Mac Mini versus PC sonic differences, why?

Eric,

Correct. If you plan to use multiple external hard drives in order to have plenty of storage space and a backup drive, you can use firewire attached drives. This gets your disk I/O off of the USB bus. Then use a USB DAC and you have the disk I/O and the DAC I/O on separate buses. I can't say if it makes a sonic difference, but it would seem to make logical sense considering the firewire bus is there to use. BTW, the Iomega MiniMax hard drives are a cosmetic match for a MAC Mini. Very cool....

Also, if you use a bluetooth keyboard (with touchpad) you also get the keyboard I/O off of the USB bus. Also the bluetooth keyboard/touchpad is cool because you can have it in your lap on the sofa/listening chair.

Totally agree on the wireless keyboard. I use a Logitech DiNovo Edge bluetooth keyboard and it's great.

I also use an iPad with LogMeIn Ignition installed so that I can use a wireless touch monitor (which works incredibly well). Then I don't even need the keyboard at all.

Hello Eric,

You raise a very interesting and, for some of us, timely question. Had you proffered this question in June or July, I would not have dared to comment. But over the last several months we have been developing a hardware/software solution that has come from a rather mediocre digital sound to more clarity, detail, and depth of soundstage than any of us thought possible.
It all started with PI Audio Group (Dave) and your Tranquility DAC. (It all has to start somewhere and we always need someone to blame, so I’m happy to lay the blame on Dave's doorstep:-)). He purchased a Tranquility DAC and chose to build a PC based music server that is fan-less, has an Intel SSD, and is running a stripped down version of Windows XP. He has been touting the PC based music server for most of the last year (since the last RMAF show) but now claims to have "seen the light". After hearing the modified Mac Mini in Darrell's system, he has raised the white flag and now wants to replace it with a modified Mac Mini.
I had Apple envy for years until I bought a 2009 Mac Mini. Then it sat unused in the box for a year until this summer. When I finally opened the box, I installed an Intel 80 GB SSD and 4 GB of ram, loaded up Snow Leopard and we plugged it in to your DAC and it immediately was better sounding than my HP laptop running Vista or Darrell McComb's high end Lenovo laptop running Windows 7 Ultimate.
Since July we have implemented a series of tweaks to the new 2010 Mac Mini that simply deliver never before heard detail, depth, dynamics, and clarity to digital music. Some of these we have shared with you and some are still not being talked about yet. We believe that there are 3 key differences between the mini and other Macs. First, it the lack of a monitor attached to the motherboard. The power supply for the monitor produces electronic noise which is not present in the Mac Mini. Second, is the integral power supply. By locating the power supply less than an inch from the motherboard, Apple has eliminated that possibility of picking up noise on the 5’ - 6’ long leads that would normally run from the old-style “brick” power supply to the back of the computer. Keeping this noise out is crucial to achieving pristine digital playback. And third (and last) is the new design housing. The new “unibody” one-piece aluminum housing effectively provides a faraday shield for the circuitry contained inside. There are undoubtedly other improvements to the new Mac Mini, but Apple doesn’t really tout them in their ad copy.
While I am not dismissing the possibility that there could be a PC solution that sounds as good, I just have not been able to find anyone who is able to bring a hardware/operating system/software combination that comes close sounding as good as our modified Mac Minis. Also in favor of the Mac Mini are the small size, elegant styling, and visual appeal of the Mac Mini/Tranquility DAC combination. Together they don't occupy as much shelf space as the average CD/DVD player. Even Micro sized PC's are HUGE by comparison.
You deserve the highest commendation for bringing out a product that can reveal more information in digital music than anyone believed possible just a few months ago. Tranquility allows us to hear changes in virtually every aspect of the system that now rivals analog and makes 16-Bit/44.1-Khz CD’s sound better than SACD’s. I cannot wait to meet you at the RMAF show next month.

Very best regards,
Kevin Burke

Like I said in the first post, it's difficult to do better than a Mac for 16/44 content. It's high quality, very simple and fun to use. The new Mini is a work of art.

I use a regular MacBook with a firewire Interface and I think it sounds great. I've never tried a MiniMac. I've also never tried a Windows based PC with the firewire interface. However, I previously had used a USB 2.0 interface with my MacBook
and when I listened to a PC with the USB it sounded identical to the MacBoook.
I am very skeptical that a MacMini would outclass any other Mac unless it turned out that there was some fundamental difference in the two computers beyond hard drive and RAM.