melco n1a or n1z anyone got/heard one ? first impressions

[celsius]

not sure if this is the right forum but has anyone got/heard one and what are your first impressions, i am more interested in the n1a as it's a lot cheaper £1600 instead of £6k as it has 2x2tb hds instead of ssd's

 

[spiny norman]

not sure if this is the right forum but has anyone got/heard one and what are your first impressions, i am more interested in the n1a as it's a lot cheaper £1600 instead of £6k as it has 2x2tb hds instead of ssd's

Have only heard it used as the source for other equipment at various shows (I think various people were using them at Bristol), so it's hard to tell what the Melco was doing and what was down to the product it was feeding.

Reading the reviews, they're either revolutionary and the best thing since sliced bread or don't do much a decent NAS couldn't. Have to admit I err on the side of the latter view, although I'm not a 'bits is bits' banner-waver (I haven't done enough comparative listening to have a firm opinion either way).

Can't help thinking you could buy a lot of NAS and an awful lot more storage than 4TB (which is presumably only really 2TB after you've raided/mirrored it for safety's sake) for a lot less than £1600, let alone £6000. eg a Synology with 2x2TB WD drives is less than £300.

Just my 2p's worth.

 

[celsius]

I have a synology ds413 with 12tb of red wd's in it but just use it for all my dvds/bluray's used to have a qnap for music but i had problems with my unitiqute and the wired connection, the unitiqute has been serviced by naim and the problem was with a faulty network connector on the naim which was repaired.I saw the melco at bristol but it wasn't the ideal place to listen to it, I know it looks like a glorified nas i just wondered if it really is any better than a standard nas.What i would like is too sell my naim and get something like the melco or something like that and a decent amp as my naim is limited to 24/96 playback

 

[spiny norman]

As far as I understand it, you'll still need a player to access the music on the Melco, as it's purely a network device. The alternative seems to be to use the N1a with a decent USB DAC connected to its USB port, as I've seen it used in one or two recent reviews: I think this is a new feature Melco has added recently.

If I recall correctly, there are other NAS units able to be connected straight to a USB DAC in this way, though it's not something I've looked into as all my music is networked. However, I remain skeptical that the device upstream of a USB DAC can make that much difference, and for the same reason I don't know how Melco/DAC would compare to A.N. Other NAS/DAC, but provided you can find an amenable dealer it could be fun finding out!

So that's a Melco at £1600, a good 24/192-capable DAC at, say, £300-500 (although cheaper USB DACs are available), and whatever you need to spend for a decent amp, just to replace your UnitiQute. If it were me, I might be thinking about upgrading the UQ to 24/192 and adding a power amp as an alternative route.

 

[celsius]

I thought I might still need a player.I am using an audiolab m pwr power amp with the qute couldn't justify the naim nap 100 price as the audiolab is to my ears just as good.I will see how much I can get for the qute selling/ part exchange .I have a very good dealer nearby The Audiobarn who stock the melco and naim so might book a demo