Melco Audiophile NAS

[Martin H]

(17-01-2015 12:08)simoncn Wrote:  Many MinimServer users have found that doing this conversion in the server instead of the player improves the sound. There is not yet a complete technical understanding of what causes this. One theory is that offloading this processing from the player's CPU is beneficial for sound quality.

OK - I will read up on your site about that and maybe give it a whirl. I will wait until my ears are in better shape though

Quote:Did you listen to the N1Z or the N1A?

Apologies I missed this question last time. I listened to the smaller box circa £1600. The N1A which I think is probably reasonably priced. The N1Z has SSD disk and dual power supplies but comes in at a stunning £6500 I think which seems unreasonably priced at first glance. Which one do you have/or tested?

Quote:Yes, that's what I am saying. Isolating an intermediate cable might not provide the same improvement as isolating the final cable.

OK

Quote:I am not quite clear which "difference" and which "upgrade" you are referring to. I think you probably mean the "difference" between non-Exakt and Exakt and the "upgrade" of adding the Melco, but I am not sure.

If this is what you mean, I would expect the Exakt difference to be equally audible with the Melco as it is without the Melco. My point is that the Melco difference might not be as audible with Exakt as it is without Exakt.

You guessed right - it was a poor sentence from me and I agree with what you are questioning.

quote]
I do love minimserver and would miss it terribly and so that is another reason not to pursue full implementation of this too hard.
[/quote]
Quote
I am in discussion with Melco about this. If there is any news, I will let you know.
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Much appreciated, for info I did drop them an email with a couple of questions that can't do any harm I guess as it would make the product even more attractive.

Again I appreciate your insights and your patience with my dumb questions. Forgive me saying it this way but it is rare to find someone that clearly has your passion for audio that has mastered IT/technology and who is willing and who is able to communicate so clearly. Typically the greater the degree of the first two, the less likely the third and fourth characteristics are to be found

A pleasure as ever.

[Martin H]

(17-01-2015 14:04)simoncn Wrote:  I tried connecting the Melco to my "other" renderer. This is a Raspberry Pi with a Wolfson audio card, running RuneAudio with UPnP support enabled. The before/after difference from using the Melco is even more noticeable with this renderer (total cost less than $100) than it is with my Linn DS.

Interesting. I guess at some point you have to run into diminishing returns which makes sense. I think the largest remaining opportunity to improve our setup is the room itself now but I really don't want to have to go 'somewhere else' to listen. I am quite happy to go to different room to watch a movie (home cinema) but for me music is a more immediate thing and locking the best sound we have away in a room would certainly get a further uplift but would reduce the time I spend listening to it.
Sorry digressing now.

[simoncn]

(17-01-2015 14:40)Martin H Wrote:  Apologies I missed this question last time. I listened to the smaller box circa £1600. The N1A which I think is probably reasonably priced. The N1Z has SSD disk and dual power supplies but comes in at a stunning £6500 I think which seems unreasonably priced at first glance. Which one do you have/or tested?

I have been testing the N1Z. I will be exchanging it for an N1A soon and I will post my results from testing this.

Quote:Much appreciated, for info I did drop them an email with a couple of questions that can't do any harm I guess as it would make the product even more attractive.

Yes, it's good to let them know what their users want.

Quote:Again I appreciate your insights and your patience with my dumb questions. Forgive me saying it this way but it is rare to find someone that clearly has your passion for audio that has mastered IT/technology and who is willing and who is able to communicate so clearly. Typically the greater the degree of the first two, the less likely the third and fourth characteristics are to be found

A pleasure as ever.

Thanks very much!!

[Cableguy]

(17-01-2015 12:08)simoncn Wrote:  I have not been able to find any switches with internal optical isolation between two copper RJ45 ports. It would be possible to use an optical switch with fibre ports connected to fibre to RJ45 converters.

Do you think a device like this would do?
http://pr.blackbox.com/Store/Detail.aspx...-TX/SP426A

[simoncn]

(18-01-2015 21:53)Cableguy Wrote:  Do you think a device like this would do?
http://pr.blackbox.com/Store/Detail.aspx...-TX/SP426A

I know someone who has spoken to Black Box about this and they told him it isn't a true opto-isolator but is transformer coupled. They are working on a true opto-isolator and expect it to be available in the second quarter of this year.

[Cableguy]

Thanks for the info!

[simoncn]

(17-01-2015 14:59)simoncn Wrote:  I have been testing the N1Z. I will be exchanging it for an N1A soon and I will post my results from testing this.

I have just set up the N1A and started listening to it. First impressions are extremely positive with sound similar to the N1Z or possibly slightly better. This is from memory of how the N1Z sounded as I don't have it any longer.

[Martin H]

Sounds like that's good news as it is circa £5k cheaper I think and definitely more likely to sell in volume

Just to let you know for personal reasons that I have my extended demo of the Melco on temporary hold as I do want to make sure I do this justice this time around. I will definitely post opinions on here when I do this.

Can I assume that minimserver is working nicely on your test box too That would be good news.

[simoncn]

(05-02-2015 13:32)Martin H Wrote:  Sounds like that's good news as it is circa £5k cheaper I think and definitely more likely to sell in volume

Just to let you know for personal reasons that I have my extended demo of the Melco on temporary hold as I do want to make sure I do this justice this time around. I will definitely post opinions on here when I do this.

I'll be very interested to hear what you think.

Quote:Can I assume that minimserver is working nicely on your test box too That would be good news.

It is working nicely.

[Martin H]

I am hearing Melco are also providing some new ethernet cables that are also making a difference. I can never quite get my head around how and why this can be the case unless you have a fundamental problem with your existing ethernet cables but I am told reliably that they are making an audible difference.

I think these are different to the ones that were initially supplied with the Melco but might also be suitable for Exakt systems .

Have you seen/heard these Simon?