Melco has left the building, but now I have a white elephant on my rack

Audio Systems
1

Previously, I’ve been against having Qobuz, because I was quite happy with my Roon Nucleus. I wrongly thought, “What’s the point of paying a subscription for music that I already own?”…Then, my Nucleus died on me, along with the SSD inside. (Luckily I always have three backups)

I hold my hands up and can honestly say, I just didn’t know which way to turn. Do I get another Nucleus, a NAS, a NUC or perhaps a dedicated Server? I’d constantly read that UPnP servers like MinimServer had better SQ than Roon (Opinions vary on that one).

I trawled through dozens of topics on the dCS site and many others. I also so spoke to several dealerships. Overwhelmingly, I was ‘advised’ on a dedicated Server. Me being me, I went for the ‘Full Monty’ and purchased a Melco N5 which has MinimServer built in. Then, someone offered me the Melco N1 at a ridiculous price. A price that I just couldn’t refuse.:roll_eyes:

The volcano had erupted. In came the Melco S100/2 Switch and PLiXiR Linear Power Supply to go with it, and a ADOT Fibre Connection Kit. ‘Curiosity killed the cat’, I subscribed to Qobuz! Dear oh dear, what have I been missing! Every single piece of music that I own is on Qobuz, and to top it all, most of my ripped CDs were available at a higher bit rate and sounded better on Qobuz.

Cut a very long story short, I removed all the above components, leaving just my Bartók Apex and Power Amp. I couldn’t hear the slightest difference!:astonished_face: Perhaps it’s my hearing? So I got my wife to listen. I played the same three songs to her, with and without Melco. I made a point of not telling her in which order. On all three songs, she picked the tracks played with just with the Bartók Apex and Power amp. I now have a ‘white elephant’ on my rack.

I know what you’re thinking, “Surely he demoed it before purchasing?” Embarrassingly, no I didn’t!:face_with_open_eyes_and_hand_over_mouth:

Do we all demo stuff in our home first? Often it’s not logistically possible. I didn’t’ and paid the price. Hopefully, Ebay will rescue me.:face_with_peeking_eye:

4 Likes
I flicked a coin and chose a Melco N5 Music Server over a new Rack
2

Welcome to the world of simplicity :laughing:

3 Likes
3

Yes Gregg, and for me a damn expensive one!:smiley:

4

The main potential downside to your decision is that there is no guarantee that your favourite music or even Qobuz will remain available long term.

Repertoire ownership changes hands regularly in the music business and recordings can move to owners with whom Qobuz has no streaming arrangements or entire catalogues may move hands but not be re-released entirely by the new owner or not immediately.

Qobuz itself foundered some years ago finding a new owner before closing via the French Courts ( the French bankruptcy system) . The new owners have been excellent and have invested in and grown the company significantly so this likelihood has receded but the possibility remains.

So I have always advised having your own copy of albums that are of special significance to you.

3 Likes
5

You are absolutely correct Pete. I’ve definitely not ruled out some kind of Server/storage in the future, but It will not be a Melco! It would not be prudent of me to say why!:zipper_mouth_face:

I believe upgrading my amp will be beneficial. The Naim 300DR amp is good, but I think it’s holding back the Bartók Apex…Then, I will re-look at the server options…again!:roll_eyes:

1 Like
6

As said trade it back in, ad go amp hunting, much better idea.

Also as i said, you can get a cheap secondhand storage device to put the music you have on, if you want.

1 Like
7

I agree Duncan 100% with the storage/server.

Most will only give 6-7? for the N1. Whereas if I sell it myself for 7-8K. I can get 2.5 or 3K off a new Vitus! I know which one my money’s on!:smirking_face:

1 Like
8

Pete’s statment is so impornat. I’ve been a a Qobuz subscriber for just a couple of years and I’ve already seen many titles disappear from my favourites. My personal rule is that if i stream a record 3 times, I buy the download. Even if you continue to stream, you still have the download to fall back on.

As for the rest - I’ve pulled switches, fancy power cords, PSUs and power conditioners out when we downsized and I didn’t notice a difference in sound quality.

If you want a fall back Roon server - the low end Mac Mini is about the best buy in compute these days.

2 Likes
9

So the plan is…To get a new amp (Integrated or power, haven’t decided yet) to complement my Bartók Apex. Then…re-look at the Server storage options. Hopefully around Christmas, or just after.

3 Likes
10

In both Tokyo and Hong Kong it’s basically impossible to do a home demo in my experience. You can demo in the shop but that’s about it. Not once in my hifi ‘career’ have I ever been able to demo at home! Very jealous of those that live in areas that allow that.

I think the difference is in these very large cities in Asia hifi is still more of a volume business, so shops don’t have the incentive to focus on a smaller number of core clients. It’s kind of crazy but these shops are probably selling multiple dCS units a week. When I bought my Vivaldi they asked me what color I wanted and could deliver it the next day. But no home demo availalble…

3 Likes
11

In the main, that has also been my experience, but…

One dealer in HK did allow me to have a home demo of some of their kit, but not for long (usually days, rather than weeks).

12

I agree - but not specifically for a Roon Server. Roon has been optimized for Intel, so while the M4 chip offers incredible bang-for-the-buck, Roon can’t take advantage of all of it. If the M4 is offering a four-lane highway it’s as if Roon can only use one lane. Of course Roon probably doesn’t even need a whole lane so an M4 Mini will work just fine. But for something truly Roon-optimized Intel is unfortunately the only way to go, for instance a Gen 15 NUC.

13

Correct Jeff.

Small components are not too bad, but something like Wilson or Kudos 808 speakers is virtually impossible. They wouldn’t even fit in my VW car!:grinning_face: Demoing them at home is a non starter.

Personal shipping is also a nightmare, I’m struggling to find a courier company that will ship and insure my Melco N1. They want nearly £300! to insure it. You just can’t risk shipping it for £19.99!:grinning_face:

14

Thanks for this Andrew - I’ve looked at your post on the Roon forum. The link to the bare metal NUC doesn’t seem to work - but no matter - I get the point you’re making. More power and Intel.

I have a Roon Nucleus Plus at the moment - but it’s tucked away and I do think I should get something more powerful, not really because of the on board processing I do (I don’t use any of the features of Roon really - other than music serving) but because I have A LOT of music - 160,000 tracks - which is I think pushing the envelope of what Roon is capable of (I think their recommendation is 100,000 tracks) and so I think more memory and faster processing would help.

So - being not untechnical - and this no longer being a rack device - I’ve been consisting going down the NUC route.

If you were to build one today - and wanted to throw as much performance at it as possible - I’m interested in what you’d spec?

1 Like
15

Sorry Matt, ASUS has updated their site so the link is broken and unfortunately the post is too old to edit. Here is the datasheet.

I haven’t learned anything since that post that would change my opinion. I would go with exactly the config described if I were to build a Roon Server today, and until the NUC 16 Pros hit the streets (the extra power is uncecessary but they are expected to be more thermally efficient). You could go with faster RAM or SSD (the NUC 15 Pro supports much faster) but IMO the extra speed is unnecessary and the faster modules will generate much more heat than the passive cooling can deal with. Mine runs hot but not dangerously so.

2 Likes
16

That’s brill - thanks.

It being tucked away in the eves, does create more of a concern about thermal performance, so that’s useful advice.

I’m also working through the gratefully received network advice you offered - by the way - wanted to acknowledge that :smiling_face:

1 Like
17

Oh, one more thought, looking at your use case I would go for a less powerful processor (if you are not doing any DSP you don’t need it) like the 225H which will generate less heat, and more RAM, say 2x32GB.

1 Like
18

Your experience was something that shocked me too. Qobuz plays SQ on a super top level- better than my 20k€ NAS system. I thought jumping up the Innuos ladder (that means Nazare 40k€) but guess I won’t to without fixing my speakers first.

1 Like
19

Yep. But note my post above about the unreliability of repertoire on streaming services long term. For items that have particular significance to you it is best to own your own copy that is permanent.

Now the good news. All ( AFAIK) those high resolution versions ( e.g 24/96) that Qobuz streams can also be purchased and are downloadable from them. Of course these will play from a NAS ( yes, including your 20K one) to your dCS unit. So yours for ever then ( subject to backups). Further if you have a Qobuz Sublime subscription many of them are discounted. Sometimes these discounts are substantial.

1 Like
20

Thanks Andrew

I was reliably informed by ‘Mr Melco’, that having a computer in the system is not a good idea. Apparently, they introduce more ‘noise’ than a sonic boom!:smiley: