[Gopher]

"Sounds like it has itself stuck in WiFi access point mode. When the WiFi symbol is on the front of the Aries display its producing its own Wireless network. If you use the iPad to connect to it you can then access the Aries in Lightning DS and reattach the Aries to the customers network.
Here is the procedure.
Go the the iPad Wifi settings
Choose the Aries Lighting WiFi network
Go to Lightning DS and connect to the home network.
After that you might have to quite the Lightning DS App and start it again."

I received my Aries, decided to reset it and now I can't get it to do anything (are there any real instructions for this thing?).  I could see it from the Lightning ds app before I reset but now i can't get past this:

I can't even find what this symbol means, help!

BTW, I have it connected via Ethernet cable.

Thanks,
Ed

[Tomy2Tone]

Other than getting up close to the Vega; no.  However, I leave my Vega & ARIES on 24/7 and there isn't anything to worry about by doing do.  The most important part on both pieces is to put the OLED screens to sleep.  That's it.

How do you put the OLED screen on the Aries to sleep? And is this only for when you're not using it or can it be turned off and still be used with the iPad controlling play/pause functions?

[groovybassist]

Press the "DISPLAY" button on the Aries remote. You can use it via the iPad with the display turned off. If you use the remote to pause, skip tracks, etc., the display will come back on and you'll need to hit the DISPLAY button to turn it off again.

[Tomy2Tone]

Press the "DISPLAY" button on the Aries remote. You can use it via the iPad with the display turned off. If you use the remote to pause, skip tracks, etc., the display will come back on and you'll need to hit the DISPLAY button to turn it off again.

Nice! Thank you!

That was so easy I feel dumb for even asking! 

[jtwrace]

How do you put the OLED screen on the Aries to sleep? And is this only for when you're not using it or can it be turned off and still be used with the iPad controlling play/pause functions?

Also, there is no info on the ARIES or Vega screen that isn't on the Lightning screen.  You can see if the track is playing and the sample rate so leaving them off is how I listen since I really dislike lights when I'm listening. 


I set my Vega for auto off and leave my ARIES screen off all the time at home.  When I do the headphone meets I leave them on since most people think I'm just playing DSD files.   

[ebag4]

"Sounds like it has itself stuck in WiFi access point mode. When the WiFi symbol is on the front of the Aries display its producing its own Wireless network. If you use the iPad to connect to it you can then access the Aries in Lightning DS and reattach the Aries to the customers network.
Here is the procedure.
Go the the iPad Wifi settings
Choose the Aries Lighting WiFi network
Go to Lightning DS and connect to the home network.
After that you might have to quite the Lightning DS App and start it again."

Thanks Gopher, Mike already pointed me there, no issues after that hurdle. 

I am finding the Aries experience to be a pleasure, it all works as it should with an excellent UI.  Now that it has been running for a couple of days it seems to have opened up a bit and is really singing, I am very pleased with the  Auralic Aries/Vega combination, The TotalDac USB is in there  "not" contributing to the sound, just as it should.  It is all sounding great.

As always, the AC community is here with the answers when you need them, I appreciate that about this site.

Best,
Ed

[poseidonsvoice]

Nice! Thank you!

That was so easy I feel dumb for even asking! 

Not a dumb question at all, I learned something! Interestingly, with the OLED off, the Vega in particular has less audible noise when you are standing next to it.

Best,
Anand.

[Mike-48]

I posted a brief review of the Aries to the MinimServer users' forum: http://forum.minimserver.com/showthread.php?tid=2237

If the link doesn't work for you, please post, and I'll put a copy here directly.

[abernardi]

Yeah Mike, I was banned immediately, lol... could you post it?

[Mike-48]

Here is my review of the Aries. 

User Review of Auralic Aries "Streaming Bridge"
User "Mike in NC"
April 5, 2015

Description

The Auralic Aries is a network renderer (stream receiver) for stereo audio. Signal inputs include RJ-45 Ethernet, dual-band WiFi, and a USB 2.0 port for an external disk. Outputs include USB, AES-EBU, S/PDIF via RCA, and S/PDIF via Toslink. The Aries does not have a DAC, so there are no analog outputs. I have the standard Aries (MSRP about US $1600), which uses a linear power supply and higher-grade clocks. Auralic also offers an "LE" version with lesser power supply and clocks (about US $1000).

According to Auralic, the Aries can decode AAC, AIFF, ALAC, APE, DIFF, DSF, FLAC, MP3, OGG, WAV, WV and WMA files. Supported sampling rates through USB output are 44.1Khz to 384Khz PCM at 16 through 32bits, and DSD at 2.8224MHz and 5.6448MHz. AES-EBU and S/PDIF outputs top out at 192/24 and DSD64. As a renderer, the Aries operates in either OpenHome or DLNA mode.

To control the Aries, Auralic supplies a handheld remote (which also controls Auralic's Vega DAC) and a control-point app, Lightning DS, which runs on iPads. An early beta version of Lightning DS for Android was released in mid-February, 2015. With the iOS version of Lightning DS, the Aries can receive streams from online services (e.g., TIDAL).

Review system configuration

I've been using the Aries for about six months, through a wired Ethernet connection to my home LAN. My music library is stored as FLAC files on a Synology NAS running MinimServer with MinimStreamer, which transcodes FLAC to WAV at 24 bits. Occasionally, I use the JRiver Media Center (JRMC) network server instead (running on a Windows PC), which also transcodes to WAV-24.

A DLNA or OpenHome configuration typically requires a control point. After trying several Android apps, I have settled on BubbleUPnP, one of the most reliable and one of the few that works in OpenHome mode.  (Linn’s Kinsky also works with the Aries, but is less capable.) I have looked at Auralic’s Lightning DS when a friend has visited with an iPad, and I use the Android beta version occasionally.

In my system, the Aries feeds an Auralic Vega DAC via S/PDIF and a TacT 2.2X RCS through AES-EBU. By switching inputs at the Vega, I can take the signal either through the TacT or directly from the Aries.  I have briefly linked Aries and Vega via USB, which also sounded excellent.

The Vega drives an Audio by Van Alstine Fet Valve 400R power amp, connected to a pair of JansZen zA2.1 hybrid electrostatic speakers. When the TacT 2.2X is active, it provides a digital crossover and digital room correction (almost entirely in the bass), drives the JansZens through the Vega, and drives two JL Audio F112 subs through its own DAC. When the TacT is bypassed, the Aries drives the amp directly, and the subs are inactive. My basement listening room is very quiet. I've used extensive acoustic treatment to improve its unfavorable room acoustics with considerable success, though the room will never sound like a large space with a 10-ft ceiling.

Listening and use impressions

Most of my listening is to classical music ripped from CD or downloaded at high resolution. Typical fare includes such difficult to reproduce music as string quartets, harpsichord, organ, and opera. I also listen to bluegrass, jazz, pop, and folk. I have the equivalent of about 2500 CDs, chosen almost entirely for musical value, all at CD or higher resolution. The collection includes about 65 releases at 88.2/24 or higher, but no DSD files.

My priorities in audio are truth of tonality, low distortion, and absence of grain and glare. It’s important to me that well-recorded vocals (male and female) sound natural. Though I value good imaging and a nice soundstage, they are a little lower on the scale. I dislike the kind of hyper-detailed presentation that shows off a system but can cause irritation on all but the best recordings.

The good news is that in the formats tried (up to 192/24), the Aries and Vega together hit those marks and give outstanding sound. To my ears, the Aries sounds a bit more effortless than feeding the Vega from my Meridian G98 transport. The best recordings exhibit articulate bass, delicate treble, realistic midrange, and realistic imaging and reverb, leading to a high degree of "you are there." Tonality is quite natural, and with a good recording, it's easy to distinguish violin from viola and English horn from oboe, not to mention bass fiddle from bass drum or low brass. I most definitely believe that the Aries can be a satisfying main source in a high-end audiophile system. It is in mine!

More good news: important streaming features are well supported by the Aries. Gapless playback works fine, as do pause/resume and seeking within a track. The Aries's display of elapsed time is clear and surprisingly useful, as is the ability to play a track by number through the remote.

A minor problem has been the rare tendency of the Aries to stop after an intermediate track in a playlist. In that case, the playlist can be continued easily from the control app, but the stop is a small distraction. This problem has become much less frequent as Aries has continued to update the Aries firmware.

The ability to attach a USB stick or drive with music files is a wonderful feature. This provides excellent fidelity from digital files, without the need to deal with networking. The Aries implements this feature as a UPnP server on the user’s network, meaning that the files can be rendered by other clients on the home network.

The main negative in my experience of the Aries has been the protracted unavailability of an Android version of Lightning DS. The current beta runs only on cell phones (not tablets) and lacks many features. In particular, it doesn't access Internet streaming services (e.g., TIDAL) that do run on the iOS version. Because the beta crashes frequently, I use it only to check the firmware of my Aries and make configuration changes. As an Android user, I find this disappointing, as the original promise date for the Android version was October, 2014. Readers can check Auralic's Facebook page and Web site to see current status.

Otherwise, Auralic's customer service has been great. They have been quick to respond to emails, sometimes at odd hours or on the weekend. Firmware updates install themselves over the network, which happens while the unit is in sleep mode (between listening sessions). A recent update (to 2.1) brought a little more transparency to already excellent sound. Auralic is doing well in this area.

Musings

I’m baffled by the tendency of network-audio companies to develop their own control software, rather than work with established app authors. Results have not been pretty. It seems logical that working with established authors would shorten development time, improve reliability, and improve standards compliance. It’s not just Auralic with this go-it-alone approach, which seems a considerable waste of resources, not to mention a considerable disservice to audiophiles.

The price point of the Vega raises the question of whether a dedicated, silent computer running, e.g.,  JRiver Media Center and connected to a USB DAC might not be a better solution. Such a setup can provide room correction, digital equalization, crossover, and less complication than a DLNA/UPnP solution. My thinking has been that I don’t want a general-purpose computer with monitor and keyboard in the listening room. Besides needing constant maintenance, such computers and their peripherals are too reminiscent of work for my taste. This choice is an issue in network audio that's not discussed often enough.

Summary

I find the Aries to be the most capable of the three stream receivers I've tried in my system (PS Audio PWD-II with Bridge, Simaudio MiND, Auralic Aries). Some problems the other two have had (in various combinations) are lack of gapless playback, lack of seek function, lack of pause/resume, flaky updating procedures, hard-to-read displays, and inability to play files with unusual filename characters. The Aries solves all those problems, while providing excellent sound quality. It also provides USB output, DSD at high rates (untested by me), and use of a locally attached USB disk. The physical design is compact and clean, and the display is easy to read, even for a 60+ year-old with mediocre eyesight. In separating renderer from  DAC, the Aries makes it easy to insert a DSP unit or change DAC if the user desires. The product is well thought out and well executed.

The only caveat in my recommendation is that potential buyers who want to use all the Aries’s features – in particular online streaming services – must own a recent model iPad to run the full version of Lightning DS. If your only needs are local network streaming and playing files on a USB disk, an Android control app like BubbleUPnP will work, so no iPad is needed. In that case, plan on running the beta Android Lightning DS on a smartphone, or heading to the dealer, to make any configuration changes.

In conclusion, the Auralic Aries is capable of outstanding sound. This has been confirmed not just by my ears, but by visits from other audiophiles, including (among others) a professional mastering engineer and an audiophile with far more expensive setup, built around a pair of Avalon Isis speakers. The Aries is attractive, lightweight, flexible in operation, and easy to configure and use. For many users, the Aries can be an excellent network renderer.

[jtwrace]

A minor problem has been the rare tendency of the Aries to stop after an intermediate track in a playlist. In that case, the playlist can be continued easily from the control app, but the stop is a small distraction. This problem has become much less frequent as Aries has continued to update the Aries firmware.

First, nice job on the review!      Is the above issue the same track?  If so, you should send contact AURALiC so they can investigate that track.  If not, which it's probably not, those issues are usually directly related to a network hick-up.  You might want to look into that closely. 

[poseidonsvoice]

Mike in NC now in OR,

Great review, and thanks for pointing out some of the more subtleties that most reviews only glance at.

Best,
Anand.

[Phil A]

Great review.  I could not agree more with "I’m baffled by the tendency of network-audio companies to develop their own control software, rather than work with established app authors. Results have not been pretty."

[mav52]

Great review.  I could not agree more with "I’m baffled by the tendency of network-audio companies to develop their own control software, rather than work with established app authors. Results have not been pretty."

Got to agree.  These manufacturers want to add their own control software which in turn hooks the user into that manufacturers equipment profile.   The old, GOT YA scheme.

[Mike-48]

Is the above issue the same track?  If so, you should send contact AURALiC so they can investigate that track.  If not, which it's probably not, those issues are usually directly related to a network hick-up.  You might want to look into that closely.

It's not always the same track, but it usually occurs after I've modified the playlist a few times, making me wonder if it's a memory leak in the Aries firmware.  Auralic's thoughts have been that it's either a network issue or due to using a control point other than Lightning DS. Other renderers I've used in that room have not had issues, and I've been unable to identify any problem with the network wiring, so though I can't rule out network issues, I'm dubious, unless my sample of the Aries has a defect in its networking circuitry. I can't evaluate the control point as a possible cause until Auralic releases a working version of Lightning DS for Android.

[nnck]

Excuse my questions if they are a bit newbie. I don't know much about computer networking and all the lingo, etc.

I've been interested and following this thread for a couple of weeks now because I have been wondering where I would go next in a move from my Logitech Squeezebox. I have been using this for wireless streaming for a few years, but as we all know, Logitech doesnt offer this device any more. And even if my Squeezebox continues to function, when I wind up getting a new computer, I may not I may not be able to find the Squeezebox Server software to install to be able to control it any more.

I have been happy with the Squeezebox, but I need to find a solution that I can use to replace it in the way that I have been using it in my system.

As I said, I dont know much about networking lingo, but the way I use the Squeezebox is as follows: I have an iMac computer that stores all of my music files on the main home computer for our house. This computer is not in the listening room, but it is connected via a router to the home network. I then use a Mac laptop that has the Squeezebox Server software installed on it to control it. The mac laptop can see the iMac on the network, and the Squeezebox software basically can see everything in the music folder on my iMac. I use the Squeezebox Server software on my laptop in the listening room to browse through the most newly loaded music files, or to search through old files (there are several thousand cd rips and music downloads in there), create playlists, etc.

I know for most of you this is probably a very simple explanation, but as I said I am a little new to topics in the 'discless circle'. So is the AURACLIC ARIES the replacement I need when I am ready to switch? I dont envision needing a lot of other functionality besides being able to play the files that are stored remotely on our home computer, so maybe the ARIES is even over-board for me? My main concerns are that it can do what I want it to do (fairly simple) and has a good easy to use interface to be able to browse and search through files and create playlists.

[TomS]

Excuse my questions if they are a bit newbie. I don't know much about computer networking and all the lingo, etc.

I've been interested and following this thread for a couple of weeks now because I have been wondering where I would go next in a move from my Logitech Squeezebox. I have been using this for wireless streaming for a few years, but as we all know, Logitech doesnt offer this device any more. And even if my Squeezebox continues to function, when I wind up getting a new computer, I may not I may not be able to find the Squeezebox Server software to install to be able to control it any more.

I have been happy with the Squeezebox, but I need to find a solution that I can use to replace it in the way that I have been using it in my system.

As I said, I dont know much about networking lingo, but the way I use the Squeezebox is as follows: I have an iMac computer that stores all of my music files on the main home computer for our house. This computer is not in the listening room, but it is connected via a router to the home network. I then use a Mac laptop that has the Squeezebox Server software installed on it to control it. The mac laptop can see the iMac on the network, and the Squeezebox software basically can see everything in the music folder on my iMac. I use the Squeezebox Server software on my laptop in the listening room to browse through the most newly loaded music files, or to search through old files (there are several thousand cd rips and music downloads in there), create playlists, etc.

I know for most of you this is probably a very simple explanation, but as I said I am a little new to topics in the 'discless circle'. So is the AURACLIC ARIES the replacement I need when I am ready to switch? I dont envision needing a lot of other functionality besides being able to play the files that are stored remotely on our home computer, so maybe the ARIES is even over-board for me? My main concerns are that it can do what I want it to do (fairly simple) and has a good easy to use interface to be able to browse and search through files and create playlists.

Yes, you can use the Aries to play files directly from your iMac or even plug a usb music drive directly into the Aries. You would just need to install Minimserver on the iMac which is very simple to do. I also used Squeezeboxes for years, but they all eventually died. This is a great step forward in many ways, though proprietary to Auralic. The DS user interface is quite good, but as mentioned you really should use an iPad for control, to make it seamless as possible.

[nnck]

Yes, you can use the Aries to play files directly from your iMac or even plug a usb music drive directly into the Aries.

By 'usb music drive' you mean an external hard drive or thumb drive of some sort that contains all of the music files? Does the music folder need to be configured in a certain way to do this properly?

You would just need to install Minimserver on the iMac which is very simple to do.

You need this software on the computer that has all of the files, and not on the laptop computer that is controlling the ARIES? Is there a different software you need to have for the control of the ARIES?

The DS user interface is quite good, but as mentioned you really should use an iPad for control, to make it seamless as possible.

So an iPad would make for better control over the ARIES than a MAcbook Air, or something like that? Why so?

I guess if thats the case, I might be able to use my wife iPad or look into getting a dedicated one for myself at some point too.

Thanks for your help!

[TomS]

You can either use a usb memory stick or disk drive directly connected to the Aries or have it use your iMac via the network. No special configuration of the usb drive is necessary. The Aries will figure it out.

Minimserver only runs with the remotely accessed files on your iMac, so nothing on the iPad other than DS Lightning.

DS Lightning is the client that runs on iOS iPad and controls the Aries. There are versions for Android and potentially browser versions on a laptop, but I'd strongly recommend starting with the iPad. It just works very well.

[nnck]

You can either use a usb memory stick or disk drive directly connected to the Aries or have it use your iMac via the network. No special configuration of the usb drive is necessary. The Aries will figure it out.

Minimserver only runs with the remotely accessed files on your iMac, so nothing on the iPad other than DS Lightning.

DS Lightning is the client that runs on iOS iPad and controls the Aries. There are versions for Android and potentially browser versions on a laptop, but I'd strongly recommend starting with the iPad. It just works very well.

Thanks. That helps a lot. Couple more questions for now, I think.

So you use DS Lightning when you use the iPad to control it. But if you just want to use a macbook air laptop over the network, is there some different software to put onto your laptop to control it? Or do you have to access the iMac directly over the network to browse, search, etc.

I guess I'm wondering what would be involved with controlling it from a laptop. What sort of software and what steps would be involved? Eventually, I may get the ipad, but I want to understand first how it would work with the laptop.