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The N10/2 is available in either HDD (N10/2-H50) or SSD (N10/2-S38) guises, with the former a direct replacement for the original N10 and the latter supplanting the previous SSD flagship, the N1Z/2EX. The libraries centre around newly selected drives: 5TB in the N10/2-H50 and 3.84TB in the N10/2-S38. The N10/2 also benefits from a new high-performance PCB, first seen in Melco’s limited-edition N10 45th Anniversary Limited Edition – now sold out.

The N10/2 is a two-box design, featuring a half-width (215mm) chassis, enabling the signal-processing electronics to be kept separate from the power supply. The ‘head’ unit contains the processing electronics and data connectivity, while the power unit has a low-noise linear power supply with toroidal transformer.

The company says that the head unit uses the same low-noise, high-precision digital music dataflow as its existing series and benefits from several familiar Melco USPs. The rear panel features twin Ethernet ports – LAN and Player – the latter being a dedicated port designed to connect directly to network streamers without the need for an intervening data switch. There are also twin USB 2.0 ports, plus a further front-panel USB, operating as a dedicated DAC output. The second USB port is for hook up to HDD/SSD and CD drives (CD ‘rippers’), capacity expansion with Melco’s E100 (or other) storage drive and easy backup to HDD/SSD drives.

In addition to Melco’s software architecture, the N10/2 benefits from the company’s Intelligent Music Library suite comprising MinimServer and SongKong software. The device is Roon Ready, DSD compatible and offers app control via DLNA/UPnP (in USB DAC mode) with support for Tidal, Qobuz and vTuner streaming with the Melco Music HD app. Qobuz Downloader and HighResAudio.com also enable direct, hi-res downloads without a computer.

The N10/2 can also be used as a self-contained local hi-res digital music player when connected via a USB DAC; claimed data rates of up to 32-bit/384kHz and Octo DSD are supported, along with gapless and Melco markerless DSD.

Control comes via the aforementioned Melco Music HD app, from the front panel or from approved third-party RF remote handsets and for network playback, UPnP control point apps. The N10/2-H50 (HDD) is priced at £7,000, the N10/2-S38 (SSD) at £9,000. Both are available in black or silver finishes.

Available to buy now, you can find out more about Melco's range of digital music libraries here.