Darkebear…I have a question for you,does the second ethernet cable going from Melco to Sisco (not the one to Nd555) has any influence in terms of sound with different cables? Did you notice any changes?
Yes they do - rather a lot unfortunately!
It would be great if it were limited to just the Melco to ND555 link, which I’d once hoped it would be - in fact I once thought even that link was not going to be that critical.
I’ve been on a journey of learning since I purchased my ND555 and Melco. The most important link seems to be that between Melco and ND555 as if that is wrong it is either over-dull or bright, but there are several good options that I found could be made to give what I wanted.
The Melco to switch and the switch itself matters a lot; people are wanting to think it does not but experience shows it does, so pay good attention to that IMO.
Presently I use AQ Vodka between Melco to ND555 and a good cheap Cat6 KabelDirekt from Melco to switch. This latter link could ruin performance if chosen poorly - I found Cat6 unscreened here worked superbly - Cat7 or other HiFi cable types sounded truly awful.
DB.
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Okey thanks… yesterday my dealer gave me for test a Chord T-Sarum ethernet ( very expensive)from Melco to Nd 555 it is better than my Melco cable I had before,now I want this Melco cable to try between Melco-switch …Instead a c-chord I used.
Meni… I have a question for you. Did you ever get round to trying the E100 hard drive in place of your WD hard drive?
I don’t need I already have an hard disc into my Melco,still enough place
Thanks Meni. I realise you have no need for an E100 now that you have your N10 but in June last year you were contemplating using an E100 in place of your WD hard drive:
https://community.naimaudio.com/t/melco-d100-usb-optical-disc-drive/2808
I just wanted to know if you had actually tried the E100 and, if so, was it significantly better than the WD hard drive?
Right …I considered purchasing E100 straight to Nd555 USB server instead of my WD I used at that time…since that time my opinion changed to buy Melco N10
Thanks Meni. The reason I asked is that I am still using a WD hard drive via USB into my ND555. I am now trying to decide whether to:
(a) opt for a Melco or Innuos server, to connect via Ethernet, or
(b) opt for an E100 with a PLiXiR linear power supply (as offered by Melco UK) and possibly a better, audiophile USB cable.
I cannot help wondering whether option (b) might not yield as good, or almost as good, results in terms of sound quality as the more expensive option (a). I remember you saying that a Melco N100 was not as good as your previous WD hard drive - USB - ND555 setup.
So it seems to me that if I want to achieve sound quality superior to option (a) then I would need to opt for something along the lines of the Melco N10, as you have, or perhaps the N1ZEX or at the very least an Innuos ZENith mk3.
I would welcome any further thoughts that you or anyone else might have regarding the above choice.
Cannot tell you anything on Innuos server but Melco as a server for me was the most upgrade I ever heard,indeed I was not impressed with N100 but the next one N1h2 I had for a month before i received N10 was by far better via usb into Nd555…you mention N1ZEX okey also great… was the first Melco I heard
Never tried that - was not sure it even worked for some reason - probably because my Dealer told me it was not as good as Ethernet.
You found USB better with Melco prior to N10 but not now?
Mine is Melco N1Zh-2 version - is that what you tried?
DB.
Dark…Your Melco was amazing,I heard it first when the dealer came to me for a demo…later on I decided After I heard yours to buy for myself n10,in the meantime untill I ll get my purchase I did he borrowed me n1h2 …so I was lucky to listen both of them.
Just to clarify, when you said that the N1h2 (which I assume is the N1ZH2) “was by far better via USB into ND555”, did you mean that it was far better than your WD Hard drive via USB into ND555.
Like Darkebear, I wasn’t aware that the Melco servers could be used in this way.
In fact, I am fairly sure that when I have spoken to reps from either Melco or Innuos, they have said that music stored on the hard drives within their servers could not be accessed from an ND555 via USB. This is why I have been considering the E100 as that would apparently be capable of access/playback via USB.
N1h2 was far better via nd555 usb… n1zh2 I also heard and was much better v.s n1h2 … sorry of my English
The n1h2 is before the n1z2. 2k and 5k respectively.
N1h/2 is cheaper the list goes
N10
N1zh/2
N1h/2
N100
I replaced a SSD drive I was using as an expansion drive to my SSD 2TB N1 with an E100 which has 3TB. To my ears the sound is almost indistinguishable whether the file is playing from the main unit or the expansion drive, so I am very flappy with it. Like DB I have only ever connected the main Melco via Ethernet to my ND555 and never thought it was possible via USB.
My guess is that perhaps your dealer used a usb to spdif converter to connect the Melco to your ND555, @Meni
Is that what happened?
That’s odd, I cannot find any reference to the N1h/2. As far as I can see the range here in the UK (in ascending price order) is:
N100
N1A/2
N1ZH/2
N10
N1ZS/2
I think the last one is out of date …ssd version
N1a/2 is N1h/2. It’s a bit complicated with Melco terms.