Mac Mini vs. Macbook Pro as a server

I am borrowing a Audio Research DAC 8. The Yamaha and olive have their own DACS built in however they both have high end Burr Brown DAC Chips like DAC 8 and I will add they sounded better than my modified Mac Mini using using the Audio Research DAC 8. But when I put on the Olive 06HD, then the Aurender S10 and the Yamaha NP 2000 on the AR DAC 8 it is pure magic. All three the Olive the Yamaha and especially the Aurender S10. I found out quickly how bad the Mac Mini was by comparison. I suspect that the week link is the USB interface and the software i.e music player (Pure Music, Amara.) The fact that you can use your Mac Mini to write a term paper and balance your check book and listen to music might also have something to do with the difference in sound quality. I found that the Mac Mini with a music streamer pro is very good, and as good as you will need with the limitations of the Mac Mini. The Mac Mini is not world class. For the price the Mac Mini is not bad but if you are going to spend money on modifying your Mac Mini you would be better suited buying the the middle Olive or the Yamaha NP 2000 and a good DAC outside of USB.

I have developed a 20AH Lithium type battery for the Mac Mini. It is big improvement. I do not wish to market it at this time due to the liability of such batteries.

In the 6Moons reviews this month there is a discussion of the mac mini use as a server. The author pointed out that one of the keys to getting great performance is have lots of memory, say 8GB. So, your Pro should have at least the 8GB to give you a good comparison. Noted is that the processor takes second place in getting great sound. A minus of the Pro is that if has an optical drive which can add jitter to the DAC. So, with your SSD it would be difficult to tell if the larger memory or SSD drive would be better. I don't the 'battery is better' would make that much difference. Software can edge out the battery issue.

.

I don't buy the argument that the mac is limited in audio because it does other things. There is no reason for that to be true.

So you compare the mac usb to the others doing spdif or ??? If so your conclusion that the mac is not world class is invalid. A single DAC that might not be optimized for usb compared to other sources with a different interface and cables and you make a definitive conclusion?

Too many variables to conclude much of anything.
.

I'm confused by the discussion of using a Macbook Pro vs a Mac Mini as a music server. Laptops in general aren't designed to be 24/7 servers; they are designed to be portable and intermittently used. Most laptops go to sleep when you close the screen.

I think the Mac Mini is the much better unit for the job. Keep it on 24/7, hook up a good external HD to it, have an effective backup mechanism in place, and control it through a laptop that you can use in the listening position to direct the playing of the music. (You can often use an iPad for this purpose, too.)

So I see the two being used together, not just one or the other. I would simply run the Mac mini as the server in a headless (ie, no monitor) configuration, and use the portable machine to select the music to play. You'll gain so much more flexibility.

I use a Linux-based server in my basement that functions as my music server, and it's done that job incredibly well for over 5 years now. But a Mac Mini should be able to perform a similar function. I control it with a Macbook Pro or iPad. I can play different music simultaneously in each of my rooms (I use multiple Squeezeboxes) if I desire. It works great.

That's my 2 cents, anyway.

Michael