[ebag4]

Hi Guys,
I will be receiving a 2011 (2.3GHz i5) Mac Mini this week (I asked for the gentelman to put ML on it instead of Maverick, don't know for certain which OS will be on it).  I have been using the excellent Linux solution on an Alix single board PC (Thanks Nick, NYCParamedic) for a few years now and decided to upgrade so that I can feed DSD files to a Geek Dac that should be arriving this month.  I have been reading what I can find, to date this is the direction I think I will go:

I found a optimization script on Computer Audiophile built by a company called CAD that I thought I would run

I will likely replace the HDD with a Solid State Unit

I have already ordered 8G of Crucial Ram

I think I would like to try Battery battery power (I already have a 12VDC Optima Yellow Top battery and a CTek Charger)

I want to run headless, I am considering JRiver and J-remote, open to recommendations


That is where I am at today but would greatly appreciate any recommendations to get me off to a good start.

Best,
Ed

[JohnR]

There are a stack of players available, try a few out. I find Audirvana+ simple to use, Pure Music if more features are needed. Personally I haven't been able to get my head around JRiver yet. Don't forget the most important thing: have some fun with it

[jparkhur]

Sounds like your are set to go.  Things I have found out, take them for what they are worth to you and your situation.

Battery powered mac is a great upgrade to sound.  I have to turn my mac's back in frequently and have only been able to use one at home with an upgraded power cord.

Invest in a dual head usb cable, I have found most to be much better separating power and data

I like SS drives for things used a lot, but have never found one big enough for my music.  Depending on where you are at on music size, you may want to invest in an external 4 TB or so.  I have two drives, one for music and videos and one that backs it up incase the bad angles get it...I have noticed that firewire or lightning is somewhat different sounding... I can't explain it..

Both my hard drives run on battery too, Dave at Pi Audio sent me some cords for it.  Its nice when the power goes out and everything still runs.

I have used Audirvana regular, Pure Music and J River.  I have heard good things about a new one coming from dB Audio Labs.. not out yet I think.  Audirvana was the easies for me to use straight from iTunes.  I like iTunes for its organization, and most of them family has i"stuff" to connect to it.  Pure Music was good and I liked J River the best after Trung got me to try it.  You don't need iTunes for J River, you just point it to where your music is and play.  It is a little more time consuming, but has given me the best sound for sit down sessions.  Lots of things in there I still don't know how to use.

I use a iPad or iPhone to the mac mini as a headless unit.  Works fine, but sometimes I like to see it on the big screen and bought a long hdmi cable for video.

JP

[ebag4]

Thanks John/Jon!

Have some fun with it, that is great advice John.  I sometimes get too wrapped up on getting to the finish line and forget to have fun working through it, again, great advice.

Jon,
Thanks for mentioning Dave, I definitely need to get in contact with him regarding the mini.

You know, the sad part is, I didn't make this purchase until after I sold my Tranquility SE, many would say I never heard it's full potential.  Oh well, that's the life of an audio enthusiast.

Best,
Ed