Auralic Aries S1 streamer & S1 Purer Power
Early this year Auralic announced their most ambitious component yet in the Aquila X3, a two box modular streamer, CD player, preamp and undoubtedly more with a price that starts just shy of £14k. We hope to see this beast at the High End show in a few weeks time. Back on planet earth we have the entry level Aries S1 streaming processor, the most affordable unit in the range with a more restrained array of features and a sub £2k price. For best results Auralic suggest combining it with the S1 Purer Power external power supply which adds another grand to the bill but should make a worthwhile difference. That certainly proved to be the case when we reviewed the Vega S1 streaming DAC a year ago.
The Aries S1 is very similar to the identically priced Vega S1 except that this unit has fewer functions, it is only a streamer without the analogue output and volume control of the Vega S1, so a separate DAC is required to use it with a typical analogue amplifier. This is partly because there are so many DACs on the market and in people’s systems and partly to give the Aries S1 as much budget as possible for the streaming element. The connections provide for digital inputs on optical, coaxial and USB as well as the streaming connection, an RJ45 socket marked LAN (local area network) for an ethernet connection to your router or network switch.
Unlike Auralic’s G series streamers the Aries S1 doesn’t offer wireless network connection, this approach was apparently chosen to keep costs down. This is not a budget streamer and you can see where the money has been spent on the casework and display, it’s a very nicely put together piece of kit, but plenty of budget has been allocated to the circuitry within.
The outputs are all digital and cover all the bases except Auralic’s proprietary Lightning Link, which would be pointless as there is no matching DAC in the S1 range. There is an unusual connector in the form of an HDMI for the external power supply, and using this means that no power lead is required for the streamer itself. The Aries S1 can access music files on both the network or USB drives and its Lightning DS control software gathers data about files from both sources before presenting them in a clear and informative fashion. The Lightning app offers native access to Qobuz, Tidal, Amazon Music and Highresaudio among others, with on device playlists, it also offers internet radio via Vtuner and, like several audio apps, is limited to iOS devices.
Signal processing is provided by Auralic’s Tesla G3 platform, a name that they may be considering changing in these turbulent times, it has nothing to do with the car brand of course so should not be tainted by association. This is a powerful quad core, 64-bit processor with a 2GB memory/buffer that stores incoming data in order to reduce jitter and latency. Other tech features include a 60fs femto clock and galvanic isolation for the USB input. A useful option for those with CD collections is the option to connect a USB optical drive and rip those discs to a connected hard drive, optical drives are inexpensive and this feature also allows direct playback of the discs should the need arise.
The Aries S1 can largely be controlled via Lightning DS but it’s possible to teach it commands from any infrared handset and program transport controls, input selection and standby among many options. The buttons on the top of the unit can be used for the same purpose but remote control is easier and I don’t think that there’s a standby option in the app, but one may be buried among the extensive ‘Additional Operations’ menus. One option that I spotted among these menus is the ability to defeat the upsampling which seems to be switched on by default, turning it off means that files are converted at their native bit/sample rate. This might not seem a like a big deal but you might be surprised at what it means for sound quality.
Sound quality
What it means is timing, with the upsampling in action you get a clear, precise presentation but the leading edges are a little sharp for my tastes. Turn it off and all of a sudden it can do musical coherence like a boss. Having been a lifelong vinyl enthusiast I am perhaps a little more sensitive to timing than average but the difference this makes is not subtle and goes way beyond whether your foot taps or otherwise. The most obvious one is that the tonal balance becomes smoother and more relaxed, bad timing frequently produces a bright sound which is a result of the ear/brain having to work harder to make musical sense out of the performance being reproduced. When we don’t have to try and figure out how the various notes should fit together we can appreciate the music with considerably greater ease.
I used the Aries S1 with a Bricasti M11 Classic R-2R DAC and made the connection using Network Acoustics remarkable muon2 XLR digital interconnect, a cable that is proving more revealing and enjoyable than any other I have tried. This DAC is rather more revealing than you might typically partner with a streamer and power supply at a sub £3k price and is perhaps why timing is so critical, but I suspect that this quality will be clear with any decent DAC and cable.
It took me a while to realise that the upsampling could be defeated and I made a comparison with my reference streamer and its third party power supply upgrade, which is a little more pricey than the Aries S1 and Purer Power supply. This made the Auralic sound sharp and clear with a slightly explicit presentation that suited more relaxed music but was not so forgiving of recordings that were less polished. It is very detailed and works with guitars and other acoustic instruments and has a snap and energy that is very engaging. I did the same comparison with the upsampling on Aries S1 turned off and the gap had narrowed with the Aries producing a more lively, dynamic sound that brought definition to the sound but avoided emphasising shortcomings in recordings. Producing a more rounded and inviting result that made a good job of pretty much everything that was played
I also contrasted the sound of the AES (XLR) output of the Aries S1 with its USB output as the latter is often preferred. I found the USB sound to be stronger, tighter and more solid with a lot of detail but less fluency than the AES output, which brought out the sublime in the music rather more effectively. This result will vary with cable and DAC choice and AES often lacks the definition offered by USB, but it’s an interesting contrast that broadens this streamer’s potential appeal. And its appeal is pretty broad already, especially when playing tracks like Manu Delago’s Little Heritage which sounded delicious with its combination of electronic and acoustic instrumentation, even the baby sounds didn’t get in the way. When the bass builds towards the end you know all about it, this is an area where the Aries S1 scores heavily, and heavy is the word for the fulsome, rounded sound on this piece of music.
Conclusion
Auralic’s extensive experience in the streaming arena, the first Aries appeared over a decade ago, and its attention to detail in both electronic and industrial design mean that the Aries S1 represents strong value for money in a competitive market. This combined with Lightning DS, which is probably the most elegant native control app on the market, and a breadth of features the like of which I don’t think can be bettered at any price mean that anyone looking to get a good idea of what streaming can do should put this on their short, shortlist. If you have a DAC already you may be surprised at what it can do when connected up to a source of this calibre.