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Mihaylov · 02-04-2016, 12:26

(30-03-2016 21:25)dan46 Wrote: From Melco FB page today :

Hi Dan, There is a common view that all the unnecessary Ethernet traffic impacts on audio quality. Melco achieves isolation from this traffic initially by having all that traffic on the LAN port and isolating the dedicated Player port. That eliminates unnecessary traffic but the Melco is still connected to the Ethernet. So in order to be able to disconnect totally from the Internet and avoid all risk of pollution and interference, we then have the Direct Mode. With this connection there is nothing attached to the LAN port and no possibility to influence the system from outside. The Network Connected Player still needs an IP address which is given by the Melco, and there are no switches or other IT devices in the system. If iPod control is required a Travel Router is simply connected to the LAN port for iPod connectivity, but still no outside influences. We hope this answers your question!

Hi Dan! Could you ask Melco FB the Direct Mode is equivalent to the Network Mode with static IP address and with ethernet cord disconnected from Melco's LAN port from the point of view of influence on SQ?

simoncn · 02-04-2016, 12:37

(02-04-2016 12:12)Mihaylov Wrote: It mean that there is no difference in SQ between Direct Mode and Network Mode with static IP address. And Network Mode with static IP provides sufficient isolation from network and the Internet even with the patch cord connected to LAN port of Melco.

This is also what I have found in my listening tests.

dan46 · 03-04-2016, 11:50

(02-04-2016 12:37)simoncn Wrote:
(02-04-2016 12:12)Mihaylov Wrote: It mean that there is no difference in SQ between Direct Mode and Network Mode with static IP address. And Network Mode with static IP provides sufficient isolation from network and the Internet even with the patch cord connected to LAN port of Melco.

This is also what I have found in my listening tests.

I see and that is a great tip, I had set both static IP's for Player and LAN ports previously and everything worked fine, but I wasn't testing the quality so much as connection & CP control/access so will re-visit on that basis.

I do get an extra level of audio quality, or perhaps more accurately playback enhancement/enjoyment, while in Direct Mode. Airier, longer higher frequencies ringing out and just a better experience, maybe not night & day but it is there, for me, but I will take another good proper long test session as it could be me wishing it for it to be there when perhaps in fact very little difference is truly there, thanks...

dan46 · 04-04-2016, 10:18

(02-04-2016 12:26)Mihaylov Wrote:
(30-03-2016 21:25)dan46 Wrote: From Melco FB page today :

Hi Dan, There is a common view that all the unnecessary Ethernet traffic impacts on audio quality. Melco achieves isolation from this traffic initially by having all that traffic on the LAN port and isolating the dedicated Player port. That eliminates unnecessary traffic but the Melco is still connected to the Ethernet. So in order to be able to disconnect totally from the Internet and avoid all risk of pollution and interference, we then have the Direct Mode. With this connection there is nothing attached to the LAN port and no possibility to influence the system from outside. The Network Connected Player still needs an IP address which is given by the Melco, and there are no switches or other IT devices in the system. If iPod control is required a Travel Router is simply connected to the LAN port for iPod connectivity, but still no outside influences. We hope this answers your question!
Hi Dan! Could you ask Melco FB the Direct Mode is equivalent to the Network Mode with static IP address and with ethernet cord disconnected from Melco's LAN port from the point of view of influence on SQ?

Email sent be interesting to see what reply is sent.

Mihaylov · 04-04-2016, 19:52

Thanks.

nfnc · (This post was last modified: 05-04-2016 09:33 by nfnc.)

Currently, I am running MinimServer on a Synoloy NAS DS213 with the Lumin/Kinsky apps on a Lumin A1. Albums were ripped using iTunes and all album art re-embedded using Doug's Scripts.

Just got the N1A yesterday and managed to transfer most (9 albums missing from 1000+ transferred) of my music library from the Synology. Installing MS on the N1A went without a hitch.

Unfortunately, quite a number of the transferred albums have missing album artwork. Using Finder to look at the relevant album folder/directory reveals that the album art is embedded in all the songs in the album. However, with the Lumin app or Kinsky pointed to the N1A library, the album and related songs are listed but without album art.

How do I go about remedying this or re-embedding the album art in the N1A files, please? Thanks in advance.

simoncn · 05-04-2016, 13:52

How did you transfer the files from the Synology to the N1A? If you copied them using a network share, this should not cause the embedded art to become inaccessible.

Can you do a byte-by-byte file comparison of the original and copied files to see if some problem has occurred during the transfer to the N1A?

nfnc · (This post was last modified: 05-04-2016 15:11 by nfnc.)

I used the file sharing method set out in the Melco manual, and followed the following steps:

===
1. Make a note of the IP address of the HA-N1 displayed in the home screen.
2. On the Mac, click Go - Connect to Server.
3. Enter "smb://(the HA-N1 IP address" into the server address bar and click Connect.
4. Copy files into the "Share" folder in the HA-N1,
===

then selected the relevant files (entire library) in the Synology folder and did a drag and copy to the Melco shared folder using Finder on my Mac. I suppose this is what you meant by network share?

The files in the Melco appears to have the album art linked to the relevant song (a thumbnail next to the song title) but are not shown when looking at the album/song with Lumin/Kinsky.

Is there another or a better way of doing it? Would, rsync, for example, work?

How do I perform a byte for byte comparison. Bit of a neophyte here, I am afraid.

Many thanks.

simoncn · 05-04-2016, 17:58

The way you copied the files should be OK.

Did you previously copy a different version of the files without album art? If so, you need to do a MinimServer rescan to pick up the changes (or power the Melco off and on).

I don't think it's possible to use rsync with the N1A. It isn't a full-featured NAS.

The easiest way to compare files on the Mac is to use a Terminal window. You need to use the command:

cmp full/path/to/first/file full/path/to/second/file

To get the full paths of the files, open a Terminal window, then type "cmp " (with a space and don't press return), then drag the first file into the Terminal window (anywhere), then then drag the second file into the Terminal window (anywhere), then press return.

If cmp completes with no messages, the files are identical.

nfnc · (This post was last modified: 05-04-2016 18:26 by nfnc.)

Thanks. The files all have embedded album art - I have a separate folder on the Synology for use with the Lumin. If there are any files without album art, that would have shown up on the Lumin app.

To be sure, I have deleted all files previously copied to the Melco and repeated the file copying of the entire music libary from the Synology. Will also do a MinimServer rescan as well - I may have omitted this step earlier.

On the assumption that the files are identical - no file transfer errors - what should I do next? Save the album art into a folder.jpg under the relevant album directory? From the Linn/Kinsky forums, that appeared to have worked.