Why Mac Mini Over Slim Systems Products?

i also have used the mini as a music server with great results. i now use an imac. if you want to use the mini, you don't need a monitor. you can actually take over the mini using leopard and remotely do what you want. we have all mac's in the house and i can take control of any of them and execute an application, move files, etc...

most of the info i have read indicates to stay away from usb for music. i use toslink cables going from my mac's or airport express units into jitter reduction devices, then quality coax cables going to an external dac, then quality balanced or unbalanced cables to the preamp.

also using a toslink connection, you have your choice of many different dac's, from $100 to $30k. the benchmark is a decent dac but if you go the usb route, you will be limited to this quality dac. and in reviews that i read about the usb benchmark dac, the reviewers liked the sound from the other connections over the usb. when i auditioned different dacs, i preferred others over the benchmark (personal choice) but some of them cast 2 to 4 times as much. the point is, you have options going with toslink.

also, i would suggest going with some kind of jitter reduction device between the mac and your dac. the jitter device could use toslink or if you can find 1 a usb connection, then use coax or aes cable to the dac.

also, there is a new remote program from the itunes site that lets you control itunes from an ipod touch or iphone, and it is free. i use it on my touch.

It would seem to me that using the USB output from the computer and using a USB DAC that uses Asynchronous USB mode would be the optimal setup. I know there are not yet many DACs on the market that use asynchronous USB communication, but they would seem to lower jitter to a minimum without the need for an additional jitter reduction device.

I'm only familiar with Wavelength and UltraFi USB DACs that uses asynchronous mode, but I'm fairly certain there are a few more. I've heard the Async UltraFi DAC and it was very good using a Mac w/iTunes as the transport.

Enjoy,

TIC

Check out computeraudiophile.com. Great website-very sophisticated and informative. They do reviews on everything from DACs to different storage
solutions. Also have reviews on canned music servers.
The site also walks you through the whole setup, whether it be Mac or PC based.
By the way, Bryston just came out with a USB DAC.

The Mac Mini will give you longer longevity than a Slim device. As you pointed out, having a fully functional computer will give you far more options that a 'network appliance'. Along with all the various software options you have to choose from.

USB as an interface is good. However, I find the Firewire interface far more intriguing. RME has a line of Firewire digital audio interfaces (both AD and DA conversion). Specifically the unit I am using, the Firewire 400 model, you can choose between power supplies: wallwart or Firewire interface to power the unit. If you choose Firewire, you will be off the grid if you are using a laptop. At this point, you are miles ahead in terms of audible noise from the power supply.

I started down this path for other reasons, but the RME equipment sounds so good, I don't mind using it in my big rig for digital. Before I owned the RME Firewire 400, I was using the Apogee Digital Ensemble. I did a/b comparisons of the two and the RME with the Firewire selected as the power source really is in a completely different league than the Apogee Digital Ensemble hands down.

I use the RME Firewire primarily for recording my albums over to digital at 192kHz sampling rates. I also use the Firewire with Logic Pro software. It doubles as an excellent headphone amp too.

http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_fireface_400.php

I'll start with a ditto....

I did a vista based mini-pc from Aopen (same footprint as a mac mini - basically a laptop computer in a desktop case). Ran the digital output through the mini toslink (van den hul - nice cable) to a Bel Canto Dac3.

All my rips are either full resolution or ALAC ripped with EAC.

Sound was great (into krell/wilson).

Control was great.

The PC was on the network, and as i sit at another computer in the room, i can take control of the music server and make it do whatever i want.. Including taking advantage of internet radio broadcasts in HD.

I think a dedicated device for a music server, other than a computer (Mac or PC) is short sighted and destined to be outdated faster than the computer.