Melco Audiophile NAS

[Martin H]

Very quick update.

Done some straight listening followed by some A B testing. First a lazy version where I plugged it all in and simply tested it using files held on the Melco vs the same files held an existing server. So both have the benefit of the network isolation of the player but some files flow across the network from existing disks. I did this because it was super easy and I thought if there was any indistinguishable difference here then I would be onto a good thing. (I should explain that the DS and Melco are racked in an adjoining room with only the speakers inside the room I listen. With cable tied cables etc. swapping the ethernet demanded some prep and a short delay between A and B). Good news is that we were consistently picking up on improvements and out of 5 or 6 tracks multiple times - we only picked differently once.

Today I rearranged things so that a full A vs B (Melco vs existing setup) was easier/quicker in turnaround time and we were off. We repeated the same songs which for interest were:

All I want - Blue (24bit) - Joni
The Last Time I Saw Richard - Joni (24bit)
Running up that Hill - Kate Bush - (16 bit)
Superstition - Talking Book (24 bit) Stevie Wonder
Hotel Cailfornia (live) - Hell freezes Over - Eagles

Slam dunk. More on the differences tomorrow if that's OK. In the meantime, order under way

Looking forward to popping on minimserver asap too.