Novice needs Mac Mini and DAC advice

Went through the same thing. As far as dac's I've heard between 500-2000, most of them seem to use the reference saber dac these days, and to me, they all share it's house sound of open, ultra dynamic, slightly laid back and very spacious and energized sound. Most, also, share the dac's weakness of sounding a tad vapor like image body, and having a slightly overhyped treble that can be a bit too mechanical. No one would mistake these for vinyl :)

Of the new breed of 9018 sabers I've heard, the wyred dac2(which I borrowed from a friend for a week), oppo bdp105(which I own) and wadia 121 (which i auditioned at home for a weekend) I liked the wadia the best. Seemed to have the best characteristics of the saber sound with the least attributes of it's common flaws. Also has the volume control you want, it's in the same price range as the other two ($1295), and has multiple inputs as well.

I went a different direction, and took a chance on a jkdac32 dac by John Kenny. It's a simple, battery powered dac with a single USB input that uses his modified hiface USB input stage, and a burr brown PCM 5102 chip. Does up to 32/384 files. Completely different sound. And, to my ears, a favorable one. Doesn't have the same larger than life sound of the saber dac's I mentioned, but it does make music sound complete, and has better depth of image, while giving instruments proper weight and placement. Also, the most 'analogue' sounding dac I've heard so far. I don't mean warm or fuzzy, I mean cohesive with proper space, weight, texture. Lovers of the saber dac's might consider it undynamic and dull. Though, I consider most of the saber dac's I've heard to sound unrealisticly dynamic, and lacking realistic weight and involvement. The wadia was the exception.

I digress...

There are lots of good options out there. And, since most fall below $1500 bucks, there's no need to spend more cash on a good one. The market for these devices has become ultra competitive, which means the consumer is winning. Try a place like music direct that has a 30 day return policy, order a wadia, and give it a listen. I really liked it, and showed me what the dac's in my oppo bdp105 can really do, when more love and care is focused on the input/output stages. If, as you say, you want 'clean, hi res sound', it'll probably get you closer to it than can be purchased near it's price, and get you enjoying your music very quickly and easily.

Hope all this helps.

Check out the Chord Electronics QuteHD .. great bang for the buck at just under $2000. The trickle-down tech from their reference DAC must be heard to be appreciated and does wonders for Redbook. You have to install a driver first on the Mac (which took me all of about 2 minutes including download), otherwise it is plug and play.

Wow. I really want to thank you for that input - a lot of time, thought and valuable experience went into your response. Coincidentially I've been reading about the Wyred Dac2 and yes, I've taken note in my research that the Saber chip seems to be the favored son but you went in a different direction, and that shows me I've got to audition a few of the Dacs you mentioned and choose based on my own personal preferences. And you're dead on - while I'm seeing all these marvelous accolades for high priced product that we see touted out there- it's a new day for the consumer as these things get much cheaper and better and better. You hit the mark. I've felt intimidated by my local Definitive Audio guy who says I have to spend at least $3500 (he really wanted to see me dump $7500 on a Crimson) to get anything decent but I managed to evade his clutches and I think I'll just take my time and evaluate the different product in the more reasonable range you suggested. And it makes sense. Thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. And not using a avalanche of technical jargon. I've got to say it again. "Wow."

Special thanks to Backgroundblur. And WTF, the Chord... yes... looking at it. You know, in reading reviews there is so much cheerleading going on that you begin to feel like you being spun around inside a tornado of hype and technical intimidation. Hey, I really, really don't get a high from seeing reams of specs - I just want to know that the "thing" does the "deal" real, real well and I want to seamlessly install it and forget it because I just want to enjoy it. And you guys are absolutely talking sense in terms of price range. I mean, come on. How expensive are these things to produce. I've got a Chinese friend who produces speakers and he's telling me that none of these products have more than $100 of electronics in them and more astounding, that the highly touted Saber chips cost about a nickle. Now I don't know if I believe it's that cheap, but it does make one pause, doesn't it? Thanks again.

Hi Moonshot, I am just like you and just went through exactly what you want to go through and learn.

I read everything and did all kinds of research. Steve at Empical Audio has great info and I leaned heavily on his site and posts. Here is what I did and I am amazed at the sound quality and simplicity.

I purchased an April Music Eximus DP 1 dac. It has a killer volume that is much better then the Wyred. The dac is also much better then the Wyred which is very good.

This dac has all you need to go into computer audio with ease and will best the sound of any CD player/transport combo I have heard to date.

I purchased a 2009 Mac Mini as my server. I did this per Steve's advice. My Mini has a large 256mb SSD hard drive per Steve's advice. Paid $500 for the Mini and $2300 for the dac used. I go from the Mini to my Eximus dac with a Cardas Clear USB cable for $150. I use Amarra and the version that Steve suggests on his site and in his posts as it sounds spectacular. This will cost you $140 with 15% off.

Buy a $5 book from the UltraFi website that shows how to optimize your Mini for best sound. Well worth the $5. Use your iPad or iPhone as a remote by downloading the free Splashtop app. This allows you to,use the iPad as the Mini's monitor. You can download Amarra and do all you need with this neat app. I also use my iPad as my remote for playing music in my iTunes files.

Rip non-compressed AIFF for best sound . Use the free xld program to rip.

The Eximus dac will drive your speakers with its internal volume and that is it.

This sounds wonderful. I have 400 cd's on my SSD drive and they sound killer. I play right from the SSD drive on my Mini. My Mini also has a cd drive so I use it to rip cd's. The newer Mini's lost this feature.

I purchased an upgraded linear power supply from Mojo Audio replacing the switching power supply on the Mini. You can do this later on if you want. No rush.