Melco with Naim

Having been somewhat knocked out by the improvement a tiddly Ethernet cable between NAS and router made, I'm prepared to countenance the possibility that the path between disk and output port could have an impact.

I'm not about to try it myself as the next upgrade will be to my XLRs (SL or STA), but my mind is open.

Thanks for the link Mutterback, I've printed it off.

I think you are 100% right with your thoughts about set-up and retail advice. I have now had my Superuniti for a year and mostly had success in playing my music through it and I'm really happy with the sounds i'm getting but I set it all up blindly regarding Internet etc, but when I get drop-outs etc I am constantly wondering if I have missed something in the set-up process or if I should have added something. Never really knowing if I'm getting the best from it. I know absolutely nothing about Internet, I just know the sounds I like and the Superuniti still keeps me open mouthed sometimes with the clarity and rhythm. A dealer set-up and system chat would have been such a better option.

I took good advice from Hungryhalibut on here a couple of weeks ago about buying a switch and running my system through that and it seems to be working fine with no drop-outs now. Reading the comments above, I was unclear about the difference between a network and an internet connection while still using the router but thanks to everyone on here, I understand that now.

Its great to hear so many different opinions about the Melco though. It does look a good bit of kit but it's got to make a big sound improvement to warrant £1600. I'll let you know how I get on with that after my demo at the weekend. I will also take a look at the Netgear ReadyNAS Songstream as that might be another option.

I'm so pleased the switch is working. A lot of this stuff is double Dutch when you start out, but once mastered it's pretty easy.

My point was that it's easy and inexpensive to store and transmit digital data to a perfect standard.  Once you've achieved that, spending more money on the kit won't make things more perfect.

Its such a shame the audiophile foo has made its way into the computing environment.

How would a NAS 'inject' noise into the ones and noughts running down an ethernet line?

If your NAS is being used as it should be then it will be far away from your hifi anyway and on that basis you better buy an audiophile fridge and dishwasher.

Some folks on the forum have said that changing ethernet cables and the NAS makes a difference to the sound - so I tried it and couldn't tell the difference. I personally believe that a decent-quality Cat5e cable and NAS will provide as good a data stream as it's possible to get, and the whole lot can be bought for under £300 including a switch. (And the only reason even 'decent quality' makes a difference is reliability tbh).

There are some caveats.

It's worth remembering that ethernet cables don't actually transmit noughts and ones . . . no cable does. They actually transmit an analogue electrical signal (like a sine wave) that is interpreted as either a nought or a one at each end. The reason they are 100% accurate is due to the various data correction layers . . . you can transmit and copy that signal a million times and it will always be identical. There is no degradation or data 'noise'. If there were, no software would work and, frankly, music would be the least of our worries (I'd be more concerned about my bank account and the steering on my car). BUT, because it's an electrical signal usually connected to a crappy, noisy power supply on the same loom as the fridge, there is a theory that it can create RFI and other issues (see Simon-in-Suffolk passim, who is the oracle on this, as on so much).

Personally I think this might be right, but might also depend on how noisy your electrical current is anyway. Also, unlike the current going into your amp, the current traveling down the ethernet cable isn't then used to move the speaker drives. Plus, using ferrite clamps seems to reduce it.

Anyway, that's the theory, and I guess why something like a Melco could justify how it improves SQ - nothing to do with the data itself, but to do with the unwanted RFI. 

Personally, I'm not buying. The world is full of RFI, and using ferrite clamps costs a lot less than £1600 (by about £1580). Still, if you're inclined to buy one, go ahead . . . I also have some snake oil and an actual finger bone from John the Baptist you might be interested in.

How much for the finger bone?  And which finger?

Thank you Solid Air, this is exactly the sort of noise I had in mind.

I have not made the jump into streaming yet. I am simply curious enough to give different Ethernet cables and Melcos a try. If I can hear no difference between them and some Cat5 cable and a NAS, as many of you do, the latter ones would be my choice as well. I would just like to find this out for myself.

@dayjay I have sixteen of his fingers and seven thumbs, so you can take your pick.

@Mulberry Yes, totally agree that it's always worth listening. You never know for sure unless you try it for yourself. The difficulty is creating the test environment. If you're comparing a £1600 Melco with a £200 Syno NAS then you need to hear both together with all other factors equal. And if the potential issue is RFI then you need to make the comparison in your own home with your own electricity supply. Not easy, but possible. I'll be very interested in your conclusions.

@Wat I think we may have had this discussion . . . . the option of Mac Mini connected to a DAC is a very good one, and widely catered for and adopted, but the network option has benefits too. I now have a 100% reliable system (no downtime, no failures) and zero fuss. I'm all good. As I think I said before, provided that Naim implement lossless cloud streaming well, and soon, I prefer this option. Of course, if they don't, I'll be going the route you suggest and will just use Naim for amp duties..

Got the Melco round last night for the demo and was pleasantly surprised. Spent about 40 minutes listening to the Superuniti running from my cheapo NAS, then Plugged the melco in and the files were there instantly. Listened to the same tracks again and found I was getting a bit more detail at the top end of the tunes but felt it was lacking something I couldn't put my finger on. Took the Melco off and put my old NAS back on and then instantly felt a bit more depth to the music again.

Conclusion - In my opinion,

Positives - The Melco definitely does alter the sound from to a £200 NAS. Extra detail is nice. The plug & play setting up is excellent.

Negatives - Slightly flatter sound, Huge price tag.

Interesting. Thank you for sharing this.

I tried a LAN isolater  and thought it sucked life out of the music. It wasn't something I could live with. The Melco uses some kind of isolater for the feed to the streamer and it may be doing this. 

The other finding is something I call the Hugo Effect (having eventually gotten around to spending time with one). Rather clean and shiny. Maybe different but not necessarily better.

Were you using it like a switch or did you actually copy the music files onto it? From the way you've written it, it sounds like the former?

What you are saying there definitely describes it. I think you have hit the nail on the head.

We had a play with a Hugo last week and run it against a Linn Akurate running through a Nap 100 No real audible difference. The speakers weren't that good though

We already had the files on the Melco as it belongs to a friend. When we swapped over, we completely removed my nas from the network and run the Melco in-line from the router to Superuniti