Melco Audiophile NAS

[dan46]

(28-02-2016 00:10)lyapounov Wrote:  

(12-02-2016 21:09)simoncn Wrote:  

(12-02-2016 17:20)malkit Wrote:  Hello Simon.
Another new N1A owner here, would you please be kind enough to pm the instructions for installing MinimServer?

I will.

Quote:I also have a question for you. I'm deciding atm how I'm going to set up the Melco I was planning to use it in raid1 configuration but I noted another user a few pages back stating that both he and you felt the N1A sounded best configured as a spanned array.
My question is if this is truely your opinion and if so was the comparison done using N1A as a renderer, nas or both?
Many thanks in advance.
Matthew

I didn't do a direct comparison myself but from offline conversations with the other user together with my own experiences I am convinced that the sound is better with a spanned array. It should be fairly easy for you to do a comparison yourself to check whether you agree wth this. The N1A was used as a NAS with a Linn KDS or KDSM connected to the N1A's player port.

In that case, you do not have any more redundancy. As the AFR (Annual Failure Rate) of HD is not zero, the probability you loose data is not zero as well... I had a look at the N1A user's guide, they don't mention how you can replace HD. I feel safer (maybe wrongly ?) with my Synology in RAID mode...

Another thread online the poster swapped out to 2 x 4TB HDD drives and had no problem in the N1A. They displayed as 8TB in the front panel and as storage, next is SSD swap out as a test.

[simoncn]

(28-02-2016 00:08)dan46 Wrote:  Thanks Simon,
Been reading a lot online on the control point looks like I can run a switch to join the Melco Direct and Streamer, this works fine (but adds a switch).
Then add into the same switch laptop via Cat6 and use that to play the files via laptop app/library software.
Will test this bit next.

This should work but you are losing the sound quality advantage of connecting your streamer directly to the player port of the Melco. I think the sound quality of your proposed setup is likely to be worse than connecting your laptop to the switch or router that is connected to the network port of the Melco.

[simoncn]

(28-02-2016 00:10)lyapounov Wrote:  In that case, you do not have any more redundancy. As the AFR (Annual Failure Rate) of HD is not zero, the probability you loose data is not zero as well... I had a look at the N1A user's guide, they don't mention how you can replace HD. I feel safer (maybe wrongly ?) with my Synology in RAID mode...

You should have a separate backup of all data that you store on the Melco. This ensures that you don't lose data if a HDD fails. RAID is not a substitute for a backup.

[dan46]

(28-02-2016 15:20)simoncn Wrote:  

(28-02-2016 00:08)dan46 Wrote:  Thanks Simon,
Been reading a lot online on the control point looks like I can run a switch to join the Melco Direct and Streamer, this works fine (but adds a switch).
Then add into the same switch laptop via Cat6 and use that to play the files via laptop app/library software.
Will test this bit next.

This should work but you are losing the sound quality advantage of connecting your streamer directly to the player port of the Melco. I think the sound quality of your proposed setup is likely to be worse than connecting your laptop to the switch or router that is connected to the network port of the Melco.

Thanks Simon,
In direct player mode to have full library browsing capabilities I have used a Netgear 1GbE switch between the two Cat6 cables, (one from Melco PLAYER out into switch and other cable from switch to Streamer), and then plugged a Apple Laptop into the same switch running Kinsky, and this now works, but with a caveat of the switch in the pathway now, so perhaps technically not direct and as you said compromising audio playback quality.

Has anyone managed to get this working without the need for the switch. Plugging the Laptop into the LAN socket activates that socket and the whole system then will not allow Direct Playback.

One suggestion you mentioned Simon is to try a static IP on the Melco end to stop DHCP looking for multiple control/access points, am I in the right thinking here?

Just looking for library browsing capabilities while in Direct Player mode :-) Thanks all.

[dan46]

Replying to my own thread above.

Very close. I have static IP for Melco and Streamer and can browse the library through the LAN socket, but the Kinsky app can't see the Streamer (NAIM272) to send the files to unless I bring the switch into the equation.

So all good but can't play the files yet, still working it out though. Files playback fine navigating the 272 front panel, not yet through any software that views the entire library via laptop. Kazoo doesn't see anything or play here very well.

Recommend Linn Konfig for setting up on laptop, see all the connections etc.

[dan46]

(01-03-2016 15:20)dan46 Wrote:  Replying to my own thread above.

Very close. I have static IP for Melco and Streamer and can browse the library through the LAN socket, but the Kinsky app can't see the Streamer (NAIM272) to send the files to unless I bring the switch into the equation.

So all good but can't play the files yet, still working it out though. Files playback fine navigating the 272 front panel, not yet through any software that views the entire library via laptop. Kazoo doesn't see anything or play here very well.

Recommend Linn Konfig for setting up on laptop, see all the connections etc.

Correction : It just found it while I checked status on the Melco. So Kinsky found the 272, perhaps it just an extra few minutes, I don't know why it just came up.

So for Melco I now have full library browsing via Kinsky on OS X Laptop, running laptop through LAN connection with Direct Player sending files to the 272. The static IPs worked :-) Front panel of Melco shows tracks being played also show the ID from the 272 at the top.

[suffolk tony]

Hi folks, I've been reading this thread with great interest, thanks for the very illuminating postings.

I've recently bought a Melco N1Z, this after borrowing both types of Melcos from my ever-helpful dealer for extended home trials. I was previously using a MacMini optimised for audio-only use, into an iFi USB isolator and thence to my Chord QBD76HDSD DAC. The N1A surprised me, it was a considerable step up from the Mini, and I enjoyed it for a few days before curiosity got the better of me & I borrowed the N1Z. Damn. In my system it was clearly better all round and after returning it I quickly realised I couldn't be without it.

So far I've been using the Twonky on the Melco, controlled via Kinsky. This seems to work satisfactorily but now I'd like to try Minimserver. Simon, I would be grateful if you could PM me instructions for installing.

One of the main things I like about the Melco is how efficiently it manages to find all the little pockets of stored music throughout my jumbled network; a couple of NAS' used for backup these days but with old music hiding away. My iMac. The wife's computer. All clever stuff!

[simoncn]

(11-03-2016 19:13)suffolk tony Wrote:  Hi folks, I've been reading this thread with great interest, thanks for the very illuminating postings.

I've recently bought a Melco N1Z, this after borrowing both types of Melcos from my ever-helpful dealer for extended home trials. I was previously using a MacMini optimised for audio-only use, into an iFi USB isolator and thence to my Chord QBD76HDSD DAC. The N1A surprised me, it was a considerable step up from the Mini, and I enjoyed it for a few days before curiosity got the better of me & I borrowed the N1Z. Damn. In my system it was clearly better all round and after returning it I quickly realised I couldn't be without it.

So far I've been using the Twonky on the Melco, controlled via Kinsky. This seems to work satisfactorily but now I'd like to try Minimserver. Simon, I would be grateful if you could PM me instructions for installing.

I will do this later today.

Quote:One of the main things I like about the Melco is how efficiently it manages to find all the little pockets of stored music throughout my jumbled network; a couple of NAS' used for backup these days but with old music hiding away. My iMac. The wife's computer. All clever stuff!

Can you explain this a bit more? Is the Melco player reading and indexing audio files from shared drives oin your network?

[suffolk tony]

Hi Simon. I use the Kinsky app. on my iPad. I'm not very good at network stuff, but this shows the various stored music files on the other devices & I can add them to the playlist, which the Melco then plays.

[Dottan]

Hi Simon.
New N1A owner here, would you please pm to me the instructions for installing MinimServer into N1A?

Thank you.