If you are into music streaming and especially into hires music there is one question you can't avoid: where to store all these files? Until now the way to go was either to keep the music on your PC or laptop computer or to use a Network Attached Storage Device (NAS).

There are cheap NAS drives and there are expensive ones, but generally speaking they all work the same. Basically they are simple computers (yes, computers!) that use one-chip processors that combine the CPU with SATA USB and Ethernet controllers. They usually run on some kind of Linux operating system, sometimes customised by the manufacturer for use in their devices. That operating systems manages the data on the hard disks, organises them in one or more logical drives and manages user rights to determine who can access the stored data. In addition to that these devices use a streaming server software that is able to stream the music over the network when asked to do so by another device.

The NAS streams the music through the same local network (LAN) that usually also has many other devices plugged in. There is your Smart TV streaming a movie from the internet, your computer surfing the web and any number of mobile devices using the network for various tasks. It doesn't come as a surprise then that music streamed over this crowded network doesn't sound as good as you'd wish when it arrives at your high-end music system. Most often there is a huge discrepancy in the amount of effort (and money) that goes into the hi-fi system compared to how little people seem to care about the actual source and the network. This is where the Melco HA-N1A comes into play, because it is supposed to be more than just another NAS in a fancy box. While its main purpose is still to store music and serve it to the network it goes about this job in a rather different way.

One main concern when developing the N1A – besides the sound quality, of course – was to make it as easy to use as possible. It was designed to offer a way into the world of music streaming without the need to use a computer – and without the need for an engineering degree to be able to set everything up. This meant that importing files, expanding the storage capacity and backing up data all needed to be very easy, indeed.

This requirement led to some interesting solutions. There are three USB sockets at the back of the unit, each serving a specific purpose. The socket labeled 'Expansion' can be used to plug in additional drives, effectively allowing for potentially unlimited total storage capacity. To save the stored data onto other devices one can use the 'Backup' socket. And finally, the third USB socket is there to connect the N1A directly to any USB Class 2 compatible USB DAC. These three USB sockets are controlled internally by a separate USB controller which means they can't interfere (much) with other parts of the system.