I’m looking for AES specifically along with Qobuz and the occasional airplay content outside of RAAT of course.
The display is nice eye candy, though a little pricey overall for the unit.
I got my Aries G2 two weeks ago. Switching up from microRendu with UltraCap LPS-1, I expected more convenience but not that much of a sonic improvement. I still can’t get my head around why exactly – but it’s quite an upgrade! The difference was immediately noticeable, almost shockingly so.
I’m using the USB to connect to my DAC so I haven’t tried the AES. Mostly using it for Roon and haven’t got around to try Auralic’s own player. The Airplay works perfect and it’s neat that it works seamless and not like microRendu where you have to switch between different players in the OS.
So far I’m very happy with my purchase! I even think it’s money well spent, even thought it’s an expensive product. The setup was easy and I was able to program the Aries to work with my remote from my pre amplifier, that felt like a nice bonus.
What DAC are you using?
.sjb
Sorry forgot to mention that. I have the Aries G2 feeding Chord DAVE though USB
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With regards to the airplay. Very nice!!
I have a funny feeling I’m going to really enjoy it. Doh!!!
The Aries G2 is £3900 microRendu first gen £500. Probably better clocking at least. The microRendu upgrade was new clocks and is a step up from the first mR. Big fan of Auralic personally but pricing?
I initially had an order for a Sonore Signature Rendu and a promise about shipping the same week. This was in early December. Two weeks later, and after being promised “tomorrow” a couple of times I cancelled my order. I also got to borrow a ultraRendu from another source during this time, but wasn’t overly excited. It was some improvement over my microRendu but nothing major (I demoed it over a weekend). Maybe I was in a negative mood after not getting my Signature Rendu.
Anyway, I ended up switching to Auralic since I’ve been interested in what they do. I didn’t listen to the Aries G2 before placing my order but I read everything there was to read. When I finally got the Aries G2 in the end of January I only expected around the same performace I had heard from the ultraRendu, maybe a bit more.
But what I heard was something different entirely and it frankly surprised me a lot. Of course it was a pleasant and great sounding surprise! Sure it’s still more expensive than ultraRendu + LPS-1 but not that much more than Signature Rendu (that I never got to hear). It’s an expensive hobby at this level.
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Bought an Aries “femto” a few months before the microRendu came out.
Very happy with it (powered by an UpTone Audio JS-2 LPS, then even more by a Vinnie Rossi Mini Pure-DC-4evr) but always been curious about how the Aries would compare to a microRendu or ultraRendu.
What I’m sure about is… what Auralic did in these years with their software is unbelievable and, as a Qobuz user, all I have to do is move from Roon for my music files to Lightning DS to stream Qobuz: no fiddling with awful web UIs to go from one to the other 
Tempted by the Aries G2 but not sure it’s worth the price as a Roon endpoint plus… things are moving fast and I have quite some $$$ invested in great LPSs (Auralic’s LPS for the Aries femto… is just good enough for the Aries mini in my secondary system 
)
It’s more than 3 times more expensive! DCS Bridge is cheaper, isn’t that a more appropriate comparison at this price point? I’m more pointing out that the pricing is difficult to understand bearing in mind the competition.
No offence but what’s the point of saying it’s not much more than something you never got to hear? Was there a good power supply with the ultrarendu?
I’m an Auralic fan and tempted by the Aries G2 (I can afford it…) but I’d be looking for more than pleasant surprises if I spent £4k on a bridge. I’m wondering what £4ks worth of SoTM clocked kit sounds like. But that’s off topic.
He said it’s not much more expensive than the signature Rendu not the ultraRendu.
Some nice extra bells and whistles for that $800 difference, IMO.
My dealer ordered one in for me to demo, looking forward to it.
The comparison was with the mR, a fraction of the cost. It’s not much more expensive than something that’s wasn’t listened to. I don’t think you followed my drift.
More bells and whistles than something not listened to, that’s as useful as reading a spec sheet.
Comparing a 1st gen mR to Aries G2 at that price multiple, as I said , I’d hope for more than a pleasant surprise, maybe I’m just demanding…
Also wondering what to reasonably compare it to in that price range.
I’m interested in Qobuz, Airplay, Raat and the ease of switching between. It looks great and the screen is nice.
I don’t get tangled up in the streaming harware,power supplies and clock craze.
Yes, I never meant to compare the price to the ultraRendu but to the Signature Rendu built on the same spec, as I understand, as the ultra but with a signature power supply. I borrowed the ultraRendu and used my LPS-1. I reckon the Signature PS is better. I had already ordered and payed for the Signature Rendu and was looking forward to try it out and hoping the power supply would make the real difference (and maybe it does!).
Unfortunate events lead me towards Aries G2 and I’m thinking in the end they might have been fortunate. I’m not comparing it to the Signature Rendu though, that’s why I pointed out that I have yet to hear it. What I meant is that the price point is kind of similar.
For me this hobby is like wine. Picking a expensive bottle over a mid prices “correct” wine is not always a big improvement in taste – it’s more often a gamble than an improvement if you’re not already familiar with it.
A hifi example for me would be the Chord Dave and the Chord Hugo 2 (or Qutest). The Dave is like four-five times the price. Is it four-five times better? No, it’s impossible to quantify but anyone saying even three times better would probably be mad. That’s why I didn’t expect the Aries G2 would be such an improvement in my system. But in hindsight it’s pretty obvious that the microRendu was the weakest link. I still think it’s a wonderful little box though and it once was a great improvement over my linear powered Mac mini.
I think I did write more than than just “a pleasant surprise”. 
And in my book, being probably just as demanding, a surprise is always something big. I’m not used to being surprised. When I demo things I’m often disappointed or “ok”, maybe a bit interested but very rarely surprised.
Hi Erik,
where do you store your music? On an internal SSD in the Aries G2 or do you use another storage device?
Will
I’m currently using a modified 2012 Mac mini i7 as storage device and Roon Core. I’m considering building new computer for the task this spring or summer and maybe moving the storage to a NAS. This is my next step on this hifi journey.
I did install a drive at first, but uninstalled it again when I realized it wouldn’t work for Roon. I thought it could do Core and wanted to demo it against the mini as core.
An SSD should work nice with Auralic Lightning DS, but I never went that route. Auralic states somewhere that for the best possible music reproduction you should have your music elsewhere.
If it’s a noticeable difference with it or without I don’t really know since I never came to test the sound of Aries G2 with SSD. But installing it was really simple.
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Giving Roon a rest and streaming some Qobuz to the newly arrived Aries G2.
Air flaked out for a bit but I think that was related to a device name change I did after connecting my ipad to it, a reboot all around and all is well again.
Played with the SmartIR today. Programmed the G2 with my McIntosh Preamp remotes playback controls. Play/Pause, Stop, Fast Forward, Rewind, Next Track, Previous Track and I added the ability to Power Up/Down the Aries with the Record button from my remote.
I have no other hardware to control so it only made sense to make use of those remote buttons.
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A new review out: