True, I was an early member of the PS Audio Forum’s Matrix Owners Club. But, as Groucho Marx wrote in his letter of resignation to the Friars’ Club, "I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members.”
In all seriousness, the Matrix is tremendous and I found it to be essential for getting the most out of the DS Sr. DAC in my system. But with my plan to sell the DS Sr., the Matrix and UpTone PSU became expendable. I wanted them to go to someone who would put them to good use rather than have them collecting dust at Chez Bootzilla.
Thanks very much for the lead on a possible Aries G2 purchaser. I will PM you if I decide to sell it.
OK, so - 'splain this to me. What exactly was the comparison you made that resulted in that statement? You went from Ethernet/Matrix/HDMI-to-DSD (I’m assuming), then, to what, exactly? You’d have had to plug the ethernet into the Aries directly. So what was the output to the DSD (or please fill in DAC used) that sounded the same as the Matrix?
Next thing you’re gonna tell me is WW Platinum sux ; )
I started with the G1 connected directly to the DSD with a Wireworld Platinum AES/EBU cable as I was using the Matrix chain of gear with my then PC server. My friend who loaned me the G1 wanted me to test it with my system and especially with the Matrix chain. So I unplugged the AES cable and using a WWPS7.USB to Matrix then a WWPS7.HDMI to DSD with the LPS 1.2 at 9v I listened and did not hear much of an improvement. I switched back to the AES cable and confirmed not much of an improvement.
I returned the G1 to its owner with the Matrix chain of gear and he too thought whatever improvement it made was not worth the bother.
Remember, I have two complete Matrix chains of gear here in my home that I would not wish to be without. My comments saying the G1 was not improved with the Matrix is not a slam on the Matrix. It’s a statement about the high quality of G1. I love my Matrix gear where it helps, and it helps a lot. Just not with the G1.
Edit: I always used the G1 in wireless mode. I never bothered using Ethernet with it.
I know it’s kind of weird of someone not pouring out total praise for the wonderful Matrix. I guess the G1 ties it in the wonderful category. It really is a nice piece.
I do sorta get where I’m thinking, "OK…I went back and forth, reading such-and-such a thread over weeks/months, and a number of folks who I believe know what they’re talking about are losing their shiz over a particular configuration of devices and cables. THEN - next thing you know - it is on to the Next Most Awesome Thing.
Calls to mind Soundmind’s regular criticisms of us audiophiles on Paul’s Posts over the years, and if you know me and my history with him, you know that is… WTF. I could tell you stories. But I can’t.
I had an almost full Auralic stack, starting with the Vega G2 back in December 2017. Added the Leo GX clock to it, then finally the Aries G2, as I was planning on having the full stack once the Sirius processor came out. The Sirius took way too long, and gave me the itch to explore and discover other digital sounds and options.
My current setup consists of the DS DAC with a Lumin U1 Mini via AES, and I could not be happier. I tried the whole UltraRendu to UltraDigital to i2S, and was not really pleased, especially coming from the Bridge II. Once I dumped all the Sonore stuff and just went AES/EBU from Lumin into DS DAC, magic!
The sound differences between the Aries G1 and G2 should be very small, if any. All the guts are identical, and as mentioned before most of the differences are cosmetic or to support the Auralic Stack via Lightning Link.
Don’t assume the G1 sounds the same as the G2, board layout are completely different. Internal screening is very different, G1 is just one box, G2 has multiple shielded internal metal boxes.
I did not hear the G1 but in comparison the G2 is said to be more relaxing and cleaner sounding, which you would expect from lower rfi noise.
I agree. I had a G1 and a G2 on approval. The G1 was really excellent, and the G2 was slightly “better” in the sense of having no electronic artifacts that I could hear - completely “clean”, like the I2S output of the Matrix. I returned them because I found the software player too limited.
Everyone seems to rave about the LDS software used by the G1/G2, but I agree, it ain’t great, not a patch on Jriver remote usability, still it has radio, Qobuz etc built in and readily accessabilly, it just seems to crash a lot as it doesn’t play well with google mesh.
G2 Sounds very good though, much better that nuc+matrix, different league in my view.
Agreed. I had the G2’s and Leo GX for over a year, and used Roon almost exclusively. I don’t like LDS at all, as I too found it to crash too much, stop playing music when a complete playlist was loaded, and no roon radio like function, just for starters. I am running a Lumin U1 mini now with my DS DAC, and could not be happier.
Does Lumin have a LDS equivalent? Just curious. While I had a different experience with LDS during my time with it, I am guessing I would mostly use Roon with either device. Roon Radio being the single most important reason.
WTF. I could tell you stories. But I can’t.
