Technology is great. Until it doesn’t work! I love the convenience of digital streaming. It puts a huge music library in front of me at the click of a mouse and plays it back to me. Until it doesn’t!
Followers of my blog will realise there has been a gap in my output. This has been linked to a gap in my listening caused by a problem with my Polaris Auralic at the heart of my esoteric system. However, the real start of this story takes place in the Sevenoaks Sound and Vision shop in Manchester. Following my disappointing first encounter with the KEF LS60 at the Cranage HiFi show, I went along to hear the LS60 in better circumstances. Unfortunately, I spent about an hour in the shop but was only able to hear a couple of tracks due to problems with the wifi network. Wouldn’t happen at home, I thought smugly, but pride comes before a fall!
The next time I sat down to listen to my esoteric system, the system stopped playing after just a few minutes. As an experienced computer user, I know the value of Ctrl-Alt-Del! Time for a reset. I put the Auralic into standby. Switch it back on again. The music is back. But not for long. Standby again. The music plays for even less time now. Time for a hard reset. Full power down. Bring it back to life. Plays music for a bit but then it stops.
So I start to investigate the other functions. Vinyl plays just fine. Sounds great. Ah, the old faithful! Trouble is, the Auralic is supposed to be a streaming platform. I try some more options. Switch from wired to wireless connection. I swap the supporting standard because it was a pretty neat fit, and the weather has been hot, maybe this is an overheating problem? Nothing helps. If I had hair left I would have torn it out by now. I tried Googling for a solution. Surely, Google has the answer to everything? Nothing seems to match my problem, let alone provide a solution.
Time to contact my dealer. Tricky, they are 200 miles away in Tiverton, Devon, so I whizz off an email. The reply is prompt, and they list a number of things for me to try. All sensible, but the trouble is I have tried all of them. Sinking into something of a despond, I try some of them again – without any joy.
My last hope is that the dealer says they will think of other possible causes and contact Auralic as well.
A few days later, I get an email to say that Auralic has just launched a firmware upgrade. I check the Polaris and find it has automatically upgraded. I switch on the music and start to listen to streamed audio. I sit on tenterhooks waiting for the music to stop. But it doesn’t, it carries on. And on. Has never stopped mid-track since. Panic over. Thank you to Auralic. Thank you to Mike and Caroline at Audio Destination.
I love the music that once again comes from my system, but I hate not really knowing what happened and wondering if it might happen again. Technology is great – until it isn’t!
