Melco Audiophile NAS

[honey-joun]

Done !

[davek]

(11-01-2016 22:33)Maletr Wrote:  What are the benefits of installing minimserver.
And it would you be very kind to share your instructions on how to install minimserver on N1A. Thank you in advance.
Bob

New member here, been enjoying my newly acquired N1A feeding the USB input of a PS Audio Directstream DAC. In addition to the question above, I had a few more.

Was curious what is the controller of choice that people are using?

I've narrowed down to using Kinsky or Lumin. While Lumin seems more stable (I have to sometimes reset the library view on Kinsky), anyone know how to play an album in the folder view on Lumin? I use the folder view since it organizes my library a bit better than viewing the library by artist.

Has anyone thought of replacing the HDD in the N1A to SSD drives?

Thanks in advance.

[simoncn]

(25-01-2016 18:47)davek Wrote:  Has anyone thought of replacing the HDD in the N1A to SSD drives?

I tried this with Samsung Evo 850 500 GB SSDs and it made the sound quality worse than the original 3.5 inch HDDs. I then tried Hitachi Z5K500 2.5 inch 500 GB HDDs and the sound quality was better than the original HDDs.

[davek]

(25-01-2016 18:56)simoncn Wrote:  

(25-01-2016 18:47)davek Wrote:  Has anyone thought of replacing the HDD in the N1A to SSD drives?

I tried this with Samsung Evo 850 500 GB SSDs and it made the sound quality worse than the original 3.5 inch HDDs. I then tried Hitachi Z5K500 2.5 inch 500 GB HDDs and the sound quality was better than the original HDDs.

Interesting, in my other player (Auraliti PK90) using external drives, I find the WD Passport spinning drive sounding better than a Sandisk SSD...
I would be the first to say it should make no difference or at best the SSD, but it's definitely there.

[simoncn]

(25-01-2016 20:24)davek Wrote:  Interesting, in my other player (Auraliti PK90) using external drives, I find the WD Passport spinning drive sounding better than a Sandisk SSD...
I would be the first to say it should make no difference or at best the SSD, but it's definitely there.

I had not expected this either. I swapped the drives 2 or 3 times to check and recheck because I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing.

[Mihaylov]

(25-01-2016 18:56)simoncn Wrote:  

(25-01-2016 18:47)davek Wrote:  Has anyone thought of replacing the HDD in the N1A to SSD drives?

I tried this with Samsung Evo 850 500 GB SSDs and it made the sound quality worse than the original 3.5 inch HDDs. I then tried Hitachi Z5K500 2.5 inch 500 GB HDDs and the sound quality was better than the original HDDs.

Simon how you can explain this phenomenon? HDD sounds better than SSD? And therefore the sound of N1A at least isn't worse than a sound of N1Z (http://forum1613.minimserver.com/showthr...pid13645)? Alan knows about it?

[simoncn]

(26-01-2016 19:21)Mihaylov Wrote:  Simon how you can explain this phenomenon? HDD sounds better than SSD? And therefore the sound of N1A at least isn't worse than a sound of N1Z (http://forum1613.minimserver.com/showthr...pid13645)? Alan knows about it?

I can only report what I have heard. I can't provide an explanation. Please bear in mind that I have only tried one type of SSD. Results with other SSDs (or HDDs) might be different.

The N1Z has special (and very expensive) audio-quality SSDs. Perhaps Melco tried standard SSDs first and found they weren't suitable. (I have no information about this, so it's just a guess.)

I have told Alan about my experiments.

[Mihaylov]

On the basis of your conclusion about sound of N1A vs N1Z the special (and very expensive) audio-quality SSDs in N1Z aren't suitable also because they sounds not better than HDDs in N1A .

[simoncn]

(26-01-2016 23:53)Mihaylov Wrote:  On the basis of your conclusion about sound of N1A vs N1Z the special (and very expensive) audio-quality SSDs in N1Z aren't suitable also because they sounds not better than HDDs in N1A .

You are misinterpreting the post that I made in February 2015, in which I said:

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.

I did not have the opportunity to do a side-by-side listening comparision between the N1A and N1Z and I did not reach any "conclusion".

[simoncn]

Someone did some experiments with different SSDs on a Synology NAS and found differences in sound. He said the Samsung Evo isn't good, which tallies with my experience. See this post and follow-up discussion on the same thread.