Стримеры — AURALiC ARIES G2.2

The ARIES G2.2 is a wireless streaming transporter from AURALiC, a network source without an internal DAC that feeds digital audio to a separate converter. AURALiC first showed it at the 2023 High End exhibition in Munich as the successor to the ARIES G2.1, and it sits above the compact ARIES S1 in the AURALiC streaming range. UK pricing was GBP 5,299 for the base version and GBP 5,899 with 4 TB of internal storage, while the US price was USD 6,099.

Key specs that matter

Playback covers PCM from 44.1 kHz to 384 kHz at 32 bit and DSD from DSD64 to DSD512. Lossless containers include FLAC, WAV, AIFF, ALAC, DSF, DIFF, APE, WV and OGG, and lossy MP3, AAC, WMA and MQA files also play. Digital outputs are AES/EBU, coaxial, Toslink and a galvanically isolated USB host port for a DAC, plus the proprietary Lightning Link over HDMI. The unit joins a network via gigabit Ethernet or tri-band 802.11b/g/n/ac WiFi with two antenna sockets. The anodised aluminium chassis measures 340 x 320 x 96 mm and weighs 10.2 kg. Power draw is below 0.5 W in standby, below 10 W in sleep and up to 50 W during playback.

Engineering and use context

Processing relies on the Tesla G3 platform, a quad-core 64-bit design that AURALiC says has eight times the processing power of the G2.1, paired with 4 GB of DDR4 memory instead of 1 GB. Direct Memory Access handles audio input and output, and the maker claims it cuts latency and jitter by 90 percent. The Unity Chassis II is carried over from the G series, with a pure copper sub-enclosure against radio and electromagnetic interference, a milled aluminium case and sprung feet tuned at several points. A new Purer-Power linear supply feeds the electronics. An optional NVMe SSD holds a music library inside the unit, rated at up to ten times the read and write speed of the previous storage, USB 3.0 accepts external drives, and an input for an external master clock is fitted. Software features include a parametric equaliser, filter modes and loudness leveling.

Pairing

Since conversion happens elsewhere, the ARIES G2.2 needs an outboard DAC, linked by USB, AES/EBU, coaxial or optical cable. Control runs through the Lightning DS app, and the unit is Roon Ready and OpenHome compatible, with TIDAL, Qobuz, Amazon Music, Spotify Connect, AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth available.

Alternatives

The AURALiC ARIES S1 is the smaller streaming transport in the range, built on the same Tesla G3 platform in a 207 x 290 x 85 mm case weighing 4 kg.