CD Transports - Melco
CDs are still widely regarded as the best audiophile medium to enjoy your music, and a wide range of CD playing solutions exist, ranging from one box CD players to multi-disc players and SACD players. We also offer a range of separate DACs and CD transports which can offer superior performance and are considered the optimum way of enjoying CD playback.
Simpy put, CD Transports place into a single box the transport unit of a CD player, eradicating the DAC. Why? By splitting these modules, akin to a separate power amplifier and pre amplifier, the CD Transport can deliver greater presentation than a one box unit as it is designed for a single purpose and does not share mechanisms or have separate power supplies, etc. We provide free UK next day delivery on all of our in stock products, so you can have your kit ready to use in no time at all!
Melco are dedicated to designing and manufacturing the very best possible solutions for digital music storage, ripping and networking for audio. Their range includes music libraries designed around their own custom PCB and software to ensure close to bit-perfect music storage - and when combined with optical reader can read and store the most accurate version of your CDs possible.
Melco stands for Maki Engineering Laboratory Company and the company was founded in japan, by Makoto Maki. From 1975 the company designed and developed the finest audio components of the time. 1980 saw the release of a turntable that set new standards of fidelity and design. Later they moved into computer peripherals, which used extensive research and innovation, to make Melco market leaders. The product range included wireless routers, Ethernet data switches and storage devices such as NAS drives. They became the largest peripherals manufacturer in Japan.
Melco’s audio background and history, make them the ideal company to make audio specific networking equipment, such as network switches, music libraries and shielded Ethernet cables. The latest technology is designed to distribute a clean digital audio over a home network. Finally, A top-end CD drive is available, to RIP CDs to their remarkable music libraries.
Melco music libraries: a music library refers to a device that has masses of storage for digital files, as well as network connectivity. Melco makes a range of high-end digital libraries with either a 3.84 TB SSD or a 2TB HD, built in. They are designed to be used with an external DAC or DAC equipped amplifier. They connect to a home network via Ethernet. Moreover, kits are available, so that you can connect the music libraries to an optical network.
Network switches: another speciality of Melco is audio specific network switches. These use top quality components to make network switches that have a much better noise performance than off-the-shelf switches. These are designed for a much cleaner environment for delicate audio files. A weak point of any Ethernet network is the cabling, normality this is not shielded and can act as an aerial, picking up all kinds of noise. Melco makes high grade cables with innovative shielding and larger than normal conductors.
Unlike CD players housed in a single box, dedicated CD transports take the CD reading mechanism and house it separately in one box, taking the pure digital information from the disc, and requiring an external DAC to then convert this information back into analogue and a form which can be fed to an amplifier. You can only connect them directly to your amplifier if your amplifier has a digital input.
If digital information is just a series of 1s and 0s, then why is one CD transport different to another, and why are they priced differently? The answer is jitter. Jitter when reading digital media such as a compact disc can have undesired effects on the quality of the audio achieved – often manifested through clicks, skipping and poor audio quality. Ensuring you have a good quality CD transport, delivering a good quality signal and disc read therefore, can have a significant impact on the sound quality you experience. Some manufacturers offer improved CD clocks as upgrades for your existing equipment that can also affect and reduce the presence and effect of jitter on your music.
Premium CD Transports use several technologies and isolation methods to evade jitter wholly however possible. These units aim to play the CD as precisely as possible without any risk of interference of other circuitry such as a DAC, and top end models strive hard to separate the transport from the power supply, through anti-resonance systems and damping techniques which avert tremors from the power supply that would disrupt the transport’s laser’s ability to reading the disc. Many high end models are intended to elude the automated loading trays of some CD players. As these mechanisms require power to eject and insert discs, avoiding these can prevent the need for additional circuitry and power, thus further isolating the CD reading mechanism from resonance.
Most CD transports will offer both coaxial and optical digital outputs, giving you flexibility to use existing cables and to pair with a range of DACs or integrated amplifiers with different optical inputs.
