@Darkebear
Thanks a lot - read a a lot from your very informative posts.
As my n10 is a used one, I think it will come with both minim and twinkly installed.
Have searched a lot, but could not find any hint on Melco page how doing the removal of minim.
Do you have any advice?
My melco came with both Twonky server and Minim server software installed as two alternative options that can be set to run - mine ran at the same time while I tried out both.
From the Melco front screen you can turn the Twonky on/off but I do not recall if it did that for Minim - I do not recall it did.
I tried both and preferred the Twonky server for SQ effect - far more open and dynamic than the Minim version as it was a few years back when I tried both.
So I ran both for a while but just used teh Twonky and had the Minim running unused.
Then a friend advised remiving the minim server software to improve the SQ - he just deleted the directory with the Minim in it and then it was gone!
It did sound better with just the Twonky running so for me that was worthwhile.
Before doing this - check on your version of Melco and do a full back-up before removing it so you can put it all back if anything goes wrong - although for me and my friend it was not a problem.
When i had a home demo of the new N1-S38 i liked and bought it……running on minim server. The new one was loaded up with my music and in conversation a few weeks later i said to our mutual dealer…….this sounds much better than the demo unit. It was set up on Twonky.
With windows open file-manager and navigate to the Melco on your network from your PC - it should just look line a network-attached drive with a folder structure. Windows will ask you to log-in and there is a melco username/pw default that you use and then you just see a file system with folders and your music.
There is a file called ‘MinimServer’ all one word. In here there is the sever item that is to be removed - but it is so many years ago I did this that I would prefer someone with that info to hand advise you first on what to do though.
Initially for safefy until you get an exact guide on how to remove it - just allow both to run and try both Twonky and Minim to decide which you prefer in terms of sound quality.
I found that for Classical music and older rock recordings which had dynamic range (mainly pre-2000) then the Twonky was miles-ahead, whereas the Minim made everything sound the ‘modern’ as in a bit compressed - which in an Active system is a bad result.
On my first gen N10 I preferred Twonky by quite some margin, much like DB I thought the sound to be more compressed and edgy bs Twonky. With the new SSD N10 however I prefer Minim. There have been a lot of updates to Minim in the last few years so I would advise trying both and seeing where you land. The N10 via a Mac does not give access to the server applications so I have left both on. If a windows machine allows access to delete one then please let me know.
I know Melco iteslf is Linux based, but you can acess it via Windows or Mac - I’m a Windows guy with occasional Linux use but Mac is used by me just to control the ND555 via Naim App.
Interesting - and encouraging - to hear what you say Steve.
When ahead I risk visiting my Dealer I may consider the Minim option again - if it is better then I will use it and I know relatively quickly what I like.
The old minim also had this ‘Minim Watch’ extra program you had to run on another machile to talk to the one on Melco and kick-it up to date - I really hated that mess too so I hope that is all gone now and tidied-up!
But if Minim have improved their server noise-signature effect that is a good thing to hear and what I would have hoped given the partnership with Melco and attention to detail.
It just was not that good a few years ago - as I know not only I found.
I know someone else with teh new Melco so I will quiz them ahead on what they like and use.
Interesting info crops-up from time to time here.
…what did you find overall better with the new Melco over the old version you had that made you do the upgrade, out of interest?
@Darkebear the main reason for the demo was because I needed some more space and asked if my Melso could be upgraded with the 5GB hard drive from the new HHD version. I was told that the new unit has a different controller for the HD so would need a new main board and Hard Drive. I decided to demo the new SSD version just in case it was better. I plugged it in, in a separate room and not via the player port and instantly noticed a difference. I could use both servers at the same time so it was fairly easy to tell. The music was more relaxed in its delivery, less strained, more natural and organic sounding. I used Twonky at first as that is what I was using on the other one. After I decided to buy it I decided to try Minim again and initially thought that Twonky was still for me however certain aspects of the sound on Minum interested me so I paid a bit more attention and fairly quickly decided I preferred Minim. I can’t remember the exact reasons for the preference now but the difference was just slightly more preferable to my ears. The Titan 808 are quite a detail oriented speaker and maybe if I still had the NBL’s I would prefer Twonky.
The Minim Watch app still exists but you can rescan the library on the Melco instead. Watch is used for setting up the software which is infinitely more customisable than Twonky. I use a lot of the customisations and my listening music flow is now very much orientated to how I want music presenting which Minim can do, admittedly its a clunky set up process and some computer skill is definitely needed!
I am interested in the new Melco but having already bought 2 N10’s I am not sure I have tbe stomach for a further upgrade! Our friends in Ipswich suggest its worth listening to as its quite a decent upgrade again….
The reason I passed on the Phoenix Net was because when I switched back to my 2x ER switches with the Sean Jacobs Statement DC3/4 Power asupply again the sound was just more organic and effortless. The PN was just a bit HiFi in comparison. More detail and sharper sound but thats not what I crave. Realism and an organic sound is what I like. In fairness to the PN my power supply for the switches cost more than the PN so maybe not a fair comparison. My main reason for the demo was 1x shoebox unit vs 1x full size and 2x ER’s.
@Darkebear a further note which may or may not be relevant, I specifically hunt out older masterings, I am not a fan of remastered albums and almost always avoid them. My main musical preference is also Heavy, I listen to a lot of Metal, whilst I listen to a wide range of music the harder and heavier side of music will always be my main musical diet! This of course can affect some of the notes above.
Reading the last posts I just installed Minimserver on my Melco. I have not the option “ the last albums played” anymore.
A bit sad. I will try to see how different the sound is. If better, I can accommodate myself with the lost feature.
I believe that ‘recently played’ and ‘recently added’ were features that Minimserver can be configured to include, following many user requests for these features.
Configuring Minimserver is not as simple as some servers, but I vaguely recall that there are instructions on their website.
I prefer Twonky on my system, with the old platform of the N1zh2. A bit more engaging.
I had also issues on Minimserver: some albums couldn’t appear. It was searching and searching. Other appeared immediately.
I restarted all twice, the app too, but same issue.
@Richard.Dane
Got the shims from naim today. These are different than expected. All one thickness. I thought they are supplied in range of different thickness. The ones I got are too thick. I need really thin ones - thin as one layer of aluminum (tin) foil.
Are shims only supplied with one thickness?
@frenchrooster Good morning French, ok, so Minim is VERY configurable, you can set the amount of recently played and newly added albums, you can dictate the sort method for albums i.e I have albums listed chronologically from newest release to oldest, you can rename anything such as Album Artist could become just Artist, you could change all text to French for instance etc etc
The main problem here is that you need the full version I believe which is £10 per year and then will need to update the software to the latest version. I suspect your Melco will have the older software.
Re missing items, this could be down to missing metadata or most likely the Melco ignoring them due to special characters such as ? in the title. There is a setting on the Melco to overwrite special character’s with a blank. I was going mad looking for an album and it was by a band called Mass Mental? …it would not show so I traced the issue down to certain special character’s.
I did myself prefer Twonky on the older N10 but now with Minim and the flexibility it gives me in terms of cataloguing my music in a sensibly presented way I would struggle to go back. I find the Melco a super simple server to work with although I do change the meta data for EVERY album I import. I don’t use Song Kong or anything automatic, I like full control, especially over the artwork which MUST match the CD 100%! In my experience Song Kong chucked up Discogs level artwork and worse which is just not acceptable to me.
Maybe try the latest version of Minim and see if its any different on your Melco, I feel between about 10 of us here we are starting to build some knowledge on the Melco/Naim interactions with different models/server software etc.
When I tested the PN I tried both ways, the player port was more addictive and I wanted to listen for longer but both into the PN was better sound quality, more wow I guess. All academic as I preferred the ER’s in the end but I recommend trying both, maybe do a week or 2 of each and see what you miss, short tests are not often as useful imo as our ears can be off some days!
Melco is here … to early to say definitive.
Copying is a bit Time consuming.
What bothers me - Melco app (iPad) not working. Melco is listed as Local server but when I tab on it … please connect to you network.
It is - iPad as well