AURALiC ARIES

jtwrace · « **Reply #40 on:** 30 Sep 2014, 11:57 pm »

Quote from: loving_it on 30 Sep 2014, 11:55 pm

I understand what your trying to tell me but the Aries is not found , should I update the mini to 8.0.2 or leave it at 7.1.2 .

Leave it.

loving_it · « **Reply #41 on:** 1 Oct 2014, 12:04 am »

The only thing lightning DS sees is a TV upstairs

Basically one should be able to plug the Aries in turn it on and launch the Lightning App and at least see the Aries as a device

Jon L · « **Reply #42 on:** 1 Oct 2014, 12:35 am »

Would be interested to know how it's spdif output sounds compared to USB. Also, what's is it's DC input jack requirement (volts DC and Amps)?

jtwrace · « **Reply #43 on:** 17 Oct 2014, 05:21 pm »

jtwrace · « **Reply #44 on:** 17 Oct 2014, 05:21 pm »

No idea why the text didn't show up. Anyway...

I'm only posting this for those that use a MacBook (like me) who often sit in front of their stereo while working. I really like DS Lightning as it becomes even better. However, going between devices while I'm working in front of my MB Air can be too much while my furry friends seem to take more room than me.

So, here are some screen shots using Lumin Kinsky. I tried Kazoo but it doesn't seem to work using Yosemite.

Since this would be another application I'd totally pay $30 for a Mac DS App. I'm sure there wouldn't be enough people though to cover the cost of development.

jhm731 · « **Reply #45 on:** 17 Oct 2014, 06:00 pm »

"Do you see the USB thumb drive protruding from the rear of the Aries? The need for a host PC or NAS drive is now obviated. Knockout!"

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2014/10/auralic-tease-aries-software-updates-at-rmaf-14/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=auralic-tease-aries-software-updates-at-rmaf-14

jtwrace · « **Reply #46 on:** 17 Oct 2014, 06:01 pm »

Yes, I saw that. HD Support will officially be available by Thanksgiving. I should have the beta firmware soon too.

groovybassist · « **Reply #47 on:** 5 Mar 2015, 01:54 pm »

Well, I joined the Aries club yesterday (linear power supply version). Took me some time to get everything up and running, but luckily I stumbled on a forum post that talked about how to invoke the wireless AP on the Aries. Before doing that Lightning DS couldn't see the Aries device. The setup instructions could be a lot better - they're virtually non-existent.

Having said all that, it's a cool device and definitely sounds better than streaming from a PC. I'm streaming from an attached USB drive vs my NAS. Sounds better to me this way. Haven't tried Tidal or anything like that yet - maybe someday soon.

Mike

ebag4 · « **Reply #48 on:** 8 Mar 2015, 11:23 pm »

Is it able to do DSD from a directly connected HDD yet?

jtwrace · « **Reply #49 on:** 8 Mar 2015, 11:24 pm »

Quote from: ebag4 on 8 Mar 2015, 11:23 pm

Is it able to do DSD from a directly connected HDD yet?

Yes

ebag4 · « **Reply #50 on:** 8 Mar 2015, 11:33 pm »

Thanks, this ups the ante for me. I didn't want something that couldn't completely replace the Mac Mini. I may have to give it a shot, I am loving the Vega.

jtwrace · « **Reply #51 on:** 9 Mar 2015, 12:37 am »

Quote from: ebag4 on 8 Mar 2015, 11:33 pm

Thanks, this ups the ante for me. I didn't want something that couldn't completely replace the Mac Mini. I may have to give it a shot, I am loving the Vega.

Not only has it replaced my Mini but I no longer own my Mini. No idea where in Indiana you are but "TomS" has one so you might touch base to see if you're close enough to him so you could see it in person.

You might be interested in the Firmware Release Notes to see what features it has and what's coming.

guildenstern · « **Reply #52 on:** 26 Mar 2015, 07:35 pm »

Please excuse any ignorance this question might reveal:

Does the Aries cache music (i.e., incoming data stream from NAS) in its built-in memory? I can't tell from what I've read on manufacturer's website and various forums.

Literature on competing product, Aurender N100, emphasizes how the N100 caches the incoming data stream from spinning disc of NAS to the static SSD built into the N100. Similarly, Bryston BDP-2 player takes incoming digital stream from NAS and stores it in built-in memory cache for playback.

Thanks for any clarification you can offer.

JEaton · « **Reply #53 on:** 26 Mar 2015, 07:58 pm »

Unless the idea is to always play audio directly out of the cache, that feature would have to be of very little value.

guildenstern · « **Reply #54 on:** 26 Mar 2015, 08:14 pm »

Quote from: JEaton on 26 Mar 2015, 07:58 pm

Unless the idea is to always play audio directly out of the cache, that feature would have to be of very little value.

I don't have enough knowledge to judge, but here's what Aurender says about the N100:

"Network streaming with Solid-State Drive Cache for Playback: If a selected song or album is already cached to the solid-state drive, N100 will play from the internal SSD. This minimizes wear and tear on the NAS drive. Also, by caching songs to the solid-state drive for playback, it eliminates music quality degradation or even drop outs of music due to non-optimal network connection from the NAS to the streamer."

http://www.aurender.com/page/n100

TomS · « **Reply #55 on:** 26 Mar 2015, 08:50 pm »

Quote from: guildenstern on 26 Mar 2015, 08:14 pm

I don't have enough knowledge to judge, but here's what Aurender says about the N100:

"Network streaming with Solid-State Drive Cache for Playback: If a selected song or album is already cached to the solid-state drive, N100 will play from the internal SSD. This minimizes wear and tear on the NAS drive. Also, by caching songs to the solid-state drive for playback, it eliminates music quality degradation or even drop outs of music due to non-optimal network connection from the NAS to the streamer."

http://www.aurender.com/page/n100

The Aries doesn't have an internal drive, so as ethernet packets come in, they're buffered into internal memory anyway. It would just be limited by how much memory is onboard. After that you're talking about internal architecture and how cache is managed by the CPU, onboard, offboard, etc.

JEaton · « **Reply #56 on:** 26 Mar 2015, 08:58 pm »

Quote from: guildenstern on 26 Mar 2015, 08:14 pm

I don't have enough knowledge to judge, but here's what Aurender says about the N100:

"Network streaming with Solid-State Drive Cache for Playback: If a selected song or album is already cached to the solid-state drive, N100 will play from the internal SSD. This minimizes wear and tear on the NAS drive. Also, by caching songs to the solid-state drive for playback, it eliminates music quality degradation or even drop outs of music due to non-optimal network connection from the NAS to the streamer."

http://www.aurender.com/page/n100

"If it's already cached." That's exactly what I mean. If you're experiencing dropouts, then you'll need to fix that, because it's a problem that you don't want happening even some of the time. Caching songs isn't likely to go very far to help the problem. The "wear and tear" stuff is just plain nonsense.

Ask yourself how often you play most songs or albums. Unless that cache is storing months or even years worth of music, it's not going to be hit very often.

guildenstern · « **Reply #57 on:** 26 Mar 2015, 09:22 pm »

Quote from: JEaton on 26 Mar 2015, 08:58 pm

"If it's already cached." That's exactly what I mean. If you're experiencing dropouts, then you'll need to fix that, because it's a problem that you don't want happening even some of the time. Caching songs isn't likely to go very far to help the problem. The "wear and tear" stuff is just plain nonsense.

Ask yourself how often you play most songs or albums. Unless that cache is storing months or even years worth of music, it's not going to be hit very often.

Not experiencing dropouts -- I don't own an Aires, at least not yet. I'm trying to understand how it works.

JEaton · « **Reply #58 on:** 26 Mar 2015, 09:39 pm »

Quote from: guildenstern on 26 Mar 2015, 09:22 pm

Not experiencing dropouts -- I don't own an Aires, at least not yet. I'm trying to understand how it works.

Not sure if you understood... I didn't say you were experiencing dropouts. That was in response to the Aurender argument, which claims that the caching is partly to alleviate the problem of dropouts. I may have just played Kind of Blue, but (even as great as it is) I probably won't play it again for several months. Holding it in the player's cache isn't going to do any good; it's likely going to be replaced in the cache before ever being played again. Which is true for almost everything that I would play.

jarcher · « **Reply #59 on:** 26 Mar 2015, 11:01 pm »

Whether the track is put into an SSD cache or buffered in memory, either is likely to delivery better sound quality results than just streaming the track in real time, whether it's being streamed from an onboard magnetic HD or via ethernet from NAS's standard magnetic HD. At least that's been my experience whether it's using "memory play" mode in Jriver, Pure Music, etc. Jriver added the memory play function in later version even though they didn't believe in it. To me and other's who've listened for themselves the sound quality improvement is evident.

The Aries has 1Gb of onboard memory and 4GB of storage. I don't know whether it buffers files onto its 4Gb of storage before playback or just sends it directly to it's 1GB of onboard memory - but I'm assuming it's one or both - i.e. processing is not being done real time without first being buffered to memory.

As for the Aurender I don't know whether it's necessary or overkill to cache the track onto the the SSD, then buffer it to memory, before processing it. But in any case it doesn't seem like it would hurt and be preferable to sending the file direct from a magnetic HD straight to the processor in real time.