Mac Mini As A Streaming Source

In the past I have used a 2014 Mac Mini, usually running headless, to run Roon Core and other music-related processes (including HQ Player, BAACH4Mac, and the HD Tracks downloader).  I currently have Roon Core running on a dedicated music server (the sonicTransporter i9).

I have tried running Roon Core both from a separate room (with a WiFi backhaul) and co-located in the same cabinet with all my other HiFi gear.  Either way makes little or no difference to sound quality, but I prefer to avoid the WiFi backhaul.  If I had ethernet cable (or optical fiber)  lines throughout my house, I'd probably put my server in a separate room, just to make my HiFi cabinet a little less crowded.  However, I never notice the sound of the Mac Mini's fan even if it is within 10 ft of my listening position, and especially not with music playing.   

Any concerns about computer system "noise" are overblown, IMO.  However, processes such as Time Machine may hog computing resources and interfere with music playback, so you may want to shut them off if or when you're using the Mini for that purpose.   If you run Roon Core on the Mini, it's easy to control it from an iOS device.  You also can use Screen Sharing to control a headless Mini from another MacOS device.  

Using the sonicTransporter vs the Mini for Roon Core has little or no impact on sound quality, as far as I can tell. Nor does the choice of ethernet vs. USB, per se.  Currently, I run both Roon Core and HQ Player on the sonicTransporter, mainly because it has a faster processor than my aging Mini.  I also prefer a USB connection to ethernet, because I can only use HQ Player with USB.  This pathway allows higher upsampling rates (up to DSD 512) than I can get with Roon via an ethernet connection. 

If I were starting over from scratch and buying all new equipment, I'd seriously consider a new M2 Mac Mini rather than a dedicated music server plus a Mini.  In any case, I wouldn't want to do without the Mini because it is useful for so many music-related tasks.  Also, the Mini tends to be much less expensive than a dedicated server.  Controlling it remotely is pretty easy.  For a simple setup, I suppose you could just connect a Mini via USB to your HiFi rig then play Apple Music using the iTunes Remote app from one or more other devices (though I've never tried exactly this setup myself).  Personally, I like Roon, but you have other options such as Audirvana. Tidal and Qobuz subscription services work beautifully with Roon.  Apple Music does not integrate directly with Roon. Roon can index  and play music from stored files in your iTunes Library, but cannot directly access Apple Music servers for real time playback.  

I use Apple Music as my streaming source.  I use AirPlay from my iPad or Chromecast from my Android phone.  Chromecast sounds better.  My streamer is Cambridge Audio CXN 60.

  I didn’t get what amp the OP is using.  For silver disc replay connect the disc spinner to the same DAC you use with the streamer, or else just run it directly into the amp, if you prefer the internet DAC of the disk spinner.

  I didn’t address Roon here, because I don’t use it.  Frankly, Apple has co-opted so many of the Roon features, I think Roon is a waste, and you may lose access to some of the Apple Spatial Audio offerings.  If Roon is essential, then get a streamer that handles it.

  You can use a Mini for all of this, but a dedicated streamer will sound better and leave you less at the Mercy of Apple updates, which tend to to mess up interfaces with non Apple equipment 

Mercy of Apple updates? Come on, you can do better than this. You don’t need to apple any OS update if you don’t want to. How about updates to the proprietary OS running in the Auralic/Aurender streamers? You trust these updates that might have had a few people test them out compared to the thousands of testers of any Apple update?

If you are running Roon on a Mac and concerned about running Time Machine or any other process while playing Roon/audirvana, then turn those processes off. For over a dozen years if not longer, I have turned Time Machine off and I run a schedule for time finder to run when I’m not playing music. Not a big deal. Same for other processes.

Maybe a lot of these posters are new to computers/streamers, but every 1 of these devices perform millions of instructions per second/minute or many more. If you think running a process adds noise, then every streamer would be sounding like a jet engine.

If vendors claim they limit processes because of generating noise, ask for specifics on how much noise will be eliminated by not running a certain process especially if the computer resides in another room.

If you think that your computer is taxed resource wise by running extra processes, have you ever looked at the computer stats while running Roon/audirvana? Try it, using a newer Mac especially with apple M series processors, roon/audirvana take up very little computer resources. 

As for dacs with usb, some of the best dacs don’t even include usb anymore. I2s and Ethernet perform better. Why do you think there are tens maybe hundreds of usb tweaks/gimmicks to try to get usb to sound better? How many tweaks do you find for bettering i2s and Ethernet besides getting the best cable you can afford?

I invested in a Apple Mac Mini Reference Upgrade from Mojo Audio about 5 years ago. They installed Solid State Drives, removed internal power supplies, added their Illuminatti External Power Supply and Uptone Audio External Clock. I use WyWires Platnum USB cables. I have it connected up to a Wadia DAC and use  Audirvana. I don't use it very often so might consider unloading it. This approach was the best streamer set up I have experienced and is very impressive with the addition of a refrence level Power Cable.

I put my ear up against the M2 Mini and I cannot hear the fan at all. I don’t think the processor is under much load when it is streaming audio.

Of course, there is ambient noise in the room. None of us have silent rooms, unless we live in the world’s quietest room which measures -20dB, yes, negative 20dB.

I’m willing to consider that the addition of the Aqua Linq to my Formula may improve the sound quality but I wonder by how much. I could still run my Roon Core on the Mac Mini in another room or run the Roon core on my Mac Studio, which certainly would not be taxed it.

Are there any places that sell the Aqua Linq and allow a return within a short period of time?