I have both the Aries and Vega in my stereo rig ( the reason I bought Roon to have a beautiful album environment and I didn`t understand how it will playout . Is Auralic to make a hardware solution for Aries which would allow Roon to control it or is it the Android Tablet --Nas–Aries solution ?
Hi Andrei,
Auralic will make the Aries RoonReady (incorporate the Roon Advanced Audio Transport Protocol) in firmware to be written by Auralic after Roon release the SDK (Software Developer Kit). I was in touch with Mr. Wang earlier this year about a bug and asked him about progress. He said it would take them about two months after release of the SDK.
Edit: After that firmware upgrade the Aries will show up as a zone in Roon.
Thanks for the update . it certainly looks bright
Now you mention this SDK . Was it already released for Auralic ?
When this is done and Aries will show up as a zone will i be able to control it from an android tablet ?
I have to download the " Roon Remote " to it first , right ?
Forgive me but i ask very detailed questions `cause i am a physician so not exactly computer savvy …
The SDK hasn’t been released, but is expected soon.
Any Remote, including an Android tablet, is able to send audio to any network zone, which will include the Aries.
Yes, you should install the Roon Remote app to do that.
I have a Vega and Aries too. You can currently stream to the Aries using AirPlay, but that is limited to 44.1 or 48 kHz. Just enable AirPlay in Lightning DS and it should show up as a Roon zone (can take a minute to showup).
Some people have reported being able to stream to an Aries with Songcast also, but I haven’t been able to get it working.
At the moment I’m just connecting the Core to the Vega by USB, but am looking forward to getting the Aries back into it.
Edit: Edited this post to correct my assumption that Songcast was limited to 44.1 or 48 Khz. Thanks @miguelito
Is Songcast limited to 48KHz? I thought it was not - which is why I’d like Roon to at least support that. But I understand that they need to prioritize development, and true RoonSpeakers functionality is what I prefer.
Hi Miguel,
I understand it’s tied to the OS audio subsystem, usually 44.1 kHz. I haven’t been able to get it working so can’t speak from experience here.
I don’t understand what that means. OSX has been able to play up to 24/96 internally (using its own dac) for a long while now. And OSX supports USB Audio 2.0 so can play higher resolutions to external dacs without any drivers whatsoever.
Ah, then my assumption that it’s limited to 44.1 is incorrect for OSX. I think it is correct for Windows.
Edit. Nope. Windows supports hi def after XP. Going to soak head in bucket. Thanks for spotting that.
great news for those who own and are happy with the Aries.
This statement "RoonReadiness (initially) only applies to the two big fellas. Roon support for the Aries Mini in still “in progress” does give me pause on even reconsidering a Mini given Auralic’s history with thier android app.
I am somewhat confused by this paragraph:
However…questions remain: does RoonReady mean Roon Endpoint capabilities only or does it also roll in Roon’s server code? And even with Endpoint functionality on AURALiC streamers, is Lightning DS all but redundant for Roon users?
Anyone able to clarify the server code part, maybe not with this particular implementation, but overall? Does this mean that manufacturers could potentially include a Roon GUI element as part of Roon Speakers without a full version of Roon running? is there a GUI element in it? or are RoonSpeakers devices all designed to be controlled via the regular PC/Tablet interface. Or maybe im just reading way too much into it.
Either way my preference based on the limited time i’ve had between Lighting OS and using Roon for a as long as i could control output directly from the Roon interface it certainly seems like the choice to me.
RoonReady audio devices provide audio playback and–in some cases–lightweight control (IR remotes, frontpanel displays, etc). They do not provide a hardware replacement for running a Roon server.
You need a Roon server running somewhere on your network to send audio to RoonReady devices. Roon’s server requirements are substantial, and is not built to run on small embedded devices like DACs and streamers.
Device-level configuration will be handled via Auralic’s apps (things like setting up the WiFi/networking or choosing USB vs digital outputs + related settings).
Once it’s set up, it shows up as a zone in Roon, and you interact with it just as you would a local sound card, USB dac, AirPlay device, etc. This is done using Roon’s apps.
Thank you @brian for the helpful explanation. So if i have this right Roon Ready is essentially the unit has the ability to be seen as an enpoint and playback can be controlled via Roon/Roon Server. Then there can also be separate devices like the Discovery that run a modified/full version of Roon that may serve as the server as well.
I am looking forward to seeing what is done with or how the lightweight controls might be implemented into upcoming products. All i want is something i can easily plug in as an endpoint that has the ability to display the now playing information.
Sounds like that. And by the way, in a way we already have a form of “Roon Ready” endpoint on a computer: If you run HQPlayer on any machine in your network, you can use it as a Roon endpoint (ie HQPlayer doesn’t need to be running where the server is running).