Melco Audiophile NAS

[simoncn]

(13-01-2015 16:41)Martin H Wrote:  Hi

I am quite intrigued by this product and your thread and so thank you for posting it all. I also start from a position of cynicism until I have heard the difference 9trial on Friday) but your posts and my highly trusted Linn Dealer are both saying the same thing in the same way and so I am intrigued to say the least.

I don't pretend to understand it at the moment having only started looking a couple of hours ago but I get the physical set-up and so on. What I am not so clear on is that I had assumed from the spec that the point was that this had it's own media server built in. I was therefore expecting that a new media server would appear on my network and that I would select from this.

Simon - you seem to be using minimserver somehow? Is that because you are using minimserver to index where everything is and then the addresses are sent to the DS(M) which pulls the music. i.e. I think that's how it works anyway. But is their media server bypassed by this or is it still used somehow?

Sorry if my ignorance of exactly what happens is flaky here.

I suppose my major question is can I keep using minimserver with this device without undermining the value of either? Or would I be missing the point and some of the value?

Again apologies if my question isn't clear.

Your question is clear and my answer is Yes.

From my experience, you don't need to use the media server on the Melco to get the sonic benefit. I get a similar improvement if I am running MinimServer on another NAS and using the Melco dedicated port to connect my Linn DS. In this mode, the Melco is effectively acting as a very high-quality switch.

The built-in media server is Twonky and this is the only option officially supported by Melco. However, if you are using the Melco in "pass through" mode, you can still use MinimServer by running it on some other NAS.

I will be interested to hear the results from your listening trial.