No benefit in adding one in your situation BH, unless you replaced the Core (it would fulfill exactly the same purpose). Some folks reckon they sound better than the Core (even as a NAS/server) but I would guess its not definitive to say they are better. I would have thought you can rest easy with your already awesome existing set up
I read a review yesterday of the Antipodes CX +EX, and he said it is a huge upgrade over the top Melco and Innous servers. No personal experience with it myself, but my local dealer tried to talk me into one at the time I bought my Core. A quick google search can find the review.
I moved from a Melco N1 to an N10, and I found the difference to be roughly the equivalent of the move from NDS to ND555.
I donāt think that adding a second power supply to the ND555 gives that kind of an improvement.
vs a core or usb stick in the nd555, a melco n1zh or n10 should be an improvement. The first level melco perhaps not.
From my feeling and from what i read here in some threads.
in melco direct, not sure ( hifi advice reviews on the antipodes combo and melco n1zh). By Charles Punter.
I talked now with the dealer and very close to order a N10,just need to close the color I want,my request is only for black
You mention the first Melco,well i heard the n100 it was less good against my usb Nd 555 server
itās why i said perhaps not
I bought silver, because I would have had to wait months for black. I quite like the silver!
Today I went to my dealer to listen to examples of the Innuos and Melco beasts. Why? I want to replace my Qnap NAS with a dedicated server because the Qnap has other duties - work and personal stuff. I had hoped to listen to Zenmini Mk3, but it was not available; this was a pity as it was around my price point (even with a LPS).
Although I liked what I heard (Melco Z1s and the Zenith Mk3) I wondered why a stand-alone NAS would not provide as good a sound at a more reasonable price. Is this too much to ask?
On a positive note I was accompanied by @Filipe and was privileged to hear his system again (with a Zenith Mk2?).
The dealer had a Zen Mk 3 not a Zenith. I have a Zenith Mk 2.
@Camphuw, Thank you for a very enjoyable day and a super simple lunch of delicious wine, bread, continental meats and cheeses. It was a pleasure to listen to your active system and music. I now understand and very much like what a 52 with 135s can do. Thank you very much.
Phil
I believe Phil is using his Zen as a transport into a DAC, whereas you are looking at using a similar device as a UPnP server with a streamer. I think itās fair to say that an expensive audiophile music store like this, with linear PSU etc, would reap much greater benefits when used as a transport into a DAC that it would when used as a server over your network.
As it happens, I was chatting to a (non-Naim) dealer a few says ago, who sells Innuos gear, and his view was that a Zen Mini, without the PSU upgrade, was all you need as a server, and that spending any more than that was unnecessary, which pretty much matches my experience - although I dare say others will have different views on this!
And that would be because itās demonstrably wrong. The Zen mini is a cracking bit of kit but things are clearly better as you progress up the chain.
It was a pleasure ā¦
Please guys give your kit distinctive names so I donāt get confused!
Thatās what I had hoped to discover.
Perhaps itās time to find a new dealer ā¦?
I think you may be right. No disrespect to the Mini, but 10 minutes and a comparative dem will let you know all you need to know.
Melco isnāt liked by all eitherā¦
yes , probably also. However i feel than the upgrade from usb stick into nd555. to the melco n10 direct will be more important than a second ps. Itās just my feeling.
Would find it hard to disagree with that.
So if Tidal had all the content you wanted, would you stop playing ripped music from the store on your nucleus?
Another way of asking this is: If you couldnāt see the Roon app, would you know from SQ whether you were listening to a Tidal file or a locally stored CD rip?