2. digital
  3. 131156-67529

AURALiC Aries price reduction

I have been considering ditching my "laptop as music server" setup I have been using for the past 7 years and purchasing the  AURALiC Aries music streamer.  Last week Audio Advisor dropped the price of the "full" version of this product to $1,279.99, a $319 savings.  Upscale Audio and HiFi Heaven have followed suit . Has anyone on this forum heard why the price drop?  Is AURALiC getting ready to release an update / upgrade / Aries II?  If so then I play the mind game of do I wait until the updated version is released, or purchase something at a reduced price that I was pretty close to sold on based on all the positive reviews.  

Any information would be appreciated.  Also, if you own one, what is your opinion?  If you upgraded from a Mac or PC to the Aries, was the sound upgrade worth the price of admission?  My biggest concern is if the Lightning DS will meet my needs.  I have invested a lot of time building my library and tags in Foobar 2000, which I will have jettison if I go with the Aries.  I am a TIdal HiFi subscriber, so I know the Aries will work well with that, and the Lightning DS interface would most likely be a step up from the Tidal interface..

Anyway, thank you for reading, and any constructive suggestions / opinions you have to offer.
exile_ken
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
There is wide coverage in the 'audio press' of the G2 series being released in Sept. followed at some point in time by the G1 and G3 series.
mattmiller's avatar
mattmiller
1,491 posts
 
Bottom line is the Aurender Conductor app is far superior to any other app out there, so If I were you I would consider spending a little more for a streamer/server from them. Even though the Aries would be a nice upgrade. Why not do it right the first time :-) Aurender makes streamer/servers for around 2k. If you don't need a DAC, your set! USB 2.0 audio output assures a high quality connection to your DAC, plus connections for ethernet and NAS drive too. (The super expensive ones have DACS or several terabytes of storage in them). O and its MQA compatible as well. Can you tell I want an Aurender too! LOL, If I could buy a Auralic with a Conductor app I would. But they don't make that.

Matt M
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,368 posts
 
+1 Aurender N100H.  Top notch sound / build quality and best app, period. 
dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum
2,190 posts
 
The N100H is the one to beat in the <$3k retail price range of server/renderer/streamers. 

Dave
exile_ken OP
8 posts
 
Thank you for the responses.  I was having a hard time with paying $1,599 for the Aries, so $2,200 (two N100Hs on AG currently) for an Aurender is a bit outside of my range.  I did miss the coverage on the G2, although I am not an avid "audio press" consumer, I do pop into AudioStream fairly often though so not sure how I missed it.  A quick glance shows the G2 to be even more north of my price range.  
More to discover