Sound quality
The drive came ready stocked with a
selection of albums including Art Blakey and the Jazz Messenger’s Moanin’. This
proved a total blast, it would seem that the Messengers had no difficulty
displaying their incredible skills while whipping up a groove that could not be
ignored. I’ll spare you the details but sitting still and tapping a foot was
not an appropriate response!
With more familiar material it became clear
that this server is extremely clean and revealing, Nile Lofgren sounded
effortless and fluent, his picking crisp and well defined yet with no edginess
or glare, the whole performance being presented in an extremely open fashion. Another
guitar player who I’ve long enjoyed on vinyl is Michael Hedges, so I was
pleased to find a rip of his classic. Aerial Boundaries on the Music Server.
This sounded glorious, with scale that pushed the ceiling and a degree of
refinement that only the best record player can deliver. Some will crave a bit
more bite to leading edges perhaps, but this can easily be added by choosing a
DAC, amp or speaker with that character and there are plenty to choose from. I
don’t think this server smoothes over leading-edge definition, rather it
delivers a richer more complete rendition of the note. There is no shortage of
speed which a softening of edges would usually undermine. For example,
Cornelius’ Sensuous proved extremely revealing in this respect, the track Fit
can get uncomfortable at higher levels, but here it moves like quicksilver and
becomes increasingly more powerful and dynamic without ever getting hard edged.
It was quite a revelation.
I dug out one of the Reference Records
24/176 recordings of the Hot Club of San Francisco, which doesn’t get much use
because despite unusually good sound quality it rarely engages. A state of
affairs that this server quickly revealed to be a shortcoming in previous
players by bringing out the joy of the music. It became clear what people hear
in the playing of the original Hot Club (de Paris) and even why Django
Reinhardt is so revered.
This
modern take on the same material sounded open, spacious and natural
This modern take on the same material
sounded open, spacious and natural, while at the same time putting the musical
message at the forefront, something that computer audio is not always so good
at, truth be told. The nearest thing I could find to put up against the server
was a well-specced Mas Mini running Mountain Lion with Audirvana Plus as the
music player. This is about half the rice of the server however, and twice as
attractive but has no ripping ability. It sounded pretty small and weak by
comparison. With the Hot Club track it simply was not in the same league.
Indeed it proved to be a bit like a quick, rough hand sketch compared to the
high definition photograph that was the MCRU.
Conclusion
I was more than a little sceptical at
first, but in the end the MCRU Music Server proved to be something of a sonic
stunner. Its shows that USB has the potential to blow S/PDIF into the weeds,
and that computer audio is a force to be reckoned with at the very highest of
course, and has the stability issues that afflict the breed. It is also far
from plug ‘n’ play, despite the primacy that MMCRU gives to the JRiver
software. It does however deliver a quality of digital source that has not been
available for the price before. If you really know your computer audio onions
you might be able to match it, but if you’d rather spend your time
rediscovering your music collection then it’s an awful lot of sound quality for
the money.
How it compares
The MCRU offers sound quality that competes
with the best dedicated audio servers from well-known hi-fi brands at a
competitive price. But it doesn’t offer the ease of use that you get with a
Naim UnitiServe or Linn DS streaming solution, to give an example.
A more down-market, but popular alternative
is the Brennan JB7, but that is not aiming for the stars in the same way as the
MCRU. A stronger competitor is Olive, which makes the 4HD for $3,750. This has
an onboard DAC (like the standard $2,325 MCRU), as well as a full display and
the greater ease of use that this brings – you are, however, paying for some
very fancy for some very fancy for some very fancy casework and a regular HDD.
Overall then, the MCRU server has a niche
that should make it an attractive proposition for those looking for features
and sound quality at a good price. Those after the easy life will either have
to pay more or live with less inspiring sound. So this a really nice product
that deserves to succeed.
Connections
Connections
1.
USB input
2.
Ethernet input
3.
USB input
4.
DC power input
5.
USB output
6.
HDMI output
In sight
In
sight
1.
Sony DVD-RW drive
2.
Vertex 42.5” SSD
3.
Case heatsink fin
4.
Aluminum chassis
5.
Gigabyte mainboard
6.
Connection socketry
7.
Cooling system
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Specs
§ Product:
Mains Cable R Us MCRU
§ Origin:
UK
§ Type:
music server
§ Weight:
5 kg
§ Dimensions:
(W x H x D) 440x120x32mm
Features
§ Formats
supported: FLAC, APE, ALAC, WMA, AIFF, WAV, MP3
§ SSD:
64GB as standard
§ CPU:
3 GHz Intel, 4 GB RAM as standard
§ JRier
Media Center 18 Music Management Software
§ Distributor:
MCRU
Our verdict
§ Sound
quality: 5/5
§ Value
for money: 5/5
§ Build
quality: 4.5/5
§ Features:
5/5
§ Like:
Extremely revealing and finely detailed
§ Dislike:
Not as stable as dedicated audio servers
§ We
say: Brilliant. This delivers sound quality that few CD players can dream
about and offers considerable upgradeability too…
§ Overall:
5/5
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