Auralic has shutdown

[haraldo]

Future of AURALiC Brand Uncertain After Shutdown

After months of uncertainty, AURALiC Ltd., known for its high-end streaming solutions, has shut down its business. Industry insiders point to falling sales, supply chain issues, and the withdrawal of its founder as key factors. Whether the company’s intellectual property will be acquired and preserved remains unclear.
AURALiC Ltd., renowned for its high-end streaming solutions since 2009, has ceased operations after major sales declines and market withdrawals. The brand’s future remains uncertain, though European distributors pledge ongoing service support.

I don´t post links to any other forums, but just google it

I have an Auralic Aries G1 streamer, I wonder: Will it suddenly stop working?
When there is no online Auralic accounts, you are not able to setup and use streamer without an Auralic account, will it stop working when it cannot connect to the cloud account?
will the Lightning DS app suddenly stop working with a new iOS version?
Will future changes to Tidal or Qobus suddenly leave the streaming functions non-workable?

 

[TLS Guy]

Future of AURALiC Brand Uncertain After Shutdown

After months of uncertainty, AURALiC Ltd., known for its high-end streaming solutions, has shut down its business. Industry insiders point to falling sales, supply chain issues, and the withdrawal of its founder as key factors. Whether the company’s intellectual property will be acquired and preserved remains unclear.
AURALiC Ltd., renowned for its high-end streaming solutions since 2009, has ceased operations after major sales declines and market withdrawals. The brand’s future remains uncertain, though European distributors pledge ongoing service support.

I don´t post links to any other forums, but just google it

I have an Auralic Aries G1 streamer, I wonder: Will it suddenly stop working?
When there is no online Auralic accounts, you are not able to setup and use streamer without an Auralic account, will it stop working when it cannot connect to the cloud account?
will the Lightning DS app suddenly stop working with a new iOS version?
Will future changes to Tidal or Qobus suddenly leave the streaming functions non-workable?

I think it is hard to say. However, based on past situations, I would expect the units to become downgraded and increasingly useless over time.

I don't understand the popularity of streamers. I have never owned a brand streamer. However, I do a lot of streaming and with very high quality. I use computers, an HTPC on out living room system and an HTPC and DAW in the studio, both the latter are DIY. I can grab anything I want at the highest quality and don't have to worry about businesses failing or shutting down. Computers are the hassle free way to stream, and I think the most cost effective.


I use one of these in the living room and another in my wife's office.

In my opinion, that approach is the most versatile way to stream and delivers the highest SQ and video quality.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I think it is hard to say. However, based on past situations, I would expect the units to become downgraded and increasingly useless over time.

I don't understand the popularity of streamers. I have never owned a brand streamer. However, I do a lot of streaming and with very high quality. I use computers, an HTPC on out living room system and an HTPC and DAW in the studio, both the latter are DIY. I can grab anything I want at the highest quality and don't have to worry about businesses failing or shutting down. Computers are the hassle free way to stream, and I think the most cost effective.


I use one of these in the living room and another in my wife's office.

In my opinion, that approach is the most versatile way to stream and delivers the highest SQ and video quality.

Same here - HTPC is my thing also.

I never got into streamers. That's why I never heard of Auralic.

 

[TLS Guy]

Same here - HTPC is my thing also.

I never got into streamers. That's why I never heard of Auralic.

I had heard of them, but hugely overpriced. We have a had a stream of posts over the years about streamers becoming obsolete. I have never understood the popularity of these. People use computers daily and I have no clue why they want to essentially buy a computer with very limited function and applications, which is essentially what a streamer is. I built my first DAW in 2002 and that was considered cutting edge then. I have never been without a computer or two in my rig since. Now we have a Marantz streamer/preamp, which is grossly overpriced with limited application. I just have no clue why people are attracted to these units.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I had heard of them, but hugely overpriced. We have a had a stream of posts over the years about streamers becoming obsolete. I have never understood the popularity of these. People use computers daily and I have no clue why they want to essentially buy a computer with very limited function and applications, which is essentially what a streamer is. I built my first DAW in 2002 and that was considered cutting edge then. I have never been without a computer or two in my rig since. Now we have a Marantz streamer/preamp, which is grossly overpriced with limited application. I just have no clue why people are attracted to these units.

The consumers say the streamers are simpler to use (I think many people hate PC) and have a prettier screen.

The video streamers/players like K-Scape are also very costly - just the basic player is like $4K. The 24TB HDD is another $11K. And that’s not even SSD. It’s the old HDD for $11K. I have Crucial 24TB of SSD M.2 for $1,200, but 24TB of old HDD is $11K? It seems many people don’t want to buy physical discs and rip a copy of the disc by themselves (using HTPC). They would rather pay a lot more money for convenience?

 

[lovinthehd]

I suppose external streamer boxes are like why people like tts or tuners or optical disc players...especially when they combine all their gear into a small area/stack. I've never bought an external streamer except for my Amazon Fire Sticks but that's largely about video, did have some Audio Chromecast units separately for audio only. Seems the fire sticks can handle most of the same now fwiw. Some like the physicality like vinyl, old 2ch gear with only knobs, etc; not a lot of value with that stuff IMHO

 

[TLS Guy]

I suppose external streamer boxes are like why people like tts or tuners or optical disc players...especially when they combine all their gear into a small area/stack. I've never bought an external streamer except for my Amazon Fire Sticks but that's largely about video, did have some Audio Chromecast units separately for audio only. Seems the fire sticks can handle most of the same now fwiw. Some like the physicality like vinyl, old 2ch gear with only knobs, etc; not a lot of value with that stuff IMHO

You could not be more wrong. If I played you my vintage gear your would be stunned. It is a failing of humans, to think those that came before were misguided fools, and that is a grave error. You are wrong about the value, just take a look on eBay.

 

[lovinthehd]

You could not be more wrong. If I played you my vintage gear your would be stunned. It is a failing of humans, to think those that came before were misguided fools, and that is a grave error. You are wrong about the value, just take a look on eBay.

Not likely, I have gear as old as yours and, in some cases, of better capability. You are often wrong with your imperious attitude and research otoh. More opinion than fact in several ways....talk about misguided fools.

 

[dolynick]

Having been building and using HTPCs for some 20 years now, I can say without much doubt that, if we're talking about a Windows based device here, an HTPC is both more expensive and more maintenance to use than a streamer like an AppleTV box. It may not have always been the case, but it's pretty clearly so now.

People like appliances that just do what they're supposed to. The AppleTV handles format/HDR switching automatically with little hassle and still offers enough customizability via app selection for most. An HTPC is certainly more flexible but also means you have to handle codecs and generally get blocked by more DRM issues. I haven't tried Kodi recently so maybe it does auto HDR switching now, but the dedicated apps for Netflix & Prime Video do not.

I'm not looking to give up my HTPCs but I no longer recommend them for the average person who just wants to Stream Netflix, etc.

 

[Eppie]

So, gents with HTPC, what do you use to control them? Biggest convenience with my Shield is the nice remote and for typing the Shield does speech to text very well. Full size wireless keyboard can be too bulky for some and hard to use a mouse sitting on the couch. I like the Rii mini keyboards as they are compact and some include a small track pad for mouse gestures. I think controllers are a big issue for couch surfers.

 

[dolynick]

So, gents with HTPC, what do you use to control them? Biggest convenience with my Shield is the nice remote and for typing the Shield does speech to text very well. Full size wireless keyboard can be too bulky for some and hard to use a mouse sitting on the couch. I like the Rii mini keyboards as they are compact and some include a small track pad for mouse gestures. I think controllers are a big issue for couch surfers.

I have old Logitech DiNovo Edges for my two HTPCs

They're expensive and largish but not too bad and include a trackpad with a fairly functional scrolling feature. It's enough for basic navigation when choosing a movie from the media server. I also have wireless mice for both but I've never really been happy with how any mouse I have tried has interacted with the various furniture surfaces in play in either of my two locations so I use it only when really necessary.

For music playback, the media software includes network based control so I can do most everything I need from an app on my phone. I also purchased a relatively inexpensive tablet and put the control app on it for guests to use when I have them.

For most streaming I use my AppleTV 4k boxes. It's just easier as it handles SDR/HDR content requirements automatically. It also offers maximum quality as sometimes even the streaming apps are limited by platform - and browser-based on HTPC is always limited to 1080p max with non-Atmos audio. Most use is just with the remote but I did invest in a pair of logi rechargeable bluetooth keyboards for my two AppleTVs as well. They were also on the pricier (~$120 CAD) side but they are quite nice, small and I do like them. I set up another AppleTV for my folks recently and tried a cheaper, rechargeable (~$35 CAD) aluminum backed bluetooth keyboard. It seems to work quite well and so far I am impressed for the price.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

So, gents with HTPC, what do you use to control them?

I just use my iPhone "Unified Remote" keyboard app to start Kodi. Then use the Kodi app.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Having been building and using HTPCs for some 20 years now, I can say without much doubt that, if we're talking about a Windows based device here, an HTPC is both more expensive and more maintenance to use than a streamer like an AppleTV box. It may not have always been the case, but it's pretty clearly so now.

People like appliances that just do what they're supposed to. The AppleTV handles format/HDR switching automatically with little hassle and still offers enough customizability via app selection for most. An HTPC is certainly more flexible but also means you have to handle codecs and generally get blocked by more DRM issues. I haven't tried Kodi recently so maybe it does auto HDR switching now, but the dedicated apps for Netflix & Prime Video do not.

I'm not looking to give up my HTPCs but I no longer recommend them for the average person who just wants to Stream Netflix, etc.

Yeah I agree that if you're just streaming movies, then something very simple like AppleTV and others are all you need.

I love my HTPC. I store my 4K ATMOS mkv movie files on the 24TB M.2 SSD and use Kodi for playback.

I can buy the 4K UHD discs, rip them into the SSD using the PC, and playback with Kodi. It's my version of K-Scape, except I don't have to pay a lot more money for it.

 

[dolynick]

I love my HTPC. I store my 4K ATMOS mkv movie files on the 24TB M.2 SSD and use Kodi for playback.

I can buy the 4K UHD discs, rip them into the SSD using the PC, and playback with Kodi. It's my version of K-Scape, except I don't have to pay a lot more money for it.

Yeah. I'm content with my way with the HTPC too. The array on my media server is now 112 TB so I'm well committed at this point.

I have looked at Kodi a few times and wanted to use it but there was always something about it I didn't like. I think it was the lack of file based tag support and not being a huge fan of the tile based library (I prefer a simple genre separated list). So in stead I use MediaMonkey as a library, handing off to MPC-BE and MadVR. MadVR allows me to do auto-HDR switching too and avoid that extra hassle. Still, it's not foolproof and Windows itself seems to have issues getting messed up with an HDR mode switch at times so I just don't see it as great solution for the non-tech oriented.

By contrast, I can spend $200 CAD on a current gen ApplyTV 4k, and pick up an Infuse license and for less than $300 CAD all told and have virtually all the same functionality but with next to no upkeep. Yeah, I'd have to live with Infuse's library system but it's not the end of the world. Getting a not utter crap non-basic (IE pro) license for even OEM Win11 is ~$200 CAD by itself (unless you want to roulette with the aftermarket resellers), and good luck getting decent hardware in a mini PC that runs as smooth and reliably.

I haven't really explored the linux options. I suspect there might be some media player centered packages out there that might make "cheap" HTPC systems more palatable but you're still in DIY territory there. So again, probably not for the masses. I can see why expensive media players like Aurilac had trouble staying afloat long-term... but cheaper ones available today? It's no surprise that they're eating up the mass market.