- Thread Author
- #61
Now that I've lived with the Aries G1 for a couple of days, I have a few thoughts (for those who care to read them).
First, the sound. I am still waiting for my Audioquest Coffee USB cable to arrive, so I've done all of my listening with the $15 USB A-to-B cable I picked up at my local computer megastore. Even with just that simple cable, I am quite amazed with the sound that is now coming out of my speakers from the same digital files that were previously being served from my Oppo. Strings have a richness that wasn't there before, spatial cues have improved dramatically, and I am hearing complicated orchestral passages rendered with much more clarity. From that perspective, I am a happy camper.
Second, ease of use. Once I got everything to talk to each other (see next point for more on that), both the iOS app (Lightning DS) and one of the Android apps (BubbleDS) both behaved well, although I think I prefer the iOS app. Having to enter a SSID / Password into the Aries G1 using an up/down arrow and a selection key is a bit of a pain in the ass, and one would think you'd only have to do that once (warning, foreshadowing) ... ahem ... so it shouldn't be too bad, right?
Lastly, setup. Straight out of the box, the Aries was at firmware build 5.7. Latest build on Auralic's site is 6.2.1. First question: How do I get an upgraded firmware downloaded? Read the manual? Not a single mention. Read the Internet? Sort of / kind of mentioned. I eventually managed to figure out that firmware upgrades are automatic (which also means you can't prevent a new one from being installed if you're device is always connected to the Internet). I woke up the next day to find that the newest firmware had been downloaded and installed overnight. I decided to first try connecting the Aries to my wireless network. While I was initially successful, the streamer kept randomly restarting tracks it was currently playing. If I added an entire album to a playlist, it would only survive for a couple of minutes (usually until a random track repeat) and "poof", it was gone. This was with the BubbleDS app for my Android tablet. Assuming it was the tablet, on Saturday I went out and purchased an iPad. Now, for some reason, while the Android app seemed to be able to find the Lightning Server service, with the iPad, I could never complete the setup through the app. It always timed out at the end of the process when it was searching for the device on the network. I am speculating, but it could be because the firewall that Spectrum set up for my apartment complex was blocking certain message types.
I then decided instead of using my as-provided wireless service, that I would pull out my old wireless router and try creating my own private wireless connection for my Aries/iPad, even though it wouldn't have Internet connectivity. This worked marvelously ... for a while. This solved the previous problem of blocked messages and there was much digital goodness happening on my system. Then I made the mistake of downloading some new music last night from Acoustic Sounds and turning off the Aries and removing the USB drive so I could transfer the files onto the drive. When I turned the Aries back on, it simply would not connect to my private wireless network anymore. I must have spent 45 minutes going through the configuration process over and over again, to no avail.
Finally, I had the idea of using an Ethernet cable to tether the G1 to my wireless router (which has 4 RJ-45 ports in the back as well). This FINALLY worked, and I still have no idea why the G1 started failing to connect with my private wireless when it had been working just fine for more than 24 hours.
At one point last night, I was about three seconds from throwing my hands up in the air and retrieving the shipping container so I could send it back today.
So, if I had to give out grades (A B C D F) ...
Sound: A-
Ease of Use: B+ (iOS app) / C (Android app)
Setup: D-
Documentation: C-
I will say that the upside of having the Aries run on a non-Internet-based connection is that I can now control when new firmware gets downloaded (because I can always switch it to the apartment's wireless connection if I want to download it -- assuming it will still connect). The downside, of course, is that anything streamable (Tidal/Qobuz) is a no-go while on this "internal" network. I can live with that.
First, the sound. I am still waiting for my Audioquest Coffee USB cable to arrive, so I've done all of my listening with the $15 USB A-to-B cable I picked up at my local computer megastore. Even with just that simple cable, I am quite amazed with the sound that is now coming out of my speakers from the same digital files that were previously being served from my Oppo. Strings have a richness that wasn't there before, spatial cues have improved dramatically, and I am hearing complicated orchestral passages rendered with much more clarity. From that perspective, I am a happy camper.
Second, ease of use. Once I got everything to talk to each other (see next point for more on that), both the iOS app (Lightning DS) and one of the Android apps (BubbleDS) both behaved well, although I think I prefer the iOS app. Having to enter a SSID / Password into the Aries G1 using an up/down arrow and a selection key is a bit of a pain in the ass, and one would think you'd only have to do that once (warning, foreshadowing) ... ahem ... so it shouldn't be too bad, right?
Lastly, setup. Straight out of the box, the Aries was at firmware build 5.7. Latest build on Auralic's site is 6.2.1. First question: How do I get an upgraded firmware downloaded? Read the manual? Not a single mention. Read the Internet? Sort of / kind of mentioned. I eventually managed to figure out that firmware upgrades are automatic (which also means you can't prevent a new one from being installed if you're device is always connected to the Internet). I woke up the next day to find that the newest firmware had been downloaded and installed overnight. I decided to first try connecting the Aries to my wireless network. While I was initially successful, the streamer kept randomly restarting tracks it was currently playing. If I added an entire album to a playlist, it would only survive for a couple of minutes (usually until a random track repeat) and "poof", it was gone. This was with the BubbleDS app for my Android tablet. Assuming it was the tablet, on Saturday I went out and purchased an iPad. Now, for some reason, while the Android app seemed to be able to find the Lightning Server service, with the iPad, I could never complete the setup through the app. It always timed out at the end of the process when it was searching for the device on the network. I am speculating, but it could be because the firewall that Spectrum set up for my apartment complex was blocking certain message types.
I then decided instead of using my as-provided wireless service, that I would pull out my old wireless router and try creating my own private wireless connection for my Aries/iPad, even though it wouldn't have Internet connectivity. This worked marvelously ... for a while. This solved the previous problem of blocked messages and there was much digital goodness happening on my system. Then I made the mistake of downloading some new music last night from Acoustic Sounds and turning off the Aries and removing the USB drive so I could transfer the files onto the drive. When I turned the Aries back on, it simply would not connect to my private wireless network anymore. I must have spent 45 minutes going through the configuration process over and over again, to no avail.
Finally, I had the idea of using an Ethernet cable to tether the G1 to my wireless router (which has 4 RJ-45 ports in the back as well). This FINALLY worked, and I still have no idea why the G1 started failing to connect with my private wireless when it had been working just fine for more than 24 hours.
At one point last night, I was about three seconds from throwing my hands up in the air and retrieving the shipping container so I could send it back today.
So, if I had to give out grades (A B C D F) ...
Sound: A-
Ease of Use: B+ (iOS app) / C (Android app)
Setup: D-
Documentation: C-
I will say that the upside of having the Aries run on a non-Internet-based connection is that I can now control when new firmware gets downloaded (because I can always switch it to the apartment's wireless connection if I want to download it -- assuming it will still connect). The downside, of course, is that anything streamable (Tidal/Qobuz) is a no-go while on this "internal" network. I can live with that.
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