Auralic Aries G. 2.2
Kevin Olson | Published on 9/27/2024
No New Toys! That has been my life for a couple of years now. But that's ridiculous. I am an audiophile. I just had to figure out what kind of new toy I needed most. So, I figured it out.
I started by thinking about what would/could improve most of my listening. Being a lazy audiophile, I stream much of my music. When I purchased my Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC from GTT Audio, Bill Parish recommended I also buy an AURALiC Aires G2.1 plus a couple of Kubala Sosna cables. He said the sonic gains would be worth it. But buying the Tambaqui cleaned out my toy account so I passed on the purchase and forgot about it. But then my toy account grew again and I remembered.
I had been using the Sonore Ultrarendu plus the Uptone Audio Ultracap LPS-1.2 plus big power supply, which sounded just fine. But what a mess of cables. All custom of course. So, I eventually simplified. Sort of. I ran an Ethernet cable from my computer room out the hallway and up the stairs to the Tambaqui. Using Ethernet allowed the use of the internal streamer on the Tambaqui. The sound was great, but maybe a tick behind the separate streamer. Having fewer components clutter up my rack sure looked nicer.
Anyways, now, 2 years later, I called Upscale Audio and ordered a new AURALiC G1.1. (I didn't remember to call GTT. Darn.) Upscale sold me the G1.1 with a 60-day money-back guarantee. After a week it was a bit better than the Tambaqui internal streamer. Hmmmm. I called Upscale and asked why they didn't try to upsell me the G2.2. What gives? So, I upsold myself. I ordered the AURALiC G2.2 also. That gave me time to hear them both side by side.
I returned the G1.1 the next week. Upscale made that easy. The G2.2 was better. Worth the price difference? Well? As time went on the AURALiC Aries G2.2 kept improving. Week after week. Wow! So that is a yes. In my system.
The results are better resolution, tone color, dynamics, staging, etc. A few songs always sounded congested in certain parts. Not anymore. I would no longer want to listen without this streamer in my current system. I find I now listen more closely and for longer. It’s always fun to discover music where you knew every note, but you hadn't heard every note, but now you do.
I haven't heard all the streamers out there, so due diligence friends. Yet this was recommended for the Mola Mola Tambaqui and it fits like a glove. I do have a Kubala Sosna USB cable, but I am using an In-Akustik Reference 2 USB right now. It is 60% less money than the Kubala Sosna and sounded better when I first compared them. But, I should swap now that the streamer has broken in and verify that still holds true.
One more detail. I hated having the 50' Ethernet in the hall and up the stairs. Now I run the Aries on wireless and it works the charm. The product is very well made. The software is well written. The device is certified as Roon ready, but one caveat: If you want to use the AURALiC Lightning DS app to control your device, you will need an Apple IOS product to run the software for the remote on your phone. Android and others are not supported.
I know many people will have trouble with this review. Bits are bits, right? Well, not in my experience. I was a Systems Administrator and handled the Ethernet Infrastructure. I can talk theory. My ears are the final arbiter in my Hi-Fi.
Kevin says check it out!
AURALiC Aries G2.2