I'm a happy owner of an Aries G1, a great choice for your budget. For access to Tidal or Qobuz, you can use Auralic's own control software running on an iPad. If Android is preferred, you can use a DLNA control point (e.g., BubbleUPnP) on an Android tablet, as I do. A third option is via Roon.
A nice feature of the Aries is serving as a music server/player from a USB drive (thumb or spinning). Not every network unit offers that capability.
I would advise not counting on future features, but FYI, Auralic plans to support plugging an optical disc reader into the Aries's USB drive port, allowing the Aries G1 or G2 to serve as a memory-based disc player as well as a streamer.
I found the Aries G1 a noticeable improvement from the older Aries Femto. The Bricasti M5 in comparison offered the same sound quality as the Aries G1, but fewer features. As an existing Auralic customer, I received a large trade-in value towards a G1, which made it a compelling choice.
Last edited by Mike-48; 04-18-2020 at 04:12 PM.
|