Advice on music streamer options

[eganz]

I'm looking for advice on a streamer.

 

I'm currently using a modified OPPO-105 with linear power supply (and other improvements over the years) to feed my new auralic Vega DAC. I’ve been controlling it with the remote, and with the android app on a tablet.

 

The Vega provides excellent sound, but I have lost the ability to stream DSD natively. Vega requires DSD via DOP on USB.

 

The OPPO sounds excellent by itself with music on USB thumb drive on the front panel, or streaming wirelessly from my SMB share on my Asus router. I own JRiver, but have not been able to get it to work as well.

 

I see four ways forward and ask your advice.

 

1) use a XLR switchbox so that I can listen to DSD directly from the OPPO outputs. This is the lowest cost option, but does not take full advantage of my new DAC.

 

2) purchase a used Aries streamer. However, online, some describe this is a middle level solution, and recommend various add-ons, improvements, and changes to the streaming infrastructure. Also haven’t had great luck with DLNA servers myself. For example, the OPPO sounds excellent from my samba server, or the USB front part, but not so good using J River or using DLNA. I also would need to purchase an iPad for this option.

 

3) find a used Aurender N100H. This would be my preferred solution except the price is very high. I particularly like the idea of being free from my network which has to be wireless at this point, and is not always 100% reliable.

 

4) I have an extra quiet PC (Streacom heatsink case , 3770 CPU, SSD etc.) that I could convert into either a streamer or a server. This was my original plan year ago, but now I’m concerned that it will still be electrically noisy. I could add a 100 W linear power supply, and a SOTM USB output card this could be a contender, but I still think that an Aries streamer would be easier to use.

 

perhaps there are other options…

 

Thanks,

 

Eric

[pvanosta]

One thing to note about the Aries, is that if you want to get the most out of the user experience, you will want to use the included Lightning DS application (on Ipad). YMMV, depending on your setup and the size of your library. I am in a similar situation as you, but currently using the OPPO as a standalone Streamer/DAC connected to my NAS. Performs without a hitch no matter what is on the NAS and how big my library gets (I have over 200,000 tracks). The reason I started looking for a streamer, is because I want to be able to play DSD256 and (in the near future) MQA files. I just RMA'ed two Auralic Aries Mini with two SBooster LPS because I simply could not get them to work. Lightning Server took 29 hours to scan the first 141,000 tracks and it was far from finished. The proprietary wifi that you need to access from your Ipad in order to config the Aries is CRAP and I managed to get on once in 50 tries, while sitting right next to the box. The whole exoerience was an exercise in frustration, which I abandoned after two days.

I too am now looking for an alternative that will give me an increase in quality as well as future-proofing for upcoming formats, preferably without spending 5k. Right now, used Aurender or perhaps Lumin seem potential options...

Please keep us posted on which direction you end up choosing.

[badlyread]

Other experiences of the Aries Mini are available......

[pvanosta]

Absolutely, which is why I started by saying YMMV. But there tends to be a fanboy/bandwagon effect whenever a new, promising product hits the market. It is important to point out that the box does not always do what you expect and does not always work as advertised, because there are far more variables in peoples' systems and networks than a small maker like Auralic can anticipate. With that said, there is nothing 'special' about my wired network, nothing special about my wifi network, nothing special about my NAS and the folder configuration on it and I could not get the Auralic to work. I may be in the minority, but I am by no means the only one. And a product that was SO anticipated by the market should perhaps have some sort of support infrastructure beyond an FAQ on a website.

[davide256]

One thing to note about the Aries, is that if you want to get the most out of the user experience, you will want to use the included Lightning DS application (on Ipad). YMMV, depending on your setup and the size of your library. I am in a similar situation as you, but currently using the OPPO as a standalone Streamer/DAC connected to my NAS. Performs without a hitch no matter what is on the NAS and how big my library gets (I have over 200,000 tracks). The reason I started looking for a streamer, is because I want to be able to play DSD256 and (in the near future) MQA files. I just RMA'ed two Auralic Aries Mini with two SBooster LPS because I simply could not get them to work. Lightning Server took 29 hours to scan the first 141,000 tracks and it was far from finished. The proprietary wifi that you need to access from your Ipad in order to config the Aries is CRAP and I managed to get on once in 50 tries, while sitting right next to the box. The whole exoerience was an exercise in frustration, which I abandoned after two days.

I too am now looking for an alternative that will give me an increase in quality as well as future-proofing for upcoming formats, preferably without spending 5k. Right now, used Aurender or perhaps Lumin seem potential options...

Please keep us posted on which direction you end up choosing.

 

I've always been a fanboy of products that I've owned and verified as punching above their weight, gear like the AR turntable, NAD 3020 integrated amp and Hafler DH200. In that column I now own and personally would include the Microzotl 2 as pre amp and the Aries Mini as streamer... plan to spend 3x as much if you want to do better. The one caution you do need to take from pvanosta is that if you need "milspec" hardware, the Aries mini units are made to a price for mass markets needs... if like me you have ~ 10,000 tracks in your library all should be fine. If like Pvanosta you have 100,000 tracks +in your library, the mini may be computing challenged. I suspect over the next week there will be chatter on the Aries mini thread to verify if there is a track limit size the mini can handle.

[eganz]

I have roughly 2400 music files in my high-resolution library.

I was looking at the top version of the Auralic Aries streamer with the linear power supply and the femto clock ( used).

One question is how this compares to my existing set up.

Another is whether I would need to further improve it with a Regen, or improvements to my File storage/serving set up etc.

[pvanosta]

Thanks Dave , I think we actually agree. I too have owned the NAD 3020 a lifetime ago and was a fanboy of that. Mainly because it did so much more than one had any right to expect from a component in that price range. To the OP: I think using the Aries Femto with LPS to feed your Vega SHOULD be an audible improvement. Only your ears will tell for sure.

[mchu168]

First thing to do is stop reading other people's listening impressions about gear and start trusting your own ears. If it sounds good to you, no need to worry about adding more gizmos, processing, power supplies, etc. About 25 years ago I performed blind listening tests with different IC cables and realized they don't matter all that much to me, so now I don't bother. That realization has allowed me to saves thousands of dollars which I put towards better room acoustics treatments, better gear that makes a difference (to me), or put into my retirement account. The placebo effect is a powerful force.

 

My 2c advice - try setting up the PC you currently own and prove to yourself that it's better/worse than your Oppo. Don't automatically assume that it must be worse because it doesn't have a fancy USB output, power supply. Use your ears, and if it you can't really hear the difference then don't spend the money.

[eganz]

Yes I agree that it is best to listen first before purchasing.

However, in this case will be difficult for me to listen to the options under discussion.

I'm trying to make a general way forward.

My system is very resolving, but also now very musical with the Vega DAC.

I described in my original post my experiments to date. So far, my OPPO with linear supply sounds much better than anything I've been able to get straight out of my computer.

 

I'm also waiting eagerly to hear the news from CES, and hopefully mqa streaming from tidal. Perhaps there will be new products of interest as well.

as I said, I have freed up a quiet PC and perhaps could apply it to a become minimserver etc. to replace my SMB share from my router if that would make a difference with a future server.

I own J River, but for example am not able to get it to output DSD via DOP without using the output conversion modules which change everything to DOP.

 

Certainly I want to make the most of my current set up possible. As I go forward, I want to keep the system simple to use.

[pvanosta]

eganz, I am curious as I too have an Oppo (105). Can you share some details on the linear supply you use?

[eganz]

eganz, I am curious as I too have an Oppo (105). Can you share some details on the linear supply you use?

 

 

Yes, it comes from OPPOMOD

there is a very long thread on the DIY forum discussing improvements to the 105.

For example, I have removed the output coupling capacitors, installed a linear power supply, disabled the multichannel card, added shielding, and added decoupling capacitors to the Sabre chip.

This provides substantial improvement to the 105. It also reduces the electrical noise coming out of the box.

My amplifier is quite sensitive to all sorts of electrical noise.

For this reason, I've also added AC noise filters and shielding to my amplifier, as well as a balanced transformer input.

I also use a PS audio PPP to filter and regenerate my AC power which is really terrible here.

 

Eric

[pvanosta]

Thank you for that info. Will look into that.

[eganz]

okay, I had some time to try Jplay, I got it working well on my wife's ultra book running Windows 10, and on battery power in airplane mode. I was playing directly from SSD.

This quickly used kernel streaming, and was able to play different formats including DSD over DOP to my Vega DAC very nicely, using exact clocking mode.

Still, based on this brief audition, I think that one can improve over this relatively standard ultra book set up using a standard USB output, and a generic USB cable etc..

 

so if I were to pursue this direction, what ultimate quality can I expect?

 

I would presumably apply a linear power supply to an ultra book and add Fidelizer. Which control point is recommended?

 

Can I achieve a similar or better result using my three-year-old heat pipe cooled quiet PC?

 

I see that people are using optical fiber links to isolate out network noise. I would've expected this to go right before the DAC, it looks like people are using this before the network appliance instead.

 

Online, it the consensus seems to be that the full linear power supply/femto clock Aries achieves higher quality than these PC-based solutions. What do you think?

 

How about a comparison to the aurender N100?

 

Chris, you recently raved about achieving your best digital playback ever, on a fancy system, can we achieve or approach these ultimate results ourselves as well?

 

Thanks, Eric

[russellbobby]

okay, I had some time to try Jplay, I got it working well on my wife's ultra book running Windows 10, and on battery power in airplane mode. I was playing directly from SSD.

This quickly used kernel streaming, and was able to play different formats including DSD over DOP to my Vega DAC very nicely, using exact clocking mode.

Still, based on this brief audition, I think that one can improve over this relatively standard ultra book set up using a standard USB output, and a generic USB cable etc..

 

so if I were to pursue this direction, what ultimate quality can I expect?

 

I would presumably apply a linear power supply to an ultra book and add Fidelizer. Which control point is recommended?

 

Can I achieve a similar or better result using my three-year-old heat pipe cooled quiet PC?

 

I see that people are using optical fiber links to isolate out network noise. I would've expected this to go right before the DAC, it looks like people are using this before the network appliance instead.

 

Online, it the consensus seems to be that the full linear power supply/femto clock Aries achieves higher quality than these PC-based solutions. What do you think?

 

How about a comparison to the aurender N100?

 

Chris, you recently raved about achieving your best digital playback ever, on a fancy system, can we achieve or approach these ultimate results ourselves as well?

 

Thanks, Eric

Hi Eric,

I have an Aurender N100S feeding a Oppo 105d full modwright tube mod and it is glorious. I previously had an Aries Femto and while it is good, when compared to an Aurender it reminds me of CD vs vinyl. The Aries is upfront in your face while the Aurender is laidback with fantastic depth and separation of instruments. Very easy to listen to. Well worth the extra money. install a Regen in between the two for a further bump. No offense to the Aries peeps but the Aurender is simply a better sounding player albeit much fewer features ( no wireless, or the multitude of output connections) but if you are using USB only the Aurender is the way to go. The Oppo 105D has an Asych USB input which also bumps up SQ. When I first got the modded OPPo back I would listen to files from the standard USB from portable hard drives and it does sound good. When I added the Streamers ( Bryston BDP-1, Aries) and used the Asynch input it kicked it up a level. When switching to the Aurender it brought it to what I would call reference level ( for the price point)

Good luck with your upgrade. I guess that what keeps this hobby refreshing!!

[Albrecht]

Hi Eric,

I have an Aurender N100S feeding a Oppo 105d full modwright tube mod and it is glorious. I previously had an Aries Femto and while it is good, when compared to an Aurender it reminds me of CD vs vinyl. The Aries is upfront in your face while the Aurender is laidback with fantastic depth and separation of instruments. Very easy to listen to. Well worth the extra money. install a Regen in between the two for a further bump. No offense to the Aries peeps but the Aurender is simply a better sounding player albeit much fewer features ( no wireless, or the multitude of output connections) but if you are using USB only the Aurender is the way to go. The Oppo 105D has an Asych USB input which also bumps up SQ. When I first got the modded OPPo back I would listen to files from the standard USB from portable hard drives and it does sound good. When I added the Streamers ( Bryston BDP-1, Aries) and used the Asynch input it kicked it up a level. When switching to the Aurender it brought it to what I would call reference level ( for the price point)

Good luck with your upgrade. I guess that what keeps this hobby refreshing!!

 

 

Hi,

I had the Aries in my system briefly. Since you tried the Bryston, how does it compare to the Aries? I share your opinion of the Aries, from my experience.

[russellbobby]

Hi,

I had the Aries in my system briefly. Since you tried the Bryston, how does it compare to the Aries? I share your opinion of the Aries, from my experience.

I had a Bryston BDP-1 which the Aries sounded much better. There current model is the BDP-2 which I have no experience with.

[eganz]

Hi Eric,

I have an Aurender N100S feeding a Oppo 105d full modwright tube mod and it is glorious. I previously had an Aries Femto and while it is good, when compared to an Aurender it reminds me of CD vs vinyl. The Aries is upfront in your face while the Aurender is laidback with fantastic depth and separation of instruments. Very easy to listen to. Well worth the extra money. install a Regen in between the two for a further bump. No offense to the Aries peeps but the Aurender is simply a better sounding player albeit much fewer features ( no wireless, or the multitude of output connections) but if you are using USB only the Aurender is the way to go. The Oppo 105D has an Asych USB input which also bumps up SQ. When I first got the modded OPPo back I would listen to files from the standard USB from portable hard drives and it does sound good. When I added the Streamers ( Bryston BDP-1, Aries) and used the Asynch input it kicked it up a level. When switching to the Aurender it brought it to what I would call reference level ( for the price point)

Good luck with your upgrade. I guess that what keeps this hobby refreshing!!

Russell and others,

 

Thank you for your advice. I went ahead with the Aurender.

It is fantastic.

 

Eric