[borism]

Actually, my Mac Mini is from 2011. It has served me very well and I have enjoyed iTunes/Pure Music/Tidal/Qobuz/internet radio. The age of the Mac and one particular issue with streaming high resolution files prompted me to look for a replacement. The Mac's built in fan would kick into high gear with Qobuz hi-rez files plus be so loud that it would be easily heard across the room. In addition, the OS could no longer be upgraded and I was not able to try out Audirvana Studio.

I read the very positive reviews of the MS-6 by Pez, Tyson and Jmolsberg who upgraded from his Mac Mini / Audirvana. This led me to contacting Rich about an in-home trial. Rich was very responsive. He actually sent the MS-6 with the USB driver for my Sonnet Morpheus DAC and Audirvana Studio pre-installed. All I had to do is register with Audirvana for the free 30 day trial and connect my USB-C SSD (iTunes files). Audirvana Studio integrates local files with Tidal/Qobuz and internet radio. There is also a great phone App that functions as a remote.

From the get-go the MS-6 was as mentioned by others very musical, transparent and noticeably less noisy than my prior set-up. One caveat is that I wasn't using Audirvana before. Tidal/Qobuz and radio were all streaming using the MAC OS and Safari. Overall, I'm very happy with this set-up and think that it is an incredible bargain. Highly recommended!




 

[HAL]

borism,
Glad the MS-6 is working out well in your music system!   

Best,
Rich

[nlitworld]

So I just picked up an MS-6 second hand, and I still can't believe how amazing it sounds. Last night I may have had 4 hours of sleep before I had the stereo blasting again this morning. I'm running FB2K linked to my media pc over the network the same as I had been. I'm in awe of how black the background is and how effortless the music just springs forth from the ether. The detail and attack/decay of the notes are so well separated you can see everything in HD presented right in front of you. And what an unbelievably huge open airy soundstage it is. Coming from a gaming PC with a very good mobo and processor I never thought the PC would be the weakest link in the chain. Oh my God was I wrong. This little MS-6 just thumbs its nose at that big PC and goes on playing perfect sounding music. Rich, there is no way this little server should be this good. Well done sir, and keep up the good work.

-Lloyd

[Doublej]

Any plans to update the MS-6 to Windows 11 and/or to a newer processor?

[HAL]

So I just picked up an MS-6 second hand, and I still can't believe how amazing it sounds. Last night I may have had 4 hours of sleep before I had the stereo blasting again this morning. I'm running FB2K linked to my media pc over the network the same as I had been. I'm in awe of how black the background is and how effortless the music just springs forth from the ether. The detail and attack/decay of the notes are so well separated you can see everything in HD presented right in front of you. And what an unbelievably huge open airy soundstage it is. Coming from a gaming PC with a very good mobo and processor I never thought the PC would be the weakest link in the chain. Oh my God was I wrong. This little MS-6 just thumbs its nose at that big PC and goes on playing perfect sounding music. Rich, there is no way this little server should be this good. Well done sir, and keep up the good work.

-Lloyd

Lloyd,
Very happy to hear the HAL MS-6 is working well for your audio system!  Why I build them.

Best,
Rich

[HAL]

Any plans to update the MS-6 to Windows 11 and/or to a newer processor?

Doublej,
The MS-6 CPU does not support Windows 11.  The motherboard maybe redesigned for a newer CPU for Windows 11, but that is still TBA.  No insight on that at this time.

Not really worried about loosing Windows 10 support anytime soon.  To many big corporations are still using it and will need continuing support.  Only time will tell.  Until then, Windows 10 audio is the best I have heard from a computer.

Best,
Rich

[Doublej]

Thanks for the info. I am not worried about losing support for Windows 10 either, just having to pay for it come November 2025 as I tend to keep my stuff for a long time.

[pianoguys]

Does anyone know if there is a used friendly remote for the MS6?  I have the ability to connect it to my tv for use as a monitor.  I currently use a pc with a logitech remote but the mouse trackpad is very annoying.  I would like to switch to a server like the HAL but only if it works with a user friendly remote. thank you     

[HAL]

The music player software like Foobar2000 offer remote use with devices on a WiFi connection.  I have used the older MS-1 version with an Android phone or tablet connected to the same network after loading the Foobar2000 Android app.  This way you can see the music details and controls.  You just need the keyboard and display to launch the programs from boot.  After that control can be with the WiFi device.  Most are designed to use a smartphone as the interface.

I normally use a Logitech K400 wireless keyboard with trackpad with remote display, but have used the other WiFi interface as well for Foobar2000.

JRiver Media Center also offers support for external control, but I have not used it.

[Phil A]

Does anyone know if there is a used friendly remote for the MS6?  I have the ability to connect it to my tv for use as a monitor.  I currently use a pc with a logitech remote but the mouse trackpad is very annoying.  I would like to switch to a server like the HAL but only if it works with a user friendly remote. thank you   

JRiver has a couple remotes.  Their Gizmo app is free - https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Gizmo    and the JRemote App  is not expensive   -   https://jremote.jriver.com/      If you wanted to do DLNA and use something like a Synology NAS it has a free app called DS Audio      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZQE1xp76QY   

I've used JRemote for years and it is very easy.  I use it in a secondary system and the PC is connected to a TV (just need it to start up the JRiver program)

[nlitworld]

I use a wireless keyboard with mouse track pad if I feel like turning on TV, but mostly I run Google Chrome Remote Desktop to run via my phone. It's slightly more resource intensive that way, but ultra convenient if you don't want an extra device in your lap. Foobar Remote app also works well enough but a little clunky in song selection. Works great if listening to full albums.