Melco S1 network switch
“That’s a lot of money for a switch” is the most common response when I mention the figure, and it is, but network switches are critical to the performance of any streaming system, more so than many realise. They are the gatekeepers for any streamer and have to get the signal through in the right order and at the right time with the minimum of extraneous network ‘noise’. As a result they make a big difference to results.
The Melco S1 is not the most expensive switch on the market but it is the best that this company has ever made and Melco knows more about network streaming than most. The Japanese company made turntables before moving into networking devices with the Buffalo Technology brand in the nineties, Melco digital audio products were created to satisfy the founder’s enthusiasm for great sound in the streaming age, so the brand has both passion and expertise behind it.
The S1 is a high mass switch with superb build quality and the full gamut of features. Why would anyone build a switch of this quality? Basically it’s because computer network communication was never designed for audio. Crucially, the S1 was developed from the ground up as an audio product, rather than an IT product re-configured for audio usage. Having had success with the S100 and S10 switches (both of which were an extension of the two-port switch arrangement developed for the Melco digital library range), Melco engineers wanted to push the boundaries on what is possible by utilising the very best components and audiophile design techniques to create a cost no object audiophile data switch.
As a flagship product, all elements of the design are of high-end audiophile quality, from the full-width chassis and NDK clock, through to the use of high-quality components employed in every element of the design. All of this necessary detail is there to aid sound quality, by reducing the noise floor, aiding vibration dampening and for stable data communications. There is even an external clock input, should the user want to experiment further. These audiophile features are only possible because the S1 is an audio product first and foremost, offering a unique take on the audio-grade data switch category.
All Melco servers do this as well, they incorporate a two port switch with this filtering and sorting capability, one port is connected to the network, whilst the other ‘player’ port sends signal to the streamer. The S1 does this to the absolute best of Melco’s ability using a custom designed motherboard rather than an IT grade processor, and a linear power supply rather than the switching variety found in the competition.
The S1 has 11 switchable ports, seven are on RJ45 for ethernet and four are SFP types ostensibly for optical connections to suitably equipped servers and streamers, albeit examples of the latter are pretty scarce. The link speed or data rate that these ports operate at can be adjusted on the front panel with four settings for LAN: light blue is 1Gb, green is 100Mb, amber 10Mb and off. SFP offers white at 10 Gb, light blue at 1Gb again and off. Melco recommends turning off any unused ports and using a 100 Mb setting for the player/streamer, 1Gb for servers and the same for the router. Apparently, the streamer can be run at 10Mb if you are only playing CD resolution files.
The back panel is more comprehensively equipped than any other switch I have used with high quality RJ45 connections on XLR style sockets with plenty of space for the larger RJ45 plugs albeit I have yet to see one with an XLR style shroud that would lock in. The four SFP ports have plastic covers to keep dust out and the state of each connection can be revealed by pressing a button that toggles the LEDs on each socket. On the left is a BNC connector for an external 10MHz clock alongside a switch to select between external and internal clocking. The USB A socket at the top is a 5V power supply only and not for data.
Sound quality
I have been using a Melco N10 server for a few years now and find it sounds best when the player network output is connected directly to a streamer, in my case a Lumin U2 Mini. The Melco’s onboard streamer with USB output sounds good but lacks the vitality and timing skills of the Lumin. In my system the switch sits between the network at large and the Melco N10, allowing commands from the control app to get to the streamer via the server and passing data from streaming services, primarily Qobuz, along the same path. The presence of an in- and output on the N10 means that is acts as a switch that provides the functions mentioned above. Under such circumstances you wouldn’t expect a separate switch to have that much effect, and yet it clearly does.
The Melco S1 brings finesse to the sound that makes everything that much more distinct and nuanced, notes and phrases have no grain or for that matter any real sense of the digital save for an absence of analogue characteristics such as tonal colouration. Instruments feel complete and real, their playing is fluid and precise or as much so as the musician brings to the party. There is also real body and presence to pretty much everything played but this is especially noticeable on decent recordings of acoustic instruments such as the piano, bass and drums of Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Paul Motion playing live on The Old Country (More from the Deer Head Inn). Their enthusiasm coupled with virtuosity makes for a thrilling concert in the sitting room, when Jarrett gets the muse between his teeth they really take off and the listener is carried along by the energy, as was the audience at the time. When the applause comes in, not only is it rapturous but you can hear that the venue is quite small and the gathering intimate, which might explain the energy of the performance; there’s a communication between musicians and audience that you rarely get at larger events.
On the contemporary release MYT by the Moses Yoofee Trio the weight and tone of the bass is powerful and fully rounded, the bass line has texture and depth of both image and extension. This is not such a natural recording but it is well done and gives this band a contemporary feel that has attracted a lot of interest.
The Melco S1 also allows the system to be more articulate, to resolve the way in which instruments are played and voices express themselves, this all comes down to removing noise which is the enemy of good sound across the board but particularly hard to eliminate from streaming systems. When the noise floor is pushed down this low all sorts of fine details become clear, these are the bits in between the bits if you like, the harmonics or the first part of a transient that are often blurred or masked because the noise floor swamps them. By taking that away you can hear the spaces between the notes and the way that those notes fade in and out of the spaces. In many ways the spaces are just as important as the notes themselves, they define the tempo and the phrasing, they mark the changes. If the system cannot resolve them it sounds crude and this switch is masterful at helping the system to do the complete opposite, it brings a sophistication to the sound that is hard to achieve in any other way.
The refinement that the S1 brings to the sound does not stop an electric guitar from being ferocious, Bill Frisell’s guitar on Ramblin’ (Ginger Baker Trio) is immediate and intense but the massive reduction in noise means that this is not exaggerated, you hear the distortion that was put down in the studio without the extra glare that digital systems are prone to add. I really like the way that the S1 brings an ease to the presentation regardless of material, this is what gives systems connected to it an analogue feel as much as anything. In many ways it does what the best Japanese audio has always done which is to remove grain and clean up the sound, high end gear from this quarter could sometimes lack pace and energy but that is not the case here, you only have to use it for a while to hear that you get the grace and the passion.
It was interesting to compare results using the high and low speed options for the streamer output, going from a blue (1Gb) to the amber (10Mb) increases the scale of a vocal and opened up the soundstage quite noticeably, the sense of being there increased and the musicians took on a greater solidity. There is clearly something in Melco’s preference for running streaming systems at speeds lower than those typically found in networking.
Chris Baillie reviewed Melco’s C1-D20 SFP+ copper via SFP cable (below) a year ago and Melco brought this cable and an N1 server over to try with the S1, essentially so that I could hear the benefits of SFP as its best. This cable uses the SFP connection without the optical decoders usually found in that system and is clearly superior, it is also clearly superior to the best ethernet cable I could find (which is also more pricey). Delivery distinctly better depth of image, subtlety of detail and even timing. It’s an all round win and makes a good case for using copper SFP where possible.
The S1 has a word clock connection on the back and a switch to turn off the internal clock, using a Mutec Ref10 Nano 10MHz clock with the S1 brought some notable benefits, prime among them being a sense of the sound opening up and making the music seemingly closer. In essence you can hear more of the detail that defines the acoustic of the recording, which makes the imaging more three dimensional and voices become so solid and real in the room that it’s uncanny.
Conclusion
I have to say that it’s going to be a difficult adjustment process going back to my regular switch which is pretty damn good by most standards, the Melco S1 brings purity of tone, precision, low level detail and openness to the streaming picture that is beautiful and enhances everything you play. It manages to present mountains of detail in a relaxed, effortless fashion that means you can listen for hours with no sense of fatigue. You need a revealing system to get the best out of this remarkable switch but the source is fundamental whatever the system and the switch is a part of that source because it handles the signal between the server or service and streamer, it is fundamental. Which means that those seeking the ultimate in streaming sound should be aware that without a switch of the Melco S1’s calibre they are not hearing everything they could.