Melco - your experiences please

Innocent Bystander posted:

Can you fit drives yourself? E.g take an N1A and upgrade to SSD? I know that's not the same as Melco's "audio optimised" SSDs in the N1Z, but would be good for those that prefer SSDs.

Dunno. If you want SSD then you just buy the next one up. 

Innocent Bystander posted:

From a different angle, there was someone on the forum who did some direct comparisons a year or two ago and preferred the Innuos Zenith. Might be worth having a search.

Yes, lots of alternatives around. At £1600 or so the base Melco was a no brainer, but there are plenty of alternatives depending on how you want to use the thing and budget available. 

james n posted:

Innocent Bystander posted:

Can you fit drives yourself? E.g take an N1A and upgrade to SSD? I know that's not the same as Melco's "audio optimised" SSDs in the N1Z, but would be good for those that prefer SSDs.

Dunno. If you want SSD then you just buy the next one up. 

Last time I looked the only ssd version was the top model, which at around £7k is an awful lot more expensive compared to buying a couple of 1TB SSDs and fitting to the N1A, hence my question. (This is not suggesting the result is the same.)

I asked my dealer the related question of disk replacement after failure. The answer was that it should be done by the local representative.

The Melco is not one of these NAS whose disks are easily replaceable, you would have to dismount the Melco to replace the disk. Something I would not dare to do.

Innocent Bystander posted:

james n posted:

Innocent Bystander posted:

Can you fit drives yourself? E.g take an N1A and upgrade to SSD? I know that's not the same as Melco's "audio optimised" SSDs in the N1Z, but would be good for those that prefer SSDs.

Dunno. If you want SSD then you just buy the next one up. 

Last time I looked the only ssd version was the top model, which at around £7k is an awful lot more expensive compared to buying a couple of 1TB SSDs and fitting to the N1A, hence my question. (This is not suggesting the result is the same.)

the ssd version have a steel case , improved linear ps and more.....

Currently trialling an N1A/2 at home. I’ll report findings later, but quick question for NDS users: should it be ground or chassis setting for the earth switch on the back of the NDS with the Melco connected in Ethernet mode? (Melco is the only thing connected to the NDS btw)

kevin J Carden posted:

should it be ground or chassis setting for the earth switch on the back of the NDS with the Melco connected in Ethernet mode? 

It doesn't affect this setting Kevin so leave it as you have it now (which should be chassis)

Thanks James. One further question - for anyone, Melco owner or not:

All the music on my loaner is FLAC. I’m used to WAV from my Unitiserve. I’m finding the music in general lacking in adrenaline and verve so far. Unsure why, but wondering if format makes a difference?

Format makes a big difference to me. I don't know why. Regardless of ripping method, download source, storage medium, server and streamer, FLAC has always sounded flat and a bit lifeless compared to WAV. WAVs are so easy to rip, tag, store, index and serve, that it makes no difference to me. Might as well stick with what I enjoy the most. If one prefers FLAC or can't hear a difference, then all the better. I can. It's not a problem.

kevin J Carden posted:

Thanks James. One further question - for anyone, Melco owner or not:

All the music on my loaner is FLAC. I’m used to WAV from my Unitiserve. I’m finding the music in general lacking in adrenaline and verve so far. Unsure why, but wondering if format makes a difference?

martin colloms from hificritic found that, vs his unitserve with linear ps and nds, the melco had more refined sound, the sound was a bit nicer....but the involvement was better with nds/ unitserve / linear ps( in upnp).

Have you tried the spdif / usb connection to the nds, nds used only as dac?

French Rooster posted:

Have you tried the spdif / usb connection to the nds, nds used only as dac?

The only way to connect the Melco to the NDS is via Ethernet so using the S/PDIF input on the NDS with the Melco would require a USB > S/PDIF converter.

The Unitiserve via S/PDIF to the NDS could be interesting...

French Rooster posted:

 

martin colloms from hificritic found that, vs his unitserve with linear ps and nds, the melco had more refined sound, the sound was a bit nicer....but the involvement was better with nds/ unitserve / linear ps( in upnp).

My Melco trial has ended and verdict is in. I was going to write a long account, but FR’s summary of Martin Colloms review says it all eloquently and matches my experience very closely. The N1A/2 has a calmer, more ordered presentation, the kind that if you A/B’d a piece of music your instant reaction is that the Melco is chalk and cheese better sonically than the Unitiserve-fed NDS. However, in my system and with my ears it did not recreate a musical event or invoke a response like the Unitiserve did. This was consistent across all genres. 

My existing system can certainly bite your ears at times; sound overblown and too upfront, but it consistently moves me and how. So, no Melco for me I think. I will instead look at improving my network instead, starting with a dedicated switch and possibly a dedicated second router (Alan Ainslie’s suggestion) just for the music side.

kevin J Carden posted:

French Rooster posted:

 

martin colloms from hificritic found that, vs his unitserve with linear ps and nds, the melco had more refined sound, the sound was a bit nicer....but the involvement was better with nds/ unitserve / linear ps( in upnp).

My Melco trial has ended and verdict is in. I was going to write a long account, but FR’s summary of Martin Colloms review says it all eloquently and matches my experience very closely. The N1A/2 has a calmer, more ordered presentation, the kind that if you A/B’d a piece of music your instant reaction is that the Melco is chalk and cheese better sonically than the Unitiserve-fed NDS. However, in my system and with my ears it did not recreate a musical event or invoke a response like the Unitiserve did. This was consistent across all genres. 

My existing system can certainly bite your ears at times; sound overblown and too upfront, but it consistently moves me and how. So, no Melco for me I think. I will instead look at improving my network instead, starting with a dedicated switch and possibly a dedicated second router (Alan Ainslie’s suggestion) just for the music side.

No offence intended to all the happy users out there, but your conclusions mirror my own, when I trialed the Melco, a couple of years ago.

I borrowed one from a mate, but after a couple of weeks, I felt that the Melco was too "polite", and tamed my system down somewhat. 

Curiously enough, when I was paying a visit to my regular Naim dealer, a few weeks later, he concurred, saying that they had come to exactly the same conclusion, when assessing it in the shop.

Horses for courses, as ever. 

Well there you go! Proof, if ever we really needed it, that these things are so system-dependent. My Melco experience is very different but, as always, try before you buy.

Well it was nice to finally meet Tonym at our dealership today, totally coincidental. And has been mentioned in previous posts, many of us probably rubbed shoulders at Audio Show East, but was not aware or connected.

james n posted:

French Rooster posted:

Have you tried the spdif / usb connection to the nds, nds used only as dac?

The only way to connect the Melco to the NDS is via Ethernet so using the S/PDIF input on the NDS with the Melco would require a USB > S/PDIF converter.

The Unitiserve via S/PDIF to the NDS could be interesting...

yes, i was talking about the usb/ spdif converter.....

kevin J Carden posted:

French Rooster posted:

 

martin colloms from hificritic found that, vs his unitserve with linear ps and nds, the melco had more refined sound, the sound was a bit nicer....but the involvement was better with nds/ unitserve / linear ps( in upnp).

My Melco trial has ended and verdict is in. I was going to write a long account, but FR’s summary of Martin Colloms review says it all eloquently and matches my experience very closely. The N1A/2 has a calmer, more ordered presentation, the kind that if you A/B’d a piece of music your instant reaction is that the Melco is chalk and cheese better sonically than the Unitiserve-fed NDS. However, in my system and with my ears it did not recreate a musical event or invoke a response like the Unitiserve did. This was consistent across all genres. 

My existing system can certainly bite your ears at times; sound overblown and too upfront, but it consistently moves me and how. So, no Melco for me I think. I will instead look at improving my network instead, starting with a dedicated switch and possibly a dedicated second router (Alan Ainslie’s suggestion) just for the music side.

i put a good quality linear ps on my unitserve, as Martin Colloms did . I found it gave more refined sound, more fluency and body of instruments.  But to hear an improvement, it is necessary to invest in a very good linear ps, like hdplex, mcru or uptone js2. 

On the other side, i found that the uniticore ( inbuilt linear ps) was very near in sound vs my serve / uptone js2.  But if you find a second hand linear ps, it can be interesting i think.

Gazza posted:

Well it was nice to finally meet Tonym at our dealership today, totally coincidental. And has been mentioned in previous posts, many of us probably rubbed shoulders at Audio Show East, but was not aware or connected.

Good to meet you too Gazza. Hope you managed to get your Fraim put together OK. I'm currently listening to DAVE, for the third time in my system. Mmm. Better than he was last time I think...

tonym posted:

Gazza posted:

Well it was nice to finally meet Tonym at our dealership today, totally coincidental. And has been mentioned in previous posts, many of us probably rubbed shoulders at Audio Show East, but was not aware or connected.

Good to meet you too Gazza. Hope you managed to get your Fraim put together OK. I'm currently listening to DAVE, for the third time in my system. Mmm. Better than he was last time I think...

How many times do you have to listen to it before you can convince yourself it's better than what you've already got?