Melco N50 Music Library

The N50 is available in 2 different versions, the N50 H60 and the N50 S38

The N50 H60 is the replacement for the N1A and features a 6TB HDD (not SSD) and is priced at £2999.00

The other version is the N50 S38 and this version comes with a single 3.84TB SSD which is the first time Melco have released an SSD model which has not been their flagship model.  With 3.84TB of storage there is enough capacity to store plenty of ripped/downloaded music – around 3500 rips potentially – obviously 24bit downloads take up a lot more space.

Visually the N50 (in both versions) is identical to N1A, but appearances can be deceptive, they may share the same casework and have the same connectivity but internally they are completely different designs. The N50 has a new mainboard, optimised for a single drive, it also has a new uprated power supply which is 25% more efficient.

The N50 a certified Roon Endpoint

There are 2 ways you can connect an N50 to your system, there is a dedicated Neutrik USB 2.0 port to connect to a USB-DAC . If you are using a UPnP Network player like a Naim or Linn there is a dedicated ethernet port called the ‘Player Port’ as well which isolates your Network Player from the network to help optimise performance.

It is easy to control the Melco via a number of control apps (depending on your connection method) and with Minimserver 2 and SongKong onboard it is very easy to optimise your music library so it easy to browse with fully correct and consistent meta data.

You can easily archive your CD collection onto the Melco’s hard drives by simply connecting a CD optical drive (like Melco’s own D100) to one of the rear panel USB ports. A typical CD takes around 7-8 minutes to ‘rip’. If you are Melco is connected to a USB-DAC you also have the option to play CD’s as well.

If you have music stored on a USB drive you can easily import this onto the Melco by connecting it to one of the USB sockets and simply selecting import. Music can also be transferred to the Melco HDD over the network.

Also, if you have an account with High-Res Audio or Qobuz you can enter your username/password into the Melco and any purchases you make automatically download to the Melco – nice and easy, no computer required!

If connected to a USB DAC you also have the option to stream Tidal and Qobuz and Internet Radio (via the Melco App)

Stepping up to the N50 over the entry level N100 or the recently discontinued N1A is quite a jump in performance. More than most people expect to be fair, even if you are using a relatively modest DAC or UPnP Network Player. The 6TB version of the N50 is an decent upgrade over the older N1A, but the SSD version is a huge step forwards.

In simple terms it is simply a much better digital transport.