Melco becomes DELA: A New Chapter For Japanese Digital Excellence

Melco has been a cornerstone brand here at Audio Therapy over the past 8 years.

They’ve proven to be incredibly popular with an extensive range of music servers, network switches and accessories.

Initially their range was just a single product, the entry level N1A music server, but Melco’s product ranged evolved over time with more options extending right into the upper echelons of high end audio with their flagship N1 Music Library and the S1 Network Switch.

Melco was founded back in 1975 by Makoto Maki and the name Melco is an acronym of Maki Engineering Laboratory Company, they have a number of subsidiary companies the largest being Buffalo, who manufacture routers, switches, NAS drives and USB hard drives.

Melco as we know has always been the audiophile division of Buffalo’s technology empire, but in Japan the Melco brand has always been called DELA – a word derived from the Japanese word for digital. As Melco/DELA has expanded and grown internationally the decision was made to incorporate the Melco brand into DELA and to be able to offer one consistent brand globally.

In simple terms nothing changes other than the badge, the products are designed and developed by the same people, manufactured in the same factory with the same obsessive attention to detail.

This transition to DELA branding has coincided with some new product developments that will further enhance DELA’s position in the market place, a couple of Melco models are being discontinued and the range has been streamlined.

The flagship S1 switch continues and there are 2 new DELA switches being introduced, the S50 and the S5.

The S50 is the new entry level model which replaces the S100/2, this is a completely new design and it offers a meaningful upgrade in performance over the outgoing S100. The new S50 has 3 SFP fibre ports, 6 ethernet ports (which are all speed adjustable from the front and unused ports can be powered off) and there is an IEC socket for power, allowing a proper power cable to be used. The S50 is priced at £3000

The 2 box Melco S10 switch has evloved into the S5, this new model is best thought of as a scaled back S1 – it offers the same connectivity (4 SFP and 7 Ethernet) as the flagship model, but is more affordable at £7500. Unused ports can be powered off and the speed of the ports in used can be controlled via the front panel, this can make a surprising impact on the performance.

In a side by side comparison the S5 offers a meaningful step up in performance over the S10, lower noise, improved dynamics and clarity. For those who stream music in a serious system who can’t stretch to an S1 this new model really does tick a lot of boxes and I anticipate this model will go down very well.

In terms of the music libraries the N1 and N5 continue with DELA versions of each being available, the N1 is now supplied with a 4TB SSD storage drive (the Melco N1 was a 3.84TB SSD).  The N100 and N50 have both been discontinued, the D100 CD drive and the E100 Expansion drive both continue, although these models are now only available in black.

The Melco brand page will change into a DELA version at some point in the near future and be updated with the full DELA range. If you have any questions about the DELA range in general or one of these new models please get in touch