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Snow Leopard and audio quality

I just took the trouble of making a clean install of Snow Leopard on my dedicated MacMini systems with iTunes 9.

I am convinced that the new software and the clean install have made an extraordinary improvement in my computer & DAC-based music systems.

Tonality, depth, detail, soundstage, musicality: all seem to have improved in dramatic ways.

Has anyone else had the same experience?
istanbulu
sidssp
1,077 posts
 
Clean install means reformat the hard disk and install Snow Leopard from scratch, as opposed to installing it over an older OS like Leopard or Tiger as an upgrade.

I had done a clean install of Snow Leopard on my Mini but I didn't notice any sound improvement.
mst
163 posts
 
When you do a clean install, do you lose files and programs (Word) and documents? I guess you'd use the auto back up I do on an external 1TB drive.
sidssp
1,077 posts
 
Mst, Yes, you will lose all files and programs so make sure you backup everything first. Since my Mini is a dedicated music server and my iTunes library is on external hard drives, I can do clean install without any trouble.
istanbulu OP
291 posts
 
Hi Dbaudiolabs,

Good to hear confirmation of my experience. This is true for my three Mini-based systems with SnowLeopard and a clean install. Really quite remarkable in so many ways.

Thanks Apple!

:) listening,

Ed
listener614
26 posts
 
It's generally accepted that the S/L upgrade on a MacMini makes major improvements. I use the 2GHz core with 4MByte RAM and a 7200 RPM drive. Others told me I could expect an improvement, and they were right. I understand the Mac SW/HW is tuned to provide excellent sound. It works for me! I can only wait to hook it up to my MIDI keyboard with GarageBand.
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