Modding AURALiC Aries Mini

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Joined 2002
Hi, does anyone else have experience with modding an Aries Mini? I think it is a well designed device (electronically) and the app is quite OK. It sounds very good as it has an excellent ESS DAC chip, is DSD capable, has mature software and it can be bought used for less than a RPI/good DAC combo costs. It certainly looks a lot better than RPI + DAC devices.

However, the device has a cheap fully closed casing which makes the device overheating itself. It has a quad core ARM CPU and a 802.11ac wireless card which both generate heat. The heat is transferred from the CPU to the shielding with a piece of silicone rubber. The shielding is fully closed. A kind of heatsink is taped to the inner upper side and the shielding makes contact with the heatsink but not very well. Of course heat sink paste was used in abundance ;) After having examined the whole situation I conclude that cost savings were the reason to produce it like it is but that some corners were cut that should not have been cut. Auralic says they made a loss selling the Aries Mini and that may be so but some design choices were suboptimal.

My first step was to determine the right place for the holes and to remove the PCB. Please note that before drilling the electronics and the heatsink have to be removed. Opening the case should be done upside down with a credit card lifting the front side of the bottom cover. Don't put the credit card too deep or the plastic hooks that keep the device together will break. I left the wireless card hanging on its antenna wiring as the connectors are fragile. A small piece of tape will keep the card outside the drilling area. I used tape on the sides to prevent drilling debris scratching the casings surface. Although having a cold I managed to drill the holes quite neat (I think :)) with wood drills and afterwards I deburred the holes slightly. I forgot to measure temperature before I took it apart but it was so hot that I feared the plastic case to deform. In case the owner has a white version one can tell the overheating as the white cases become yellow very fast exactly where the CPU and other "hot" chips are. According Auralic the heat does not pose a problem but I am quite sure the lifespan of the device will be years less because of the thermal effects on the capacitors and other SMD parts. Many owners take the wall wart SMPS out of the wall socket after use because of the generated heat. Unfortunately the device nor its power supply have an on/off switch.

After drilling holes in both sides, the bottom cover and in the SSD casing the upper side of the cover is now 40 degrees Celsius (at 22 degrees ambient) and feels only slightly warm. Adding just the holes on the left and right sides does not bring much if there are no ventilation holes in the bottom and SSD casing. There needs to be air flow. It helps to stick some rubber feet at the bottom to give it room to breathe.

Next step is a linear PSU with true mains switch that I started building yesterday. Please let me know if you are also modding this device and what you have done to the poor thing :D
 

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Disabled Account
Joined 2002
Hi jan, I have modded several other overheating ARM mediaplayers and most of them clock down when they get too hot (self protect). With video players this results in stuttering etc. but I haven't concluded yet if this Aries Mini does the same.

Also in this case it can not be good as internal temperature is very high. Thermal stress on surrounding parts will have a detrimental effect but in this day and age of using stuff just a few years (green behavior, yeah right :)) it probably does not matter for most users. I do read of static crackling which might be caused by the described issue.

Still I don't like unattended devices (that are supposed to be plugged in all the time) to overheat. I also wonder if it is compliant with EU legislation of maximum standby power usage of just 0.5 Watt...

Were/are you satisfied with the sound quality?
 
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Disabled Account
Joined 2002
That is true. Of course the optional harddisk or, in a lesser degree, SSD adds up to the heat. In my Aries Mini I use the old fashioned SSD type that has DDR3 cache memory . It consumes around 2.5W when writing. At idling it is less than 0.7W. Added heat buildup for sure.

After creating ventilation holes in the bottom cover you will notice that the harddisk/SSD will also become less warm (as a bonus). Problem is the CPU and the harddisk/SSD are quite close to eachother so glueing a heatsink straight on the CPU (my standard practice) is in this case nearly impossible.
 
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I have two Aries Minis, one black and one white, purchased about 4 years ago. While they run warm, I haven't noticed any discoloring of the white one. I wonder if there are multiple versions of the product with different heat profiles. That said, I would be interested in some heat reduction mods. I'll see if I can easily open the case when I get back home on Wednesday.
 
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Disabled Account
Joined 2002
Mine is a revision C which has supposedly less heat problems but it is just hearsay. I can not confirm as I haven't seen any A or B revision. The one I have has a metal sheet covering nearly the complete upper cover at the inside. The used techniques to transfer the heat to that plate are technically insufficient as there is a gap between the combined shielding/would-be heatsink of the CPU and that sheet metal.

Even if a perfect heat transfer could be realised the heat will still stay inside the casing as there is no way out except for a small part transferring to the plastic casing.
 
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Hi Jean-Paul,
I've been thinking about the heat issue for a while, also. Your post prompted me to do something. I measured the Mini with an IR gun - 121° F (49.4 C). Yikes!
After opening it up and reaching the same conclusion as you, I decided to not drill any holes. I got a 12V muffin fan that's quiet (10 dB) and have it blowing across the top of the mini toward the vented doors of my cabinet. IR gun measurement is now 95° F (35 C). Way better. Thanks.
 
Disabled Account
Joined 2002
Hi, it is nice that the outside is less warm but it will not do much for the electronics I am afraid. It is really better to do something structural. It is not the casing that is most important but the innards. These need to be cooled. As stated before, mine is now around 40 degrees without active cooling. No need for extra stuff that can also break down etc.

I visited another audio hobbyist and his Mini already has static crackling and a brittle yellow casing.

BTW I got an original Auralic linear power supply as it was not too expensive (I was already building a DIY one) and it makes a worthwhile difference. While the Mini becomes hot, the LPS does not even become lukewarm.
 
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Disabled Account
Joined 2002
New attempt on a new casing. This is the max with my tooling. I am not too thrilled about the looks although I am very sure the heat buildup is now non existent. Next week a new attempt with a 3D milling machine as I really want perfect cooling slots. 40 mm long and 4 mm wide, 2 of those just below the upper side left and right side. Problem is the small size of the case and being made of thin plastic it deforms easily on a vacuum table. We will have try.

It needs the elevated feet for better convection. Whilst I don't like glueing stuff there is no other solution as a M3 nut will be in the way of other stuff.

To anyone that is interested in this (not many I reckon :)): deburring the holes with a real deburrer does not work out OK with this plastic. A blunt old drill works better.
 

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Disabled Account
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You probably damaged the casing??! Now it is open you can choose to drill or cut ventilation holes. Also check soldering of the connectors and clean the PCB with isopropyl alcohol.

If you decide to drill please note that it will not do much if there are no holes in the bottom cover.
 
AX tech editor
Joined 2002
Paid Member
You probably damaged the casing??! Now it is open you can choose to drill or cut ventilation holes. Also check soldering of the connectors and clean the PCB with isopropyl alcohol.

If you decide to drill please note that it will not do much if there are no holes in the bottom cover.

No not damaged at all. I'm good! :cool:

I'm half a mind to cut a wide slot in the top cover and attach a heatsink to the exposed plate on the inside. But probably there's a better solution.

YGM

Jan