Item: Auralic Aries Wireless Streaming Bridge & Linear Power Supply Unit
Location: Gold Coast, QLD. Will post anywhere in Australia at cost, registered and insured optional.
Price: $1500 firm
Item Condition: Very Good Condition. Less than two years old. Second Owner.
Reason for selling: Fund-raising for new business
Payment Method: Cash, Paypal (+3%), EFT
Extra Info:
TL;DR: TOTL Aries, sounds great, need money.
Slightly longer version:
The full, dual-femto and liner power supply model. Updated to latest firmware, factory reset and still the current Auralic premium music streamer/server. Auralic ads state: "It's not a streamer, it turns your DAC into a streamer". That's marketing-speak for "doesn't have an onboard DAC". This makes sense at the unit's retail price-point, as anyone with $2.5k to splash on a streamer would most likely have a decent DAC they wish to pair it with. In my own case that DAC has been a Schiit Bifrost Uber and I ran via USB. The Aries outputs digitally via your choice of TOSLINK, Coaxial, AES or the aforementioned USB. Network connectivity is achieved through either ethernet cable or Wi-Fi as I used it, and the device can act directly as a server by attaching your choice of USB hard drive to it's dedicated port. (Note: the drive needs to be blank/empty BEFORE you do this. There is a process for transferring music files to it after initial connection and formatting.)
My natural tendency is a leaning toward being a bit of a source-first heathen, but even I didn't expect the improvement in sound quality using the Aries versus a PC, iMac or other DLNA players I had employed. Bits may well just be bits, but the Aries does seem to do a fine job of lining them up neatly and marching them down the line to the waiting DAC. Whether this is due to the dual-femto clocks (Femto: a trade term for very precise, low-jitter signal timing chips), the low-noise liner power supply, the fact that Auralic have built this machine from the ground-up as a dedicated piece of music hardware or some combination of these I'm not sure.
Initially I used the supplied (well, downloaded to be precise) iPad app to setup and operate the Aries. I would fairly describe the current iPad incarnation of the Lightning DS app as sufficiently decent. I have since subscribed to Roon and to be totally honest that takes the use and control of the streamer to whole new, far more engaging level. On that basis I highly recommend Roon although it will run you around $100 / year for a subscription. Essential? No. Nice? Absolutely. I have not been able to note any SQ difference between the Auralic DS app or Roon, whether streaming Tidal HiFi or network-attached drive music files. One caveat here: Auralic currently only support iDevices. That is, you will need an Apple iSomething to install and use the streamer. There are iPhone and an iPad versions of their DS app. The iPhone version utilises a newer style and feature set (sideways glance in Roon's direction), something Auralic say they are about to roll out on the iPad offering too. I always look forward to these things but believe them when I actually see them and can install and run them. Please keep this in mind with this or any other piece of technology you ever consider buying: buy it for the abilities it currently possesses.
My only real bones of contention with this machine (and they are minor ones at that) are the remote, OLED display and slow boot from full power-off. The remote is generic and lightweight. For the usable features it has, something along the lines of the Apple TV remote would be much classier. Not a huge issue as DS app or Roon control is much nicer. The OLED display, although pleasing to the eye, offers very little in the way of useful information: time elapsed/remaining, track #/total tracks. Hopefully a future firmware update adds more detail to this otherwise-wasted resource. If you are a power-scrooge (I can be), the unit is very slow to boot from full power-down. I ended up leaving it in stand-by mode for practicality and given the device's linear power supply there is probably no benefit to not leaving it completely on anyway. It would certainly save picking up the awful remote and glancing at the mostly-pointless screen.
Purchased from original owner September last year. First purchased new June 2014. I am describing as very good condition so as to not disappoint any very fastidious buyers, personally I would call the condition excellent and certainly 100% functional and fault-free. The only marks on the unit are some very minor scratches on the underside. I have used a flash to highlight these in the last photo and in regular use they are of course invisible. I have the original packaging so can safely post this, I would recommend insurance but that is entirely up to the buyer. Pickup is free and postage will be whatever Aus Post quote.
I am only selling as I have a new business venture I wish to pursue, and that requires money. I have been very happy with the Aries in the time I've had it. Feel free to ask questions (if you are actually and genuinely considering buying the item) or PM me.
Pictures: Captured to the best of my ability. Karl Largerfeld cancelled at short notice.
