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Auralic Aries w NOS DAC

Hi folks,

I'm intrigued by the new Auralic Aries server/streamer device. I love the idea of streaming lossless digital content from Tidal, etc direct to my Red Wine Audio DAC, and I love its ability to pull music from a hard drive over wifi as well. But here's the thing: I have the NOS version of the Red Wine DAC and zero need/interest in upgrading to the high-res version, and the Auralic Aries seems very focused on enabling 192k DSD content. I get that, I admire it, but it's not relevant for me. Would the Aries be total overkill with the Red Wine NOS DAC? If so, does anyone know of a cheaper option with similar functionality and great sound quality? I know that Sonos basically offers this functionality, but I'm looking for true audiophile sound quality.

Thanks as always.
lousyreeds1
mas1951
5 posts
 
Can suggest an alternative that works remarkably well for me. I too have a Red Wine NOS Dac that I do not plan to replace simply because the sound quality with Red Book playback is wonderful. I've been using Sonos as a transport, with FLAC files streamed from a NAS. I added a reclocker from empirical audio (Synco-mesh) and was amazed with the result. A dramatic transformation. When Deezer lossless streaming became available on Sonos, the switch from spotify is what I have been waiting for. You have to invest in two devices, Sonos and synco-mesh. The result, reclocking the stream from Sonos snaps everything into focus for the enormous soundstaging, warmth and tonal beauty thet the Red Wine NOS chip can deliver. All this and the elegant simplicity of the Sonos platform. You can add that to the variety of a lossless CD quality library music from Deezer.
eastein
82 posts
 
I purchases an Aries for sonos like functionality to replace a Mac Mini. It smoked the mini and elevated the sound quality of my nos DAC. I remain surprised by how much better it sounds in my system than the mini it replaced. Definitely worth auditioning.
lousyreeds1 OP
281 posts
 
Mas1951: many thanks for the synchro-mesh recommendation. I currently use a Pure i-20 digital iPod dock as transport, and inserting the synchro-mesh could be a good, cheaper alternative to switching over to an Auralic Aries. Interesting thought!
jl35
2,244 posts
 
There are two versions of the Aries, with a significant price difference.
lousyreeds1 OP
281 posts
 
Right - and one of the questions is whether there will be a major difference between the two Aries models if you have an NOS DAC that's not capable of hi-res. Would be interested to hear if anyone has thoughts on that.

Also, has anyone compared the Wyred 4 Sound Remedy reclocker against the Empirical Audio Synchro Mesh? Same functionality, $200 price difference.

It seems to me that there are four good options here at different price points, and I'd appreciate thoughts on the level at which one will "max out" a good NOS DAC:

Wyred 4 Sound Remedy (Apple TV/Pure i20 as transport) - $400
Empirical Audio Synchro Mesh (Apple TV/Pure i20 as transport) - $600
Auralic Aries LE - $1000
Auralic Aries - $1600
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