Melco Mania

Yes Melco’s are not up to the job.

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So they will just be Roon Endpoints without DACs? Seems a bit pointless.

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Yes, there has to be a device(PC,NUC, MAC or other) running as a Roon Core, same as for the Naim streamers (including the new Muso2/Qb2) that can act as Roon Endpoints.

The Innuous Zen(ith) range can run as a Roon Core, but not (apparently) features such as DSP and multiroom which require a higher specification machine.

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Help me here! How can an N10 be an endpoint? I can understand a move to allow the Roon Core run on an N10, if Darkebear is right that this would reduce the transfer of data around the network.

why not?

They use a low powered CPU, Roon is a CPU extensive piece of software where UPnP is not. Min spec recommended is an i3 why ignore the makers advise? Would you ignore Naims? Also you need an SSD for the database to get good performance, I believe Melco don’t use them in a lot of their models.

Whilst you can run it on lower end Intel dual core CPU’s and some manufacturers do so such as Innuos and Antipodes they arehobbling Roon’s feature set and make this clear, and in some cases you not getting the best performance from a user perspective, nas for one is very sluggish from my experience.

Hard to find out what the spec of the CPU actually is but it appears to be a Marvell ARM based one so less capable CPU wise than the Innuos. Happy to be proved wrong of course. I think it would be a plus to the Melco if it could run it but Roon server is not supported at all on ARM cpus, only for playback.

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I asked this very ‘endpoint’ question at a Melco dem I attended recently and I didn’t understand then and I still don’t. The ‘pitch’ seemed to be that a Roon enabled Melco would clean the RAAT feed prior to transmission to the, in my case, ND555. I am going to take some convincing on this.

To be honest there seemed to be a lot of equivocation regarding Roon and Melco with a promise of an update shortly which I assume is software. Seems to me that Melco is being positioned as a Uniticore alternative which it seemed, to my ears, to better but not by a considerable amount unless you went to the high end of Melco products.

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As others have said, the Melco platform was optimised for low noise playback from internal storage and uses a lower power processor. Not really what is needed when running the Roon CORE which needs a bit of poke, especially if supply multiple streams, running DSP etc).

As a Roon endpoint, well this could work as this doesn’t require the horsepower the CORE function needs. In this case the Melco acting as an endpoint for Roon (a separate computer running a CORE would still be needed). In this case it could connect to an external DAC via USB or act as a RAAT to UPnP bridge for something like the older Naim streamers that don’t natively support Roon. As the ND555 is already Roon ready and supports RAAT this is not required.

For the later NP800 based network players (ND555, NDX2 etc) a Melco could still be used between the device running the CORE and the Network player, making use of the ‘optimised’ Ethernet output rather than providing any Roon functionality (and indeed providing storage). In my case when i first moved to Roon and used a Nucleus to run the CORE. i still used my Melco as the storage device and the final point in my network before the (non Naim) network player. I found the Melco still beneficial in this role but this was until i tried the well recommended 2960 switch. I found i could get the same results with the 2960 in line to my player and so the Melco become superfluous to requirements and went to a new home.

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So was the Melco not beneficial as a library and file server after you got Roon?

Ah, yes, I see what you meant, CG.
When you said: “Melco’s are not up to the job.” I thought you meant as a file store and file server.
But you meant as a Roon server.

Have you used a Melco as a file store and file server?

It wasn’t needed Jim. The CORE is handling the library function and storage was taken care of by putting a 2Tb SSD into the Nucleus (with usual backup strategies). With Roon, i was not interacting with the Melco through any control interface.

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And is the SQ from the Roon Nucleus library your best source?
It is much better than streamed files, or similar SQ?

i feel the priority for James is Roon. I understood also that he didn’t detect really sound quality differences between Roon nucleus and Melco for the average same price components.

Nope I don’t need one and honestly can’t see what it would bring to me. I am very reluctant to spending money on glorified Nas when what I already have is optomised for my needs. For Roon I have a fanless pc running Roons optimised operating system ROCK with music locally on it, plus a linear PSU. I don’t need more than this. The server goes into a Cisco 2960 which does the same job of the Melco for ethernet and feeds all the Roon systems I have built in my house. Now up to 9 eeek!!!

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I don’t notice a difference between files coming off the internal drive or via Tidal. I just tend to select albums in my Roon library and not be aware (unless i look at the audio path) of where they’ve originated. I’m listening to ‘Beyond Skin’ by Nitin Sawhney on my main system in the lounge as i’m typing and it’s sounding rather lovely. It’s coming via Tidal :sunglasses:

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Good album.

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Hi FR - SQ has always been the priority. I still think the Melco is a superb device and if i hadn’t gone the Roon route it would still be here. It worked well and when i did have a small issue, Alan sorted it out for me even though i was just out of warranty so no complaints from me about the product or the service. Roon for me was a game changer in the way i interact with my musical library and was the piece of the jigsaw that has been missing through my varied journey over the last 10 years in computer audio. As i’ve mentioned before, streaming services were never much of an interest to me until i tried Tidal via Roon. Being able to access my whole library (owned and streamed content) from the Roon GUI yet being able to send content to multiple devices is very liberating as is as the source (local or streaming) agnostic nature. I bought the Nucleus and the lifetime membership and i’ve never looked back.

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So the Roon Nucleus+ is around £2500.
And the Melco N1A/2 is about £2400.
Both them can store and serve files, but the Nucleus is also a Roon Core and Endpoint, IIRC.
So if these components are priced correctly, one would in theory expect the Melco to be a better file store and server, other things being equal (which they never are!).

That’s the Nucleus + . Mine was £1500 (and if you want to DIY it’s cheaper still). Your comparing Apples with Oranges though. If you want Roon, a Melco is not suitable. I’ve not tried it, but i would think Tidal (and other streaming services) through the Melco ( as its acting as a proxy) should be the same as local files. The Melco will provide USB outputs, UPnP and act as an share to other devices (ie Sonos) but can’t send music to all the various devices that Roon can. Depends on what you want to do Jim as to which approach works best for you.

I’d prefer to invest in singleminded file store and server to maximise SQ for the budget.

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