Apologies for a little hi-fi talk.
Does anyone have experience with Auralic products?
Reliability, relative crapness of whatever app controls it, build quality, dealers to talk to, or avoid. That kind of thing.
Thanks in advance.
Iāve had a fair bit of experience with Auralic streamers, principally the (first generation) Aries and Aries Mini. They seem rock solid to me. The fact that you can dump a HDD into some of their streamers to have a decent music server setup is a big plus. I canāt comment on the Auralic App as everyone I know who uses their kit uses Roon. If MQA is important to you then look elsewhere as they do not support it.
I havenāt had much of a play with their amplifiers. My sister had a Polaris all-in-one streamer/amp on home demo and it seemed pretty decent. The fact that the poor thing was trying to fill a cavernous kitchen diner with music while driving some Monitor Audio standmounts probably wasnāt the fairest test of its abilities. I think the Polaris and Altair are about to be discontinued as Auralic seem to be moving to a a new style of case design so there may be bargains to be had (e.g. the Merak monoblocs which are decent SS amps and can be had for relatively little money atm).
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Had loads of Auralic stuff - brilliant iPad app (I never used Roon) and great sounding gear.
A Vega G2 would be my dream source if I ever get another system.
Iām specifically looking at the Vega G1.
The Aries G1 is absolutely outstanding. Great app, unconditionally stable and the perfect front end for the decoding of your choice. I even wrote a review and shit
EDIT
Havenāt spent as much time with the Vega but the same comments on software apply. Itās seriously good.
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I had an Aries streamer - rock solid and a decent SQ, the app was good too. Of course they are all Roon-ed up these days. I still look at reviews of their kit and the updated G1 and G2 streamers/DACs look very nice - Darko does some nice and IMO sensible reviews of the Auralic kit and a lot of other stuff that I would really, really like to own quite frankly.
Also had the Vega preamp for a while which was v nice.
Support is good and great software updates. Igloo Audio is where I bought most of my Auralic stuff and a nice guy to deal with - but there are plenty of Auralic dealers methinks.
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You might also want to look at Lumin if the G1 is of interest. I use a D1 these days which is absolutely excellent.
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I think the G1 is mostly a re-boxed Aries (the top model) but made a bit better.
Only used the original Aries and mini at a mates but both were good and the mini is great value.
Review here.
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Are you intending to run it straight into a power amp using the Auralics volume control, or will you be using an integrated or pre/power.
A mint secondhand G2 wonāt be much more than a new G1 and has a much better volume control plus other benefits.
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tl;dr 
Seriously, cheers 
Do you plan to use Android tablet or phone to control it?
Yeeeees.
I can sense a big pit opening up in front of me 
Ah yes, strictly iOS only for the app unless you Roon it.
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Wow. And there was me thinking it was 2019.
Well, that narrows the field down then 
Itās a balancing act. I too use Android for phones and Iām unlikely to return to iOS. I still use an iPad though. I donāt think itās accidental that Lightning is really very good indeed and the small team at Auralic have only focused on one platform. Too many smaller companies have split their resources across doing both and they are bobbins as a result.
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These look nice and would be on my list if I was looking ahead.
The problem is that the SlimDevices Transporter is so damn good supporting up to 24/96 material, even a 13 year-old design (ridiculous really) I have no reason to upgrade. You still see these kicking around for Ā£500 too.
If I felt formats other than redbook had anything to offer then maybe.
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Wait, is there no DAC in the G1/G2?
Hahahaa amazing banter, just buy a Transporter.
I think Aries (G1, G2) is just a transport, Vega (G1, G2) is transport, DAC, preamp.
Vega G1/G2 is a complete standalone device with DAC and a preamp as well. Aries G1/G2 is just a transport.
Effectively, if youāve got an all singing all dancing DAC, you can bolt the Aries on by USB and it runs driverless into it. While I am sure as a combination of brands, it will have people here clutching pearls, the combination of Aries G1 and prototype Chord Mscaler and Hugo TT2 can lay claim to being one of the best digital front ends Iāve ever spent any time with as a balance of performance, features, ease of use and stability. Iād own it in a heartbeat.
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CAlso consider the Lumin U1 Mini if you just need a transport. Thatās my next move. The Lumin D2, U1 mini and G1 are all pretty much the same price. I suspect that the Lumin will sound better but the Auralic nicer to use. Sounds like iOS is a must for both as far as the app goes. Lumin do an Android version but it is pretty much unusable ime.
I found this post on the Audioshark forum from Soundrebels.
āIāve reviewed U1 Mini directly after Auralic Aries G1, and both are on the same level, but Aries is more analytical and U1 more āanalogueā soundingā
Itās that sound signature that keeps me with Lumin D2 so far. I would love to hear the Auralic though and try their app.