USB Nervosa Thread Decrapifiers, pro interfaces, and bears oh my

I've been tempted to get the Aries, but I hate its looks and I've not been impressed by the many reports of software issues. There's a new version coming out, too, which made me hold back again. But I agree that for my current chain it would be probably cleanest to get the top version of the Aries to feed the Yggdrasil via AES, which has been reported to work really well by several here. I don't know anyone I can borrow an Aries from to evaluate on my system at home, so if I do this it will be a bit of a shot in the dark. Although it would definitely reduce the box & cable mess next to my Yggdrasil

 

It's not a pretty thing (and it's an absolute scratch-magnet), but you can hide it if you leave it turned on as it's not terribly big - 99% of what you'll do with it will be via an app or other software anyway.

Most of those relate(d) to setup issues. It took them more than a year to get the thing fit-for-sale, in my opinion, but it's been a good while seen I've seen any issues at all. That said, I don't use the Lightning DS app for anything other than changing settings, and I don't use it in server mode (it's a Roon Endpoint in my world ... and in that use-case it's perfectly solid).

They showed a static mock-up at Axpona last weekend - which is bigger and a different shape (and might display album-art ... which isn't terribly useful given that all the interfaces one might use to drive it will already do that) ... well ... that's all that's known for sure. Best thing about the new one is likely to be the affect it has on used prices for the old one.

 

Aries 2 is a significant aesthetic departure, in a good way. Looks like a Naim though.

 

Thanks, that's good to know, it would be a Roon endpoint for me too. Weekend work: start plotting used Aries prices

 

The tend to go for between $750 and $900 (generally closer to the latter) for the full-fat versions.

Some sellers are either a bit tricky, or genuinely clueless, about which version they've actually got ... so be careful you don't think you're getting the full-fat version and wind up with the "LE" (which should be read as "Light Edition" not "Limited Edition"). Just adding the external LPS to the "LE" version does NOT make it the full-fat version (which also has more ram, lower noise circuitry, different clocking scheme with better clocks AND the LPS).

 

Is the Aries Mini any good? It's much less of an aesthetic stretch, and seems to have AES and coax outputs.

 

It's not bad, though it's a rather different device, overall, than the regular Aries.

It does NOT have AES output for one thing ... you just get USB and COAX/TOSLINK S/PDIF outputs.

And then it has a built-in ESS-based DAC with analog RCA outputs, so you can actually use it as a self-contained source. It does not work as a Roon end-point currently either. That's supposed to change with the imminent v5.0 firmware, but until now has been something Auralic said it would never support on the Mini.

 

Zone Alarm update completely destroyed audio, particularly USB playback on my Win 8.1 and Win 10 systems:
To solve the USB ASIO playback issues on Win 8.1 desktop I spent days going through all the steps of basic and sophisticated USB hygiene, using Process Lasso, LatencyMon. separating USB devices, trying different DAC etc etc...
Nothing helped: drop outs and crack were developing sooner or later. LatencyMon pointed to tcpip.sys driver but all I could find on the web how to deal with this problem was not useful. Until, after few days of frustration and after already ordering a USB to SPDIF converter, I removed Zone Alarm.
tcpip.sys driver latency went from 3-5 ms to 0.7 ms max, no cracks on USB. But what surprised me the most was the change of SQ overall: background noise was almost gone, the famous HD800S sound stage made a comeback, instrument separation was noticeably better.
For entire day I played jRiver, Tidal, used jRiver as a renderer for Tidal, used foobar, everything is clear and nice.
I turned on Windows FW and Windows Defender and it is still fine.

 

Sorry you had to go through that @wormcycle but thanks for sharing the solution! (I don't use Zone Alarm but I'm sure some others do.)

 

You guys have to read this:

http://www.usaudiomart.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5669#p5669

Marv especially!

 

That's some funny shit right there.

I'm so glad I'm not nervosa afflicted.

ONLY HE CAN KNOW! HE IS THE ONE TRUE SOURCE!

Twat.

--

Since I'm English, bear in mind that the word "twat" is pronounced dismissively and with a hard "A".

 

He really thinks there's a SLC USB stick? I have bridges to sell. They're so rare that they might as well be unicorns.

 

Elsewhere he says that eliminating USB completely from the chain is no good. It makes the sound too clean.

 

Isn't Rob from the Seattle area?

 

This thread is the very definition of insanity, it gives me nightmares.

 

No idea who he is, other than recognizing the posting style and content from other places (including a brief appearance here) - but that's what his profile would suggest.

I'm fairly sure I've not run across him in the local groups (though they have a habit of organizing things to coincide with other major events so I don't make it to as many as would be interesting). And I'm sure if I had, I'd know, as any introduction would not doubt be preceded with a long list of all the amazing innovations he was the first to bring to audio. A more interesting history would be to peruse his longevity on, and exit from, other audio sites, again, including this one.

And Seattle has more than enough nutters to go around ...

 

Yes Rob is from the peninsula, I forget if its Port Angels or Port Townsend.
He is known as rb2013 on hf.
His ego is rather large and likes to pump it up on a regular basis by taking credit for his contributions.
And he doesn't make it to our regular meets as he has a 'personality conflict' with some of the locals etc.

He did coin AOIP but it wasn't his idea, nor did he acknowledge the contributions of others.

And yes, Seattle headfire's are up to the task of maintaining our eccentricities with panaché.

JJ

 

If you get the chance, try out the ifi ilink, (use the "super" coax out"

Not a fan of ifi products or marketing in general, but when i a/b this with my Yggdrasil gen 3 usb, i was shocked by the extra crispness in treble transients.

(eric clapton unplugged layla was the track i used, guitar solo on loop)

I am pretty skeptical of DDC vs gen2/3 usb schiit. I think i mentioned i had tryed a sexer su1 and wasnt impressed.

 

Those two statements would seem to be at odds with each other.

No thanks. I'm not about to put USB back into my primary audio chain.

Perfectly happy running my Yggdrasil via my Aries.

For actual listening, I only use the SU-1 with the Spring DAC as the I2S input on that yields better results than Spring's AES or COAX inputs - otherwise that'd be draped off the Aries as well. The primary benefits of the SU-1 are, for me, a single, consistent, way to get multiple synchronized outputs from a common source and its I2S capability.

 

Was just suggesting it if you got an opportunity to hear it, to share your opinion.

Im not manufacturer loyal, ive just never used an ifi product i thought was good which is why i was pretty stunned by the ilink.

Just thought id let people know about it as its relatively unknown compared to the influx of chifi ddcs