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Advice on best upgrade path for a Mac Mini setup

Hi all,

My beloved PWT transport was shipped out for service last week, so in the mean time I decided to experiment with the Mac Mini which usually resides in my 2nd system. It was no surprise that it doesn't even come close to the PWT, but it sounds OK, and now i'm curious as of what I can achieve with it without spending another $2K.

It's a stock Mac Mini about 2 years old with an SSD drive.
I'm using it to stream TIDAL Hi-Fi.
I have it hooked up to a Schiit Wyrd USB re-generator via a Pangea silver USB 2 cable, which in turn is feeding my DSD via a WireWorld Starlight 7 USB 2 cable.
My thinking was that the Mac-to-Schiit path will be less critical in terms of cables, as it gets regenerated anyway, but I'm open to listen and learn...
That "Wyrd Schiit" re-generator did make quite a noticeable positive impact when I hooked it up in my 2nd system.

My question is - what will be the best bang-for-the-buck upgrades? 

I guess the switching power supply is a weak link so I looked at Mojo Audio stuff and those prices seem unreasonable - they want more for their power supply than what I paid for my PWT (including its superb power supply).
Any other recommended power supply upgrade kits?
I'm good with DIY and can probably do the upgrade myself.

Perhaps go with much better cables? Better isolation? Better re-generator?
What did you guys try that proved to really do the "magic" for similar setups?
Perhaps it is a 'losing battle' and it will never sound nearly as good as my PWT without spending $2K in upgrades?

Thanks for your advice!

Ami

128x128ami
gimpinchair
4 posts
 
@erik_squires 

"For around $600 you could build a very nice Linux based music server with Android and iPhone app support and 2 TB of storage. "

Could you please expound a bit on the android apps (which apps) and how one would use them with linux?

Thanks 
ami's avatar
ami OP
63 posts
 
Thanks again all,

Has anyone here directly compared the MicroRendu to the PS Audio bridge 2 or the PS Audio LANRover?
i know they are not exactly direct functionality-wise competitors, but all are valid Mac-to-DAC paths that I would like to explore.
FYI- PS audio offer 30 day return "buy and try-at-home" option. 
Do you know if MicroRendu offers something similar?
It will be an interesting tri-audition.

Ami
erik_squires
16,051 posts
 
Hi GIC,

I wrote a blog about it actually. The short answer is, you use Ubuntu with Logitech Media Server.  The complementary Android app I use is Squeezer but I believe there are others as well.

 http://inatinear.blogspot.com/2016/08/ubuntu-mytek-brooklyn-dsd-setup-guide.html

Best!

Erik


rbstehno
1,431 posts
 
Dctom, this doesn't make sense. An ssd by itself will not improve the sound, all it will do is read the music faster. Most good software will read the music into ram and play the song from ram, not from a hdd/ssd.
If you went with Linux instead of using OS X, then you would also have to change the software you are using to read the music, now this could have a bearing on the quality of the sound, but just an OS change will not bring you a huge increase.

ghosthouse's avatar
ghosthouse
4,306 posts
 
For anyone interested, I’ve been listening to ALAC files ripped to an external Seagate 2TB hard drive connected via USB cable to the Aries Mini.  USB out from the Aries is to a VLink 192 USB/SPDIF converter (it does NOT up sample signal from the Aries) and then via Stereovox coax to a Schiit Gungnir DAC. Still running the stock switch mode power supply supplied with the Aries.

VERY pleased with the sound and tickled I no longer have to use my MacBook air OR run a long USB cable from my MacBook Air to the V-Link OR plug in the hard drive every time I want to listen to ripped music files. The Aries Lightning app on my iPhone is FAST and the set up guide easy to follow. It read the 400 albums on my hard drive in maybe a minute. Can I say with 100% certainty the sound is better than it was from the MacBook Air running BitPerfect? My aural memory is not great and I haven’t gone back to do direct A/B listening comparisons since getting the Aries. Just been enjoying the music. The sound is certainly not worse and for convenience alone I ain’t likely to be going back BUT I will do a comparison soon now that the Aries has some hours on it and since I’m starting to get closer to the 30 day return deadline.

I’m able to use Airplay to stream Spotify wirelessly from my iPhone to the Aries. That’s pretty neat. Haven’t yet activated the 1 year Tidal subscription that is part of the Aries Mini purchase.

The only glitch compared to running BitPerfect/iTunes on the MacBook Air is that not ALL album art is represented. Some albums did populate. Others not. I contacted Aries tech support (they are very responsive via email) about this but am not sure I understand their explanation. It MIGHT be that where album art was downloaded off the web it must have the same name as the actual album for Aries to link the two. I did not always save album art images with the exact same title as the album, so might need to go back and see if editing those file names helps.

Am VERY curious about the benefit of a Linear Power Supply BUT since I’m not using the Aries internal DAC am uncertain whether it will make any difference. Anyone with experience on that, please advise.

Considering I was looking at a new MAC Mini + wireless keyboard and mouse for dedicated music playback use, the Aries Mini is, for me, a lower cost and more elegant solution with what might be better sound. I think Aries has done a really good job with their software and the features provided with the Aries Mini. Thanks for the suggestions here and especially to jond.
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