Auralic Aries

@mgrif104  said: >> With respect to Auralic vs any number of streaming transports - there’s a fair amount of differing opinions.  My takeaway is that they’re all pretty good and they get better as you go up the food chain within each line. That’s certainly been my experience.   <<
It's been mine, too.
Regarding "noise floor" -- this now seems to be widely used as an audiophile term for "I don't like it." In other words, for cases in which one hears no audible noise -- and often, no measurable noise --  but something in the sound doesn't appeal. I have no issue with people not liking anything, including the gear I use. Still, I am not a fan of this use of "noise floor." Again, I don't dispute the subjective reaction of not liking something, finding it x or y or z, but I'd prefer to have that stated without the use of "noise floor," which has a specific technical meaning.

I think Auralic does well with Roon. Most agree that the sound differs between OpenHome mode (Lightning DS) and Roon, but I can't say that one is better than the other. On some tracks, Roon seems more mellow, OpenHome more detailed.

Auralic has been a leader in getting good, reliable sound over WiFi. I've compared WiFi on my original Aries (femto) to Ethernet, then again with the Aries G1, and I could not hear the difference.

@mike_in_nc

Mike, Many people on these forums use terms they do not understand correctly or have very loose definitions for the terms they use. I have to agree with you there. But noice floor is a very important term particularly with increasingly sensitivities of sound reproduction in good audio gear. It is something I have struggled with for decades. Part of the reason has been my affinity for electrostatic and ribbon speakers coupled with solid state equipment. These speakers are extremely revealing particularly in the upper frequencies.

First, “A noise floor is the threshold below which no audio intelligence can be heard. In other words, at any audio system’s (either record or playback) noise floor, the background noise of that system becomes just as loud as the signal giving a signal-to-noise ratio of 0.” Sdolezalek. It is a lot like a furnace or other multi spectrum background noice source running in parallel with your music. The frequency distribution can be very different among sources. When the frequency hash is high it can be very grating if you are familiar with it… in headphones it makes them “fatiguing” if you can’t put your finger on it. It can be in the upper and inaudible frequencies only and affect the overall sound through interactions of the frequencies. It takes some experience to identify this kind since it is not as easy to recognize as furnace noice. It can exert pressure on your ear drums without being disurnable like a cymbal tap or other easily recognizable sound.


I have many personal stories about it. Quickly, two were adding the outboard power supply ($8K) to my Sim Audio 650D DAC ($8K)… any question about the drop in a noice floor is, is demonstrated by this kind of change. Also, going to battery power in audio product like the Aurender W20SE demonstrates this. The background opens up, each sound is suspended in space… emptiness, the leading transitions of sounds reveal microdynamics. Image specificity increases dramatically. Meaning central confusion diminishes (note, the noise comes from both speakers equally, so it is a mono signal. it confuses the central sound stage not stage right or left.

I am sure you are correct about some people not knowing what noice floor is. But some of us do and it is a very important parameter as you move up to higher levels of audio reproduction. One that is critical in assessing high end components and systems.

@ghdprentice -- Thanks for your reply. I suppose we disagree on terminology. So be it!

@ghdprentice that is consistent with my layman’s understanding of noise floor. Would it be reasonable to attribute the new appearance of low level sound (i.e. softer notes I hadn’t noticed before) in the program material to a lowering of the noise floor?

George, I don’t quite understand how pricing of components contributes to lowering of the noice floor. Oops sp. Now imagine if you owned a DAC where the price is a fraction of what you paid and has a measured S/N ratio of 140dB in each channel. Oh wait ;). Now that’s NOICE!

@rfnoise in short yes.