The Auralic Aries Mini streamer and DAC has a very small footprint (13.5cm x 13.5cm x 2.8cm). It is a wireless streaming node that is full of features fit for music lovers and audiophiles at a real world price.

It is designed to fit seamlessly into an existing Hi-Fi system by either plugging straight into your amp via its RCA outs or connecting to a DAC. The Mini supports all your usual file formats, with PCM resolutions of up to 32bit 384Khz and DSD 256 (FULL FAT NO COMPRESSION, yes come on). The unit can be set up, via an ethernet cable or via WiFi, to stream from either a local network, attached storage, Tidal, Qobuz and Internet Radio.

Despite its small dimensions Auralic have left room inside for a hard drive so you can store your music on the device itself. You can also connect to it via Airplay and Bluetooth there isn’t much this thing can’t do!

Control is everything where network devices are concerned and Auralic have produced, and continue to improve, a fantastic app (Lightning DS) that can be used with any IOS device. This user friendly app is a dream to operate, look at and is easily one of the better apps out there. It comes with a simple in-app set up guide to activate the product and sync up everything you want to use it with.

We have used the mini in the shop for a couple of months now and it has not let us down once. Connected via its RCA outputs it performs really well considering it's price. Even on a system costing thousands it does not draw unwanted attention to itself. Connected to a DAC in the same system it will perform even better making it a good choice if you plan to upgrade your system in stages. We also used it in a headphone setup feeding a Naim DACv1 using the £800 Focal Elear and it proved to be an excellent combination with an expansive detailed sound that just made you want to sit and listen.

Auralic Aries, Focal Elear Headphones and Naim DAC V1

We tried it with a wide range of music from Pink Floyd to Dvorak and pop to full on EDM. It delivered a balanced presentation that didn't lean toward any particular genre it just played everything really well.

We absolutely love the Auralic Aries Mini, so if you're looking for a simple plug and play streamer then please come and have a listen.

DEVICE CAPABILITIES