Gieseler Audio 2,518 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Hey exciting news. Mike is now a Auralic dealer & stocking the new G1 streamer. https://us.auralic.com/products/aries-g1?variant=34539872452776 I have just purchased one from Mike & I'm totally blown away. Dead simple setup & spectacular performance. Easily outperforms my custom PC server. No onboard hard drive but has a rear USB HD connection so simple to connect a external SSD portable drive with all your ripped files. These have come down a lot now - about $270 for a quality 1 TB Samsung drive. Anyway enough of my waffling, check out John Darko's video review. https://darko.audio/2018/08/a-short-film-about-the-auralic-aries-g1/ 6 1 Link to post Share on other sites
woadl 124 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Just love mine, was such a big step up on performance from the original Aries Femto I’m using mine with Roon 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Snoopy8 3,708 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 41 minutes ago, Gieseler Audio said: Hey exciting news. Mike is now a Auralic dealer & stocking the new G1 streamer. https://us.auralic.com/products/aries-g1?variant=34539872452776 I have just purchased one from Mike & I'm totally blown away For people wondering who Mike is, it is Mike Lenahan https://www.lenehanaudio.com.au Pity both of you are so far away. Would love to try one fro a few hours and compare with my tweaked NUC, powered by one of your PSUs. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Jventer 1,764 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Hi @Gieseler Audio How much better in your view than Auralic Aries - the one that you have/had? Link to post Share on other sites
Gieseler Audio 2,518 Posted June 26, 2020 Author Share Posted June 26, 2020 List price is $3995 but best to contact Mike directly. http://www.lenehanaudio.com.au I was very happy with the Aries femto but the G1 just does everything a bit better. Access & control is much faster as well as say album updating with a large data base of music files. Watch the John Darko video as he explains the difference in detail. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Lenehan Audio 1,078 Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 Hi All Ok I was advised from 2 sources, Clay and another mate I trust that this was the device to have as a streamer/server ! so I got one , Clay set it up for me ( because I am an IT imbicile ) and came back to me and said Ahh Mike this thing is awesome so he bought the one he had . I immediately ordered another one for myself and some stock which I should have on the 20th of this month . Cant wait to get the beast in my ref system . At the price they are 1/3 to a 1/4 of the price of other SOTA contenders so are definately a great option in an all out system . More on this when mine rolls in . ( CLAY wouldnt give me my one back Boo Hoo ) Cheers Mike 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites
vf4fe 12 Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 I'm also thinking to get Auralic Aries G1😅 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Gieseler Audio 2,518 Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 Auralic have just released Firmware 7 which allows connecting a external CD/DVD USB drive. The drive can then be used to play CD's or rip them. The data is buffered & the rip process is using Auralic own software implementation. The results are extremely good with owners claiming CD playback is sounding better than a dedicated CD transport. Lots more info here. https://community.auralic.com/t/firmware-7-x-cd-playback-ripping/5846 The Auralic community forum is a great resource for owners with lots of helpful info & frequent direct input from Xuanqian - Auralic's CEO 4 Link to post Share on other sites
Jventer 1,764 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 @Gieseler Audio @Lenehan Audio I want one - $4K is a lot of money though, so I either save or buy now and pay later. Credit cards are so old news with 20%+ interest rates. I want Mike to get into Afterpay/Zipmoney whatever so I can buy now and pay later While I am on it it wont hurt for Clay to do the same. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
vf4fe 12 Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Is any Aries G1 owner tested which is the best interface output does it has? Thanks. Link to post Share on other sites
kdoot 455 Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 That’s gonna depend very much on the DAC it’s connecting to. Link to post Share on other sites
dolphy 618 Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 John Darko added another review recently that walks through the CD update. I recommend you give it a watch. I own an Aires Femto and I'd love to upgrade. 4K is alot out of my budget. I reckon I could get $1000 for mine...... Hmmmm 1 Link to post Share on other sites
lenticularis 563 Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 4 hours ago, dolphy said: ... I own an Aires Femto and I'd love to upgrade. 4K is a lot out of my budget. I reckon I could get $1000 for mine...... Hmmmm More than that I hope, because after evaluation against a miniDSP SHD Studio (streamer with Dirac) on the way, I am hoping that I can afford, sonically, to sell my own Aries Femto. 😉 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Sddp 46 Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 Just got mine 3 days ago and its so good it's almost ridiculous. Well built and pretty easy to use. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites
bhobba 1,065 Posted August 15, 2020 Share Posted August 15, 2020 Hi All You convinced me - just ordered one from Mike. He recently installed a system with base grade ML5's and an old Gross DAC I got ages ago from Clay (the guy will be upgrading to Clay's latest when released) and was totally blown away. But Mike said he will do a post about it with the full details. Thanks Bill 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Jventer 1,764 Posted August 15, 2020 Share Posted August 15, 2020 1 minute ago, bhobba said: Hi All You convinced me - just ordered one from Mike. He recently installed a system with base grade ML5's and an old Gross DAC I got ages ago from Clay (the guy will be upgrading to Clay's latest when released) and was totally blown away. But Mike said he will do a post about it with the full details. Thanks Bill Hi Bill As an aside - did you buy the Grandinote Volta? If so would love to hear your view. Or would love to hear a comparison if Mike have them at his place at the same time. Looking forward to Mike's post. Enjoy! Link to post Share on other sites
bhobba 1,065 Posted August 15, 2020 Share Posted August 15, 2020 Hi Yes I have the Grandinote and as you would expect it is very very good. I also have the Chord TT2 with M-Scaler. I have heard both but not side by side. I prefer the Chord direct connected to the speakers over the Grandinote - but we really need a side by side comparison. The midrange purity of the Chord on music I listen to just blew me away. Now when Mike has finished his new speakers we will do a comparison (Covid permitting) between Clay's new DAC, the Chord, and Grandinote. Despite Clays DAC being much cheaper it is supposedly better than the Gross I have, and that took out a Direct Stream. Caveat - it must be the USB only version. So this will be a genuine contest. If it takes out those DAC's Clay is simply a genius. I still will likely use my Chord though because you can direct connect it to speakers doing away with RCA cables, power amp etc. However purely in sound quality terms things could be very interesting indeed. BTW Mike is so taken with the combination of Clays DAC, and the G1 streamer he wants to build a special cabinet for it on its own isolation platform, but best he gives the detail of that. Thanks Bill 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Ccollins 111 Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 Should an external hard drive attached to the g1 be self powered as i have read. Or does the samsung t5 (1tb) do the job well regardless, as i have also read? any experiences and/or suggestions? cheers Link to post Share on other sites
Gieseler Audio 2,518 Posted April 5 Author Share Posted April 5 The manual specifies 500 mA max from the USB HD socket. I actually measured the current draw from the Samsung T5 during use & it averaged 270ma so it should be fine. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Snoopy8 3,708 Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 44 minutes ago, Gieseler Audio said: The manual specifies 500 mA max from the USB HD socket. I actually measured the current draw from the Samsung T5 during use & it averaged 270ma so it should be fine. While the power draw is ok technically, have you tested whether a powered USB drive sounds better? As a general statement on streamers (do not have G1), have found that using a powered USB has helped with sound quality. Also, found accessing a NAS is better than a non powered USB but not a powered USB drive. And sound quality can vary with different power supplies. Plus, experience will vary with streamers. @Ccollins, this is one of those audio rabbit holes that can be fun, or frustrating... 1 Link to post Share on other sites
l3lazin 17 Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 I moved from a bluesound node 2i to the G1. I was a bit skeptical about the improvement however it was there. I would say it improved all aspects of the sound by ~15-20%. Please note though that the native auralic app is only available on iOS and there is no android version. There are android alternatives but for me I felt the native app was better. The G1 is a tank. I like how there is a USB DAC out and I use this to connect into my DAC (H590). For my G1 DAC combo, I tried Coax, TOSlink and USB. Coax and Toslink were there abouts the same for me it was a smoother more romantic sound compared to the USB for me which had that pin point clarity and had a darker background to the music. I decided to stick with USB. I have a basic USB cable and am now thinking whether to upgrade that or not lol. Agreed with above responses regarding which output is better, my view is, tested it all out and decide which YOU prefer the best 1 Link to post Share on other sites
BWJA 13 Posted Thursday at 04:33 AM Share Posted Thursday at 04:33 AM On 26/06/2020 at 1:51 PM, Gieseler Audio said: Hey exciting news. Mike is now a Auralic dealer & stocking the new G1 streamer. https://us.auralic.com/products/aries-g1?variant=34539872452776 I have just purchased one from Mike & I'm totally blown away. Dead simple setup & spectacular performance. Easily outperforms my custom PC server. No onboard hard drive but has a rear USB HD connection so simple to connect a external SSD portable drive with all your ripped files. These have come down a lot now - about $270 for a quality 1 TB Samsung drive. Anyway enough of my waffling, check out John Darko's video review. https://darko.audio/2018/08/a-short-film-about-the-auralic-aries-g1/ @Gieseler Audio I have had mine for 8 months and simply love it, I do wish it had the drive inside, however I simply added one to my Nucleus+ Works perfectly either hardwired or over WIFI - they Auralic recommend WIFI that's how confident they are, brilliantly isolated and I use a Curious Evolved USD which is an amazing little USB cable. I can't yet justify the upgrade to the G2 but maybe at some stage.. I have read that swapping out the Fuse adds more to the transport however I have not yet gone down that Rabbit Hole (Yet)... I also swapped out the power cable to an Idol-8 with Furatech plugs and this also seemed to help improve the SQ. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Ccollins 111 Posted Thursday at 06:48 AM Share Posted Thursday at 06:48 AM (edited) With respect to using an external drive (ideally ssd) auralic repsonded to an email i sent them and told me: “The ARIES G1 USB port can supply up to 5v / 500mA (0.5A) of power. This can work for USB Flash/thumb drives and some smaller SSD drives, but generally larger storage enclosures will draw higher current than that, and require their own power supply. Just about any external USB (SSD or spinning) drive that has it's own power supply should work. A NAS (networked storage) is another good option with the ARIES G1.” i read from one user on headfi that the samusng t5 ssd works well. Otherwise i may have to look at a mains powdered usb hub to get involved re the t5, the manual (pg 22) shows it needs 5v/.8A so it may/may not work direct (except for that post on headfi where the member had tried a few different options before settling on t5) https://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/201711/20171106195832091/Samsung_Portable_SSD_T5_User_Manual_v0.0_Rev01_English.pdf any experiences yourselves with that? Edited Thursday at 06:49 AM by Ccollins Link to post Share on other sites
BWJA 13 Posted Thursday at 06:49 AM Share Posted Thursday at 06:49 AM Thanks for the update, I don't I use the SSD in my Nucleus + and I have storage on my external Synology NAS For what ist worth I fitted the Samsung Evo SSD into the Nucleus works perfectly. Link to post Share on other sites
Ccollins 111 Posted Thursday at 08:14 AM Share Posted Thursday at 08:14 AM What’s your opinion of what the sound quality comparisons should be if streaming tidal to aries g1 as streamer vs listening to tidal through roon using iMac as core and aries g1 as roon endpoint? Link to post Share on other sites
BWJA 13 Posted Thursday at 10:49 AM Share Posted Thursday at 10:49 AM Hard to say as I always use Roon via my Nucleus + and then to the Aries G1 via my TT2 Dac/Mscaler. I've read that using the Lightning DS has improved SQ but I prefer the Roon UI. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
billy170468 5 Posted Monday at 12:59 PM Share Posted Monday at 12:59 PM (edited) Am about to pull the trigger on one of these Aries G1 (waiting on sale of some stuff). I have one of these: https://www.simplecom.com.au/simplecom-sd322-dual-bay-usb-3-0-aluminium-docking-station-for-2-5-and-3-5-sata-hdd.html and have a 2TB Crucial BX500 SSD drive and was wondering if this would work fine? On the power supply, it says input 1.5A and output 3000mA Is that enough? Too much?? Cheers Andy Edited Monday at 01:36 PM by billy170468 Link to post Share on other sites
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