Aurender N100 or Melco N1A

[Womaz]

First of all an apology for starting so many threads over the last few days but this forum is where I gleam most of my useful information from so I find it invaluable.

Between the two above for my music server after finally giving up on AIR.

After extensive reading the Melco really seems the better value product at a cost of £1100 cheaper, but for me it's more about getting this purchase right.
The N100H buffers the music from an SSD drive , will this produce a better SQ.
Is there anyone who has compared the two products and what do they think.

I don't subscribe to any music streaming services so interaction with this is not a priority for me. Internet radio not possible on either which is a shame
For some reason I am thinking the Melco unit has been buiit with SQ as the priority. This is just my opinion though after reading reviews etc.

As for SQ, I love the sound from AIR, if I have one criticism is it can be a bit bright at times, this could be down to my speakers the PMC 23s. It's not a huge issue as I can live with this. , but calming this down without losing any detail would be good.

As always your comments and views are very welcome

[rwjr44]

See my post in your other N100 thread.

[Womaz]

OK an update for all of those interested and those that have helped me on the other thread.
The Aurender certainly looks the more finished product and definitely better looking, but I think I am leaning towards the Melco.
I will not be able to hear them both to compare, but most who have heard both seem to come down on the Melco side. Its also £1100 cheaper, looks easy to do a back up.
I sent an email to Melco yesterday and i have to say got amazing customer service from someone called Alan. I dont want to put his full name in here as I dont know if he would like that. On a Sunday evening he more than went out of his way to help me. Brilliant!
Now I just need to hear it in my set up.

[Rufus McDufus]

It would probably be best to try them. The Aurender package is better feature-wise, but I do like the simplicity of the Melco, plus the firmware does seem to be rock solid and well-designed. It's a good foundation for a system. I hope any forthcoming control app will add some more features and possibly allay anyone's fears about UPNP (if that's what it'll use?).

[Womaz]

The extra features probably not a concern for me. I dont use a music streaming service as I thought the SQ was awful compared to my FLAC files.
I am not so sure the app is top of their priorities, by the sound of it. I have looked at the Lumin app and will probably use that.
Not sure if I can use Radio on it either. My main concern is it does not match what i hear from AIR. If it doesnt I will have a dilemma on my hands

[Womaz]

Melco demo in for next Wednesday. If its as good as AIR sound quality I will be delighted. If it is better then that will be a massive bonus.
AIR is well named as for me thats what it sounds like, fills the air, awesome bass and a mass of detail. Here is hoping.

[octaviars]

Melco demo in for next Wednesday. If its as good as AIR sound quality I will be delighted. If it is better then that will be a massive bonus.
AIR is well named as for me thats what it sounds like, fills the air, awesome bass and a mass of detail. Here is hoping.

Looking forward to your test. If I am going to get something else than my Aries I want it to be much better and not only by little.

What app are you going to control the Melco with? I use Bubble UPnP with my Aries and that works really well compared to the Auralic Android app that chrashes alot. Streaming Tidal works really well also with Bubble so that is a good thing for me.

[AaronG]

Darko claims the different between the Aries and the Surender soundness is not huge (with a lovely analogy):

"The Aurender also pips the AURALiC piece to the post on sound quality. But only just. The N100H is a little meatier with acoustic mass – not that the Aries is skeletal by any stretch. Such deltas couldn’t – and shouldn’t – be described as huge. In trying to nail ‘em down I was reminded of the John Cleese’s waiter tempting the gluttonous Monsieur Creosote with an after dinner mint in Monty Python’s Meaning Of Life. “It’s only wafer thin, Sir”."

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2015/0...er-review/

[Womaz]

Well I have the Melco demo tonight and I have ordered one. To be honest an hours demo not really enough time for me to do a comparison with AIR, but I really liked the sound and I needed something that worked consistently. My initial impression was that it was very like AIR which I was delighted about. It might have had a bit more soundstage and vocals stood out a bit more. But I will only really tell once I have it in the system. So my AIR replacement has been found. The Lumin app had one or two problems and it's not a patch on the JRiver app but I can live with that.
Overall I was worried that nothing would match AIR, I think it does and maybe even better. Difficult to tell in an hour like I say. But seven months after getting the 200 I will have a system that will work consistently ......oh and I will be able to listen to my downloaded music too ?
Also ordering the Tellerium Q Blue USB cable
Dealer thought the slight brightness I hear could be down to my room. It's wooden flooring and very little soft furnishing. Minimalistic I think the term is.

[Hifi_swlon]

Well I have the Melco demo tonight and I have ordered one. To be honest an hours demo not really enough time for me to do a comparison with AIR, but I really liked the sound and I needed something that worked consistently. My initial impression was that it was very like AIR which I was delighted about. It might have had a bit more soundstage and vocals stood out a bit more. But I will only really tell once I have it in the system. So my AIR replacement has been found. The Lumin app had one or two problems and it's not a patch on the JRiver app but I can live with that.
Overall I was worried that nothing would match AIR, I think it does and maybe even better. Difficult to tell in an hour like I say. But seven months after getting the 200 I will have a system that will work consistently ......oh and I will be able to listen to my downloaded music too ?
Also ordering the Tellerium Q Blue USB cable
Dealer thought the slight brightness I hear could be down to my room. It's wooden flooring and very little soft furnishing. Minimalistic I think the term is.

Well done! Looking forward to hearing your impressions once you've got it set up and settled.

I'm still holding out, but if roonspeakers get announced and Melco adopt it, it will definitely go on the demo list.

Like you say, at a certain point just having reliable playback trumps any slight SQ differences. You'll soon forget Air exists and be happy.