Auralic Aries vs Aurender X100 vs Melco N1Z

[amabrok]

Hi are you using the Melco as a transport? i.e. do you have the new firmware? I understand there is also a direct mode...

Guillaume

I will opt for a level playground to try as much as possible to have a fair comparison. having said that, i will avoid the direct mode setup and will rely on the USB connection to have an apple to apple comparison mainly to my Aurender. Also in my comparison i will play exact tracks from internal storage to rule out any impact from the local network, of course the exception here would Auralic Aries as it has no built in storage.

the thing that bugs me is that i can't get the Aries >> USB >> D400 connection to work (currently only relying on digital coax). my understanding is that there was a firmware update for Aries that enables that. Any idea how to sort this. Ideally I want all three streamers on the same USB port using the same USB cable

Re the Aries > USB > D400 I seem to remember there was a setting in Lightning DS... it was ages ago so i can't remember now I'm afraid. It definitely worked though.

The Melco USB connection is supposed to be excellent but it's apparently the DSM/direct mode where things supposedly really take off. 

Hey - how come your Melco box is badged "DELA"?

Guillaume

Thanks, i will check Lightning DS setting once again.

once i conclude the head to head USB comparison I may give the direct mode a try and see f it really makes a big difference.

Dela and Melco is one and the same thing. Dela is their brand name in Asia, mainly Japan and Melco is the brand name in Europe. Of course as you expect Dubai, UAE being part of Asia, gets the Dela label.