Should I upgrade from a Mac Mini to a dedicated server or should I upgrade my dac?

@verdantaudio Interesting, I've never heard of such issues. I'm in IT and I've got lots of Mac endpoints out there. First option should be static IP addresses, next...dhcp reservations.

It's unfortunate that Apple ditched the SP/DIF optical output years ago. We're now forced to deal with USB/C and all the baggage that comes with it.

The new Mini M1 is an amazing computer in of itself. I've played around with it to explore its potential as a streamer. I enjoyed using Audirvana Studio and a trial of Roon. Ultimately I didn't spend too much time on it to wring out its best sound quality.....but it did sound good, not great. 

As an office streamer I think it has great potential with USB conditioning. What I tried to do was dead-head it (no monitor, keyboard or mouse) in my stereo rack. I'd remote into it to launch the mentioned software and use the IOS app to control it. That's what I found frustrating. Roon was pretty good, Audirvana not so much. 

@treynolds155 I hope Apple has improved the Mini and these weird issues go away with it. That said, when I have a customer who tells me a network device doesn’t work, first question is do they have a Mac Mini on the network? If the answer is yes, whether part of audio chain or not, turn it off and then start the device.

@verdantaudio that’s strange. I’ve been using Mac Mini in my system since 2008. First one died after 11 years of pretty much non stop service. The 2018 version is still going strong and is being used only as Roon core.
Granted, the Mini isn’t an awesome streamer by any stretch of imagination but it’s totally fine as a Roon core.
 

I never ran into network problems with it. Other issues like Mac OS upgrade induced Roon bugs yes, could be annoying.

What you’re describing sounds like some sort of a firewall and or compatibility problem with ISP, DACs etc

@audphile1 That is what makes this even worse.  It is only some mac mini's that have this issue.  But here is the thing, it does not need to be part of the audio chain to create the problem.  I have no good explanation for why or how this happens.  Just a good thing to know from a troubleshooting perspective.  

That’s bizarre….