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+--- Thread: Mac AIR v MiND 180 v Auralic ARIES v totaldac d1 server (/Thread-Mac-AIR-v-MiND-180-v-Auralic-ARIES-v-totaldac-d1-server)
RE: Mac AIR v MiND 180 v Auralic ARIES v totaldac d1 server - GuillaumeB - 01-Sep-2014
(01-Sep-2014, 17:51)Eddye Wrote: Very nice read. Would both of you (Guillaume and Rufus) rather listen to the MiND or the ARIES?
I couldn't justify buying a D1.
Haha! We'll be giving plenty of airtime to the Aries on Friday.
Guillaume
RE: Mac AIR v MiND 180 v Auralic ARIES v totaldac d1 server - Eddye - 01-Sep-2014
(01-Sep-2014, 19:02)Rufus McDufus Wrote: Personally as of now I'd rather listen to the Moon MiND. The development of the MiND firmware-wise has been a little slow though and I suspect the Aries has more potential on that front. The Aries is more impressive to me - bigger soundstage, depth, but just a bit flat dynamically (to me anyhow). We'll try it with a good USB cable in the next few days - could be very different...
Thank you.
TBH lack of software/firmware updates is what's keeping me from buying a MiND like streamer (like a Sonos or SBT or MiND). I'll 'make due' with my modded Mac Mini and hopefully in the very near future Audirvana 2. A Sonos isn't up to spec, sound quality wise. A SBT is 'old tech', though extremely good in it's price range and far beyond. I was hoping the MiND would be a complete package (excellent SQ and software). Somehow the Aries is less appealing, though I have yet to hear one.
RE: Mac AIR v MiND 180 v Auralic ARIES v totaldac d1 server - Rufus McDufus - 01-Sep-2014
Not sure if Guillaume mentioned it ... The Aries has a bit of a design flaw with the overhanging top and bottom, making it difficult to unplug plugs which have a 'latch' on them, i.e AES. You need to get a pen or screwdriver blade in there to undo the plug latch.
RE: Mac AIR v MiND 180 v Auralic ARIES v totaldac d1 server - GuillaumeB - 01-Sep-2014
(01-Sep-2014, 19:50)Rufus McDufus Wrote: Not sure if Guillaume mentioned it ... The Aries has a bit of a design flaw with the overhanging top and bottom, making it difficult to unplug plugs which have a 'latch' on them, i.e AES. You need to get a pen or screwdriver blade in there to undo the plug latch.
Yes absolutely right - makes A/B testing a nightmare!
Actually I'm also slightly concerned by the plastic finish on the unit. It's a metallic look but to my eyes looks like cheap plastic. Interestingly this has come up on the Computer Audiophile site. It might be that I have an earlier unit.
Guillaume
Mac AIR v MiND 180 v Auralic ARIES v totaldac d1 server - Patatorz - 02-Sep-2014
Hello, agree with you on the cheap side of the Aries. It seems that choice of the plastic comes from the wifi chip inside the device.
RE: Mac AIR v MiND 180 v Auralic ARIES v totaldac d1 server - GuillaumeB - 02-Sep-2014
(02-Sep-2014, 05:17)Patatorz Wrote: Hello, agree with you on the cheap side of the Aries. It seems that choice of the plastic comes from the wifi chip inside the device.
Hi Patatorz and welcome to Devialet Chat!
Yes this makes sense.
Guillaume
Mac AIR v MiND 180 v Auralic ARIES v totaldac d1 server - Patatorz - 02-Sep-2014
Thanks. Always great to share feed backs and thoughts with great people (even if I never hear a devialet :-) )
RE: Mac AIR v MiND 180 v Auralic ARIES v totaldac d1 server - f1eng - 02-Sep-2014
(31-Aug-2014, 17:37)GuillaumeB Wrote: Very interesting Thierry, and thanks for sharing this with us.
My understanding from last year when I had discussions with a couple of Devialet retailers (one of whom had a long conversation with a senior exec at Devialet) was that the Devialet "opened" the music files inside the unit, and that it was the Devialet unit doing the decoding.
Since then there have been new versions of AIR... including a complete rewrite allowing other programmes such as J River and A+ to be used... so I'm guessing this has all changed. The question is why did Devialet change their approach with AIR? Was the previous version unworkable?
Guillaume
Hi Guillaume,
my understanding was that at the very beginning Air was conceived as an ideal engineering solution where the Devialet was the master. I was told by one of their engineers that Air made Amarra, Audirvans, Pure Music etc. redundant. My guess is that many customers wanted to use existing software they had chosen with other systems and did not like to be "told what to do".
So v1 Air was an engineering optimised solution, still having some teething troubles admittedly, and Air v2 is a complete rewrite, probably instigated by marketing feedback, to act like a sound card so -any- audio software will send a wireless signal to the Devialet.
It would not surprise me to find that the only thing Air v1 and Air v2 have in common is the word "Air".
As Thierry alludes, the original way was probably the best way for SQ, but did not match the wishes of too many of the customers.
One other earlier comment of Thierry caught my eye. He mentioned using D1 server/totaldac and Devialet and mentioned cascading DACs (or something, can't re-read just now). I presume this means the analogue output from the totaldac into a Devialet analogue input.
My experience with my other DACs into the analogue input of the Devialet was that the sound signature of each DAC came through the Devialet clearly, which is one of my reasons for believing the Devialet is audibly transparent. My conclusion is that no other DAC is neededfor transparent sound, but if the colour of a particular DAC "floats your boat" the Devialet will reveal it.
RE: Mac AIR v MiND 180 v Auralic ARIES v totaldac d1 server - PhilP - 02-Sep-2014
(02-Sep-2014, 19:17)f1eng Wrote: Hi Guillaume,
my understanding was that at the very beginning Air was conceived as an ideal engineering solution where the Devialet was the master. I was told by one of their engineers that Air made Amarra, Audirvans, Pure Music etc. redundant. My guess is that many customers wanted to use existing software they had chosen with other systems and did not like to be "told what to do".
So v1 Air was an engineering optimised solution, still having some teething troubles admittedly, and Air v2 is a complete rewrite, probably instigated by marketing feedback, to act like a sound card so -any- audio software will send a wireless signal to the Devialet.
It would not surprise me to find that the only thing Air v1 and Air v2 have in common is the word "Air".
As Thierry alludes, the original way was probably the best way for SQ, but did not match the wishes of too many of the customers.
It's not at all clear to me how AIR v2 works with players like Audirvana Plus i.e. what AIR does and what A+ does. Several of us have not been able to enable parameters in A+ like Exclusive Mode, Direct Mode and Integer Mode and thus have not been able to take full advantage of the features that A+ without AIR offers. It seems likely that AIR is preventing this and it may still be the case that AIR v2 acts as the 'Master' and takes advantage of features such as Integer Mode itself - I really don't know.
There do appear to be some differences in sound between AIR on its own and AIR with A+ but perhaps A+ is modifying the sound before the signal is passed to AIR - again, I don't know. What I do know is that I am happy with the sound and flexibility that I get from using AIR Wi-Fi and I have never had a drop-out even when streaming 24-bit.
I am, however, intrigued to hear the improvements that the totaldac d1 server can bring
RE: Mac AIR v MiND 180 v Auralic ARIES v totaldac d1 server - ThierryNK - 02-Sep-2014
Hi everybody
Are you sure that "AIR alone" does exist? Or is it ITunes that "plays" and AIR is in charge of transfer?
It is now "clear" from Devialet Website who does what:
http://en.devialet.com/technology/devialet-air-en/
The new Devialet AIR Wi-Fi streamer lets you play your music in bit perfect mode. This mode is for users who play high-resolution files (superior to CD format). It avoids having your computer’s operating system alter your music file’s sampling frequency before transmitting it to your Devialet.
This mode depends on the audio architecture used by your computer. Access is therefore different for Mac and Windows.
With Mac, it is guaranteed automatically from iTunes when the "Bit perfect" option is enabled in the Devialet AIR application’s settings.
With Windows Vista, it can also be accessed automatically from several audio players by selecting WASAPI as the audio outlet in your player’s settings. These include free players such as Foobar 2000, Winamp and XBMC or commercial players such as JRiver, Adobe Audition, JPlay. This is not the case for iTunes with Windows or Windows Media Player, on the other hand.
It is always possible to play in bit perfect mode manually by adjusting the sampling frequency in the Devialet AIR application’s settings as needed for the format of the files you want to play.
For those interested (just send me an email) I can provide an article written by a real time computing expert that explains what I had difficulties to make clear in previous posts. The article is in French and is a bit "technical" but can be read and understood if spending the necessary time.
Cheers
Thierry