Yes, thanks Mihaylov. Your DIY builds look impressive too
I rarely buy Hi-Fi magazines but I've seen several reviews by Andrew Everard and like the way he writes - straightforward, to the point and not he's clearly not dazzled by high-end marketing BS. When he has reviewed components that I'm familiar with then I usually agree with his findings. His results confirm what others have said about the qualities of the Melco as a USB storage device though he's clearly sceptical about the benefits of using it in an optimised ethernet network.
I was a surprised to read in his review of the N1A that the ethernet ports are optically isolated because I have read in several places that they are galvanically not optically isolated. I also understood that Melco had confirmed this.
I actually thought the most interesting Melco related stuff in the August HFN was not the review, but Paul Millar's "adventures with USB"article. No, I'm not brave enough to post a pfd scan, I'm too pretty to go to prison for breach of copyright (plus someone needs to buy the mag or they will go bust). However, I think I'm safe posting an extract from the D800 related conclusion, which states:
"Bliss - the Devialets sounded better than ever - miniscule details revealed from vanishing quiet backgrounds while the music's macro dynamics enjoyed a seemingly thunderous determination. Melco/Devialet it's as elegant and musically potent as hi-res audio gets."
I wonder how gushing he would get armed with an N1Z ??
(28-Jun-2015, 10:46)PhilP Wrote: [ -> ]I was a surprised to read in his review of the N1A that the ethernet ports are optically isolated because I have read in several places that they are galvanically not optically isolated. I also understood that Melco had confirmed this.
Yes, I was disappointed with that. Melco merely referred to 'light-piped optical ethernet' which lost something in translation. I think it just refers to the NIC LEDs being away from other components and the light transmitted through clear plastic to beside the Ethernet sockets on the rear.
It's such a minor feature anyway that it'd almost just be easier to drop reference to it rather than perpetuate the fallacy that they might be optically isolated NICs.
Funnily enough Confused, Miller was less than gushing with the review of the N1Z earlier in the year, though at the time USB output wasn't available from the Melco so it was Ethernet only.
I've heard both N1A and N1Z in the same system with USB and the N1Z is better. The transparency and lack of noise in particular. I found a slight grain to the N1A. The differences wasn't huge though and dare I say it not 4 times the cost huge but then cost is relative to the buyer (and to equivalent competing products).
(28-Jun-2015, 11:10)Confused Wrote: [ -> ]I actually thought the most interesting Melco related stuff in the August HFN was not the review, but Paul Millar's "adventures with USB"article. No, I'm not brave enough to post a pfd scan, I'm too pretty to go to prison for breach of copyright (plus someone needs to buy the mag or they will go bust). However, I think I'm safe posting an extract from the D800 related conclusion, which states:
"Bliss - the Devialets sounded better than ever - miniscule details revealed from vanishing quiet backgrounds while the music's macro dynamics enjoyed a seemingly thunderous determination. Melco/Devialet it's as elegant and musically potent as hi-res audio gets."
I wonder how gushing he would get armed with an N1Z ??
Interesting - maybe I
should look at the mags more often. Though I trust Everard's opinions more than I trust Miller's.
From my perspective the issues with the N1Z are: 1) it only has 1Tb storage which isn't a lot (and I would have thought that adding external storage would compromise the sound otherwise why would Melco have included internal SSD - they don't cache to it before replay do they?); 2) it seems very over-priced; and 3) I want to run iOS CP software to stream Qobuz/Tidal as well as from the storage device and I can't find any info to confirm that this is possible with the Melcos.
EDIT: I should add that I didn't find the Aurender N100 'grainy' in my system so maybe that's a better solution for me than Melco.
(28-Jun-2015, 11:22)PhilP Wrote: [ -> ]...otherwise why would Melco have included internal SSD - they don't cache to it before replay do they?)
I'd understood that's exactly what they
do use it for.
Good point. I'd have thought it would make more sense to cache to a faster RAM-like memory than SSD though.
I have wondered if using external storage would compromise some of the features of the internal disks they use, unless the disk type was the same as the internal ones but then the USB connectivity may be a disadvantage over how the internal disks are connected (PCIe?).
(28-Jun-2015, 11:23)thumb5 Wrote: [ -> ] (28-Jun-2015, 11:22)PhilP Wrote: [ -> ]...otherwise why would Melco have included internal SSD - they don't cache to it before replay do they?)
I'd understood that's exactly what they do use it for.
So do you mean that if you add external storage then files are copied into SSD memory before replay rather than just being streamed through the box? Ok, I didn't know that.