Melco owners

Could it be Melco's response to the Core?

Chag -

Thanks for the info. James. I also really like my Melco, it's a great bit of kit. The firmware update should be interesting - Melco have threatened an App. for a while now so I wonder if that'll be available too?

Chag... posted:

Could it be Melco's response to the Core?

Chag -

Have anybody been able to compare the Core with a Melco NAS?

I would be very interested in hearing your impressions!

I have quickly compared the Core with a Mac. It was performed like this:

We (the dealer) took a CD. It was ripped in the core and the exact same CD was then ripped in the Mac with “dp-poweramp” (I think it’s called) and stored on the ssd in the Mac.

The test was blind and I did not know which rip was played first. The system used was a Naim Uniti Atom with Chord cables and Dynaudio speakers.

I listened to the first song and after that the dealer changed to the “other” music server. After 5 seconds it was clear that the second rip/server sounded better. We listened to the whole song and I was asked which server was number 1 and 2. I responded: “This was quite easy, first you used the MAC and the second time you used the Core”

It was quite easy to hear the difference. I wonder how big of a difference the Core will make in a system with even higher quality and resolution…

I have not heard a Melco but been thinking about it after all great things I have been reading.

So, will a Melco or a Uniti Core sound best in a high resolution Naim system…? Anybody done the test?

/Marcus

MarcusM posted:

Chag... posted:

Could it be Melco's response to the Core?

Chag -

Have anybody been able to compare the Core with a Melco NAS?

I would be very interested in hearing your impressions!

I have quickly compared the Core with a Mac. It was performed like this:

We (the dealer) took a CD. It was ripped in the core and the exact same CD was then ripped in the Mac with “dp-poweramp” (I think it’s called) and stored on the ssd in the Mac.

The test was blind and I did not know which rip was played first. The system used was a Naim Uniti Atom with Chord cables and Dynaudio speakers.

I listened to the first song and after that the dealer changed to the “other” music server. After 5 seconds it was clear that the second rip/server sounded better. We listened to the whole song and I was asked which server was number 1 and 2. I responded: “This was quite easy, first you used the MAC and the second time you used the Core”

It was quite easy to hear the difference. I wonder how big of a difference the Core will make in a system with even higher quality and resolution…

I have not heard a Melco but been thinking about it after all great things I have been reading.

So, will a Melco or a Uniti Core sound best in a high resolution Naim system…? Anybody done the test?

/Marcus

That is a question that I have wondered since the Core was anounced (specifically, rendered output direct to DAC).

It would be good to learn several people's views, on different but high resolution systems.

And ideally including the same music file ripped elsewhere or purchased, loaded into each device, as the comparison of different ripping is only relevant to new rips and not existing collections.

My ears are wide open too,what Marcusm heard sounds very promising for sure.

I can't wait to read the probable report of Martin Colloms in HiFi Critic where he has made a very favorable review of the N1Z in 2015.

Chag -

This is quite interesting, the new Uniti products when streaming via Ethernet so I understand and seen work quite differently.. they effectively fast transfer the media from the media server as quickly as possible, like a file transfer, and then play the media from the local Uniti memory... therefore bypassing  many of the issues with media server quality and Ethernet quality. Clearly USB however works differently and is more realtime into a DAC

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

 they effectively fast transfer the media from the media server as quickly as possible, like a file transfer, and then play the media from the local Uniti memory... therefore bypassing  many of the issues with media server quality and Ethernet quality. 

Interesting approach. Makes a lot of sense.

tonym posted:

 Melco have threatened an App. for a while now so I wonder if that'll be available too?

I'm not holding my breath on that one !

So now I am not that sure if I will make the switch to that new software. This has been promised for over a year and not delivered. In the meanwhile I have been playing through mime and have been satisfied, while it also has some strange things ........

I interested to see what the hardware changes bring, while I am not expecting to again make investments in this space, unless they go further up from 6tb to more...

"Melco are re-launching their N1 music servers with a host of revisions and improvements. All models have been significantly upgraded with a complete new Player/Renderer, Dedicated USB port for USB DAC's (UAC2 compatible), completely redesigned and upgraded power supplies, plus improved internal wiring and hardware (based around the 40th Anniversary N1Z model)."

As a matter of interest I did use my dealer's 40th anniversary model in my system for a while, but I couldn't discern much difference between it and my standard N1Z.

james n posted:

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

 they effectively fast transfer the media from the media server as quickly as possible, like a file transfer, and then play the media from the local Uniti memory... therefore bypassing  many of the issues with media server quality and Ethernet quality. 

Interesting approach. Makes a lot of sense.

Slightly different angle,but IIUC what Audirvana does as a library/renderer is load each track's file into local RAM before playing, whether it is from an internal drive, or a networked one, so no UPnP server involved. 

It sounds as if Core might be doing the same whan outputting a rendered stream direct to DAC. 

Innocent Bystander posted:

james n posted:

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

 they effectively fast transfer the media from the media server as quickly as possible, like a file transfer, and then play the media from the local Uniti memory... therefore bypassing  many of the issues with media server quality and Ethernet quality. 

Interesting approach. Makes a lot of sense.

Slightly different angle,but IIUC what Audirvana does as a library/renderer is load each track's file into local RAM before playing, whether it is from an internal drive, or a networked one, so no UPnP server involved. 

It sounds as if Core might be doing the same whan outputting a rendered stream direct to DAC. 

Interesting but I think that it would make more sense if DACs would convert from RAM after all data transfer has completed, at least as an option.

nbpf posted:

Innocent Bystander posted:

james n posted:

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

 they effectively fast transfer the media from the media server as quickly as possible, like a file transfer, and then play the media from the local Uniti memory... therefore bypassing  many of the issues with media server quality and Ethernet quality. 

Interesting approach. Makes a lot of sense.

Slightly different angle,but IIUC what Audirvana does as a library/renderer is load each track's file into local RAM before playing, whether it is from an internal drive, or a networked one, so no UPnP server involved. 

It sounds as if Core might be doing the same whan outputting a rendered stream direct to DAC. 

Interesting but I think that it would make more sense if DACs would convert from RAM after all data transfer has completed, at least as an option.

That would only be possible where the renderer and DAC are combined, which in essence is what a 'streamer' is -  in other words for streamers to include sufficient RAM and control software to load the file first. I don't know of any theoretical reason why that should not be done, nor why it isn't, and it does sound as if it would be beneficial - yet to the best of my awareness neither Naim nor Chord do that (and Chord's top streamer's DAC is below Dave in level).

Happy Melco owner here intrigued to see what this eventually brings us. Wonder if an upgrade service (for innards etc) is in the offing?

New firmware out (3.21)- Just updated my machine and having a play with it now 

james n posted:

New firmware out (3.21)- Just updated my machine and having a play with it now 

 

Thanks for the heads-up James. I'm away for a week or so, so can't try it. I'll let you sort out the bugs!

tonym posted:

james n posted:

New firmware out (3.21)- Just updated my machine and having a play with it now 

 

Thanks for the heads-up James. I'm away for a week or so, so can't try it. I'll let you sort out the bugs!

Will do 

Updating now....

Well i've had no issues at all with the update and it's a nice SQ boost too (i'm using it as a USB source) over the previous firmware.

It now also works with the Lumin app. Unfortunately my old 1st gen iPad struggles using Lumin and slows down which is a shame as the Lumin app has a very nice interface. Kinsky continues to do the job though 

I've just done my update and all's well. The sound quality does seem better - wonder what they've done to achieve this?

Not tried Lumin; Kinsky works OK on the iPad but I found it a bit of a nuisance to switch over from what I'm doing on mine to pause or change music so I bought a cheap little Android Acer tablet & use BubbleuPnP, which works very well indeed. The Android version of Kinsky's awful though, full of bugs.

Melco are not the most forthcoming on info but i suspect they've been optimising the original firmware to minimise what the device is doing during playback. I'll be interested in what you think of the beta Alternative Renderer too as to me it sounds different again  - (Settings, USB menu).

James

I've done the firmware update too, with no problems. I'm not sure whether there is a SQ improvement - it could be due to a glass or two of a nice 2012 Amarone. It certainly doesn't sound any worse!

Going back to some earlier posts in this thread, a Melco can't hold a candle to a Unitiserve (and by extension a Uniticore) as a ripper. 

Until I installed Minimserver, I couldn't get the Melco to work satisfactorily - kept getting dropouts. Anyone else had this experience?

I'm not sure where the Melco / Core ripping comparison comes from   - someone compared a Mac to the Core further back on the thread ?

As to drop outs - no issues. What are you trying to do ?

Just trying to listen to music. I'm using Nstream on IPad to select what I want to hear, and with the 'native' Melco database, it keeps dropping out, especially on 24 bit material, whereas Minimserver is virtually problem free, except having to force rescans when I copy new downloads to Melco.

Maybe I wrongly inferred a Melco/Core ripping comparison in an earlier post, but Mac V Core would equally favour Core, as a process, in my view.