Looking at other Melco streaming player designs they use pulse transformers for isolation, that could be the 4 black boxes behind the RJ45 ports in the pics above, not sure. Also, I got the impression they might have developed a custom switch to rebuild the data stream, they definitely have the resources, otherwise, I’m not totally sure but I am inquiring...don’t expect to get much more. I am still enjoying the S100 much more so than the SoTM primarily because of the natural and realistic sound, but partly because I don’t agree with the idea of upselling to the extent that SoTM is with multiple units, upgrades, clocking, LAN cables, etc.
Melco S100 audiophile switch
- Thread starter CKKeung
- Start date
Looking at other Melco streaming player designs they use pulse transformers for isolation, that could be the 4 black boxes behind the RJ45 ports in the pics above, not sure. Also, I got the impression they might have developed a custom switch to rebuild the data stream, they definitely have the resources, otherwise, I’m not totally sure but I am inquiring...don’t expect to get much more. I am still enjoying the S100 much more so than the SoTM primarily because of the natural and realistic sound, but partly because I don’t agree with the idea of upselling to the extent that SoTM is with multiple units, upgrades, clocking, LAN cables, etc.
It is quite unlikely that we can schedule any gathering to fully evaluate the S100 because of the Coronavirus situation here. So I would try to give our early impression on the S100. This is based on an audition by me and another buddy after burning the S100 for a week. I have not tested the 100Mbp ports because for my system there is some difficulty with 100Mbp network so the majority of the test are done with 1G ports and optical ports. I am feeding all three switches SOtM, ER and S100 with Uptone LPS1.2. For the ER I have also connected a ground cable from its ground connector to the earth post of the power inlet as suggested when used with LPS 1.2. The SOtM and ER are fed by Cybershaft OP21A 10M reference clock. The testing is using the switch in between my DIY Linux server as HQplayer and the other endpoint NAA linux computer. The NAS and router are also connected to the switch. The copper RJ45 cables are DIY Viablue EP-7S with Telegartner cat8A plugs (one end shield is not connected to keep galvanic isolation). Vertere ethernet cable is used to connect to NAS. We tried the following
(1) SotM with clock
(2) ER with clock (HQplayer, NAS and router to A side and NAA to B side)
(3) S100 (no clock)
(4) SOtM ---> through optical single mode Finisar 1310nm SFP and Conning OS2 single mode fibre ---> S100
(5) SOtM ----> Copper ---> S100
(6) S100 ----> optical ---> SOtM
(7) S100 ---> copper ---> SOtM
For single switch situation the character is very different for the 3 switches. SOtM is musical, a little light lacking some bass frequency and a thin orchestra but overall musical and enjoyable. ER the mid range has more quantity but the high and low are not really beautiful. The sound a bit rough and not really attractive. S100 on its own exhibited a very unique character quite unlike other switches. The sound is pure, transparent, powerful and full bodied. The orchestra just come out in full strength and soundstage is wide and deep. It is a 100 odd member orchestra and not a chamber orchestra. The punch and attacks are forceful. The low comes out most powerful among all three switches. So to both of us single ER is not our cup of tea and we would not test it any further. SOtM is better for chamber music because of its more musical feel. S100 is definitely the choice for full orchestra recordings.
Will combing the 2 switches give you the best of both worlds. Yes. Combining SOtM with S100 gives you a much improved soundstage and low frequency. And to both of us using optical in situation(4) gives the best in chamber and small ensembles. Situation 5 gives you a bit more mid range . While situation(6) gives the best orchestra soundstage but tends to be a little dry. If changed for copper(Situation 7)there is better timbre but bit less of dynamics.
I do remember last time when we stack 2 SOtM the sound is much better but it is with 2 Vertere and one Dalby Audio Meda Ethernet cables. It is likely that the expensive ethernet cables is dominating rather than just the SOtM switches. When we stack 2 SOtM 2 months back during our audition for ER the sound is not as convincing as a year or so ago probably because of the lack of expensive ethernet cables.
So a small summary for the early impression of S100. It is well worth its price being comparable to a clocked SOtM. the two have very different character and the two can be combined together to get a good synergy. The S100 is still not yet burned in and the sound is expected to become more smooth after burning in and the use of ethernet cable can also be used to tweak the sound. At this juncture a SOtM + S100 seems to be a better alternative than 2 SOtM to both of us. But we hope to do a more in depth evaluation including testing 100Mbp ports (which are supposed to be more musical) after the Coronavirus situation is under control.
(1) SotM with clock
(2) ER with clock (HQplayer, NAS and router to A side and NAA to B side)
(3) S100 (no clock)
(4) SOtM ---> through optical single mode Finisar 1310nm SFP and Conning OS2 single mode fibre ---> S100
(5) SOtM ----> Copper ---> S100
(6) S100 ----> optical ---> SOtM
(7) S100 ---> copper ---> SOtM
For single switch situation the character is very different for the 3 switches. SOtM is musical, a little light lacking some bass frequency and a thin orchestra but overall musical and enjoyable. ER the mid range has more quantity but the high and low are not really beautiful. The sound a bit rough and not really attractive. S100 on its own exhibited a very unique character quite unlike other switches. The sound is pure, transparent, powerful and full bodied. The orchestra just come out in full strength and soundstage is wide and deep. It is a 100 odd member orchestra and not a chamber orchestra. The punch and attacks are forceful. The low comes out most powerful among all three switches. So to both of us single ER is not our cup of tea and we would not test it any further. SOtM is better for chamber music because of its more musical feel. S100 is definitely the choice for full orchestra recordings.
Will combing the 2 switches give you the best of both worlds. Yes. Combining SOtM with S100 gives you a much improved soundstage and low frequency. And to both of us using optical in situation(4) gives the best in chamber and small ensembles. Situation 5 gives you a bit more mid range . While situation(6) gives the best orchestra soundstage but tends to be a little dry. If changed for copper(Situation 7)there is better timbre but bit less of dynamics.
I do remember last time when we stack 2 SOtM the sound is much better but it is with 2 Vertere and one Dalby Audio Meda Ethernet cables. It is likely that the expensive ethernet cables is dominating rather than just the SOtM switches. When we stack 2 SOtM 2 months back during our audition for ER the sound is not as convincing as a year or so ago probably because of the lack of expensive ethernet cables.
So a small summary for the early impression of S100. It is well worth its price being comparable to a clocked SOtM. the two have very different character and the two can be combined together to get a good synergy. The S100 is still not yet burned in and the sound is expected to become more smooth after burning in and the use of ethernet cable can also be used to tweak the sound. At this juncture a SOtM + S100 seems to be a better alternative than 2 SOtM to both of us. But we hope to do a more in depth evaluation including testing 100Mbp ports (which are supposed to be more musical) after the Coronavirus situation is under control.
When the Cybershaft was connected to the ER, was the Cybershaft connected to the SOtm at the same time?
A big thanks to hols for this great report!
He and his buddy are leaders of our small but "hyperactive" HK audiophile group I mentioned on #11 & #19.
Both of them got golden ears!
My Cybershaft OP21A has 4 separate outputs and there is a choice of isolating the ground or connecting the ground with chassis for every output. In my situation I have selected isolating the ground for all the outputs so there is no chance of the ground being contaminated even if there is connection with SOtM and ER at the same time. And to answer your question when we compare the different switches we do not connect the clock input to other switches at the same time unless both switches has clock input then we will definitely check that we have put the lever to isolate in the Cybershaft.
I brought S100 1 week ago.
There are many network solutions which reduce the hash dry of digital. But it is easy to lose details and micro dynamics.
S100 also makes soft sound but it keeps detail and dynamic well.
My dealer suggests dual switchs with optical connection which is proved at several switch products.
There are many network solutions which reduce the hash dry of digital. But it is easy to lose details and micro dynamics.
S100 also makes soft sound but it keeps detail and dynamic well.
My dealer suggests dual switchs with optical connection which is proved at several switch products.
Interesting...I noticed an increase in sound quality by using the following configuration vs. fiber directly to the S100:
ISP router->RJ45->Sonore OM->fiber->Sonore OM->RJ45->S100->RJ45->DAC
Big improvement was also using a Shunyata Sigma Ethernet cable from the S100 to DAC
Right!
Fiber is good idea for isolation, but makes thin and dry sound.
Fiber - Switching to RJ45 - One more RJ45 - Player is the most popular and proved solution in Korea.
I don’t know who found this solution. Maybe he is a genius. But he didn’t care the cost, place, and power strip. So I always try to follow it up by just single switch.
Thanks
Two friends of mine have just bought S100, two totally.
When they arrive, we will again compare :
S100x2 vs SOtM+S100 vs SOtMx2.
When they arrive, we will again compare :
S100x2 vs SOtM+S100 vs SOtMx2.
Here comes the part II of S100 audition. The two S100 switches which my friend Raymond bought one for me and one for himself just arrived today and he brought them over to my place and we continue our audition of these 2 brand new S100. I must say that the s100 is really something and they continue to give me another big surprise.
All along I take it that the primary function of switch in audio is to cleanse the network signal in with a good clock while a secondary function is to isolate one gear from the other especially the router and the NAS. But tonight it seems that the isolation function has become more important than the cleansing.
We have 4 connections in the network the router, NAS, HQplayer server and NAA computer. Our primary aim is to isolate the NAA from the rest of the 3. So in a 2 switch situation we will connect NAA to one switch and the other 3 connected to the second switch. We use single mode optical fibre to connect between different switches.
We started off with using just one clocked SOtM then changed to SOtM + S100 with optical in between. And our previous observation just came out same as in our last audition. (SOtM musical but a bit thin, adding s100 gives you much better atmosphere and a more solid soundstage together with more powerful bass. SOtM + S100 gives you a good synergy). We then changed to 2 s100 the result is that the sound is very dynamic and a wide and deep soundstage comes out but the timbre is a bit less than musical and the high also falls short of the best. In short it is a double dose of s100 and few will favour this configuration but the soundstage and low frequency is really very convincing. So we thought can we try the configuration put up by pke10000 i.e only router connected to one switch and the other gears connect to the other switch. To me this is an approach to isolate the noise of the router from the rest and is different from my previous approach of isolating the endpoint NAA from the rest. And the result is very obvious the timbre and focus of instruments improved a lot. We then also put the NAS over to the switch with the router and the sound improves further and the sound of 2 s100 becomes very pleasant too. And then we came up with the idea of can we do 3 switches to further isolate the HQplayer server from endpoint NAA. And so we added the SOtM as the last switch with the NAA connected to it. And WOW WOW everything just comes out naturally with big and wide soundstage and with very accurate timbre and focus. It is a triple jump in SQ and is the best I have heard from the Linux server system. It actually become very close to SGM extreme though of a different character. A real surprise for me and Raymond. We have also exchanged one s100 for SOtM(i.e 2 SOtM and one s100) and it is not the same thing. It could not give the wide & solid soundstage and good instrument focus as before . The only improvement is a bit more musical violin sound.
I am not saying that every system should use 3 switches. I only mean that in my setting 3 switches in this configuration seems to give the best sound. It also tells a lot about the character and capability of each of these switches. YMMV.
We shall continue to burn in the switches and possibly hold a Part III audition when they are more thoroughly burned in and we will definitely ask CK and CTU to join us when the Coronavirus situation becomes more stable.
All along I take it that the primary function of switch in audio is to cleanse the network signal in with a good clock while a secondary function is to isolate one gear from the other especially the router and the NAS. But tonight it seems that the isolation function has become more important than the cleansing.
We have 4 connections in the network the router, NAS, HQplayer server and NAA computer. Our primary aim is to isolate the NAA from the rest of the 3. So in a 2 switch situation we will connect NAA to one switch and the other 3 connected to the second switch. We use single mode optical fibre to connect between different switches.
We started off with using just one clocked SOtM then changed to SOtM + S100 with optical in between. And our previous observation just came out same as in our last audition. (SOtM musical but a bit thin, adding s100 gives you much better atmosphere and a more solid soundstage together with more powerful bass. SOtM + S100 gives you a good synergy). We then changed to 2 s100 the result is that the sound is very dynamic and a wide and deep soundstage comes out but the timbre is a bit less than musical and the high also falls short of the best. In short it is a double dose of s100 and few will favour this configuration but the soundstage and low frequency is really very convincing. So we thought can we try the configuration put up by pke10000 i.e only router connected to one switch and the other gears connect to the other switch. To me this is an approach to isolate the noise of the router from the rest and is different from my previous approach of isolating the endpoint NAA from the rest. And the result is very obvious the timbre and focus of instruments improved a lot. We then also put the NAS over to the switch with the router and the sound improves further and the sound of 2 s100 becomes very pleasant too. And then we came up with the idea of can we do 3 switches to further isolate the HQplayer server from endpoint NAA. And so we added the SOtM as the last switch with the NAA connected to it. And WOW WOW everything just comes out naturally with big and wide soundstage and with very accurate timbre and focus. It is a triple jump in SQ and is the best I have heard from the Linux server system. It actually become very close to SGM extreme though of a different character. A real surprise for me and Raymond. We have also exchanged one s100 for SOtM(i.e 2 SOtM and one s100) and it is not the same thing. It could not give the wide & solid soundstage and good instrument focus as before . The only improvement is a bit more musical violin sound.
I am not saying that every system should use 3 switches. I only mean that in my setting 3 switches in this configuration seems to give the best sound. It also tells a lot about the character and capability of each of these switches. YMMV.
We shall continue to burn in the switches and possibly hold a Part III audition when they are more thoroughly burned in and we will definitely ask CK and CTU to join us when the Coronavirus situation becomes more stable.
Attachments
Thanks for your report. Your theory about isolating the 4 connections in the network by using multiple switches is interesting. I guess for people with a system with only 2 connections in the network (1. router and 2. server/streamer with internal HD) this would mean the multiple switch approach would be less beneficial. I personally went from 2 switches (Cisco/EtherRegen) to 1 switch (EtherRegen) and indeed have a 2 connection network.
Hols, did you try shutting off the S100 leds? I did and I think I can hear a slight reduction in background noise, since you are using multiple switches you might really be able to tell. Also, I put a piece of ERS cloth that I had on the inside of the top lid and now I can’t tell the difference between using fiber or cooper 1G inputs with a single S100.
I tried the 100Mbps outputs of S100 as the last switch connecting to the NAA and yes the sound is a bit more musical compared with the 1G ports. One could describe it as less raw and less edgy than the 1G ports and there is no slowing at all. The drawback for me is that there are some dropouts when I use the 100Mbps and I believe this is not related to the s100 because the same dropouts also occur when I use the ER so it is only because my system is not suited for 100Mbps transmission speed.
Hi Guys.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Questions with your recommendation:
1. SOtM with Clock OR Melco S100?
2. SOtM with sPS 500 PSU OR SOtM with Clock?
Cheers
Thanks for your thoughts.
Questions with your recommendation:
1. SOtM with Clock OR Melco S100?
2. SOtM with sPS 500 PSU OR SOtM with Clock?
Cheers
I would go for Melco S100 because the improvement is more comprehensive. SOtM with clock gives you a much improved high yet the bass is light and you need to think about some remedy for that.
I have not tried SOtM with sPS 500 but my experience with even good LPS for SOtM the improvement is not as significant as a good clock.
I concur, I'm using 2 sotm switches which are sharing a sps-500 for now. They are both clocked using soTm master clock. The clock just made everything come together.
I vivdly recall trying a LPS 1.2 to power the switch but the gains were not as significant adding a master clock. May I add, a tx-USB ultra is also a very necesary ingredient here and it responds to LPS, PC and USB cables more than the rest of the gear in the soTm house. This is a very personal observation and as usual YMMV.
Take care guys and stay safe. Happy listening.
Thanks for your thoughts
A standalone Melco S100 seems like the way to go for me.
Questions
1. Does "audio grade" ethernet cables worth it?
2. If yes, what "reasonably price cables do you recommend?
The Ethernet cable from the Router to the S100 is NOT as important as the E cables from my Roon Nucleus and my Streamer/Dac to the S100?
Thanks in advance
A standalone Melco S100 seems like the way to go for me.
Questions
1. Does "audio grade" ethernet cables worth it?
2. If yes, what "reasonably price cables do you recommend?
The Ethernet cable from the Router to the S100 is NOT as important as the E cables from my Roon Nucleus and my Streamer/Dac to the S100?
Thanks in advance
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