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Everytime I thought 'it can't possibly get any better' I've always been proven wrong later, thus far (unfortunately)!  I am curious to AIR 3 too! 
PS Audio P3, Shunyata ΞTRON Alpha Digital and HC/Furutech power cables, Paul Hynes SR7EHD-MR4, DIY Roon Server & Roon Endpoint running AudioLinux Headless, Phasure Lush^2 USB cable, Audioquest Diamond RJ/E ethernet, Uptone Audio etherREGEN, Mutec MC-3+ USB, Shunyata ΞTRON Anaconda Digital XLR AES/EBU, Devialet Expert 250 Pro CI, Nordost Tyr Reference LS cables, Von Schweikert VR-5 SE Anniversary Edition, Anti-Mode Dual Core 2.0, JL Audio Fathom F112. More detail here.
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19-May-2016, 08:45
(This post was last modified: 19-May-2016, 08:45 by Rufus McDufus.)
v3 firmware for Melco has just popped up. Supposedly there's some SQ enhancements. I'm playing it now and it certainly is sounding very good indeed.
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(19-May-2016, 08:45)Rufus McDufus Wrote: v3 firmware for Melco has just popped up. Supposedly there's some SQ enhancements. I'm playing it now and it certainly is sounding very good indeed.
What were the changes that you noticed?
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(19-May-2016, 08:45)Rufus McDufus Wrote: v3 firmware for Melco has just popped up. Supposedly there's some SQ enhancements. I'm playing it now and it certainly is sounding very good indeed.
I presume the V3 firmware is for all Melco models? Or is it for the N1A only?
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
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19-May-2016, 09:49
(This post was last modified: 19-May-2016, 09:52 by Rufus McDufus.)
All models I believe. There's some new settings in there for USB-DAC - hybrid UPNP mode and a setting called PrecisionStart latency', whatever that is. *
* the manual has appeared and PrecisionStart is a delay on the USB output for sample rate changes or playing DSD. Hybrid mode is a new default setting for UPNP.
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I had another very interesting day at Oxford Audio yesterday. This time I was finally able to have a listen to the Aurender N10. To provide a link to the Cad Cat / N1Z / W20 trio I listened to last month, first we listened again to the W20, then to the N10. It is also worth mentioning last during last month audition I wasn't that happy with the sound of the Blades in the room. Normally in OAC's smaller demo room the sound is actually very similar to that I achieve at home, but last month the whole system didn't sound quite right. I had mentioned this to OAC's Alasdair and this time the sofa had been moved back to it's more normal position (last time it was against the back wall), and with a slight tweak of speaker angles, this time everything snapped back into place and sounded superb. So then to the W20 vs the N10. To be honest, I don't have a huge amount to write here, to me, they sounded very similar, very similar indeed! I didn't realise at the time, but both units were being run via USB. Looking back I think maybe there was a bit more magic from the W20 last month, when the AES output was utilised. Anyway, this was like for like between the two, both used USB. Curiously, I ended up with a slight preference for the N10, to me the N10 appeared to have a fractionally better resolution in the lowest frequencies, with not much to separate them in other areas. It's hard to say, for sure not much in it, and I think I would need a lot more time with a bigger selection of music to be sure on this one. Maybe with a longer audition I would have found something extra in the W20. Although it has to be said, looking at the price differential, you would need to be very wealthy indeed to ignore the fact that the N10 is £7k, and the W20 £13k. One other consideration though is that the W20 allows the addition of an external clock, so maybe the W20 could be by far the better machine, but this would require significant further funds for an external clock of the required calibre to make a difference. So the W20 is the one for very wealthy tweakers! I think I would have liked more time to listen to these two again, certainly back to back via AES, but there were other things to listen to on the day, and this took up the bulk of the time. What other things? Well, to be honest I do not want to post anything about the 'other' thing I listened to, not yet at least, I have my reasons, plus it is off topic for this thread. However, I will post something soon, and this is not a Devialet 'soon', this is a 'soon' with a date, June 4th.
I would also have liked to have tried the N1ZH, particularly now the new Meloc firmware is available, but there was no time left for this on the day. Also, I understand the new Melco control app is also coming 'soon', and from what I have heard, it really is soon now!
Thanks again to the guys at OAC! Excellent hospitality and service as normal, although I have just realised, last time we got biscuits, this time, no biscuits! The tea and coffee was flowing though, and for me coffee is important!
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Hello,
I'm not sure, whether I should be writing to this thread, as I'm not able to make any real comparisons between Melco and Aurender etc. However it seems that this one is the most active thread these days concerning Melco. My brief history:
Almost one year ago I bought D200, later upgraded to D400 with Sonus Faber Amati Futura II speakers. streaming from Synology NAS from PC via AIR ended up with usual white noise problems. Playing via Oppo 105, digital out to D400 from NAS was much better, but in terms of SQ still not very satisfactory. Later started using an Intel NUC with WIN8, JRIVER, built in Samsung 850 SSD with all music content connected via USB (Audioquest Carbon) to D400. SQ was worse than Oppo 105D. Replacing the USB cable with AQ Diamond brought big improvement to SQ. Of course I was still not very happy. After a short demo session by comparing Aurender X100 and N1Z (SSD) , for me Melco was much better, but was too expensive for just 1TB storage. When Melco introduced N1ZH60, I became active again. Unfortunately I had no chance to have a demo and decided to order one unit during High End Munich. N1Z arrived yesterday and it's now operational via USB (Jitterbug+Diamond). Really great SQ, tight bass, excellent detail, great sound stage. I know for audiophiles or generally techno-crazy people the search never ends; but for the time being I would like to give a long break to my search and enjoy the music.
Cheers
Melco N1ZH60 + AQ Diamond USB and LAN + D440 Pro CI + SF Amati Futura II + AQ Jitterbug + Auralic VEGA G2+ Kimber Monocle XL+Jriver+Roon+AQ Niagara 1000
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(22-May-2016, 10:01)Confused Wrote: ... but there were other things to listen to on the day, and this took up the bulk of the time. What other things? Well, to be honest I do not want to post anything about the 'other' thing I listened to, not yet at least, I have my reasons, plus it is off topic for this thread. However, I will post something soon, and this is not a Devialet 'soon', this is a 'soon' with a date, June 4th. Interesting. Don't think that it is OT though, assuming that it supposedly a 2-box server/streamer, since there would be those who would be keen to compare a 4th (or 5th, etc) to the 3 contenders in this thread. Still, it would be a short countdown.
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