I was thinking about a Mac Mini as a first step into PC Audio (24/96), but I see the new one has only USB, HDMI, and Firewire. Would it be better to buy a used Mini with S/PDIF, or not, and if so what model? Thanks.
You do get very reasonable SQ out of Toslink but I would suggest to use a USB-SPDIF converter whenever possible. I am using the Wavelink through my MM and it a hugh upgrade from my Optocoupler toslink cable.
The M2 Tech Hiface provides excellent USB to SPDIF conversion. I have gone a different direction using the Toslink (headset outlet) out to a Pop Pulse that converts to SPDIF. Gives me great sounding 24/96 in the pre/pro. The Pop Pulse was about $150 - same as the Hiface unless you go for the modded version from John Kenny. His mods are well worth the investment IMO.
This string was about when mack releaseed the unibody Mini MC270LL/A 2.4GHZ 2GB 320GB HD... Now that is the old oen and they just released the new ones: MC815LL/A and MC816LL/A (both with no drive built in anymore). I have spare outboard drives, so the question I pose now is Mini MC270LLA OR newer MC815LL/A?
This string was originally about when mac releaseed the unibody Mini MC270LL/A 2.4GHZ 2GB 320GB HD... Now that is the old one and they just released the new ones: MC815LL/A and MC816LL/A (both with no drive built in anymore). I have spare outboard drives, so the question I pose now is Mini MC270LLA OR newer MC815LL/A? Also, assuming I do the MC270LLA (June 2010), what are the setup steps you can do yourself cost effectively instead of sending it to Mach2music?
Tubesrule: I would pick up a MC270LL/A if you can find one rather than the 2011 version. The reasons are: (1) the 2011 version has 4 USB ports ( like the 2010 model) but only 2 USB buses and the 4 USB ports are shared with internal devices, so there is no way to have a dedicated port for a USB DAC. This is the situation with all the i5 and i7 Apple notebooks as well. On the otherhand the 2010 model has 4 seperate USB buses so it is easy to find an empty (non-shared) port for the USB DAC. (2) The 2011 also run Lion and it seems that most users prefer the sound from Snow Lepoard and there is no way to go backwards on the new products. There is a thread over on the Asylum where there is more info on this. (3) the 2011's run considerable hotter than the previous generation. Who knows but there is a chance there maybe problems in the future like in some of the Apple laptops that were being fried! I saw where some users were putting their new Mac mini on a cooler pad to help prevent this. There is no need to have an i5/i7 processor for a dedicated music server. Another negative for the Lion operating syatem is that there are more background processes running that can not be easily shutdown.
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