which looks like the main competition at this point.

 

From my earlier post about the sound from Aries G2 compared to my 3 years old Aries Femto:

"Everything the Aries G1 do very well the Aries G2 do better.... I' very impressed what Auralic have done with the G2 series.

The soundstage are bigger,  deeper with more air and space. Voices are presented extremely realistic . The Aries G2 has also more information and go deeper in the lower parts.

The overall build quality are also in another league  compared to my old Aries G1."

 

What has later happened:

I'm now on my second Aries G2. The first G2 I got in the end of October last year. This had a problem playing from the galvanic USB output to my Kii Control. The sound was distorted with lot on noise and popping or it simply wouldn't play at all. I then used the coax output most of the time  with my first G2 ( with excellent sound indeed !)

So my local dealer sent me a  second Aries G2. This one played and worked well from the galvanic USB to my Kii Control dac/digital preamp and the sound is like the description from my first feedback

After one week this unit starts going into freeze (deadlock) mode from time to time, mostly if its not been used for 10-15 hours. This happens both when its left on all the time and also in sleep mode.

No contact with the player and no buttons working. Only a power cycling with a restart will help. This has been going on for almost two months now, testing both my wi-fi network ( works very well)  and only used the coax output on the Aries G2 to see if this could change this issue. But it still freezes...

So now I will wait and hear what my local dealer propose. Maybe I will test a third Aries G2. Compared to my original Aries Femto with no problems for 3 years, this last months has been disappointed but luckily I got a extremely dedicated local dealer who has followed me up all the time..

[One and a half]

@atletico , sorry to hear of the G2 drama. Your dealer's actions are appreciated, but ultimately Auralic need this fixed. Given the delayed introduction of the G2, have too many resources not made it to the right section, perhaps corners were cut. It would have been a huge effort to develop the G2, and to see the performance nosedive over something that needs to be essential is a worry.

 

The closed shop processing connector puts me off the G2 series. This doesn't allow any 3rd party reference clocks to lock onto anything in the chain, so it is necessary to purchase an Auralic re-clocker and reference clock unit, both of which have not arrived (as yet). 

[atletico]

51 minutes ago, One and a half said:

@atletico , sorry to hear of the G2 drama. Your dealer's actions are appreciated, but ultimately Auralic need this fixed. Given the delayed introduction of the G2, have too many resources not made it to the right section, perhaps corners were cut. It would have been a huge effort to develop the G2, and to see the performance nosedive over something that needs to be essential is a worry.

 

The closed shop processing connector puts me off the G2 series. This doesn't allow any 3rd party reference clocks to lock onto anything in the chain, so it is necessary to purchase an Auralic re-clocker and reference clock unit, both of which have not arrived (as yet). 

The sound the Aries G2 presents in my  listening room are the reason that I really want this to work and keep the Aries G2 in my  setup.

I'm not sure if a similar priced Aurender or Lumin will sound as good as the G2 with its almost "analogic" presentation of my digital music... I also  like the overall design of the Aries G2.

[One and a half]

4 hours ago, atletico said:

The sound the Aries G2 presents in my  listening room are the reason that I really want this to work and keep the Aries G2 in my  setup.

I'm not sure if a similar priced Aurender or Lumin will sound as good as the G2 with its almost "analogic" presentation of my digital music... I also  like the overall design of the Aries G2.

An eye opener for me was at AXPONA 2018 20 rooms used Aurender as a source. I like the Lumin, most of their range have an analog out, a direct comparison is not correct though. 

[HookEm]

I presume you're referreng to the Aurender A10?

if so,  I can see how that could make for a very practical all-in-one solution to drive a DAC at a show.... And perhaps the same can be said for some home applications.

 

However, if there's a backup/NAS added to the equation, it seems like a wireless streamer, like an Aries (G2), would be a great way (perhaps the best way) to drive DAC... WiFi is a great network noise isolator.

[tdimler]

On 4/26/2018 at 6:22 AM, atletico said:

 

From my earlier post about the sound from Aries G2 compared to my 3 years old Aries Femto:

"Everything the Aries G1 do very well the Aries G2 do better.... I' very impressed what Auralic have done with the G2 series.

The soundstage are bigger,  deeper with more air and space. Voices are presented extremely realistic . The Aries G2 has also more information and go deeper in the lower parts.

The overall build quality are also in another league  compared to my old Aries G1."

 

What has later happened:

I'm now on my second Aries G2. The first G2 I got in the end of October last year. This had a problem playing from the galvanic USB output to my Kii Control. The sound was distorted with lot on noise and popping or it simply wouldn't play at all. I then used the coax output most of the time  with my first G2 ( with excellent sound indeed !)

So my local dealer sent me a  second Aries G2. This one played and worked well from the galvanic USB to my Kii Control dac/digital preamp and the sound is like the description from my first feedback

After one week this unit starts going into freeze (deadlock) mode from time to time, mostly if its not been used for 10-15 hours. This happens both when its left on all the time and also in sleep mode.

No contact with the player and no buttons working. Only a power cycling with a restart will help. This has been going on for almost two months now, testing both my wi-fi network ( works very well)  and only used the coax output on the Aries G2 to see if this could change this issue. But it still freezes...

So now I will wait and hear what my local dealer propose. Maybe I will test a third Aries G2. Compared to my original Aries Femto with no problems for 3 years, this last months has been disappointed but luckily I got a extremely dedicated local dealer who has followed me up all the time..

 

This is all very disappointing and I think has badly hurt the sales of the Aries G2.  You're obviously not the only one....there are a number of similar threads on the Auralic support forum. They need to fix the problem and provide some press information or I'm afraid this very fine piece of gear is doomed to fail.

 

In my overly simplistic view, the problem is that we have audio engineers building what is essentially a computer, rather than working with a computer engineer.  There is no spec/standard for things in the audio world and when USB specs etc are ignored it creates some serious compatibility issues when connecting to other USB and network devices.  I have just experienced something similar between another well known, very high end server and a very good dac.

[SonicYouth]

4 hours ago, tdimler said:

 

This is all very disappointing and I think has badly hurt the sales of the Aries G2.  You're obviously not the only one....there are a number of similar threads on the Auralic support forum. They need to fix the problem and provide some press information or I'm afraid this very fine piece of gear is doomed to fail.

 

In my overly simplistic view, the problem is that we have audio engineers building what is essentially a computer, rather than working with a computer engineer.  There is no spec/standard for things in the audio world and when USB specs etc are ignored it creates some serious compatibility issues when connecting to other USB and network devices.  I have just experienced something similar between another well known, very high end server and a very good dac.

In addition to the problem with the dedicated galvanic isolated USB output on the Aries G2 there is a serious SHOW STOPPER for me: beginning with the G2 series AURALiC has given up UPnP support. For me UPnP is essential because I use Roon AND JRiver in parallel (at least for the next couple of years). Another thing is to be forced to use the Apple ecosystem with Lightning DS. Where is the already announced HTML5 based LDS? And if you want to achieve the best results out of the G2 series you have to buy and place a tower of 4 boxes. No, thank you. There are alternatives on the market: Naim, PS Audio, Cocktail Audio, T+A, Lindemann, Chord ...

[Dr Tone]

I like that they quit hacking UPNP support in and limited it to OpenHome.  Jriver should follow suit.

 

Personally the Aries G2 has been rock solid stable to my Yggdrasil Analog 2.

[pabe12]

Same here - no problems whatsoever with my G2, using AES to my Metrum Pavane. (Simplest interface to use for this DAC, no advantage in using USB.)

[atletico]

On 28.4.2018 at 8:45 PM, pabe12 said:

Same here - no problems whatsoever with my G2, using AES to my Metrum Pavane. (Simplest interface to use for this DAC, no advantage in using USB.)

You mean USB have no advantage in sound quality.? But this will set the limit to 192kHz / 24 from the Aries G2 and this is probably more than good enough for most of us... but I still expect a 4000 € streamer to work also from USB if I want to play my DSD files.

From the user guide:  "352.8KS/s and 384KS/s and 32bit are supported through Lightning Link and USB Output only"

 

The issue now with my second Aries G2 with total freezing/ no contact / no buttons working, require a "simple" power cycling of the unit 2-3 times a week. This I could easily live with,  but this has never happened for 3 years with my old Aries Femto and also the 3 months with my first Aries G2 with the faulty galvanic USB output, so sadly this is a new 4000 € Aries G2 with a new problem.

The sound when playing music are exceptional in every way so I now hope for testing a third G2 without keeping the focus on the small annoying and irritated issues.

[pabe12]

I wrote “for this DAC” there is no advantage in using USB, as this is a PCM-only DAC.

 

[maro73]

Hello

I have been a huge fan of the initial Aries Femto

I sold the Aries sometime back awaiting for the G2

From what I read , I am quite dubious about the product

Has this changed ?

Cheers

[pabe12]

My Aries G2 has been rock solid...

 

The real successor to the Aries Femto is now the Aries G1; the G2 adds Lightning Link, Unity chassis and internal storage capability - but at a price.

[pl_svn]

Mr. Wang posted a few minutes ago, on Auralic forum, his own evaluation of SQ across the various Aries' versions.

Here it is 

 

Quite interesting and... making me re-think moving from a "femto" to a G1 

[Hauser]

The re-think is probably warranted.  Mr Wang has previously said the new G2 Aries has galvanic isolation of similar circuitry to the Iso Regen.  The new G1 does not.  The cheaper upgrade if using USB would be to acquire an Iso Regen.  I also question his marketing strategy.  On the Auralic discussion site, he recommends the Aries Mini over the G1 to obtain the benefits of Lightning server leaving the G1 orphaned between the Mini and the G2.  The G2 is priced at the high end of the server market competing with Innuos and Antipodes.

Comparisons remain to be seen.

 

Martin.

[the_bat]

On 4/4/2018 at 1:54 AM, hemidemisemiquaver said:

Chris posted some photos of the Auralic Aries G2.

He said that he "can't wait to publish my (his) full review in the coming weeks". 

 

This was more than ten weeks ago.

 

Did I miss it?

[Bones13]

I seem to be missing a lot of promised reviews also. The Auralic support site is a bit scary to read, although I assume it is only people with problems that are there. The Lumin equivalent, the U1, is nearly twice the price, but does have a separate linear PSU. As Aurender is not supporting Roon, I am not considering their units.