[JohnR]

Greg, I'm just wondering if you have iTunes set to use the external library at all. If not, quit iTunes, then hold down the option key and open iTunes again. You'll get this:



Then select Choose Library and navigate to the library on the external drive.

Let us know how you go!

[applesource]

Yes I have 640gb on macmini and am getting close to filling it. I have deleted perhaps 50 less played albums from the macmini but they are preserved on the ministack.
At present the Mini Stack has a 750gb drive but I have a spare 1tb external harddrive.
As the macmini is used only for music I thought i would get rid of anything not required and  play music from an external drive. My understanding was that was the best setup for getting improved SQ playback?
I will follow your guide and copy the music folder on the mini stack to the spare hard disk, take out the 750gb drive  and put the 1gb drive in the ministack.

If i chose the ministack itunes library to play music instead of the macmini, would i need to have a copy of audirvana plus in there also?

[Chipbyrd]

Hello JohjR

This article is an excellent idea.  I actually knew a good bit of the information, but this is about all I know.  I hope you will continue writing (and find a way to market what you are doing). There must be others like me who are audiophile hobbyists and want to make the move into digital audio.  I have a reasonable knowledge of computers, however, I have always used PC's and now have a Mac mini.  I definitely think that something like "Computer and Digital Audio for Dummies" would be well received.  Anyway... A hardy thanks.

[JohnR]

Thanks, Chipbyrd, for the encouragement

My understanding was that was the best setup for getting improved SQ playback?

I haven't gotten my system to this point yet, but the recommendation by Oliver Masciarotte in his book (and I have read it elsewhere also) is to put an SSD in the computer, and use an external drive for the music, preferably RAID. My understanding is that this minimizes load on the power supply. It's one of those things that really "shouldn't" make much of a difference, but....

If you're interested, here's the link to the book:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/oa-masciarotte/to-serve-groove-a-comprehensive-compendium-of-numerically-disposed-mellifluous-servitude/ebook/product-20251949.html

or

http://www.lulu.com/shop/oa-masciarotte/to-serve-groove-a-comprehensive-compendium-of-numerically-disposed-mellifluous-servitude/paperback/product-20219985.html

My review of it:

http://www.hifizine.com/2012/06/to-serve-and-groove-oliver-masciarotte/

If i chose the ministack itunes library to play music instead of the macmini, would i need to have a copy of audirvana plus in there also?

No, I would think just leave Audirvana in the Applications folder on the internal drive.

[gregfisk]

Thanks’ JohnR, I did have my media folder set up this way but I didn't know how to point to different libraries. I will give this a try and test a song as you suggest.

Now I am getting exited!

[applesource]

John R, Thank you for your assistance. Have the new library setup and working,
Will look into SSD for internal drive.

[gregfisk]

JohnR,
After not remembering and then not seeing an (option) button on my keyboard, I asked my friend Google and was able to follow your instructions. Did I say I’m not a Mac user?
Anyway, thanks to you my Mac mini is now loading to and playing from my external hard drive. Now the only thing I need to figure out is how to get my other external hard drive to back up the one I load music onto. I read something about time machine but it looks like it backs up the entire computer and not just the music. Maybe that’s not a big deal, any thoughts on this?
Thanks’ again!
Greg

[applesource]

John R, Well the Mini Stack 2.5 as a back up is fine, but it is way too noisy to use as the source for my music. My daughter said I should just make a playlist and put it on a 64 gb usb stick. Would a USB stick be ok for good playback? My music is AIFF so I think I should get up to 90 albums on one.

[JohnR]

Now the only thing I need to figure out is how to get my other external hard drive to back up the one I load music onto. I read something about time machine but it looks like it backs up the entire computer and not just the music. Maybe that’s not a big deal, any thoughts on this?

Greg, glad I could help. It is possible to set Time Machine to "exclude" specific directories. So I expect you could set it to exclude your internal drive, although I have not tried it myself.

[JohnR]

John R, Well the Mini Stack 2.5 as a back up is fine, but it is way too noisy to use as the source for my music. My daughter said I should just make a playlist and put it on a 64 gb usb stick. Would a USB stick be ok for good playback? My music is AIFF so I think I should get up to 90 albums on one.

Yes, that is a problem with desktop drives in general, and one reason why I am still using the internal drive. However, I don't think a 64 GB USB stick would be a great idea, or not at least with iTunes, as iTunes maintains a separate file that indexes the entire contents of the library. In effect, you would end up having to build up some number of independent libraries.

Another option would be to use a player that allows you to play files directly by selecting them from the file system. IIRC Fidelia and Decibel will do this, and probably others. In that case you could select the files from the 64G stick.

I just bought a portable USB/Firewire drive to try, to see if it's quieter, but haven't received it yet.

If you're not running out of space, I guess my thought is that the simple approach is to stick with the internal drive for a while as SSDs will become larger and cheaper quite quickly I expect.

[Andre2]

It works!  And it works well  , sounds fantastic!

I got my daughter a MacBook Pro 13-inches for her 17th birthday last year, 4Gb memory, 2.7 GHz Intel i7.  And... today I borrowed it, followed John instructions (plus downloaded the eastern electric minimax dac plus file drivers - ee site say drivers are for snow leopard, but it works on OS X Lion 10.7.2 fine) and IT WORKS!

Now I have an Apple mac music server as well.  All that I can tell to beginners, such as I am/was, don't be intimidated (like I think I was) to try a computer as music server.  It is very convenient and the sound quality is really good.  I can't distinguish a difference from my CDplayer.

 
   

[applesource]

JR said "Another option would be to use a player that allows you to play files directly by selecting them from the file system. IIRC Fidelia and Decibel will do this, and probably others. In that case you could select the files from the 64G stick."

That's what I was thinking of doing with Audirvana Plus. Had a try on a 1gb stick and it played onto A+ in memory mode. Just double clicked on the first song and it played the entire album. Didn't hear any difference from internal drive but if its going to ram memory,(6 of 8gb allocated to A+) then I suppose logically it would sound the same?

[JohnR]

It works!  And it works well  , sounds fantastic!

Excellent  But won't your daughter want her MacBook back?

[JohnR]

That's what I was thinking of doing with Audirvana Plus. Had a try on a 1gb stick and it played onto A+ in memory mode. Just double clicked on the first song and it played the entire album. Didn't hear any difference from internal drive but if its going to ram memory,(6 of 8gb allocated to A+) then I suppose logically it would sound the same?

Hm, I never tried that. I'm not having the same effect, unless I already have itunes running on the same library. However, this is something I've never experimented with, so if it's working for you, great

Audirvana loads the whole track into memory when it starts, so other than the first few seconds, there should be no difference, that I would anticipate anyway...

[shortcuttomoncton]

Has anyone by chance used the something like the Rii Touch remotes http://riiminikeyboards.com/ or the Mobile Mouse application http://mobilemouse.com/ to control their headless Mac mini?

For me, that's the worst part - using the Mac mini as a music and entertainment server would mean having it hooked to the TV.  The operating system is designed to be used with a keyboard and mouse, though.  If it could be controlled without a keyboard and/or mouse, it would be great.

[JohnR]

Has anyone by chance used the something like the Rii Touch remotes http://riiminikeyboards.com/ or the Mobile Mouse application http://mobilemouse.com/ to control their headless Mac mini?

For me, that's the worst part - using the Mac mini as a music and entertainment server would mean having it hooked to the TV.  The operating system is designed to be used with a keyboard and mouse, though.  If it could be controlled without a keyboard and/or mouse, it would be great.

Hi shortcut, I'm not sure what these would provide over a regular Bluetooth keyboard and mouse? The range of Bluetooth is larger than I would have thought, I had problems with a BT keyboard connecting to the mini from several rooms away. after I forgot to unpair it.

I think that a small (inexpensive) tablet would be the ideal way to control a mini music server. This is just emerging now.

[shortcuttomoncton]

Well, the advantage is that they aren't a bluetooth keyboard and mouse.  My audio system is also my home theatre system; ideally, I could play movies, music, etc. all via my computer being used with TV output.

However, as it stands, yes, one would need a keyboard and mouse and would have to "operate" the computer from their couch.  And that's incredibly annoying - no one wants to have to have that on their lap in order to play a song, for example.  Let alone the annoyance of having a keyboard and mouse scattered all over the room.  Ideally, I'd want a simple remote so I can easily control the thing with one hand while sitting on the couch with a beer in my other hand. 

[JohnR]

Well, there's the Remote app for iphones, ipod touch and ipad. http://www.apple.com/itunes/remote/

There are also similar things for Android. e.g. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=hyperfine.hftunes.release&hl=en

Is that the kind of thing you had in mind?

[JLM]

I really wish someone would do a "lite" version of Mach2 mods for the mini (no SSD to save $$) with options to set up iPad/iTouch applications and the matching Apple super drive for ripping.     Whatever happened to those guys, I thought it was a great idea.   

Olive is on the right track (ripping service, all in one, streaming included, built in CDP/display), but don't like the propriatary files or the high prices (plus I rather use my own DAC).   

[Andre2]

Excellent  But won't your daughter want her MacBook back?

I did.    So... today I went to best buy to get an hp laptop, on sale for about $800.

and this is what I ended up with:



which is a 27-inch mac 
forget the pc, i'm a mac guy now! 
I have it already setup and it is playing some dave brubeck quartet nicely!!!