[DigitallyChallenged]

Regarding hacking the Mac Mini to boot the 64-bit kernel:

I gave it a try. The instructions to change the efi file worked fine. The instructions to edit the plist file were wrong and overly complicated. Apple provides a much easier command line entry to do it: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3773

I wouldn't recommend doing it at all, however. I booted into 64-bit mode (confirmed in System Profiler), and the sound quality was worse. The highs were a bit rougher, and things were not as rich and musical. It certainly didn't improve anything.

So I checked the Applications list, and iTunes is a 32-bit application. Booting into 64-bit certainly isn't freeing iTunes to do anything better. The other system components are a mix of 32 and 64 bit, but it doesn't seem to help the sound quality to have them running under the 64 bit kernel.

Your mileage may vary, but I would avoid it. All my files are in AIFF format, so iTunes is doing very little work to get them out the door to my Tranquility DAC as it is.

I have found this application to be the easiest to use in switching kernels, no command line knowledge required:
http://timesoftware.free.fr/k64enabler/

[mamba315]

It doesn't look like anyone answered your question about tweaking your MacBook.

1. Shut off Spotlight indexing by removing the check in the box from every category that Spotlight can index (this is in System Preferences, the Spotlight options). This prevents Spotlight from running in the background.
2. Connect your music hard drive to the Mac by FireWire, preferably using a 2.5" drive in a drive enclosure that draws power from the FireWire port, not using a wall-wart.
3. Quoting from Eric Hider on this one:

"Turn your Dashboard off:

Open the utility program called "Terminal" (in Applications)

Type EXACTLY as written below (all spaces included, EXACTLY as written caps, spaces, dots and dashes !!!)
 defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES
Hit your enter key

Now type in the next command EXACTLY as written "D"  in the word dock is CAPITALIZED
 killall Dock
Hit your enter -

Note: Your dashboard will now no longer open on your front desktop page.... and be constantly using your memory "

4. Again, quoting from Eric:

"Turn your journaling off -
Open "Disk Utility" (located in Applications/Utilities).
Highlight the name Macintosh HD on the left side of choices
To disable journaling, press Option key on keyboard, WHILE HOLDING ON TO the OPTION key - select disable journaling from the top of your screen on the file menu."

5. In System Profiler, check what devices are shared on the port that the Tranquility DAC is connected to. Try to get it onto a USB port by itself. The best I can do is get it to share a port with the IR receiver (which I don't use).

Those are the tweaks that I've used to the benefit of my system.

Happy listening. 

Oh my gosh, thank you for posting these 5 steps.  Just performed steps 1, 3, and 4 (2 and 5 already done previously) and I'm amazed at the difference.  My music has never sounded so focused and clear.  Cost = $0!  How did I never see these instructions anywhere before?

For reference, I have Mac Mini (OS 10.6) -- Tranquility DAC -- Virtue Sensation M901 -- Gallo Stradas

I thought it was already pretty good but this was a nice bump up for a couple minutes of work.

[Bigfish]

Eric guided me through the Mac Mini optimizing process when I first obtained the Tranquility and therefore I never experienced the differences the changes made to the sound.  I don't know if you have taken the step but another one of Eric's recommendations is to replace the stock hard drive with a SS drive. 

I would add that my latest upgrade, replacing the stock brick power supply with a Bolder linear power supply made a very noticable improvement. 

Ken

[mamba315]

I would add that my latest upgrade, replacing the stock brick power supply with a Bolder linear power supply made a very noticable improvement. 

Ken

There's that option, and also Eric's power cable for the Mini.  He seems to think it'll make an even bigger difference than a better supply.  Shootout?!

Or scrap it all and go for the small silent streaming solid state Linux server, powered by batteries.

[genjamon]

For what it's worth, I've been using an early generation Asus EEEpc with solid state hard drive running a netbook version of linux for quite some time.  Energy efficient and battery operable, yes.  Am I certain it's better than the Mac Mini options?  No.  Is linux a pain in the royal ars?  Absolutely.  I want to use it for connectivity for streaming online video, and the netbook multimedia capabilities are really bad.  Furthermore, the compatibility for output to my HDTV is piss poor.  Finally, Netflix streaming doesn't support linux at all, so that's completely out.  I'm pretty much fed up and ready to bite the bullet on a Mac Mini to give that a try.  Probably will use the Asus as a remote for the Mini from my listening position. 

Maybe someone else has done a comparison on audio quality.  If not, and if I ever get around to trying the Mini, I'll try to post my findings.

~Ben

[TRADERXFAN]

For what it's worth, I've been using an early generation Asus EEEpc with solid state hard drive running a netbook version of linux for quite some time.  Energy efficient and battery operable, yes.  Am I certain it's better than the Mac Mini options?  No.  Is linux a pain in the royal ars?  Absolutely.  I want to use it for connectivity for streaming online video, and the netbook multimedia capabilities are really bad.  Furthermore, the compatibility for output to my HDTV is piss poor.  Finally, Netflix streaming doesn't support linux at all, so that's completely out.  I'm pretty much fed up and ready to bite the bullet on a Mac Mini to give that a try.  Probably will use the Asus as a remote for the Mini from my listening position. 

Maybe someone else has done a comparison on audio quality.  If not, and if I ever get around to trying the Mini, I'll try to post my findings.

~Ben

What application on a Linux os plays music files? what kind of files?
I have an asus as well, and could do a comparison to a mini, if I knew how to set it up for oranges to oranges comparison (didn't want to use apples to apples phrase on this one) of the file type.

-Tony

[jrebman]

Tony,

See this thread:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=62364.0

The key to this setup is that it uses a single board computer that has no keyboard, video or HDD runs Voyage linux (a stripped down version of debian) and uses only 3 watts of power.  It only has usb ports and ethernet ports.

-- Jim

[mamba315]

Tony,

See this thread:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=62364.0

Thats the Linux setup I had in mind.  Could be powered with the Red Wine Audio battery pack.  Ultimate transport??  In any case, I'd live to see a comparison between that and a fully tweaked Mac Mini.

[John Thomas]

It doesn't look like anyone answered your question about tweaking your MacBook.

1. Shut off Spotlight indexing by removing the check in the box from every category that Spotlight can index (this is in System Preferences, the Spotlight options). This prevents Spotlight from running in the background.
2. Connect your music hard drive to the Mac by FireWire, preferably using a 2.5" drive in a drive enclosure that draws power from the FireWire port, not using a wall-wart.
3. Quoting from Eric Hider on this one:

"Turn your Dashboard off:

Open the utility program called "Terminal" (in Applications)

Type EXACTLY as written below (all spaces included, EXACTLY as written caps, spaces, dots and dashes !!!)
 defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES
Hit your enter key

Now type in the next command EXACTLY as written "D"  in the word dock is CAPITALIZED
 killall Dock
Hit your enter -

Note: Your dashboard will now no longer open on your front desktop page.... and be constantly using your memory "

4. Again, quoting from Eric:

"Turn your journaling off -
Open "Disk Utility" (located in Applications/Utilities).
Highlight the name Macintosh HD on the left side of choices
To disable journaling, press Option key on keyboard, WHILE HOLDING ON TO the OPTION key - select disable journaling from the top of your screen on the file menu."

5. In System Profiler, check what devices are shared on the port that the Tranquility DAC is connected to. Try to get it onto a USB port by itself. The best I can do is get it to share a port with the IR receiver (which I don't use).

Those are the tweaks that I've used to the benefit of my system.

Happy listening. 

Oh, and I moved from a MacBook to a Mac Mini and it does make a noticeable difference (as long as you run the Mini without a monitor, mouse, or keyboard connected; just access it via Screen Sharing from another Mac after you  turn on Screen Sharing after initial setup)

And a further note: after I moved to the Mac Mini I installed a solid state drive in it. That also improved the sound. I got a small one (64Gb OCZ Vertex Turbo, for what it's worth). It's just runs a fresh install of Mac OS 10.6.4, so it only needs 20-30 Gb of space.

And I did not upgrade the memory beyond 2 Gb. I'm using AIFF files, so there's little work by the computer to unpack them (as there would be with Apple Lossless or FLAC--but this is getting into a debated area, so make what you will of that).

If you turn off the dashboard how are accessing itunes, sonos,safari etc?

[newzooreview]

If you turn off the dashboard how are accessing itunes, sonos,safari etc?

You might be confusing the dashboard with the dock. The dock is where the application icons live, and that isn't affected. The dashboard is a background process that's running in order to call up widgets when you press the relevant function key. Hope that addresses your question. 

[newzooreview]

Oh my gosh, thank you for posting these 5 steps.  Just performed steps 1, 3, and 4 (2 and 5 already done previously) and I'm amazed at the difference.  My music has never sounded so focused and clear.  Cost = $0!  How did I never see these instructions anywhere before?

For reference, I have Mac Mini (OS 10.6) -- Tranquility DAC -- Virtue Sensation M901 -- Gallo Stradas

I thought it was already pretty good but this was a nice bump up for a couple minutes of work.

I think most of them came from Eric Hider at dB Audio, although I had tried a couple on my own based on other posts or experimenting. I also turned off Bluetooth, and I made sure the Mac Mini was connected via Ethernet to my WiFi router and turned off the WiFi in the Mini. I did not do an A/B comparison on those changes. Gordon Rankin at Wavelength Audio is particularly critical of having WiFi transceivers anywhere near the DAC, so I just went ahead and shut down the Bluetooth and WiFi for good measure.

[truant]

My latest Tranquility tweaks...I've had my DAC for awhile now and short of a speaker upgrade I did not think I would significantly improve on the current sound.  Last week I purchased some TerraStone footers from EdenSound for my amp.  They do have a positive effect supporting my LFD integrated but not as profound as when placing them beneath the Tranquility where a whole new level of transparency now exists. 
Has anyone else had good experiences with footers and their Tranquility?
 
Not directly related to the DAC but I also recently replaced my Porter Port outlet (which has been my reference for a number of years) with a Maestro from Fernando Cruz and have to say that it is now my new standard.  As many have noted the PP is a great outlet that allows so much more of the music to come through without boosting or unduly shaping any part of the musical spectrum.  The Maestro seems to do just that but to a greater extent than the PP.

[dBe]

My latest Tranquility tweaks...I've had my DAC for awhile now and short of a speaker upgrade I did not think I would significantly improve on the current sound.  Last week I purchased some TerraStone footers from EdenSound for my amp.  They do have a positive effect supporting my LFD integrated but not as profound as when placing them beneath the Tranquility where a whole new level of transparency now exists. 
Has anyone else had good experiences with footers and their Tranquility?
 
Not directly related to the DAC but I also recently replaced my Porter Port outlet (which has been my reference for a number of years) with a Maestro from Fernando Cruz and have to say that it is now my new standard.  As many have noted the PP is a great outlet that allows so much more of the music to come through without boosting or unduly shaping any part of the musical spectrum.  The Maestro seems to do just that but to a greater extent than the PP.

I find it extremely interesting that power tweaks like the outlet swap that you did seem to have greater impact with digital sources than with analog.  Digital simply wants the cleanest power that it can get, methinks.

Dave

[jrebman]

As far as footers go, I tried a few different ones from the yamamoto ebony bases, to pulsar points, and others, and found that the Herbie's soft Tenderfeet were the magic solution for my setup, but that's on a very solid and heavy custom maple rack, so I can't gurantee the same thing will work for other substrates.

As far as an AC oiutlet, I'm using an Oyaide SWO-GX and a Element Signature Terminator PC, and the combination seems too good to beat on my gear -- lots of body and detail, tone is remarkable, dynamics equally so, and the soundstage enormous with this combination.

-- Jim

[badnugly]

There will also be an upcoming post on Audiogon of a direct comparison between our Tranquility DAC / Mini / Essential USB cable solution and the highly touted $15,000 Vitus CD player. 

hi. any update on this?

[arthurs]

Here’s the update on this.  Eric came by my place in April and we spent a couple of hours listening to his setup in my room in different variations he created with power cords, usb cables, etc.  We didn’t actually do a direct comparison with the Vitus player as you might interpret from how that was written, but rather we listened to one track on my Vitus and then hooked up the Tranquility and spent all our time listening to it.  If I’m going to do a direct comparison between two of anything audio, it would need to be over a longer period of time with an opportunity to listen in a variety of setups and take notes.  I didn’t do any of that, so writing something constituting a direct comparison with any detail about how the two components are alike or different is impossible for me in this instance.

I can say the following with certainty:
1 – Eric is a good guy and we had a great listening session
2 – The Tranquility setup he brought over sounded terrific, very organic and natural, so I can easily understand all that’s been written about it.  It was also quite responsive to different cables and things Eric showed me by swapping them around.
3 – I still own the Vitus and plan to for some time into the future.

I recall telling Eric a $4K setup like that had no business throwing stones at a $20K player like the Vitus but his setup did.  That said, after plugging the Vitus back in I had no desire to sell it and get a Tranquility setup.  Why?  What do I prefer about the Vitus versus the Tranquility?  Can’t answer those questions for you, I can only tell you I really like my player and continue to enjoy it.

If you’re in the market for a digital setup like Eric offers, I would strongly suggest you listen to the db Audio Labs offering, it’s excellent and he seems like a really good guy to me.

Sorry to disappoint. But I never had the data needed to do a direct comparison based on a couple of hours of listening.

[bluemike]

Nice post Art
I'm sure for the Money the Tranquility dac is a home run
Eric is a great guy to deal with

Cheers
Pat

[Eric5676]

I'd be a fool to not have this on my short list.

I think the only think stopping me is I sorely wish it had at least a couple of other digital inputs on it besides just the USB because that's what I need.

And how big of a deal is it, really, that it doesn't have balanced XLR outs on it?

It's clearly a beast at a great price point no matter what.

[ebag4]

I understand that Eric Hider recommends and gives great support to those using a Mac Mini with his Tranquility DAC.  My question is why wouldn't a Linux solution as discussed in this thread by NYC Paramedic be a better solution than the Mac?:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=62364.0

From everything I have read the tweaking of the Mac Mini is essentially removing all possible processes not directly involved with audio playback and killing the mechanical noise of HDDs by replaceing the spinning disc with a SSD unit.  Nick's (NYC Paramedic) Linux solution has nearly zero overhead and that includes the total lack of video and drive management since he is porting the music over the network.

I would appreciate any light that could be shed on the subject.

Best,
Ed

edit:  I should have read the earlier posts in this thread, I see that the subject has already come up.  I would still like to read Eric's take on this. 

[bhobba]

I understand that Eric Hider recommends and gives great support to those using a Mac Mini with his Tranquility DAC.  My question is why wouldn't a Linux solution as discussed in this thread by NYC Paramedic be a better solution than the Mac?: From everything I have read the tweaking of the Mac Mini is essentially removing all possible processes not directly involved with audio playback and killing the mechanical noise of HDDs by replaceing the spinning disc with a SSD unit.  Nick's (NYC Paramedic) Linux solution has nearly zero overhead and that includes the total lack of video and drive management since he is porting the music over the network. I would appreciate any light that could be shed on the subject.

Its got to do with the hardware in the mini.  Pollution from switching supplies, hash from the video display in notebooks etc can make its way into the dac and double blind listening tests showed it caused problems.  The mini is built from a single block of aluminium which shields the dac. It has no built in display.  That is just two reasons - others exist.  There is no reason better hardware can not be built but that would not be readily available.  To make things easy it is simpler to just recommend the mini.

Thanks
Bill