Auraliti

[Andrew S.]

This is the best music server I have used.

 

I have built or owned just about every platform you can imagine with the exception of the '10 Mac Mini. Currently I have a MBP + SSD + 8 Gb + Amarra/AW. The Auraliti kills it.

 

I love bnc. At 20 ps jitter and bugger all rf/emi from the Auraliti it shows the stupidity of the mad rush for "async usb" ( the most recent example of which is to me the Arcam rDac. Which is just a rubbish product - shame on you dCS).

 

Nothing wrong with bnc if done right. Most of the music you listen to has been mastered on bnc or aes (spdif in effect).

 

I unreservedly recommend the Auraliti. If for no other reason than it opens up a whole world of dacs labelled "legacy".

 

ps it works just fine with a Tranquility SE which I have on loan while my Ref 7 s arrives. And no - the Tranquility is not as good as the Ref 7. IMHO.

 

[Marcin_gps]

Hi Andrew,

 

Did you open the box of Auraliti? How is it build? What's the mobo, CPU and most importantly - DAC and S/PDIF interface inside?

 

What's the operating system inside? Is it some custom or ready OS, that I could download and try with my own PC?

 

And my last question, how is the TRanquility SE doing? I'm torn between it and Audio GD Reference 7... Very curious to hear your opinion on this and your S/PDIF interface of choice for the Ref 7.

 

Best regards,

Marcin

 

[jtwrace]

Have you tried Mac with Amarra vs. Auraliti?

 

If so, what are your thoughts?

 

[ted_b]

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Auraliti-Music-Player-and-DAC

 

It's a Linux box, with MDP, and uses a modded ESI@Juli card for S/PDIF output. It's flash-based and reviews are all pretty much consistent about it's quietness, both physically and sonically. Hang it on your home ethernet, downlaod a MDP app (mpod or browser app) hang a couple USB drives off it and away you go.

 

I have an email request into Damien about their comments of an upgraded version the claimed was in the near future several months ago.

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

"I love bnc. At 20 ps jitter and bugger all rf/emi from the Auraliti it shows the stupidity of the mad rush for "async usb" ( the most recent example of which is to me the Arcam rDac. Which is just a rubbish product - shame on you dCS)."

 

Hi Andrew S - I disagree completely with everything you said in the above statements. Especially your comment mentioning stupidity.

 

Quoting a single jitter number doesn't provide any information about a product. Even Demian Martin from Auraliti will tell you the same thing.

 

There is no such thing as a low jitter BNC output from a laptop or computers such as a Mac Mini. Thus, asynchronous USB makes complete sense.

 

The Arcam rDAC is a really good product as I found out when reviewing it and comparing it to many other products.

 

I'm not sure why you're shaming dCS for Arcam's product. dCS simply licensed its asynch USB technology to Arcam.

 

[Andrew S.]

Thanks Ted

you are 100% correct.

I'm not sure what is going on with the new improved version but I've heard it is usb only - which is great for some.

There is also a power regulator on the way.

 

"I prefer the Ref 7 to the Tranquility SE: but in all honesty they are more alike than dissimilar.

 

Here is a quote from a mate's summation of them - with which I agree:

"Key differences between the RE7 and Tranquility (which is the bee's knees model so I"m told) lie more in the presentation, more specifically the tonality.

* Both dacs sounded very enjoyable, and I would say definitely ahead of entry and most mid level stuff

* The tranquility is more in your face. More exciting. This was initially very pleasing and beguiling. The Re7 was more subdued and "neutral", calling nothing out or emphasizing anything.

* Deeper into the listening, some of the key things coming out was that the initial excitement and aliveness of the Tranquility felt (to me) a bit designed or tailored. This mind you was fairly subtle but my take is that this would be more obvious in a more resolving and/or exciting system. In a more laid back system lacking in excitement maybe this would be beneficial...(?)

* So far, I'd call it very close but then a couple of things were also cropping up that would put the tranquility behind the re7 in my books

* Tonality of the tranquility is a bit suspect - perhaps due to the slightly "tailored" sound signature. This was not apparent on unfamiliar music, but on the piano it lent a slightly digital sound to it. A bit like listening to a classical performance (no amplification) Vs a jazz piano with amplification + speakers to increase the volume of sound. This is not obvious (the suspect tonality of violins in the jadis/quad combination was blatant in comparison) but then, I'm a bit sensitive to the piano and it does "bug" me.

* The tranquility presents a "fuller" sound but this slight bloom is at the expense of separation - in dense orchestral mix, the sound is very slightly mushed up but only in comparison to the Re7 here (could be the Re7's overkill power supply design). Would surmise that there could be a larger degree of difference in a more resolving set up but this is a bit speculative and needs corroboration.

 

Put it this way, if I came in without any knowledge of the dacs and someone told me that the tranquility was $1k and the Re7 was $3k, I'd say that the Re7 would be amongst the best in that class and the tranquility was a giant killer that delivered 90% of the performance at one third the price. Stuff the aesthetics, and I'd buy it over the Re7. The fact that this tranquility actually costs more than the Re7 would mean that a more careful audition in your system would be warranted. In many cases the NFB2 is the better buy - spend the money elsewhere!!!"

 

That said I am listening to the Tranquility SE right now with my JOR and a pair of SF Cremona Auditors and it is very sweet indeed: very liquid.

 

I prefer the Auraliti to MBP + Amarra. No question it is more transparent with a blacker background. I may have an optimised 2010 Mac Mini showing up soon. But I haven't got any interest in buying one and optimising it.

 

Here is a PM I sent to to an AC member on the differences as I see it (also commenting on the Lio8 and Audio GD NB2 and mildly edited to stop any flame wars):

 

"The Lio8 I found too detailed and clinical for my tastes. I prefer the gestalt rather than the micro detail. That reflects in my love of tubes and Quad 57’s with all their shortcomings. I should also say I listen almost exclusively to Classical and Jazz (90% Classical) so that may give you an idea what my subjective bias is.

 

The NB2 a friend put me onto. He, like I, is a little bit of a NOS fan. It has a lovely organic presentation with enough detail to keep me happy but at the same time entirely musical. The Ref 7 is no doubt a better dac, but the margin is small and of course the law of diminishing returns kicks in. All Audio Gd gear using the latest usb receiver chip performs very well by USB.

 

I tend to be a little jaded these days about finding the ultimate dac and find, after a period of adjustment and a glass of wine, I can listen to most mid dacs without compliant. Provided the source is right.

 

Which is a nice Segway to the Auraliti. I believe you can get a 30 day exchange but living in Australia, that wasn’t really an option. Google Auraliti and up pops the website. Ray Burnham is the sales guy.

 

By way of history I have built and used many different Linux, Windows and Hackintosh audio servers over the years and have tried nearly every piece of sw out there. I have modded SB3’s, owned the Transporter and Touch and used them as transports. I’ve also done the Mac thing in the various iterations. Of all the solutions I have used Linux and the Music Player Daemon is my preferred animal for playback, preferably on a micro board like NYC Paramedics Alix “dead silent music server”, which I built whenever he first posted about it. MPD is utterly transparent and “raw” cf Apple based solutions, which are “smooth” - I like Amarra and AW. I'm not a fan of PM principally because of it's interface - but that is just me.. The above is not much use in terms of descriptors but once you hear it you will, I think, know what I mean. My next favourite is Mac and then a very distant 3rd windows, although 7 is better than vista and the CPlay machine based on XP isn’t bad.

 

The problem with MPD and linux is that it is one giant PITA to mess with, especially if, as I do, you have a busy life. These days I just want to listen to music when I get home. Not tinker with settings or muck around in terminal.

 

MPD has by default, the benefit of the all the things the other engines try to emulate – “hog mode” “exclusive access” low power draw (it actually uses about 0.5% cpu and next to no ram – really only for memory play one track at a time.

 

My own feeling is that computer audio has 3 or 4 big issues – one is emi/rf, one is psu, one is the sw engine and it’s effect on the cpu load and the last interface. Oh and I would add usability. As to the latter I get music from a great many sources and codecs with the tags usually all over the place, which means iTunes, is, for me, a gigantic PITA. I like to browse and select via folder view.

 

Simply put, in my view, the less overhead in terms of power draw and cpu use followed the consequent decrease in emi the better. The problem for me has always been interface. USB is a solution with linux, and by far the easiest to implement, but means of course, until recently, you had limited transfer options. I have long been, and remain, a bnc spdif fan.

 

Enter the Auraliti. This is a no moving parts intel board flash card based ms where the designers have managed to reliably implement a modded version of the ESI Julia@ card. This is no easy feat. It has the advantage of having both usb out and also bnc spdif. The disadvantage is the power draw, which can be up to 8-10 watts. Auraliti are releasing a power regulator and also bare bones stripped down usb product based on a much lower power draw unit. I will buy both.

 

It operates solely by bus powered usb drive – which suits me – I have a 2 x 750Gb 2.5 that I keep my music on. It can accommodate 3 drives. You can point the Auraliti at a server location but you have to know your way around SSH and Linux to do it. Not easy.

 

The thing I like about the Auraliti is a) it’s stand alone capacity b) it’s sound c) it’s compatibility with codecs d) its form factor and e) browse by folder structure. Oh and of course bnc spdif. Which allows a much greater selection of dacs and also the easy use of reclockers if one feels the need. I don’t – 20 ps jitter out of the Juli@ is fine for my purposes.

 

The biggest limitation on the Auraliti is that it won't play streaming audio (eg radio stations) without modification. To me it is a nuisance but not a deal breaker as I have a FM tuner in any event.

 

Because it is a server you have to control it over your network by means of a client. I use Minion with Firefox (an add on) or, on my iPhone or iPad, MPod. Both are basic but excellent.

 

I hope this helps. Of course all of this reflects my subjective bias. Others will all hear things differently. I encourage you to buy one and see how you go. They aren't in the grand scheme of things, expensive.

 

Auraliti is a small company that deserves, and I hope will, do well."

 

Lastly @Marcin - by all means dl and try out on your own computer a linux distro - but be prepared for a few weeks of annoyance while you get up to speed. There are plenty of guides to MPD now - I even think Chris has one somewhere on this site. Have a look around.

 

Word of warning - all the Linux distro's install grub loader on your boot sequence and it is a pain to get rid of: so either be prepared to have to select your os every time you start or spend time getting rid of it if you decide linux isn't for you.

 

I use Mac for my office and everyday computing needs.

 

Hope that helps.

 

 

[Andrew S.]

As is your right Chris.

 

The modded Esi Juli@ card has a 20 ps jitter out via bnc. Of course I know jitter is only one part of the puzzle.

 

What i should have said was the stupidity of equating asynch with an inherently better dac.

 

I disagree entirely with your review of the Arcam rDac. It simply did not accord with my experience. I found it (the rDac) just awful. Which only goes to show everyone has different tastes and standards. I'm happy you liked it. I did not.

 

I also disagree that asynchronous transfer is the b all and end all of transfer regimes. There is nothing wrong with a good low jitter/rf bnc source. dCS for example used it for years. I also would say that there is alot more to a good dac than how the 0's and 1's get to the decoding chip.

 

 

I know dCS only licences the tech BUT they allowed their name to be used to sell it impliedly, in my view, endorsing it. It is so far from the dCS products I have heard it isn't funny. I would be ashamed if I was dCS allowing my name to be associated with it.

 

[tms0425]

A worthy competitor to the Auraliti, at least sonically, might be the Bryston BDP-1 music player. It uses a lower power and likely even quieter Alix motherboard (vs the Intel mobo/ESI Juli@ in the Auraliti) along with a similarly modded ESI Juli@ board, Voyage MPD, and typical Bryston linear power supplies. Some of the non-essential parts (display support) of the Alix board have also been removed to quiet it further. They're not supporting USB output yet, though it should be a simple software change to do it. Overall, a really nice package to consider, though with a front panel display/controls and classier case, about 2.5x the price.

 

It's great that both of them are out there pushing Linux audio a bit more into the mainstream. Certainly a long way to go before it's plug and play but obviously worth the effort based on great feedback coming in on the Auraliti and Bryston players.

 

Tom

 

[1audio]

Andrew:

Thanks for the kind words, we appreciate that you are enjoying the unit.

 

The 20 pS number is the master clock. The jitter on the spdif output is a real bear to measure and doesn't really matter as much as the output of the clock recovery unit (the spdif receiver). What matters is the end result. And, in reference to Chris's remark, a single number doesn't tell all about jitter performance. You would really like to see the spectral distribution of the jitter energy. Having said that I will try to figure out a way to plot it, however this may take a while. A good implementation of spdif or aes/ebu will be very good when used with a good receiver solution like the Berkeley DAC, but requires an isolated source that won't pass a lot of noise down the cables. Measuring jitter impact on the internal analog output of the PK100 gets to the noise floor of my measurement system for what its worth.

 

Async USB makes sense as long as the noise is kept in check. I currently believe that noise coupling is a bigger issue on interfaces than jitter in a well executed system. Interfacing to a standard PC or MAC, async USB may be the only way to get higher sample rates out of the box.

 

We contributed the basic design to Bryston and they have executed it in a well thought out way.

 

The existing PK100 supports USB audio class 1. We are working on an alternative model that will do USB audio class 2. We have found some challenges and some solutions that are very promising, but the firmware is not fully baked yet and the testing is very time consuming so it isn't happening immediately. It won't be any cheaper, since we discovered we need hardware as well as software to get the performance where we want it to be.

 

The Auraliti uses grub, which I find to be an excellent solution and something of a non-issue, however the new version that substitutes xml for human readable control is a PITA but appeals to programmers.

 

 

 

[firedog]

a) The Mach2Music MAC Mini, which is basically the same concept executed on a Mini; (starts at $1495)

 

b) the PS Audio PWD + Bridge; (around $3700)

 

c) upcoming PS Audio Digital Lens/Bridge. (apparently $2000)

 

The Auraliti is a fraction of the price of the other units, no obvious reason why it shouldn't sound just as good.

 

Also, I have no experience with MDP. How convenient of a UI is it? Is it a good search and scrolling experience on a touch screen with a large collection? How configurable are the options? Can you classify and playback by genres etc, like in other programs?

 

[1audio]

You can find out more about MPD and its control clients here: http://mpd.wikia.com/wiki/Music_Player_Daemon_Wiki Its a mature open source project. There are at least 175 clients so you should be able to find one that matches your taste.

 

[davidada]

Hello Demian, out of interest where do the Auraliti units ship from?

And will the unit play well with the wyred for sound Dac2?

Thx

 

[tms0425]

Demian,

 

I noted from your comments "The existing PK100 supports USB audio class 1"

 

Ray indicated in a message to me that the PK100 already supported Audio Class 2.0 (24/192). Can you clarify if this will be supported on the PK100 or just the upcoming "USB only" device?

 

Tom

 

[1audio]

(Caution geek speak ahead) The network is the real challenge for a next gen audio device that really lives in the network. Networking is powerful, mysterious and unpredictable. We use a technology called various things, Bonjour by Apple, Avahi in Linux and multicast dns by network geeks. Its a way of getting network devices to find each other automatically on a network. It usually works if the devices support it. On Windows you must install Bonjour for Printers from Apple http://www.apple.com/support/bonjour/ . It comes built in on Apple products and is not supported well at all on Android (yet). With this the devices are identifiable by name, without it you do need to figure out the IP address of the device. Most routers (dhcp servers actually) will assign an IP to a device and remember the device by its mac address and always pass back that address, except some don't (even those from really major players). Some old routers won't pass the broadcasts that enable this to work. Such is the way of networking. Andrew's trick is one way to find the address of the player. There are other tools as well. The nice thing about Bonjour is that it will find the player even if it gets a new address when it starts again.

 

The current proven firmware is only USB audio class 1. I have an experimental build with USB audio class 2 that mostly works. However the mostly isn't really ready for primetime. Having the latest and greatest may also mean have the flakey one. And all of the Linux stuff is changing continuously. I will probably freeze everything around CES and then start the serious testing. They can all be upgraded with a simple module change. The USB support in the PK100 is compromised by sharing USB between source and the USB audio device. With USB audio class 2 there are bottlenecks and other intermittent problems that go away with a separate USB controller. We will have a unique high performance USB controller as part of the USB version of the PK100.

 

All PK100's are assembled, tested in and shipped from San Leandro, CA, USA (much to the consternation of our other halves).

 

 

[Andrew S.]

Hi Damien

thank you for your reply and information - you very elegantly said what I did not (or could not).

 

I look forward to your upcoming usb product which I will support by purchase. I know all the customers in Australia who are using the PK100 are very impressed.

 

Some constructive feedback - please improve your supporting documentation - a number of folk have practical problems mapping the drive. I posted this over at SNA to help.

 

"Righto this is what you do.

 

1. You plug the ethernet into your LAN.

 

2.Power it up.

 

3.It will have automatically get an ip address on your lan.

 

3. Now you need to go into your router (usually 192.168.1.1 or 10.1.1.1) find the DCHP table and see what address its got (I fixed mine so I wouldn't have to do this again).

 

4.You then go back to Minion , go to settings and then enter the ip address that you found for the auraliti.

 

5. Click on the auraliti as the server( bottom right on firefox browser window- red button that turns green when connected - "manage MPM settings")

 

6.After I fixed the address in the router and entered the details in minion I then rebooted the auraliti and it connected automatically

 

7.Plug in your usb drive.

 

8. and away you go.....use minion or Mpod to control. They are CLIENTS. The SERVER is on LAN."

 

 

[ted_b]

Will you and/or your products be represented at CES/THE Show, and if so where? Some of us are going (as we did at RMAF) and look forward to innovative products like yours. BTW, I've an email into you from a week ago or so...

 

[davidada]

Will the current auraliti PK100 be upgradeable?

 

[1audio]

The software is easily upgradable. Its on a flash module. The module is easily replaced. Its an oddball interface so creating it in the field isn't practical. I don't expect any significant changes and its really unlikely there will be changes with sonic impact from the firmware. This will enable us to add support for new codecs and enhance some of the UI clients.

 

We don't expect to change the hardware either, however we may have some add-on enhancements through line filters etc.

 

[Richard Dale]

 

1audio: "..The software is easily upgradable. Its on a flash module. The module is easily replaced. Its an oddball interface so creating it in the field isn't practical.."

 

 

 

I think for your target market this is perfectly fine. But I am a programmer who would like to be able to tweak the software on the device. For example, I'm not sure that MPD deals with album cover art properly yet, and I might want to implement a 'home brew' solution in the meantime. So I would prefer the software to be on a standard interface like an SD card. Maybe that would affect the sound quality compared with the existing solution, I don't know.

 

 

 

At the moment I am using a Macbook with Ayrewave for playback. Having said that, I don't want to commit to a particular OS and will try out both Linux and Mac OS X solutions. So if my old Macbook dies, the front runner for a replacement would be a Mac Mini, but I really think an Auraliti or something similar could be a very tempting alternative possibility and I've found the discussion on this thread very interesting reading.

 

 

[davidada]

Hi, I guess what I was really asking was if the PK100 would be upgradeable to the USB 2 version I have heard about?

 

[Andrew S.]

Hi David

yes - you replace the flash card with a new one when the firmware is updated to USB 2.0.

Cheers

Andrew

 

[1audio]

The module is an industrial SSD with an IDE interface and accessing it on a normal PC is a cabling and adapter mess. I'm pushing for offering modules for dev's who want to play with it (keep a working one so you can use the box after you have destroyed the one you are fiddling with). I just don't want to support it ( barely know what I'm doing in the first place).

 

Cover art on MPD is weak (with several less than satisfactory solutions). Improving it and the user experience is where the software development will be headed. if you are motivated you may find contributing to the mpd project more constructive than starting over. There are so many details to a fully functioning solution it can be a huge task.

 

Most of the clients have worked out a solution and you get cover art while playing in many clients.

 

Cover art has the same constraints as the rest of the metadata for music. Its not part of the CD and there are format issues as well as copyrights etc. that make this problematic at best. Some solutions get it from Amazon, others from LastFM etc. How its stored varies. Even the name for storing a .jpg in the folder is not standardized at all.

 

There is some effort among the devs at mpd to address this but both issues of conflict in how to implement and motivation have hampered a comprehensive solution. Cover art is not necessary to play content so its not seen as a major constraint. If someone provides a drop in solution that just works and is easily implemented in the clients everyone would be happy.

 

[Andrew S.]

Sorry Damien

I thought (wished) it was a flash card you swapped in and out.

 

 

[1audio]

"Will you and/or your products be represented at CES/THE Show, and if so where? Some of us are going (as we did at RMAF) and look forward to innovative products like yours. BTW, I've an email into you from a week ago or so..."

 

Sorry for the slow response, this has been one of the most frantic pre-CES seasons I can remember in over 30 years. Curious that it would be so busy if the economy is in the tank. . .

 

Auraliti will be showing at THE Show, at the Flamingo Hotel with Berkeley Audio Design in room 4103. I will do my best to make myself available periodically to "pontificate" on audio and explain how it all works.

 

[ted_b]

This MPD thing looks very promising, especially as it gains momentum and a critical mass of developers and ideas.