Auralic Aries G1 - burned USB DAC ports

[Schlaudi]

Hi guys,

I have a great problem regarding my both Auralic Aries G1: the USB DAC ports from my G1s are burned.

Most of the time I used SPDIF connection from my G1 to my Burmester 061 DAC. After I changed to a RME ADI-2 DAC FS (living room) the USB connection between the G1 and ADI got lost after a few weeks. I tried to factory reset both devices but not chance to get the USB DAC connection running again. I asked the german importer AudioNEXT GmbH and it looked like they already knew what the problem could be. They asked me to send in the G1 for testing/repair.

OK, I went to holiday and got a COVID infection, so a few weeks passed by without sending in the defect G1. To get the music in the living room playing again, I connected my second G1 (STAX setup with Gustard X16 in the office) with the RME ADI-2 DAC FS via USB. After a few days of playing, the USB DAC port stopped working again. Now both G1 didn't recognise the Gustard X16 anymore...

Long story short: Both USB DAC ports from the G1 are burned. I found on the Auralic forum that Mr. Wang from Auralic already knew and confirmed that some DACs could cause burned USB DAC ports in the G1 and G2 series. Auralic also developed a new USB DAC port design to face this issue. You can find the discussion here: https://community.auralic.com/t/usb-problem-aries-g1-with-mcintosh/2825/35

I also got in touch with RME and they wrote me that the problem must be a faulty implemented USB design in the G1.

So a few days ago I send my both G1 to AudioNEXT GmbH in Germany and they wrote me that I have to pay 460€ (á 230€ = 130€ mainboard, 80€ installation and testing, 20€ shipment) to get new boards installed (both devices are a few month over the 3 year Auralic warranty). This is absolute ridiculous due to the fact that Auralic already know that they developed/implemented a faulty USB design. AudioNEXT refuse to contact Auralic for a goodwill request due to the fact that both G1 worked "long enough"! Are 3,5 and 3,8 years really "long enough" for a 2900€ device???

How should I react now? Paying 460€ to get my G1 repaired or hire a lawyer?

PS: I already owned two Aries Mini and the analog audio ports also burned (known issue on most of Aries Mini!). So I'm really pissed off from Auralic customer service!!!

BR
Schlaudi

 

[london_r]

Sadly, I think you may be stuck with having to pay for the repair I am afraid.

Based on my own experience with an Auralic Aries Femto, it suffered from a completely unrelated product design flaw (WLAN card failure) to your USB issue that was pretty well documented on their own support forum.

Despite this being a product issue, the general consensus was that the only way to remediate this was to repair the device yourself or pay $$$ to get it repaired by Auralic. Am glad I went down the former route, as it transpired that the device itself had another problem, despite the WLAN card being replaced (twice), it was stuck on the "Aries Starting" issue which identified as some part of the mainboard preventing the device from booting (alas another design "characteristic" was that the device won't boot without a LAN interface as a workaround (eg. even if you have a wired connection it won't boot)).

Sad to say the cost of shipping + repair meant that it was uneconomical to pursue this further (hence a very expensive device ended up in the recycling).

I don't expect a piece of consumer electronics to last forever, and if a device fails due to a random component in its lifetime, fair enough - that's the way it goes sometimes. But when a product has a known flaw, I do think that there should be a reasonable effort to at least meet customers half-way and to make some accommodation to extend the support coverage.

Note whilst the likes of Apple have implemented extend coverage for common faults, such a process it isn't exclusively for big companies... eg. shout out to Trigon Electronics, who repaired my amplifier free of charge for a fault, even though I was out of support. I know which brands would have my loyalty for future purchases.

good luck.

 

[Gee2]

AudioNEXT refuse to contact Auralic for a goodwill request due to the fact that both G1 worked "long enough"!

Since AudioNEXT refuses to contact Auralic: why not present your case directly to Auralic? Seeing you have 2 expensive devices that are a few months past warranty might be reason enough for some clemency. If the burned USB DAC ports is a known issue that might help your cause and get you a bigger discounted repair/free repair. Auralic can then contact AudioNEXT for the details.

Are 3,5 and 3,8 years really "long enough" for a 2900€ device???

IMO no but I am Dutch so I am cheap.... For that kind of money I would expect 10 years of flawless working at least and the consumer law in the Netherlands might favour that view. Not sure how that works in Germany.

My 2 cents. Good luck.

 

[Vhond]

Is it clear why the ports have burned?

 

[Schlaudi]

Is it clear why the ports have burned?

Yes, they implemented a faulty USB port design. Auralic already confirmed that they have problems with their USB DAC ports. Auralic says that some DACs (like McIntosh) have „some strange signals“ …

 

[Schlaudi]

Just a short update which I got via email from Mr. Wang (CEO of Auralic): Auralic won‘t repair defect devices after the 3 year warranty free of charge even if their own mainboard design is faulty - no other streamer in the world has „burned“ USB DAC ports. Mr. Wang wrote me that i „misused“ the G1 when connecting it to a DAC like my RME. Absolut ridiculous!

Will sell my both G1 after repair and never buy any Auralic product again… owned 5 devices… only 1 is working without any problem.

After my Auralic history I won‘t recommend buying any Auralic device. Go for another company!

 

[london_r]

Just a short update which I got via email from Mr. Wang (CEO of Auralic): Auralic won‘t repair defect devices after the 3 year warranty free of charge even if their own mainboard design is faulty - no other streamer in the world has „burned“ USB DAC ports. Mr. Wang wrote me that i „misused“ the G1 when connecting it to a DAC like my RME. Absolut ridiculous!

Will sell my both G1 after repair and never buy any Auralic product again… owned 5 devices… only 1 is working without any problem.

After my Auralic history I won‘t recommend buying any Auralic device. Go for another company!

Sorry to hear that you got burned too by this brand's flawed product (in the literal, not in the USB sense !) ....

Here's hoping the repair isn't overly expensive wish you better luck on your next purchase.

 

[Friedrich]

What an absoulte rubbish response from the Auralic CEO!
Had mini Auralic myslef in the past and it wasn't trouble free. Luckily, all the faults were obvious from day one so sent it back for a full refund.

 

[Marc v E]

Just a short update which I got via email from Mr. Wang (CEO of Auralic): Auralic won‘t repair defect devices after the 3 year warranty free of charge even if their own mainboard design is faulty - no other streamer in the world has „burned“ USB DAC ports. Mr. Wang wrote me that i „misused“ the G1 when connecting it to a DAC like my RME. Absolut ridiculous!

Will sell my both G1 after repair and never buy any Auralic product again… owned 5 devices… only 1 is working without any problem.

After my Auralic history I won‘t recommend buying any Auralic device. Go for another company!

Well, that's another lost customer.
Can't believe the company is that short sighted.

 

[Sokel]

Mail them again pasting the link here,I'm sure that will be a good view of how people see poor support.

 

[Phorize]

Well, I'd say that £2000 for a generic SOC computer is a bad start, to have it fail with no recourse after 3.8 years is just rubbing your nose in it. My RPi model B ran for 8 years almost permanently before I finally switched it off never having had an issue. My advice is save your money next time and get something much cheaper to do this job, such as allo usbridge or RPi 4. At least that way you get DSP.

 

[Schlaudi]

Mail them again pasting the link here,I'm sure that will be a good view of how people see poor support.

They don‘t care… seems that there are enough idiots outside buying their bad designed products…

 

[Vadim59]

Long story short: Both USB DAC ports from the G1 are burned.

Then what is the best way to safely connect AURALiC ARIES G1 and RME ADI-2 DAC fs? I'm waiting for RME ADI-2 DAC fs, and you scared me a lot

 

[Vhond]

From what I understood: Auralic did use 2 different USB connections on their G1:
1 'better' to connect to a DAC (lower input voltage) and 1 'normal' to connect an external hard disk.
The last one you can also use for a DAC but is worse in terms of noise isolation...