[UntilThen]

I love the Mini too. An inexpensive gear that just works but I've sold it, having bought the Auralic Aries Le. 3 hours after I bought the Le, a full fledge Auralic Aries with SBooster BOTW LPS appears at just $300 more.

Oh well, I'll just have fun with the Le this weekend. Thanks for the wishes.

 

[lcasadonte]

I just got the dual femto version to replace/upgrade a microrendu.

 

[rhern213]

One question about the Mini that I can't seem to find, I'm going to be using it just as a music streamer, I don't care for the DAC use because I'm connecting it to an external DAC. I also want to connect an SSD where my music is stored. I see the Mini has 2 USB ports but from the online FAQ I wasn't quite sure which port was an input or output?

It seems like you can choose which way the USB works but you can only do one or the other, not mixed?

So for example would it be able to recognize an external DAC and a external SSD? Or if I want to use an external DAC would I be limited to using an internal drive?

Also has anyone tested if there is any difference between using an internal SSD, or a USB SSD?

 

[UntilThen]

I have used the Mini with Yggdrasil as dac but I can't remember if I have used both external drive with usb and Yggdrasil with usb simultaneously.

Never tried using an internal ssd which I am sure would be quieter and better but an external portable usb drive actually works very well.

 

[pippen99]

I use an internal SSD in mine. The lightning app also recognizes my desktop, my laptop, and my Sony 4K Blu-ray. I used it hooked to first an Auralic Vega then to a PS Audio Directstream DAC. I am now using the DAC RCA outs to my AVR for my speaker system. The Mini is very versatile.

 

[UntilThen]

I just got the dual femto version to replace/upgrade a microrendu.

Great do share your experience. My Auralic Aries Le just arrived. I will try it with Yggdrasil and NAD M51 then out to my Redgum RGi120ENR amp and speakers.

Will also put it through my headphone tube amp and hd800.

 

[rhern213]

I would prefer to use an internal SSD to make the setup a little cleaner and simpler, but I was reading over at computeraudiophile and they mostly commented against using the internal drive because it would add noise and static. But they were comparing it to using a NAS, not a USB connected drive.

One other thing I wanted to ask just for my own understanding. I've been using my PC with JRiver and wasapi, wasapi of course bypasses the PC's onboard audio to send the unaltered signal directly to the USB port and then DAC. So am I right in assuming the Aries already does something like this by default? So there's minimal to no alteration of the signal from the music file to the DAC? Would this also be considered the same as a bitperfect output?

 

[lcasadonte]

I also have the altair which I did put a 2tb ssd in. I mainly use the devices as roon endpoints. I have a nas in both locations but didn't want to depend on any computer equipment with one installation (altair) which is why I mounted the disk and can use the DS software to control it. Auralic DS is good but not roon which is my preferred software. With the aries I was trying to get over an incompatibility with my lynx hilo dac. Roon will not recognize the dac to participate in the endpoint via usb connections. Coax works. The aries is replacing a microrendu which also needed to be converted to coax. For some reason this was buggy and I was constantly rebooting the microrendu. I'm going to repurpose the microrendu to the home theater with a simaudio neo 230had as a dac. The aries recognizes my lynx directly (through usb) and will play so it is only roon. I also have a hifiberry that i use with roon for my whole house audio system. In terms of bang for the buck, its hard to beat the hifiberry. Between the microrendu and the aries I think the aries has a blacker background and more soundstage. It appears infinitely more stable to me in this implementation.

 

[UntilThen]

Got my Auralic Aries Le to work with Yggdrasil and I am very impressed with how it sound. At the moment, just through headphone HD800. Will move to speaker system this weekend.

Connection:-
Auralic Aries Le (Tidal HiFi) > AES to Yggdrasil > Glenn Super 9 OTL > HD800.

The tone is really good. Dynamics, vividness, natural, soundstage and slight tube richness. It's all playing out nicely.

 

[rhern213]

Has anyone found if upgrading to the LPS on the mini would make any noticeable difference if just using the mini as a streamer, not a DAC? Would I benefit the same just by using something like an ifi iPower in this instance?

 

[pippen99]

I bought the Auralic LPS and could not really tell any difference. I never used the Mini's DAC until I moved to the speaker system. Everything sounds better through my speakers.

 

[rhern213]

I bought the Auralic LPS and could not really tell any difference. I never used the Mini's DAC until I moved to the speaker system. Everything sounds better through my speakers.

Thanks for the input, it's a tough sell when the LPS alone is 75% of the cost of the Mini. If I had an Aeris it would be a bit easier. I think what I'll end up doing is testing it out with an iPower just to see what happens since it's a cheap buy and return if I want. If I can tell any difference then I'll consider trying out the LPS.

 

[pippen99]

If you hunt you can occasionally find one used. I got my for 2/3 of new.

 

[UntilThen]

Novice question. Can I control Aries using Chrome on PC other than Lightning DS on the iPad?

 

[rhern213]

I also have another novice question I just realized. Does the DS controls, or whichever other way allow for EQ'ing?

I have some mild EQ'ing on my current setup with JRiver, but now I'm thinking I don't know how I would EQ if going straight from the Aries to the DAC.

I know Roon has a parametric EQ, but I'm definitely not in the mood to pay $120 a year for that.