Melco Audiophile NAS

[nfnc]

(20-01-2022 18:27)simoncn Wrote:  Thanks for this information. This could explain why changing to SSDs was beneficial for me but not for you.

Hi Simon, could please clarify this statement. Are you saying that the impact or perceived improvement would depend on what the stock HDD vs the HDD?

Glad that you clarified that it was the Crucial BX100 (and not the MX500) that you had used. I was contemplating swapping the stock HDD on my N1Z/2EX H60 to 2 x 4TB Crucial MX500s, both for increased capacity and better sound quality. Am reassessing now.

Haven't opened up my Melco but believe that the HDD would be Toshibas that ptcl99 was referring to.

[nfnc]

(02-02-2022 15:29)simoncn Wrote:  You might want to consider WD Red instead of Blue. These are specifically designed for use in a NAS.

There is an owner in the Netherlands that has changed out to the WD RED SSDs. Waiting for updates from him on the changes (if any) to the sound quality. The stock HDDs do appear to be the Toshiba 3TB MQ03ABB300.

https://www.jackvandijk.nl/hifi_review.p...fQt8dKjfyw

[simoncn]

(02-02-2022 17:01)nfnc Wrote:  Hi Simon, could please clarify this statement. Are you saying that the impact or perceived improvement would depend on what the stock HDD vs the HDD?

Yes, any comparison of HDD vs SSD depends on the merits of the HDD as well as the merits of the SSD.

I have not done any SQ testing of different HDDs but my experience is that Toshiba 2.5 inch HDDs are superior to WD 2.5 inch HDDs in terms of noise and vibration.

[davidp]

(02-02-2022 15:29)simoncn Wrote:  You might want to consider WD Red instead of Blue. These are specifically designed for use in a NAS.

I used 2Tb WD Reds in the QNAP NAS drive that the Melco was bought to replace - I have to say they were unusably noisy in my listening room. Having seen the WD Blues factory fitted I though it best to change like for like. Having read so much about the Melco approach I was surprised to see WD drives at all considering Melco is part of Buffalo (I use a 6Tb Buffalo as a back up at the moment (as recommended by Melco in fact) - it has to be the fastest if noisiest drive ever!).

[ptcl99]

I have seen suggestions of 2.5" drives, Toshiba, slow rotation, and a large cache as the ingredients of good sound. How about Toshiba MQ04ABB400, 4TB, 128MB cache, 5400RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s? The $105 USD price is reasonable. The MQ03ABB300 model in N1ZH/2 has a 16MB (or 64BM) cache.

N1ZH users can install them against the damping plate. N1A users may need adapters.

[davidp]

I took the plunge and bought two WD40EZAZ drives - 4Tb with 256Mb caches which I installed this morning after a 23 hour backup of my 6Tb spanned array. Fairly easy transplant. The drives are held by two 'bars' - one U channel - with two screws each. These mount to the case on four pillars with possibly sorbothane, certainly soft rubber, inserts. I removed the Neutrik USB to make things really easy. Tip for replacing the case - do the screws at the back up first then the sides. Unit powers up and needs resetting- it then reboots and asks how you would like to format the internal drive - spanned array. I've used the fresh backup to restore and expect at least a day's wait before I can listening to some music as the restore is going glacially slow. No sign of Minim Server - do I need to restore settings to put Minim Server back to how things were or is it going to be more complicated? @simoncn
I'll report again when I can play files - I see gamers and RAID array users have very little good to say about the AZ drives - the large cache is apparently because they are slower than the RZ drives they've replaced. I just noted my new 4Tb drives draw about ⅔ the current of the 3Tb drives and are 1dBA noisier according to the spec sheet - hopefull this is all either irrelevant or a benefit at the read speeds needed for even hi-res audio. David

[simoncn]

If you are doing Restore Settings and your Melco is the non-EX model, you should find MinimServer is there with your previous configuration settings after the restore has completed.

[davidp]

Thanks Simon

[davidp]

It has taken since 11.00 Saturday to restore files - I've also restored the settings but I'm getting a 'License File not found error' and my license has reset to the Starter Edition. However when I check on the License it correctly identifies the full license and the Melco it is running on. @simoncn Can you let me please know how to reactivate my full license. David

[simoncn]

Open the MinimServer configuration web page from a web browser, then select the License tab. This should reactivate your full license.