Auralic Aries and Devialet 200

[octaviars]

Would love to hear from any Aties users as to how they find it with the Devialet

I have an Aries connected with usb to my D400. I have not compared it to another streamer but in this price range I think it is good. Maybe it is a little bright in the top and with my Focals it can be a little to much but not that it bugs me so much. The main thing that bugs me right now is the Android app, if you use iOS this is not a problem but Auralic is not going to develop a full functional Android app so this might be the thing that got me looking at other brands the app works but there is many things wrong in it mostly when you play Tidal and it chrashes quit often when your tablet went down in sleep mode and you restarts the app.

How do you think it sounds compared to AIR?
Yes I have seen a few comments on the lack of development on the android app. Not good when a company does this after taking your cash

I have not used AIR so much that I can give an honest opinion but if I get some time I will try some different songs from my NAS with both the Aries and over AIR from my computer.

[Womaz]

You are a star. The Aries is being given serious consideration as fed up with AIR issues. Just wish AIR didn't sound so good . Thanks for your input

[octaviars]

I tested some songs with AIR and one thing that is noticible directly is that I have to turn upp the volume more with AIR to play at the same level as with my Aries over USB, for example if I play at -40dB with USB I need around -35dB with AIR to play at the same level (not measured, only what I hear with my ears so it might diff a bit up and down of dB on the volumecontrol).

Have not yet compared sound quality, will do that when my little kid is sleeping, there is not much time to focus when he is runing around playing

I do like the Aries as a concept and other streamers, I do not want to have a computer on always just to listen to music, with the Aries it is really fast to get it playing and it does sound really good for the price. I have been looking att Aurender but they are almost double in price and they also does not have a fully working Android app wich is a must for me. Naim is supporting Tidal in their streamers now so I have been looking at a second hand ND5 XS and a Teddy Pardo PSU to go with it. Naim only has BNC out but some say the that the coax and AES input on the Devialet is better than the USB. AES is supposed to be the best and it is possible to run psuedo balanced in on the AES to get the advantage of that input (a friend of mine runs a Naim server with BNC to XLR cable with good results compared to the rca input on his D400).

[Womaz]

Thanks again for your input very helpful. I also want to take the PC out of the music chain eventually and hoping Dialog will be my solution.....I said hoping!
My CD transport is not as good as AIR but still sounds very good. With AIR i love the soundstage, that airy sound and the bass, and that is why I am trying to be patient. If it was more stable I think I would have this as my solution and actually keep the PC in the chain.
Will be interesting to see how you feel on the SQ, but yes the kids come first ;-)
Thanks for all your input, very much appreciated.

[octaviars]

But if I said IF the Dialog is going to be compatible with the Expert models I think it is going to be connected with USB, not shure but I think Devialet said that somewere and I dont think that the USB output on the Dialog is of any high standard compared to a Aries for example or a Aurender for example. I think that this is their solution to get rid of the AIR problems and go with the USB. The Dialog has a switched PSU built in so that is not something that I se as a good thing, if it were a extern PSU one could replace it with a good linear model. And to my understanding the Spark app has a lot of bugs and is not a finished produkt so that is one thing that concerns me.

I would like to have ROON core on a NAS like Sooloos is doing with Qnap, ROON speaker on the Aries and ROON on my Android tablet that is something that I would se as a good solution. But that is not something that will happen in the near future I think but one can hope it will

[PhilP]

...

I do like the Aries as a concept and other streamers, I do not want to have a computer on always just to listen to music, with the Aries it is really fast to get it playing and it does sound really good for the price. I have been looking att Aurender but they are almost double in price and they also does not have a fully working Android app wich is a must for me. Naim is supporting Tidal in their streamers now so I have been looking at a second hand ND5 XS and a Teddy Pardo PSU to go with it. Naim only has BNC out but some say the that the coax and AES input on the Devialet is better than the USB. AES is supposed to be the best and it is possible to run psuedo balanced in on the AES to get the advantage of that input (a friend of mine runs a Naim server with BNC to XLR cable with good results compared to the rca input on his D400).

I used a Naim NDX with my D200 for a year and was never really happy with it. I then tried an Aurender N100 and the SQ was a long way ahead of the NDX...  

External power supplies certainly improve the SQ of Naim streamers even when only using digital out. I ran my NDX with an XPS2 for a while and loved it but that was a £7,000 combination - silly money for something with such limited functionality. ND5XS/Teddy would certainly be worth trying but from my experience you can get better SQ elsewhere.

[octaviars]

...

I do like the Aries as a concept and other streamers, I do not want to have a computer on always just to listen to music, with the Aries it is really fast to get it playing and it does sound really good for the price. I have been looking att Aurender but they are almost double in price and they also does not have a fully working Android app wich is a must for me. Naim is supporting Tidal in their streamers now so I have been looking at a second hand ND5 XS and a Teddy Pardo PSU to go with it. Naim only has BNC out but some say the that the coax and AES input on the Devialet is better than the USB. AES is supposed to be the best and it is possible to run psuedo balanced in on the AES to get the advantage of that input (a friend of mine runs a Naim server with BNC to XLR cable with good results compared to the rca input on his D400).

I used a Naim NDX with my D200 for a year and was never really happy with it. I then tried an Aurender N100 and the SQ was a long way ahead of the NDX...  

External power supplies certainly improve the SQ of Naim streamers even when only using digital out. I ran my NDX with an XPS2 for a while and loved it but that was a £7,000 combination - silly money for something with such limited functionality. ND5XS/Teddy would certainly be worth trying but from my experience you can get better SQ elsewhere.

Ok, good to know.

In a test of the Aurender N100 they comared it to the Aries and found that the Aurender was a little bit better but not much so maybe the Aries is quit good after all. Tried Bubble UPnP app last night and it worked ok but the Aries had to be restarted some times so somthing is not ok in UPnP mode.

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2015/0...er-review/

The Aurender also pips the AURALiC piece to the post on sound quality. But only just. The N100H is a little meatier with acoustic mass – not that the Aries is skeletal by any stretch. Such deltas couldn’t – and shouldn’t – be described as huge. In trying to nail ‘em down I was reminded of the John Cleese’s waiter tempting the gluttonous Monsieur Creosote with an after dinner mint in Monty Python’s Meaning Of Life. “It’s only wafer thin, Sir”.

Right know I am thinking of geting a AES/EBU XLR cable to test it against USB to se if it is a better connection to the Devialet.

[Womaz]

One of the reasons I got the Devialet earlier this year was that I had come to the way of thinking that my speakers and Devialet would be my major purchases to try and gain better SQ. I am not saying this is right but I chatted to people who had 12 to 15k amps and speakers, and a lot of them were using a cheap PC based solution to feed these. This is the way I decided to go. I will stick to this theory I think.
I got the Devialet and I have the PMC23 speakers. My intention was to eventually look at the PMC26s or FACT 8s. Now with the 23s I still feel satisfied. I am not sure I will change them but I am still trying to stick to that philosophy if you like. So therefore AIR,Dialiog or a cheaper Aries or even Melco will all be considered.
At the moment though it is just considered as I am spending cash on my headphone set up. It has been interesting journey with the Devialet!

[GuillaumeB]

Having heard a number of different streamers in different Devialet setups I still wholeheartedly recommend the Melco N1A. Its sound quality is head and shoulders above anything else in its price range, in fact I have heard of people replacing their Aurender W20 with an N1A. Yes you read that correctly. 

In my own tests there was simply no comparison between the Auralic Aries and the Melco.

There will soon be a dedicated control point out which will simplify usage further. 

Guillaume

[octaviars]

Having heard a number of different streamers in different Devialet setups I still wholeheartedly recommend the Melco N1A. Its sound quality is head and shoulders above anything else in its price range, in fact I have heard of people replacing their Aurender W20 with an N1A. Yes you read that correctly. 

In my own tests there was simply no comparison between the Auralic Aries and the Melco.

There will soon be a dedicated control point out which will simplify usage further. 

Guillaume

To bad that your Melco was dead when you were in Sweden, would be great to have heard it and compared it to my Aries. By the way witch Melco is it that you have?

What App are you using to control the Melco? I tried Bubble UPnP yeasterday with my Aries and they support playback of Tidal so that is something I would like to have.

Do you know if someone have tried a UpTone Regen with their Melco?