Mac Mini vs. Macbook Pro as a server

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

I have an I7 Mac Mini with 8Gigs of Ram using Amarra. The Mini is optimized for music. I have as much stuff turned off as possible. Herman my point is very valid the Audio Research DAC accepts USB in fact it has one of the best USB input receiver of any DAC. Its performance is one of the best I have tried in my system. I have tried so many DACS look at my prior post. You have so much stuff going on in a computer that you cannot see. All that stuff running down in the operating system uses resources that take away from the sound. To get off a personal computer based music server will be a huge step in the right direction. The price will soon drop on dedicated music playback systems and the Mac Mini will not be the answer. At this point the Yamaha NP 2000 sounds much better than my Highly Modified Mac Mini with out having to buy a DAC with a USB input. I tried the Mac Mini with the best I could find USB cable and with the good optical cable for my comparison. The other inputs I used SPDIF coaxile and AES balanced. My system is very resolving and it will tell you if something is not right. The Mac Mini is very good but it is not world class like my Turntable or the other music servers I have tried as of recent. I just bought a Krell CD player the S350A at $2500.00 Retail it blows the doors of my Mac Mini. I bought the CD player for clients that come over with CDs just for the quick and easy demo. I found much more air and presence around the instruments and the voices to be more correct than with my Mac Mini. I cannot wait for the newer music players to come down in price and increase their performance.

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You have so much stuff going on in a computer that you cannot see. All that stuff running down in the operating system uses resources that take away from the sound.

That is typical audiophile nervosa. It sounds logical but you have no idea if it is correct because you have no way to test it.

How do you know that DAC is so good with USB? Sounds like it may not be if the others are feeding it spdif and they sound better, and I don't think the Mini optical is a fair comparison.

There are too many of us that are getting world class performance with the Mini and Pro and other DACs. I have no doubt you like the other servers feeding the DACs you tried but there are too many other possible ways to do it to make a definitive conclusion based on your limited experiments.

A few months ago you said your Mac Mini was almost the equal of your vinyl. Now it is getting bested by servers.

It has come very close to my turntable. I cannot convey how deep and wide the soundstage has gotten,how perfect the tonal balance and did I mention the detail stuff I have never heard in the digital domain

That's a bit different than today when you say

The Mac Mini is very good but it is not world class like my Turntable or the other music servers I have tried as of recent.

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I now have a better turntable and I have upped the performance of my system by a good bit with upgrades. Also keep in what happens with technology and time? I think technology gets better and these new music servers have been developed for a specific purpose and that is what happens with technology. I hope that continuing strides in performance continue to happen. To me it sounds like you are attached to you Mac Mini. Being attached to equipment is not good because you are then putting an emotional attachment to a specific item in your system that might not be the performance you could have if you were to try something new. Do not get me wrong I am assuming that you use Pure Vinyl for ripping your records and that cannot be done with all the other music servers I mentioned above than the Mac Mini with Pure Vinyl. They all have a purpose but what I am hearing right now is what I said is better. So Herman do think that technology does not change over time? I did not even know about the Aurender S10 and the Yamaha NP 2000 until I got to RMAF last week.

USB to spdif converters like the JKmk3 , Audiophileo or Offramp make a drastic change to the Mac Mini USB performance. Most USB implementations in dacs are poorly optimized compared to their spdif.

Mac Mini with one of these should match your CDT. The USB cable has little bearing on sound I found.