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In Reply to: RE: I intend to buy one when they actually become available for real posted by Dave_K on November 20, 2015 at 04:52:20
Thanks for the additional detail. I like the Auralic feature set too especially the integration with Tidal, but one of my concerns is the robustness of the control point App (on iPad in my case) and how well polished it might be. I'd hate to get the Auralic only to find the App to be an after thought clunker.
I have 2 Apple TV boxes in our home that do a great job of sharing my local Music content over Ethernet or Wifi from my Mac Mini (by turning ON iTunes Sharing), and it also has support for Panadora built-in. I can stream Spotify as well but that has to be done via AirPlay. These little black Apple TV boxes are a mere $69 each and the user interface is clean and polished, and they're fine especially in secondary audio systems.
The Apple TV downside vs Auralic Mini for audio:
- Supports up to 16/48 uncompressed or lossless but not 'hi-res'. But will down sample 'hi-res' content so it will at least play. Does not support DSD but I have so little DSD content and have no plans for more.
- No integration with Tidal.
- Requires an external DAC (or AV receiver) via Toslink or HDMI.
I'm trying to justify the Auralic Aries Mini at $549 which seems rather steep, but with a year of Tidal maybe not so bad. And I'll be able to play around with how it performs on my 'hi-res' files.
Follow Ups:
Did/does ITunes have to be up and running as well for that? I seem to remember not, - that it was just looking the AIFF files on the NAS: but I may have been mistaken ...
"Asylums with doors open wide,
Where people had paid to see inside,
For entertainment they watch his body twist
Behind his eyes he says, 'I still exist.'"
In my experience Roon offers the best integration of Tidal content with your music library. It is for all intents and purposes, seamless. While user interface preference is clearly a matter of taste, I also find Roon to be miles better than any other I've tried.
Word has it that Roon integration with devices like the Auralic Aries mini is in the works and may be available by year's end. In my opinion, this will be a game changer since you will be able to control multiple Roon-enabled devices, an Aries mini, a Mac, a Melco server, scattered around your home through the same Roon app all having access to the same library(ies).
Michael Lavorgna
Editor, AudioStream.com
Thanks Michael -
When I first read about Roon I didn't see the value as I'm not in need of all that additional 'metadata' like artist bios, lyrics, reviews, concerts, credits… etc., combined into a "surfable, searchable digital magazine about your music."
However, I do tend to search my music visually with album art vs text titles and long lists of tracks in text form. The visual aspect of a "control app" on the iPad with easy navigation and ability to control multiple devices is of great value to me.
Another important factor will be the sound quality from Roon on the Mac vs Audirvana Plus. I've read on another forum that Roon wasn't quite there sonically unless it was run in a server / slave mode or something to that effect by offloading metadata tasks from running on the same computer as the audio engine.
The sound quality of Roon is quite good on the Mac. As with all software, system synergism exists.
But Roon can run Integer mode with your QB9 DSD.
Good to know. Thanks Steve.
Speaking of software for OSX, Pure Music 3.03 sounds really great with the Ayre Codex.
Steve, will you be reviewing the Ayre Codex? What is the MSRP for that piece?
Also, I hardly see any Ayre dealers online. I wonder if Charles is an old guard traditionalist who prefers brick and mortar stores.
Yes, The Codex is here for review. From what I understand, Ayre is sold only through authorized dealers.
Looking forward to your review.
P.S. I wish these popular little desktop DACs / headphone amps all came with remote controls. That's my personal little nit on these products.
If it is on your desk within reach... Why do you need a remote?
Mine would be on the audio shelf across the room from my desk. It's not a big room but my arm isn't 9 feet long.The least they can do is bundle one of these for the Volume control knob:
Edits: 11/21/15
My pleasure Abe.
Roon came out with Roon Server a while back, which to my ears, offered improved sound quality. I use Roon and have no issues with its sound quality. I'm also very visually oriented and Roon is the king of that hill, imo.
Two of the features I enjoy with Roon; the ability to "add" Tidal content to my library with a few clicks, and the ability to tap on most any album or song credit, my favorites being songwriter and sidemen, and see where else they appear in my library. For songs, the app also shows you (and links to) other versions in your library.
I also find that the optional Roon Radio feature, which continues to play 'related' music after your current selection is done, digs up music I hadn't thought about for years in addition to introducing to music I didn't know (Radio includes Tidal content as well as your music).
Michael Lavorgna
Editor, AudioStream.com
In addition to the Auralic Lightning DS app, there's also BubbleDS, Linn Kazoo, and Lumin. These are all designed to work with a DLNA renderer that supports the OpenHome extensions.
The Lumin app is my favorite but it's iPad only. When I don't have that handy because my wife or daughter is using it, I use BubbleDS on my Sony phone or Asus tablet. Or if I have my laptop, Linn Kazoo. Because the current playlist is stored on the player, you can close a control point and things keep playing, and then you can open a different control point and pick up where you left off.
Thanks for the additional info Dave.
Being visually oriented toward navigating my music collection mostly with album art, are the apps you mentioned user friendly in a visual way?
To give you an example, I run my iPad displaying a screen full of album art. With a flick of a finger I can rapidly scroll up or down as the album art flies by on the screen. I can easily spot the album I want and launch it for playback. Of course there are other ways to search but this method is very quick for me as I can easily and very quickly recognize albums by their covers.
Most streamer reviews and forum discussions focus around the hardware and sonics but what drives usability of these devices is IMHO extremely dependent upon the user-facing software / apps.
I was looking at some screen shots of the Lumin app online.
What are you using as your player and storage?
I humbly suggest that you read a little between the lines of what Dave is saying.
You said that the software is important to you, and I agree. With me the demands are pretty high, (as with you IMO). Of course, part of the sound of the overall player is the software, and how does it compare to Amarra, Pure Music, Jplay, Jriver etc. on a commercial computer. Usuability is, DB organization, whether or not it does Internet radio or just connects to a LAN or ext HD.
Yes the SBT is dead. But LMS is not. LMS is a very dynamic, contstantly improved, well supported, with many, many, users and developers. In short, LMS has grown beyond any brand of hardware.
It is a big feature, in the plus column, that one can use different software if they don't like LDS.
"Asylums with doors open wide,
Where people had paid to see inside,
For entertainment they watch his body twist
Behind his eyes he says, 'I still exist.'"
The Lumin app has the standard icon grid view displaying album covers which you can scroll or flick through, or you can use the alphabetical shortcuts that pop up when you start scrolling. It also has a list view with small album cover icons, and a list view that also includes the songs in each album. You can sort by genre, artist, album title, song title. And search. The other two apps I mentioned have similar interfaces.
I have a bunch of different players. A Linn Akurate DS in my main stereo system, and a Linn Majik DS in my HT system. I got the Majik over 5 years ago when I was moving to Australia for work and didn't want to move a library of discs. It's what got me hooked on streaming. I also have an Oppo 103 and a Marantz AV8801 in the HT system which are DLNA renderers but I don't usually use their streaming capabilities for music. The other DLNA renderers are a Pioneer N-50 which was previously in my HT and now used for the outdoor speakers, and a Pioneer SMA3 portable speaker, which is wireless, weatherproof, and rechargeable.
The Linn streamers support OpenHome, the others do not. So I use BubbleUPnP server installed on my NAS to turn the vanilla DLNA 1.5 renderers into OpenHome renderers, so that all my players work basically the same way.
Regarding storage, I've been a home NAS proponent since 2008 or 2009. I started with a cheap single drive NAS as a proof of concept, and then moved up to a HP EX495 in 2010 which I absolutely loved. This year, I replaced it with a new mini-ITX home server build and I'm running Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials for the OS and Twonky Server for DLNA. I'm using storage pools and the main pool is 24TB which stores all my music, all of our family photos and videos, all of our important documents and files from the last 20 years, and all our DVDs (but not Blu-Rays). All data is duplicated in the pool (a copy of every file exists on 2 physical drives). I keep local and offsite backups of everything but the DVDs.
We also use DLNA for streaming photos and videos around the house. Mainly we access them via a couple of Rokus in the HT and bedroom, occasionally via the Oppo, and via an old Phillips streamer we picked up in Australia connected to a portable TV.
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