Sure, typically when directly connected to renderers via S/PDIF or USB. But in the case of UPnP servers (the context of the question raised by the OP) there seem to be very little consensus, see also the other posts in this thread. Also, a NAS (or, for that, a Mac Mini or a Raspberry Pi) that is dedicated to serving music files is arguably a dedicated music server. What have been your own findings?
The main value in a Core, or similar device, that justifies their cost over a NAS is the ease of use and functionality.
If mucking about with with a NAS and streaming siftware is not your thing, or if your music collection is actively contributed to by a larger household, a Core or similar device is superb.
Personally, the bar for me using my own NAS, streaming and manual ripping solution is low so it makes no sense to spend the money. But I often look at the Core and think that would ensure musical continuity for the family if I got hit by a car.
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I think most would be better off leaving a Spotify sub in their will.
I have used, and still have for backup, a Qnap, which I installed when I first started streaming a few years back. I have only kept music files on it, primarily uncompressed flac and increasingly 24 bit, and would not really have entertained a dedicated music server because it worked. Iāve also used a Mac Mini and, again, it did its job.
However, after a few recommendations, I tried a Melco at home and compared it to my Nas. It was clearly better. It also improved playback from the Nas and Tidal, so it wasnāt a difficult decision to buy one. Itās also pretty painless to use. Recent trials of the Innuos range were even more impressive.
If I was starting from scratch and only streaming, Iād get the best Innuos I could afford and pair it with a decent Dac, no need for a streamer. An Innuos Zen Mini and Chord Hugo would be a fantastic front end for modest Ā£ās.
Do you think the transport is more important than the dac, if i understood well? ( the best innuos with a decent dac). Innuos mini with chord dave or innuos zenith se with chord hugo? which will sounds best?
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Interesting, is the Melco connected via USB or via Ethernet direct to your DAC or streamer?
This should definitely sound better than just using the Melco as a NAS! The direct connections are what one pays for and it would be very disappointing if they would not deliver a better sound quality.
The other way round, I would not expect significant improvements in the sound quality over a standard NAS if the Melco was indirectly connected to a streamer via a common switch.
This is however how the OP intends to use a Core or a Zen Mini. With this setup, I would not expect the Core or the Zen Mini to deliver perceivable improvements in sound quality (it goes without saying that I might be wrong).
Conversely things could be different if the OP was to connect his ND5 XS to the S/PDIF output of the Core or Zen Mini, but this is not what he plans to do. Hence my remarks.
I very much agree and, especially in my household, I do not see the advantage of Ethernet streaming solutions over my current setup.
On the other hand, https://community.naimaudio.com/u/filipe/summary has made careful tests and found out that a Innuos Zenith + Audiophilleo was a significant improvement over a Zen Mini for his Naim DAC.
The current Naim streamers also appear to work very well and I do not know how good the S/PDIF outputs of a Zen Mini (or of a Core) actually are in comparison with a good USB to S/PDIF interface or in comparison to I2S to S/PDIF interfaces like the DigiOne Signature.
There are certainly many ways to skin a cat but some are rather expensive and not necessarily very practical or particularly good. The purpose of my posts was to warn the OP against such potential pitfalls.
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Via ethernet direct to my streamer and, yes, I totally agree!
I wasnāt aware - must have skipped it - that the OP was going to use the machine as an ersatz NAS but if that is the case, yes, Iād agree again, it would be a waste in sound quality terms. It would still be an easier way of ripping CDs, downloading from various sites and, of course, the Innuos software is a dream to use if you want to multi-tag and update missing metadata but it would be a missed opportunity if not connecting direct to the Dac or streamer. Was there any reason why not to?
That would be an interesting thing to test. I donāt know the answer.
I tried Zen Mk 3 v. Zenith Mk 3, then back to Zen, back to Zenith (it is quite a bit better and probably the best value in the line up), then up to Statement. All were through Dave/Blu. The Statement is superb in this combination and along the lines of āif you canāt afford it, donāt listenā¦ā.
Iāve heard Dave(s) on numerous occasions in various systems and am very familiar with it, but this was the first proper listen to Dave and Blu and the combination really is tremendous. I have to add that this was in the Sonority dem room, which has been optimised down to the minutest detail so I donāt know how it would fare in my own listening room. Suspect it will still be pretty darn good!
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I do not know, perhaps he has not yet considered this possibility?
Go on, you suggest it 
I bought the ND5 XS for its streaming capabilities and DAC. Plugging a Zen Mini directly into the ND5 XS (bypassing its streamer and using only its DAC), would defeat the purpose! I like the streamer section of the ND5 XS.
No, it doesnāt have to bypass the streamer, it can do that but itās not by any means obligatory. Simply store your music on it and connect it directly to your ND5 XS and itāll sound great.
Where are you based Daniel? If youāre anywhere in the vicinity of Dudley you could give Steve Hitch at Sonority a call and arrange a listen.
Hi Dave
Innuos servers are completely silent? Do they use fans for cooling?
I am in Montreal. I have a Naim and Innuos dealer in my area.
I have an Innuos Zenith Mk2 with a 1TB SSD, it runs cool so no need for a fan, and is silent.
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I have a Core, running direct to a DAC, and love it. However, Iāve just bought a Samsung SSD 4tb to fit in it, yet its only showing 3.72 Tb. Why is this?
Decimal vs. Binary:
For simplicity and consistency, hard drive manufacturers define a megabyte as 1,000,000 bytes, a gigabyte as 1,000,000,000 bytes and a terabyte as 1,000,000,000,000 bytes. This is a decimal (base 10) measurement and is the industry standard. However, certain system BIOSs, FDISK and Windows define a megabyte as 1,048,576 bytes, a gigabyte as 1,073,741,824 bytes and a terabyte as 1,099,511,627,776 bytes. Older Mac systems also use these values. These are binary (base 2) measurements.
To Determine Decimal Capacity:
A decimal capacity is determined by dividing the total number of bytes, by the number of bytes per gigabyte (1,000,000,000 using base 10).To Determine Binary Capacity:
A binary capacity is determined by dividing the total number of bytes, by the number of bytes per gigabyte (1,073,741,824 using base 2).
more info here:
https://support.wdc.com/knowledgebase/answer.aspx?ID=615
without being precise as Vintageaxeman, itās normal . You will never have all the memory capacity of an ssd. A part is for running software.
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Just replaced my single bay QNAP, which has served my well for the past 8 years with a Melco N1A/2 4TB model and very happy with the upgrade. I was also able to compare a Uniti Core to the Melco and preferred the Melco. I find it presents music in a more natural and relaxed manner. In my case, it is being used as a music server only, connected to my Naim Uniti Nova via ethernet cable and the network cable connected to the Melco. Also installed and using Miminserver rather than the default Twonky software and set it up as spanned so that I can take advantage of additional storage.
It would have been great to also try an Innous Zenith or Zen to compare as I like the feature set, especially the ability to switch the Innous into a Roon Core mode but there is a shortage of availability right now.
For those who may like to know, I tried the Melco with and without my Cisco switch and prefer it without. The Core was better than the NAS and the Melco even more so than the Core. I used the same rips made on the Core to compare a handful of albums.
Its a nice piece of gear, only shortcomings so far is that settings need to be made via the front panel, no web interface or Roon but still very satisfied with the upgrade it provides.
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