Melco Audiophile NAS

[nfnc]

Thank you for suggesting this.

I have tried Synology 918+ (without LPS) -> ethernet cable -> Cisco 2960 -> ethernet cable -> LAN port -> Melco N1Zh/60 -> Player port -> ethernet cable -> ethernet input Weiss DAC502.

Running Minimserver on the Synology and the Melco. The same files on the Synology sounded more rounded, had better hall decay with a better sense of the acoustic while the Melco sounded quieter (thinner?) with more truncated decay. This was surprising as I had always thought that running direct from the Melco's Player port would be better.

Have an "S100" on order and plan to connect using the fiber optic setup that you had described, and will add an LPS to the Synology and "S100" too.

The fiber isolation of the S100 from the rest of the network must have worked wonders.

(28-01-2020 09:40)simoncn Wrote:  Until a few weeks ago, my setup was as you describe except that the N1A to N1Z connection was not by direct Ethernet cable but using optical isolation. This isolation was provided by a pair of TP-Link MC210CS optical-to-Ethernet converters powered by plugtop linear power supplies, connected like this:

N1A player port -> Ethernet cable -> MC210CS -> optical cable -> MC210CS -> Ethernet cable -> N1Z LAN port

The N1A was connected to an optical port on my Cisco switch like this:

Cisco switch -> optical cable -> MC210CS -> Ethernet cable -> N1A LAN port

My current setup uses a Melco S100 switch. This has two optical ports and is connected like this:

Cisco switch -> optical cable -> S100

S100 -> Ethernet cable -> N1Z LAN port

S100 -> optical cable -> MC210CS -> Ethernet cable -> N1A LAN port

The addition of the S100 connected as above has been a jaw-dropping moment for me.