Melco with Naim

I'm very skeptical of this kind of product that purports to improve the bits over ethernet.

Get a quality NAS, drives, and add a good switch to your network and you should be fine.

I'm sceptical but I'd still like to keep an eye on developments. Never say never. Barring it from serious consideration here, apart from scepticism, is lack of HDD serviceability and Twonky being embedded and the only (current) option.

I heard it with a Linn Akurate last week and I'm planning to hear it against my cheapo seagate NAS feeding my Superuniti next week. It does have a hefty price tag though but I do also like the fact that it doesn't rely on an internet connection to work. Is that possible with standard NAS drives? It has two Ethernet connections in the back for Internet and as an inline connection to the streamer. I'm impressed by that but it will be interesting to see how much difference that £1600 price tag can create

A NAS will function just fine on a network without an internet connection.

Another aspect which puts me off a bit is the dedicated Ethernet port facility for connecting to a streamer. This is a type of isolator and I have not got on well with a LAN isolator in the past.

I suppose the final test will be my own ears. All in good time.

I'll be interested to hear your impressions.

Wot no iPad control,  wot no Rovi !!!  the end of the world as we know it.  I will have to learn to use the remote  !!!  

.......   per Harry,  It will have to go some with SQ gains in my book to off-set the HDD serviceability issue & even more so with the only option of tWonky. 

Well you have just hit on a point that I really have no understanding of there. 

If I remove the ethernet cable from my Seagate home NAS and connect it to the Superuniti via USB, I cant play my music. The superuniti wont recognise a device. I'm probably being quite thick here but does that not mean I need an Internet connection?

Its been rumoured that Minimserver may be made available on the Melco NASs in fact the author has already ported it and posted the (very positive) results on the Minimserver forum.

No. You just need the devices strung together using an Ethernet connection for communication. Not 100% sure but fairly confident that your NAS will not communicate via USB, which it uses  for expanding (possibly) it's capacity and/or for back up (definitely).

This has been dragging on for ages but is encouraging none the less.  With soon to launch DSD capability, the Melco/Mininserver offer is immediately more appealing to me, but other doubts still apply.

Open mind being kept here although hand unlikely to go into pocket. There's all this SL stuff to sort through in the short to medium term. That's going take time and cost a few bob.

Hi troika,

Your NAS and your Superuniti need only be on the same home/local network (LAN - Local Area Network) to be able to see and communicate with each other. They connect to each other using your ethernet cables/switches etc. The internet (WAN - Wide Area Network) is only needed for the naim app to be able to get rovi info. Your router does the job of connecting the devices on your home network (LAN) to the internet (WAN).

Well that makes things a little clearer. At the moment, I have an Ethernet cable running from router to Superuniti and another running from router to NAS. I will change that round now then, Does that mean I will have to stream Iradio wirelessly with my Ipad?

It's the difference between a "network" connection and an "internet" connection.  The NAS must be connected to your home network for it to serve music to the SuperUniti.  But your home network in turn need not be connected to the internet.

An "internet connection" implies that you're connected to the internet, which exists outside of your home.  A mere "network connection" usually means a connection to a local (for example, in-home) network that has certain networking protocols enabled so that connected devices can recognize each other and send data back and forth (but not necessarily to/from devices outside of your home via the 'internet').

Hope this helps.

The way you have it set up now should work fine without having to change it. The router is acting as a switch between your NAS and your SU as well as linking your home network to the Internet. The only recommendation I would have would be to buy a dedicated switch e.g. a Netgear GS105 unmanaged switch and plug your router, NAS and SU Ethernet cables into that. You will see from previous threads that routers can be a bit unreliable when used for switching duties. You should then still be able to use iradio as your SU will still be connected to the Internet via your router.

Don't change anything.  What sjbabbey wrote means that your in-home setup CAN run without connection to the external world ("the internet") -- not that you should change anything.  While he wrote that the "need only be" connected to each other through your router, such is the bare minimum.  Ideally in turn you want your router connected to the internet as well.

What this all means is that if things are connected properly, your SuperUniti can play iRadio content because it receives it 'from the internet.'  It can also play music stored on your NAS.  If someone cut the wires that come into your home from your internet service provider, you'd lose iRadio but not the ability to play music from your NAS.

Again, hope this makes sense.

Believe I can post this link - a solid overview of networking basics for audio:

http://www.computeraudiophile....ork-audio-refresher/

I don't think you need these megabucks ethernet cables, nor replace your ISPs router, but adding a separate switch and a stand alone wifi hub like he recommends makes a huge improvement, both for audio and for overall network use.

I would push back on your dealer to get you set up properly.  Yes, your network isn't built by Naim, but you can't use your gear as advertised without a decent home network. I think your dealer should support you with a home install and training sufficient for you to understand the basic set up and some recommended, simple and relatively cheap improvements to your network.  In turn I think Naim needs to empower their dealers with better standards and documentation.

I don't mean to be snippy or insulting to you, and am more than happy to help, but after what you paid for your gear, you shouldn't need to ask these questions about NAS set up.

The reality is that any home network and Internet connection will be a bit flakey - a bit of training can ensure you'll always be able to fix normally occurring issues.

I would make one change if I were you . . . put in a switch. For £20 or so you make the whole thing far more reliable. The connection is:

Ethernet cable from SU to switch

Ethernet cable from switch to NAS

Ethernet cable from switch to router

Job done.

As for the Melco, I can't see how a NAS can make music sound better. Assuming there's an internet or ethernet connection involved somewhere, the noughts and ones have to go through an awful lot of non-audiophile components with super-cheap internal circuitry before getting to your SU. An experiment has been done serving music from hundreds of miles away via a whole host of transmission methods, and no-one could tell it from a NAS sitting in the same room.

+1  I would advise treading very carefully. Melco stuff all sounds very nice I am sure, but so does my Netgear ReadyNAS.  I mainly listen to music streamed from a data centre, the location of which is unknown to me, but it's gone through a lot of non-audio grade switch gear and cabling before it reaches me, and it sounds as good as anything else I can feed my DAC, amp, and speakers.  

I use a Linn KDS rather than a Naim streamer but my experience of the Melco is entirely positive - far better than my previous NAS, which is now providing additional back up.

I find it rather strange that in this audio-environment some don't SEE how such a device can have a positive influence on sound quality. Best to listen and then decide for yourself.

I completely agree with Dave here. A device that sends less noise down the LAN stream could lead to a better audio signal. Why not give it a try?

That would not keep me from trying it to find out if it does improve things.

The product description looks to me as if they're trying to solve a lot of problems that don't exist.  If it were my choice I'd spend the money on the analogue side of the system rather than obsessing about the commodity digital stuff.

If a UnitiServe sounds no better than a Synology NAS running MinimServer, why would the Melco?

Why is storing your music library on a NAS any more of a commodity than shelves full of CDs or LPs?

Why would you not at least try to see if improvements in the signal path can be made? You can them make your mind up as to whether those improvements exist and if they're worth the cost.