The DSD doesn’t do MQA with USB? Is USB not the best connection between Aries and DSD? I have option to go Audioquest Diamond USB or Audio Art Statement single crystal silver coax or Siltech Anniversary Edition XLR digital. Which would be the best cable between Aries and DSD? MQA would be nice but I’m after the best sound all around.
It is my understanding that Auralic does a different Proprietary MQA unfold that isn’t approved By the MQA folk. Works fine but it is not a “pure” MQA chain so to speak. I have found that I am using Hirez files from Qobuz instead of the MQA from Tidal. Read the direction manual online. I also use a coax connection to my DS Dac.
I have compared the Auralic version of MQA to the official version used by Lumin on two units side by side and the sound is identical. Auralic was one of the original members of the MQA group and was the first to develop the software version tailored to their own equipment which Bob Stuart did not approve of and Auralic left the group. In the end however this software method is the same as the method used by all of the companies that retrofitted existing gear to “MQA standards.” Among them are Lumin, Aurender, Teac/Esoteric and dozens of others. None of these other companies made hardware changes only software upgrades that you download yourself. If your DAC does not do MQA then you left the Auralic unit do it and select that option in the setup. If your DAC is MQA certified you tell the Auralic to do pass through.
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I use an Auralic ARIES G2 streamer into an Auralic VEGA G2 DAC. Before acquiring the VEGA G2, I ran the ARIES G2 into a DirectStream Sr. DAC. The ARIES G2 and the Bridge II are totally different animals, and IMO the ARIES G2 wins in every conceivable category, including sonics, ergonomics, versatility, and stability (as well it should, with an MSRP that is almost 5x that of the Bridge II).
As far as MQA is concerned, the ARIES G2 (and I assume the G2.1) decodes MQA using Auralic’s proprietary technology. I am not a Roon user, so please take the following with a grain of salt: It is my understanding that if you are using Roon and an ARIES G2(.1), you have the choice of having Roon perform the first MQA unfold (up to 24/96k) or having the ARIES perform the ‘full’ unfold using Auralic’s proprietary technology. (I know that the ARIES G2 is capable of decoding a FLAC rip of an MQA CD to 24/352.8k, as I ripped my Tubby Hayes MQA CD box set to FLAC and the ARIES G2 decodes the FLAC file playback to 24/352.8k.)*
*-BTW, I am no fan of MQA, and I would have much preferred that it never entered our lexicon, but the difference between playing the undecoded Tubby Hayes FLAC files versus the fully decoded 24/352.8k playback is startling. Clearly, the people who mastered this particular box set knew what they were doing, as this description from the above hyperlink reveals:
“Mastering Notes: The recordings have been lovingly remastered at Gearbox Records’ Studios, London, directly from the original tapes, using a Studer C37 ¼-inch stereo tape machine. They were then equalised through an all-valve mastering desk built bespoke for Decca studios in the late 1950s, Vintage Lang Pultec EQ, Prism Maselec EQ and Telefunken U73b valve limiters from 1959. All CD formats have been mastered using MQA [Master Quality Authenticated] technology. MQA-CD plays back on all CD players. When a conventional CD player is connected to an MQA-enabled device, the CD will reveal the original master quality.”
Thanks this helps a lot. I’m wondering if the Aries would do the full unfold when used with Roon as I’m pretty sure it can do it when using LDS.
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Glad I could help. You are asking the right question, but I do not know the answer. I use LDS to stream the Tubby Hayes MQA-encoded FLAC files to the ARIES G2, so I cannot be sure if the MQA decoding result would be the same if these same FLAC files were streamed from Roon to the ARIES G2.
EDIT: Post #5 in this nearly two-year-old thread on the Roon site suggests that Auralic’s proprietary MQA decoding does not engage when using Roon, and that such decoding only occurs when using Auralic’s LDS app. If that is correct, and if you are connecting the Auralic streamer to a non-MQA DAC such as the DS, you would be limited to the first MQA unfold that Roon performs.
If I don’t use Roon then the Aries would decode MQA and the USB would be an appropriate port and cable to use? for my DS
Right … If you stream MQA content to the ARIES via the Auralic LDS app (and not via Roon or some other third-party app), the ARIES should decode MQA and pass the decoded signal to your DS DAC via USB. You need to setup the ARIES using LDS so it knows how you want MQA to be handled. See #s 6 and 7 in this link:
Thanks That helps a lot
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I am a big fan of Roon. I think it helps me sort my library and find all sorts of other artists. It makes Tidal and qobuz so much better. With that said another nice thing about the Auralic devices is you can easily switch between the Roon App and the Auralic Lightning app. I think when you use the Auralic app you end up taking full advantage of the buffer system in the G1 or g2. Some would argue that you get better sound using a native Lightining app over Roon. I am not sure I can hear the difference, but whatever the case you can simply switch between the two apps with a flick of a finger on your Apple device (Lighting app does not work on Androids).
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Am I not going to be able to use my Samsung tablet with the Auralic Aries G2.1?
I believe they are limited to Apple products. I hope to be wrong.
If LUMIN does an Android app that might work with it. I use their iOS app over Auralic app as I think it’s much better
The Lightning app is pretty much hardware specific. I don’t see how a Lumin app could be useful with an Auralic piece.
The Lumin app on my Android tablet works with my Melco (and worked with the meanwhile dismantled BridgeII)
It sees it and works perfectly with my Aries G2. I believe they both have the same interface chip
As I understand it, the reason the LUMIN app works with Auralic products is that LUMIN and Auralic products both use OpenHome Networking (ohNet):
http://wiki.openhome.org/wiki/OhNet
Other OpenHome-capable apps work with Auralic products, as well, e.g., Linn Kazoo and the Linn app, as well as BubbleUPnP (which works in both OpenHome and standard DLNA modes).
OpenHome is more stable than standard DLNA in my experience. For example, you can start playing an album using an OpenHome app and then exit out the app and the album will continue to play, as the playlist is then stored on the streaming device. This would not happen with a standard DLNA app such as mConnect driving a streamer such as the Bridge II, I do not believe.
There are certain Auralic features that only work on Auralic devices when using Auralic’s proprietary LDS app (which is not available on Android, unfortunately). For example, Auralic’s proprietary MQA decoding.
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You can use an Android device as a remote controller for Roon.
I’ve been following this and the other threads about the Bridge II not being the best input for the DS. I’ve had the Bridge II for about 4 years and with the addition earlier this year of an etherregen, the system sounds glorious. However these dang threads keep saying the DS could be even better without the Bridge II and instead of just ignoring them, I keep coming back to them. The result, I just ordered an Auralic 2.1 yesterday, along with an Audioquest Diamond usb. Likely a month before it arrives as it seems they are sold out. I hope you all feel guilty for forcing me to do this. 
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Congratulations, and sorry for your wallet.