Auralic - disingenuous or merely incompetent?

[manisandher]

I've just received a brand spanking-new Aries G1.1. I've got three problems with it:

1. On their website, Auralic claim the Aries G1.1 to be RoonReady. It isn't. When trying to connect, Roon says that the G1.1 is not certified and therefore refuses to connect. I've had an Aries G2.1 (on loan) and G1 (which I own) here, and both have worked perfectly with Roon. I'm sure it wil be just a matter of time before Auralic sort this out, but they really should have been on top of this before releasing the G1.1.

2. On their website, Auralic claim that the G1.1 uses dual 'femto clocks'. The USB oscillator in the G1.1 is the Skyworks Si530, with a measured phase jitter of 0.3ps RMS. I would have expected a 'femto clock' to measure in single-digit fs, not 100s of fs.

3. On their website, Auralic claim that the G1.1 has a galvanically-isolated USB output. Unlike the Aries G2.1, which uses the Silanna chip and does indeed sport galvanic USB isolation, the G1.1 doesn't. There is no galvanic isolation at the USB output.

Problems 1 and 2 above, I could live with. No doubt 1 will get sorted out soon enough, and 2 is probably just a matter of definition. But 3 is a total show-stopper for me. Auralic's claim here is totally false... and in my eyes, unforgiveable.

Unsurprisingly, the G1.1 is going back.

Mani.

 

[simon g]

On the Roon Ready front; it's always best to check on tne Roon Labs site, rather than take the manufacturer's description as valid. I've seen too many instances of that feature being 'upcoming'. The Aries G1.1 is indeed not currently Roon Ready.

 

[manisandher]

The Aries G1.1 is indeed not currently Roon Ready.

Is it stated explicitly anywhere that the Aries G1.1 is not currently RoonReady?

 

[simon g]

Is it stated explicitly anywhere that the Aries G1.1 is not currently RoonReady?

This is the current status of all Auralic producsts wrt to Roon:

https://roonlabs.com/partners/auralic

 

[Nopiano]

Sorry to hear of your disappointment. I must be missing something, but if you already own a G1 why did you buy a G1.1 without checking exactly the spec?

 

[manisandher]

Sorry to hear of your disappointment. I must be missing something, but if you already own a G1 why did you buy a G1.1 without checking exactly the spec?

I did check the specs. Here they are directly from Auralic's website:






The Aries G2.1 and G1 are RoonReady. Auralic claim the G1.1 is RoonReady. I took their word for it. But no, it's not yet on the official RoonReady list. In any event, this wasn't the show-stopper. Point 3 was the show-stopper, and there was no way I could verify this until I had the G1.1 here.

 

[Nopiano]

Ah, I see better now. So they’ve sort of upgraded it, but dropped some features from the G1 without making it clear, and misled you on the galvanic isolation bit.

 

[manisandher]

Ah, I see better now. So they’ve sort of upgraded it, but dropped some features from the G1 without making it clear, and misled you on the galvanic isolation bit.

From the description on their website, I thought Auralic had taken the G2.1's USB galvanic isolation and put it into the G1.1. This seemed like a good reason to upgrade from the G1 to the G1.1. I had the G2.1 here on loan and liked what I was hearing, but wasn't willing to pay so much for it, considering it had other features that I'd never use, like Auralic's proprietary L-Link.

But it seems that literally all Auralic have done is to put a nice silver base plate onto the G1 and call it the G1.1... and that's it. Oh, and to forget to certify it as RoonReady, of course.

 

[Shadders]

2. On their website, Auralic claim that the G1.1 uses dual 'femto clocks'. The USB oscillator in the G1.1 is the Skyworks Si530, with a measured phase jitter of 0.3ps RMS. I would have expected a 'femto clock' to measure in single-digit fs, not 100s of fs.

Hi,
I would not worry about the sub-picosecond performance. You won't be able to hear it and most other solutions have similar sub-picosecond performance. It is an excellent implementation. Single digit femto-second jitter performance would probably cost a lot of money to implement, if at all achievable.

The other aspect to this, is that you are not going to hear the performance of the clock/oscillator anyway. The DAC you use will define your overall jitter experience.

Regards,
Shadders.

 

[Southeastern]

Hi,


The other aspect to this, is that you are not going to hear the performance of the clock/oscillator anyway. The DAC you use will define your overall jitter experience.

Regards,
Shadders.

Rubbish, as usual.

Is it stated explicitly anywhere that the Aries G1.1 is not currently RoonReady?

In terms of Roon, it is Roon Ready, its just not Roon Certified yet. I wouldn't worry too much about that, Auralic designed these units primarily to be used with Roon, thats why the Lightning DS App hasn't seen a huge amount of investment.

Horses for courses if you wanted to spend dollar going for from a G1 to a G1.1, seems a bit crazy to me, but we are all pretty crazy what we spend on this stuff! I wouldnt go from my G2 to a G2.1.

Just send it back, keep you G1, and save the dollars for a preowned G2, which will out perform a G1.1

 

[manisandher]

In terms of Roon, it is Roon Ready, its just not Roon Certified yet. I wouldn't worry too much about that...

Ahem...



Roon will not play with the G1.1.

No doubt Auralic will sort this in time, but anyone who buys a G1.1 will not be able to use it with Roon... at the moment. (I use Roon exclusively, as I use its DSP for my 8-channel fully active setup.)

 

[Southeastern]

Ahem...



Roon will not play with the G1.1.

No doubt Auralic will sort this in time, but anyone who buys a G1.1 will not be able to use it with Roon... at the moment. (I use Roon exclusively, as I use its DSP for my 8-channel fully active setup.)

Oh wow, sorry, I retract my statement!

That is very poor.

 

[manisandher]

That is very poor.

Yeah, I think so. But I could forgive this, assuming it's sorted quickly. What I can't forgive is the blatant lie about the G1.1 having a galvanically isolated USB output. It's the main reason I upgraded from my G1.

 

[Southeastern]

Yeah, I think so. But I could forgive this, assuming it's sorted quickly. What I can't forgive is the blatant lie about the G1.1 having a galvanically isolated USB output. It's the main reason I upgraded from my G1.

Yeah, its not unusual for the Chinese manufacturers to swap out components to lesser quality ones, I suffer it regularly, however Auralic have made a pretty big name for themselves and it seems really counter productive for them to make such a claim , and for something that is relatively cheap to implement, and not do it.

I'd put a post on the Auralic forum or the Roon forum, the Auralic owner often replies on threads. Would be interesting to see how they respond to this, it will certainly make me question investing in their products in future based on his response.

 

[manisandher]

I'd put a post on the Auralic forum or the Roon forum, the Auralic owner often replies on threads. Would be interesting to see how they respond to this, it will certainly make me question investing in their products in future.

Great idea. I'll do that.

 

[Southeastern]

Great idea. I'll do that.

Please drop the link when you do, I'll be keen to follow the thread.

This reminds me of the Peachtree Nova 'streaming module' saga I found myself in years ago. That advertised module never appeared , and after three years was scrapped, yet all the owners where sold the amplifiers on the pretence the streaming module would follow in a 'a few months'.

 

[manisandher]

Please drop the link when you do, I'll be keen to follow the thread.

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/auralic-disingenuous-or-merely-incompetent/217823

 

[Southeastern]

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/auralic-disingenuous-or-merely-incompetent/217823

This is the email addy for Auralic

support@auralic.com

 

[simon g]

Please drop the link when you do, I'll be keen to follow the thread.

This reminds me of the Peachtree Nova 'streaming module' saga I found myself in years ago. That advertised module never appeared , and after three years was scrapped, yet all the owners where sold the amplifiers on the pretence the streaming module would follow in a 'a few months'.

Similar to Roon & Hegel. It was supposed to available soon after products release; it took around 3 years!

 

[manisandher]

Similar to Roon & Hegel. It was supposed to available soon after products release; it took around 3 years!

I'm sure this is just an oversight on Auralic's part and that they'll get the G1.1 Roon tested/certified quickly. AFAIK, all their other products are RoonReady.