Melco v Aurender

[GuillaumeB]

Hi chaps - first please allow me to thank cc1 for his most excellent hospitality this afternoon. Also thanks to Alasdair at Oxford Audio for making the trip down from Oxford and supplying all the goodies for our test.

The strange thing is that I don't really have that much to add to Rufus' account of the day! I think his observations were 100% spot on. Still I can't help myself 

1) The Melco sounded great and with the Sarum TA USB it was spectacular.

2) The Aurender looked fantastic and had a lovely iPad interface. It sounded initially very impressive however 30 minutes in I started to think that it sounded a bit "digital". Bright with sharp edges and a little fatiguing. And the bass seemed less prominent too. Yes it definitely needed more running in since it improved noticeably in the hour or so we played it.

3) Going back to the Melco later we had a "wow" moment where everything seemed to fall in place. More musical? Weirdly (or perhaps not?) it sounded better without the Regen. 

4) My goodness that Sarum USB is good. And I mean SERIOUSLY good. Literally improved performance by 15%. Maybe more, insane!

5) The Melco N1A (in black) was brand new, delivered to Oxford Audio last Wednesday. I checked this after the meeting. 

Once again thank you cc1! @Alasdair: see you next Wednesday!

Guillaume