[BrianAbington]

Hey everybody.

I plan on treating myself this christmas to a tablet for my day to day web browsing so I then will be changing my mac mini over to primarily music/media server duties.

I apologize in advance as I'm new here... I did a search and came up with nothing so if this is a dead horse please point me in the right direction.

My audio system is being rebuilt after a pre-divorce sell off. So recommendations here will guide my decisions for new equipment.

Software aside, talking strictly hardware. I plan to start 2 channel and spend more money on quality 2.1 speakers rather than 5.1 at this point as my apartment is small.

Will I get the best SQ connecting directly by HDMI to a surround receiver?

Or by usb to a usb to spdif conversion unit that upconverts to higher resolution then to a DAC to a integrated or other analog preamp?

I am focusing more on dynamic quality sound that can thrill at all volumes so I need some guidance to determine what my budgeting this coming spring should be.

[dmccombs]

Brian,

  If you are going directly to a Receiver that has HDMI input, I would go with a decent HDMI cable.  This will give you decent sound (you use the DAC chips in your Receiver).  Another option is to get a mini-Toslink to Toslink Cable. You could start with either of these while you check out the other options.

  Getting a seperate DAC can provide better sound if you can afford it.  You could go to the DAC via USB, then to the Receiver through your Analog input.  Some recievers have a Analog Bypass which passes the signal without digitizing it again.

  An even better solution is the one you mentioned MacMini -> DAC -> Analog Preamp.  The DACs and Preamp vary greatly in proces and sound quality.

Darrell
Mach2 Music

[chrisby]

There's no question that HDMI makes interconnection of both video and digital audio much simpler, and the quality of internal DACs on many of the higher end receivers / processors are on a par with low to mid priced separates. 

To my thinking, it comes down to reconciling budget /complexity of core system vs the ultimate cost of incremental upgrades/modular component approach - don't overlook the cost of multiple higher performance interconnects / format convertors.

I'd be inclined to use HDMI from Mini (or ATV), and  budget for a mid to upper end surround receiver, such as Anthem, Outlaw etc.    Any of these will have more than adequate power for an initial 2 channel only system, while accommodating additional speakers as your situation changes. Standard features on most of the midstream and up models include automated calibration / EQ /"room correction",  and many of the most recent also incorporate multi-zone room modes and direct wi-fi connectivity, etc.   All things considered, the $1000 -1500 range of all-in ones offer stupidly good value for money - some high-end whack-jobs  spend more than that on a single power cord, but I digress.

[clearlight]

Brian, you can certainly do much better than using the AV receiver for SQ. It will become the bottleneck IMHO, limiting the performance of a decent 2.1 system and the mac mini. Because I just sold my power amp and cannot use my dB Audio labs Tranquility dac, I am currently running my mac mini usb out to the V link usb to spdif converter and then optical in to my decent sounding Anthem MX300 receiver. Although it sounds listenable and the room correction is spectacular for the bass, it is more 2 dimensional and uninvolving compared to using a mac mini> Tranquility>power amp direct connection. The hdmi out of MM to receiver wasn't as good as using the usb>V Link route.

So if you are willing to spend more $$$ now getting a dac and an integrated or 2 ch power amp will pay dividends. I would also very strongly consider sending your mini to Darrell to let him perform his magic mods and install a SSD and music player software like Pure Music. Just a matter of time before I do this also...

There are many good dacs out now. If you don't have a need for high res music now and value a musical/natural presentation, one to consider is a traded in Tranquility or TRanquility SE model from dB Audio as there will likely be some available within a couple months once their apparently awesome high res dac is released very soon.

Perhaps also do a search in audiocircle for the Warpspeed Optocoupler volume control and the Dodd Audio tube buffer if you don't need to go the integrated amp route.

[BrianAbington]

can anybody point me towards discussion about the mac mini mods these guys are doing? My searches are turning up nothing for me.

[BrianAbington]

also in your opinions, my external HD is connected to my router by ethernet.

I am starting to download more high rez music recently. to preserve SQ would I be better off keeping the HD setup like that and connecting by firewire to an spdif converter for audio output...or should I change to a firewire HD and use USB to spdif?

[wilsynet]

Mac Mini modifications are likely one of the last things I'd do.  More bang for buck from speakers, amplifier, preamp, source.  I'd do all of this before a transport mod.

If you're rebuilding the audio system, what's the total system budget?  If you've already got components picked out, what are they?

[clearlight]

Brian, the mods I was referring to can be done by Darrell, the first poster to respond. Go to mach2music.com. About the order of upgrading, I misspoke and should have added ...at some point...I wouldn't myself do these mods before upgrading speakers and adding an amp/preamp, which is what you indicated you were going to do anyway first off. From the SQ improvements I've heard doing the free mac mini mods, which Darrell mentioned once is only about 10% of what is possible compared to the revised code he writes, the MM can become a top notch source for it's relatively small $$ investment.

see some MM mods here:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=74816.msg810025#msg810025

note that spotlight can be disabled completely with the shareware program called spotless, it apparently runs in the background otherwise.

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/18141/spotless

The k64 Enabler program

http://timesoftware.free.fr/k64enabler/

can also be run for 64 bit capable mini's.

Also look at these tweaks under the free optimization guide link:

http://www.ultrafi.biz/

[BrianAbington]

Honestly I am not set on a budget yet. It is going to be one of those things where I will find all the components I want to set my heart on and start saving money to reach the price point I need to aquire them.

I'm not going to have a Mark Levinson sort of budget. I just don't want to settle for garbage.

[wilsynet]

The Empirical Audio Off Ramp 4 is an excellent piece of gear.  Makes good DACs sound terrific and terrific DACs sound sublime.  But it's somewhere north of $800.  If you're going to pair it with an HT receiver then it's somewhat of a waste of money.  Like putting Pirellis on a minivan.

I'd recommend you resolve speakers, amplifier and preamp first.  The source and whether you use HDMI or USB or FireWire, that's much less important than those other three.