AURALiC owners unite!
Sep 8, 2015 at 2:49 AM Post #1,457 of 2,388
Anyone experienced this with their Taurus or any amp for that matter: static and noise suddenly appear in one channel, left side in my case. Last night it happened after I switched from acoustic vocal music to some complex thundering Mahler. I think the previous times might have been triggered by a sudden change in dynamics too although I can't be too sure. My rig is yggy>taurus>LCD3. Things return to normal after I turn off and on the Taurus. And this is only the 3rd time it happened over a couple of months but still I'm curious if some serious or potential fault is lurking. Any help is appreciated.


Hi Topspinn70,
 
I do think it's not your Taurus, but it's your LCD-3. Hope I'm wrong, but it's same experience i did have when having dead channel of my LCD-3 (non-fazor)
 
Sep 8, 2015 at 4:16 AM Post #1,458 of 2,388
Oh I see. I think it's my connection. Changed my ICs and it's gone now. Phew.
 
Sep 8, 2015 at 6:52 AM Post #1,459 of 2,388
Don't worry to much at the moment. All things can be repaired... so are mine. The static sound on my LCD-3 did sound crackling, like distortion. But it can be an incidential issue with yours.
 
Sep 12, 2015 at 5:40 AM Post #1,460 of 2,388

 
I have Aries since January but I had to wait few months before using it because of late Lightning DS for Android release. Two days ago my Vega finally arrived but unfortunately I don't have much time in my hands right now, so I couldn't spend as much time with it as I would like to. But after the brief listening I can safely say that it is big step forward from Yulong DA8 I had for 2 years. The most noticeable improvement was in detail retrieval, soundstage size and bass impact. What surprised me a bit is the weight of Vega - it is lighter than I expected, considerably lighter than DA8 or X-Sabre while being bigger. But it certainly looks better on the shelf and more importantly its sound is in different league (which is what ultimately matters the most :) )
 
However, there are things that are bothering me a bit:
 - Aries and Vega (and apparently Taurus Pre as well) use the same remote controller, if I press a button on it is picked up by both units, it was very annoying when I was playing around in menu in Vega and after pressing a number Aries changed track as well. I ended up using up/down buttons only for Vega menu, but I wish there wouldn't be such clash
 - Lightning DS for Android - I bought Nexus 10 tablet some time ago to use as controller for my headless media server I used before Aries. I hoped to use it to control Aries as well but Lightning DS does not work on android tablets yet. And unfortunately even on mobile phones it is behind iPad version. iPad version looks to be actively developed while Android version does not receive updates nearly as often. Fortunately I only use the basic function, no online streaming - but if I change my mind in future I hope I won't be forced to buy a new device just to control more expensive device :)
 - Aries display - I wish I could turn it off completely when it is off, or at least dim it to the minimum. It shines pretty bright when the unit is turned off - not ideal when the whole listening rig is next to bed. Luckily display on Vega gets turned off, I wish it was like that with Aries as well
 
After seeing how beautiful Vega is in person I am strongly thinking about getting Taurus MKII as well at some point. I will probably pull a trigger on HiFiMAN HE560 some day soon, to complement my ATH-W3000ANV and Taurus would probably fit it better than my current Svetlana 2, which has absolutely amazing synergy with W3000ANV - but for some reason I want to have planars driven in fully balanced mode. Ah, I already hear my wallet silently crying in corner :)
 
Sep 17, 2015 at 4:06 PM Post #1,461 of 2,388
Quote:
 
   - Lightning DS for Android - I bought Nexus 10 tablet some time ago to use as controller for my headless media server I used before Aries. I hoped to use it to control Aries as well but Lightning DS does not work on android tablets yet. And unfortunately even on mobile phones it is behind iPad version. iPad version looks to be actively developed while Android version does not receive updates nearly as often. Fortunately I only use the basic function, no online streaming - but if I change my mind in future I hope I won't be forced to buy a new device just to control more expensive device :)
 
On the above matter: I couldn't help speaking my mind on Facebook yesterday. Please visit the Auralic page and like my post there if you feel the same. I hope it can be an eye-opener for Auralic.
 
"Dear Auralic
 
One whole damn year after your promised Android app, we are still left with an app that's buggy as hell and nowhere near the real deal that's only available for iPad. To be honest, I don't see my Aries lasting 15 years in this ever so fast evolving technological world and audio landscape. I'm just saying I need the Android app I actually paid for (as I don't own any Apple gear) NOW, fully functional, and not in a few years from now. Maybe in the high-end audio world, your products are a bargain, but for most people they still cost a buckload of money. I'm left with the feeling that my buckload went to an empty promise. Sound quality can be very excellent, without proper operation and usibility, these attributes are completely undermined...

Please forgive me my impertinence, but isn't it time that you hire some proper Android knowledge? As stated already, we don't expect you to reinvent the hot water. Working functionality like this already exists... Please apply to that.
This will save us customers frustrations that have been building up for a screw*** year now. It will probably save you money too. Short term this knowledge might well be expensive. But on the long run, fiddling a whole year on an Android app without satisfying results must cost a lot as well... unless you don't even really make real efforts.
Consolidating your growing customer base seems to also fit very well in a long term perspective of profitability. Right now, you are upsetting a great lot of your customers and shaming the trust they put in you with regard to the Aries.

You do make great hardware, and I do love my Vega and Taurus MkII, for sure - and you have my gratitude for that. I just can't help this growing displeasure with the Aries, which is starting to nullify all the good work.

Just needed to get that off my chest...
 
P.S. Ipod app, same story. Maybe even less understandable as it's mostly tweaks I would assume, sharing the same base code with the iPad? Of course I'm only guessing because ignorant of the deep software matters (I guess I had done some efforts myself otherwise :p)"

 
Sep 18, 2015 at 1:45 AM Post #1,462 of 2,388

From Auralic facebook page:
 
AURALiC It is unfortunately that we no longer maintain the Android version due to development team change. We will only focus on iOS version as well as developing desktop version in the near future.
 
Sep 18, 2015 at 3:11 AM Post #1,463 of 2,388
From Auralic facebook page:

[COLOR=141823][COLOR=3B5998]AURALiC[/COLOR][/COLOR][COLOR=141823] It is unfortunately that we no longer maintain the Android version due to development team change. We will only focus on iOS version as well as developing desktop version in the near future.[/COLOR]


My reply:

I can't believe this... So you just tell us that as the most normal fact ever without even so much as an apology? After advertising this as a selling point, making all those promises for over a year... You know, I could even muster some empathy if you would have spontaneously kept us in the loop, but we need to pry over and over again, month after month, to only just hear the info we are entitled to, let alone to receive the software we are entitled to.
Just imagine any other major computer or smartphone manufacturer doing this kind of sh*** with their newest flagship... it would rightout kill them. I feel shammed.
I sure hope that you change your course of action and deliver what you promised, what I, and many others, paid for. (Contact the Kinsky LINN team fwiw, they make working software, and it's free(!)... we are not asking to reinvent the hot water).
Try to wrap your head around the idea that all your customers expect and deserve working software... at the same time! So all these apps should be simultaneously under (continuous) development - just my 2 cents.

I could try to foster a spark of hope by reading into "in the near future". This might imply an improving Android situation in the not so near future. Given the course of history I wouldn't bet on that though. Moreover, the pace of development in the past year leaves me with the discouraging feeling that your near future is calculated in years, whereas mine is calculated in weeks and days... The ever so quickly evolving IT ecosystem seems to agree more with my feeling. As does the lifespan of computer electronics (of which the aries consists).
Either you wake up and realise that all great hardware is as much software dependant as the other way around, so you enlarge your software branch up to par. Or you start sending your Android customers an iPad instead of leaving them hanging dry for another screwing year. Thank you.
 
Sep 18, 2015 at 5:35 AM Post #1,464 of 2,388
I don’t remember if it was actually Auralic them self that said that there will be an Android version of the Lightning DS or someone else that kind of spoke on their behalf on CA. This was more than one year ago, then I was considering to perhaps get a streamer. I sure got the impression that they, Auralic, was in the process of developing an app for Androids. If it never was Auralic intension to develop one, then would they not have declared that a long time ago? On the other hand if they actually have said that there will be an Android version of the Lightning DS, I would have expect them to also live up to that.

 

My 2 cent.

 
Sep 18, 2015 at 6:20 AM Post #1,465 of 2,388
I was looking at Aries last summer (July/August of 2014) and on their official webpage they had stated that they are indeed working on Android version and it will be released in October 2014. At the end of October they changed it to "by the end of the year". In January I bought Aries and I remember I was not able to use it until March or April - that was when first Android version was released. It works only on mobile phones, when I open it on my Nexus 10 it just crashes instantly, and it had maybe ~10-15% functionality of iPad app (judging from screenshot and logs). Back then it wasn't even on market, I had to download the .apk file and install it manually. Not a big deal but not everyone would be as fine about it as me. I think in June they released official Lightning DS in google play, with a bit more functionality than the first unofficial release. Since then it got one update I think, that's all.
 
Android version of Lightning DS was always in plan, or at least they made it look that way. I am wondering if they would even announce publicly that they are dropping Android app development without anyone asking. Technically they did not announce it yet, they just responded to a comment.
 
I am very disappointed with Auralic right now - having troubles developing an app on certain platform is understandable, but dropping what was promised (and quite essential for a lot of customers who were relying on that promise) and announcing it as quietly as possible - that's just a low-blow in my opinion. And buying 250EUR device just to be able to fully control another 1500EUR device is so wrong... Fortunately for now I don't need more than what Android version provides, but who knows what will I need in future.
 
Sep 18, 2015 at 6:49 AM Post #1,466 of 2,388
Absolutely piss poor. Simply not good enough. I briefly looked at the Aries, glad I didn't pull the trigger now.

Been a happy Vega user for some time, however this would make me think very carefully about buying any of their future products.
 
Sep 18, 2015 at 11:22 PM Post #1,467 of 2,388
Just got my Taurus and Vega in yesterday. Loving it so far, are there any settings on the Vega that everyone agrees can help it anymore? I have the volume at 95 but I think I should just leave it at 100. Also, everyone leaves theirs on 24/7 right? And burn-in, is it a big factor with either the Taurus or Vega? I can't see it improving even ever so slightly, coming from a Woo Audio WA6-SE. 
biggrin.gif

 
Sep 19, 2015 at 3:35 AM Post #1,468 of 2,388
  Just got my Taurus and Vega in yesterday. Loving it so far, are there any settings on the Vega that everyone agrees can help it anymore? I have the volume at 95 but I think I should just leave it at 100. Also, everyone leaves theirs on 24/7 right? And burn-in, is it a big factor with either the Taurus or Vega? I can't see it improving even ever so slightly, coming from a Woo Audio WA6-SE. 
biggrin.gif


I do have output of Vega set at 80, gain is to much otherwise from preamp I'm using it with... I believe max. output of Vega is 4Vrms. Non-balanced preamps do need about 2.2-2.5Vrms? But my Taurus can handle the 4Vrms with ease :wink:
 
Sep 19, 2015 at 3:38 AM Post #1,469 of 2,388
It does non-destructive volume attenuation for the first 35dB or so, you can go down into the 70s somewhere I think before any loss of quality occurs. Certainly at 80 you'll not have issues, if that's what downstream gear needs to be fed.
 
Sep 19, 2015 at 4:03 AM Post #1,470 of 2,388
I just got the Taurus MkII a couple of days ago, and the sound quality is excellent, however i have noticed an issue with balanced mode. when i use my HE500 balanced and have the volume turned up crazy high, i get crazy distortion in bass after 2 o'clock. i hate that i spend so much money on my amp, and i get distortion. This only happens in balanced mode. in se mode or using balanced cable with standard mode enabled, i get no distortion even with volume pot on full. anyone have an idea what might be causing this? is my amp defective?
 

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