Today, Auralic announced Version 4.0 of the Aries firmware. The full announcement can be found here: http://support.auralic.com/hc/en-us/articles/226965727-Firmware-Version-4-0-Build-20160909
They’re touting some new features. This is the one that interests me the most:
“Introducing Memory Cache. Memory Cache feature will pre-load track into device memory (not SSD!) to achieve better sound quality, it also helps to improve streaming stability. Memory Cache size for ARIES/ARIES LE: 512MB; ARIES MINI: 64MB. Tracks with size bigger than the memory cache will be buffered by several segments automatically. Memory Cache function does not work under Internet Radio, AirPlay, Songcast, Bluetooth and Roon input method because of the data is streamed in real time from host device.”
Since I have no ability to run Ethernet to my Aries, I am interested in this caching ability to reduce dropouts. If I’m reading this announcement correctly, running my Aries as a Roon endpoint will not utilize this feature. Is that correct? I’m curious why the caching feature won’t work with Roon. Is this something that could be accomplished in the future? For what it’s worth, it SEEMS to me that I have experienced fewer dropouts using my Aries as a Roon endpoint rather than streaming directly from my iPhone via Lightning DS. But perhaps it’s in my head.