The limitation to the ultimate sound quality of digital music on an Ethernet network is the network itself and the components used.
IT components are low cost commodity items and are effective for PC data and gaming etc. But they are simply inadequate for high quality digital music.
One critical component is all digital music systems is the dataswitch which handles both the music data and control.
The Melco S100 is designed and configured as an audiophile component without any IT compromises.
MELCO
S100
Audiophile Dataswitch
Digital Music relies on perfectly timed data in a low noise environment to achieve maximum performance.
No compromise
True Audiophile Switch
S100 Technology
The Melco S100 is quite an unusual architecture compared to an IT dataswitch. There are four 100Mb RJ45 ports – these provide the best audio quality. There are four 1Gb ports – these are ideal for PC connectivity, and are ideal for the Roon Core processor which generates high traffic flow. Two additional SFP ports allow for connection of optical fibre for components such as Lumin that support it. Key to creating a stable and resilient data stream for extreme Hi-Res streaming is the Packet Buffer and S100 has 1.5MB of buffer capability to deal with erratic external connectivity. Audiophile techniques are used in the power supply implementation with a bank of audio-grade capacitors to ensure the lowest noise environment. Mechanical stability contributes to system performance and the S100 is built on a rigid steel chassis with total screening provided by the totally metal enclosure which matches Melco Audiophile NAS components. Power supplies are external to the S100 giving good isolation and allowing for future upgrade to external linear power supplies.
Network Digital Music Players – Streamers
The Ethernet network is the signal connectivity to every network Player or Streamer from the data-store or NAS. Similarly Streaming Services such as TIDAL and Qobuz originate in remote servers and connect to the network Player through the dataswitch. Any damage to packet data, timing, packet order, noise, or intrusive data, damages the overall musical performance. IT switches are optimised for speed and throughput – not data integrity. Melco S100, using the 100Mb ports achieves the best possible performance from every brand of network Player or Streamer regardless of the source.
S100 Applications
Connectivity
(1) Power input (2) LED – On / Off button (3) LEDs (4) SPF (5) 100MbE (priority port) (6) 1GbE (7) 1GbE (priority port) (No 8 SFP priority port when connected) C
Computer Audio
Computers used for playing Audio all connect to the network for access to servers or streaming services. This connectivity is not optimised for sound quality and Melco S100 removes this restriction to performance allowing the full benefit of optimised player software and other tweaks to be enjoyed.
ROON
Roon systems have both music storage and the Roon Core connected to the network which can generate a lot of traffic. The Melco S100 has both ports optimised for sound quality, as well as ports optimised for both sound quality and throughput. This creates an ideal Roon infrastructure without any compromise.
Lumin
Lumin high performance network players offer the opportunity to isolate the player from the network using fibre Optic SFP connectors. Melco S100 is equipped as standard with two SFP/LC connectors to allow the full befits to be enjoyed
Melco N1, N10 and N100
Melco owners have long realised the benefits of using Melco NAS without any network connection at all – but this is often not practical. Now with the S100 all Melco users can enjoy the benefits of a permanent network connection – access to streaming services, internet radio and other networked sources – without any sound quality compromises.
