(02-Oct-2015, 13:41)octaviars Wrote: [ -> ]To bad that your Melco was dead when you were in Sweden, would be great to have heard it and compared it to my Aries. By the way witch Melco is it that you have?
What App are you using to control the Melco? I tried Bubble UPnP yeasterday with my Aries and they support playback of Tidal so that is something I would like to have.
Do you know if someone have tried a UpTone Regen with their Melco?
Yes! The unit I had with me in Sweden was the N1Z which is even better and by and far the best digital transport I have ever heard.
I don't actually own the Melco. I bought a d1 totaldac server before the Melcos came out in the UK. It has since been upgraded by the manufacturer, free of charge I might add! The incredible support I get from totaldac combined with sound quality of the device are such that I simply can't justify selling up and buying the Melco. The updated d1 server is now knocking on the door of the N1Z, sound quality wise!
But the totaldac costs €5k (+ totaldac USB which is recommended to connect cubox to reclocker) compared to under €1.8k for the N1A... that's why I recommend the Melco!
Guillaume
(02-Oct-2015, 14:02)GuillaumeB Wrote: [ -> ] (02-Oct-2015, 13:41)octaviars Wrote: [ -> ]To bad that your Melco was dead when you were in Sweden, would be great to have heard it and compared it to my Aries. By the way witch Melco is it that you have?
What App are you using to control the Melco? I tried Bubble UPnP yeasterday with my Aries and they support playback of Tidal so that is something I would like to have.
Do you know if someone have tried a UpTone Regen with their Melco?
Yes! The unit I had with me in Sweden was the N1Z which is even better and by and far the best digital transport I have ever heard.
I don't actually own the Melco. I bought a d1 totaldac server before the Melcos came out in the UK. It has since been upgraded by the manufacturer, free of charge I might add! The incredible support I get from totaldac combined with sound quality of the device are such that I simply can't justify selling up and buying the Melco. The updated d1 server is now knocking on the door of the N1Z, sound quality wise!
But the totaldac costs €5k (+ totaldac USB which is recommended to connect cubox to reclocker) compared to under €1.8k for the N1A... that's why I recommend the Melco!
Guillaume
Great post and by the time I stop sitting on the fence the Control app will be out
The Melco range is certainly intriguing. It does seem very counterintuitive that a device that was conceived primarily as a hifi NAS, with streaming functionality added seemingly as an afterthought, should prove to be a sound quality champion when compared to machines designed from the ground up specifically to be hifi streamers. No doubt they are good, Gullaume's observations are echoed by a recent article in HFN, where one reviewer stated that the N1Z offerers the best sound quality he has ever heard from their house D800's. I find myself wondering why this is. Maybe it's just the combination of Melco and Devialet that works so well, maybe it's something that Melco leaves out when compared to the dedicated streamers that just happens to suits the Devialet so well. Maybe just close attention to the simple things? It will be interesting to see what the Melco control software will look like once it's finally launched.
(04-Oct-2015, 16:47)Confused Wrote: [ -> ]It does seem very counterintuitive that a device that was conceived primarily as a hifi NAS, with streaming functionality added seemingly as an afterthought
I am not sure that that is the case. I believe it was always part of their road map to add streaming functionality. I also understand that they have many more plans, indeed just like the Devialet platform the Melco is infinitely upgradeable.
It is also possible that some of the SQ improvements heard through the Melco streamer are the result of optimisations further upstream with storage (for e.g. slower read/write disc speeds).
I have heard just as many positive reports of Melco working well with Linn streamers. dCS too... but yes the results with the Devialet are particularly impressive.
Guillaume
I would very much like to test a Melco N1A in my system but no one in Sweden is selling them, do not want to put that amount of money without trying it in my system.
Anyone using the AES/EBU output on their Aries to connect it to the Devialet? I went with USB because if I were going to upgrade to something else like a Aurender that would use a USB but now I think I will stick with the Aries to se what will happen on the market.
But some say that the XLR input on the Devialet is the best one so I ordered som Neutrik XLR plugs and 1m of a AES/EBU 110ohm cable to build one to test to see if it is worse, same or better than my current setup with a Cabledyne silver USB. If it is better I will consider to get a Cabledyne silver XLR cable (use a Cabledyne Silver RCA to XLR as link between master and slave with really good results)