[kenreau]

I'm looking for advice on how best to approach integrating an Apple based iTunes music server into my multi-purpose 2-channel music and HT room. I'm about 3 weeks into the transition from MS PC world to Apple world and not quite sure how to integrate what I have in mind.

My ultimate goal is to be able to play back hi-res (via Amarra, Channel D or similar) audio files using my mac mini and use my HT TV monitor as the iTunes gui, possibly using an Apple TV if needed. Controlling iTunes could be by my iTouch, iPhone or eventually iPad.

One logistics issue is my mac mini currently resides in my home office where the internet service modem and wifi router is, about 50' from the HT/Audio listening room. I do have 2 ethernet cables currently connecting the two rooms (one for my Sony PS3 and the other my former Modwright Transporter.) I have an Apple TV available (not yet hooked up) that I had intended to use as a family/user friendly interface for iTunes, viewing photos, surfing, etc. to the TV monitor. 

My audio files are currently on an outboard Seagate 1TB usb hard drive next to the mac mini. The mac mini is a 2009 Intel core 2 duo with an 80GB SSD & 4GB RAM. Eventually I will get to a formal NAS set up once I sort out this system architecture.

I've read that the AppleTV will want to sync with the main iTunes library and replicate its files.  With +/- 1TB of audio files, this is not an option.  I've read there is a software hack to work around this and just have it reference the same Seagate 1TB USB drive library, or similar work arounds.

A concern was recently learning that the Apple TV will only pass Redbook resolution files. Would the Amarra or Pure Music software eliminate this Redbook bottleneck as well?  The Apple TV does have USB and Toslink ports which I imagine I can just connect to my DAC (it accepts USB, Toslink, AES and SPDIF) if there is no sacrifice to sound quality.  If I was to use the Apple TV module, are there known issues with additional Video/RFI / high jitter interference to audio signals?  Would a USB>SPDIF interface (ie Halide/Hiface/Sonicweld Diverter) rectify this issue?

What is the most efficient way to do this and maintain & play back the purest audiophile music files?

Another twist, if at all possible, is I would like to keep an independent iTunes functioning at my home office computer location at the same time iTunes is being used in the music/HT room.

This makes me wonder if the best solution is to possibly add a second dedicated music server only mac mini in the listening room next to the DAC and just run the video output to the TV monitor?

Thanks
Kenreau

[rnxrx]

I've set up something in the same vein.  I have a Mini as the primary media server in my system.  It actually mounts a network drive (via NFS, not SMB/CIFS) from a very beefy Linux server in my basement.  The server in question has hardware RAID and I have 8 500G drives set up in a RAID-6 configuration - meaning that any two drives can fail and the data will continue to be fine. 

Some folks may take issue with using a network share in the context of high end audio, but the network in question is hard-wired and all GE and there have been sufficient optimizations performed that the performance I'm seeing outstrips any of my USB or FireWire attached devices.  The system allows me to have tons of extremely reliable storage while keeping (additional) noisy hard drives out of my living (and listening) space.  All of my audio files are lossless and I'm happy to say the sound quality has been excellent.

There's a feature that appeared in recent versions of iTunes to allow for the sharing of music within your local network.  Other Macs can connect over the network to the main server and play its files.  I've set up several clients - my AppleTV and another instance of OS X running as a VM.  This allows me to use the VM to play files over an Airtunes unit in my office while also using iTunes on the Mini to play music in the primary system *and* playing music through the AppleTV in my bedroom ... all from the same library. 

There is also an open source application called mt-daapd that can take a directory of music files of various formats and present them via Rendezvous to provide a similar result. 

Good luck!

[roj37]

thank

[Atlplasma]

I'm looking for advice on how best to approach integrating an Apple based iTunes music server into my multi-purpose 2-channel music and HT room. I'm about 3 weeks into the transition from MS PC world to Apple world and not quite sure how to integrate what I have in mind.

My ultimate goal is to be able to play back hi-res (via Amarra, Channel D or similar) audio files using my mac mini and use my HT TV monitor as the iTunes gui, possibly using an Apple TV if needed. Controlling iTunes could be by my iTouch, iPhone or eventually iPad.

One logistics issue is my mac mini currently resides in my home office where the internet service modem and wifi router is, about 50' from the HT/Audio listening room. I do have 2 ethernet cables currently connecting the two rooms (one for my Sony PS3 and the other my former Modwright Transporter.) I have an Apple TV available (not yet hooked up) that I had intended to use as a family/user friendly interface for iTunes, viewing photos, surfing, etc. to the TV monitor. 

My audio files are currently on an outboard Seagate 1TB usb hard drive next to the mac mini. The mac mini is a 2009 Intel core 2 duo with an 80GB SSD & 4GB RAM. Eventually I will get to a formal NAS set up once I sort out this system architecture.

I've read that the AppleTV will want to sync with the main iTunes library and replicate its files.  With +/- 1TB of audio files, this is not an option.  I've read there is a software hack to work around this and just have it reference the same Seagate 1TB USB drive library, or similar work arounds.

A concern was recently learning that the Apple TV will only pass Redbook resolution files. Would the Amarra or Pure Music software eliminate this Redbook bottleneck as well?  The Apple TV does have USB and Toslink ports which I imagine I can just connect to my DAC (it accepts USB, Toslink, AES and SPDIF) if there is no sacrifice to sound quality.  If I was to use the Apple TV module, are there known issues with additional Video/RFI / high jitter interference to audio signals?  Would a USB>SPDIF interface (ie Halide/Hiface/Sonicweld Diverter) rectify this issue?

What is the most efficient way to do this and maintain & play back the purest audiophile music files?

Another twist, if at all possible, is I would like to keep an independent iTunes functioning at my home office computer location at the same time iTunes is being used in the music/HT room.

This makes me wonder if the best solution is to possibly add a second dedicated music server only mac mini in the listening room next to the DAC and just run the video output to the TV monitor?

Thanks
Kenreau

To play back high resolution tracks, you might consider Pure Music (http://www.channld.com/pure-music2.html). It's much more affordable than some of the other options and is fully compatible with iTunes.

[skunark]

I've read that the AppleTV will want to sync with the main iTunes library and replicate its files.  With +/- 1TB of audio files, this is not an option.  I've read there is a software hack to work around this and just have it reference the same Seagate 1TB USB drive library, or similar work arounds.

You don't need to sync the files to the Apple TV if you keep the computer and iTunes and running, the files will stream to the Apple TV.  But as with anything that streams there will might be CPU/network outages causing your music to skip a beat, it's rare but does happen.   

For family/friends the Apple TV interface works well enough that even the resistance (unfounded apple haters) can use it without a problem.  (If you are an ex-apple user then I'm cool with ya just I will agree to disagree with you )

And for hi-rez, you are right, Apple TV isn't at all useful, so moving the mac mini to that location is a viable option but there could still be limitations with the mac mini optical output or USB DACs, but I personally don't want a computer in the same room with my stereo.

So you said "former transporter"... What made it "former"?   There are a few dozen high-rez solutions coming to market soon so there will be more options eventually.  I have my sights set on a few, but I can wait as I've only collected a few dozen high-rez albums.    Seems that my musical tastes hasn't hit the high-rez market yet. 

[omasciarotte]

One logistics issue is my mac mini currently resides in my home office where the internet service modem and wifi router is, about 50' from the HT/Audio listening room. I do have 2 ethernet cables currently connecting the two rooms (one for my Sony PS3 and the other my former Modwright Transporter.) I have an Apple TV available (not yet hooked up) that I had intended to use as a family/user friendly interface for iTunes, viewing photos, surfing, etc. to the TV monitor…

A concern was recently learning that the Apple TV will only pass Redbook resolution files. Would the Amarra or Pure Music software eliminate this Redbook bottleneck as well?  The Apple TV does have USB and Toslink ports which I imagine I can just connect to my DAC (it accepts USB, Toslink, AES and SPDIF) if there is no sacrifice to sound quality.  If I was to use the Apple TV module, are there known issues with additional Video/RFI / high jitter interference to audio signals?  Would a USB>SPDIF interface (ie Halide/Hiface/Sonicweld Diverter) rectify this issue?

What is the most efficient way to do this and maintain & play back the purest audiophile music files?

Another twist, if at all possible, is I would like to keep an independent iTunes functioning at my home office computer location at the same time iTunes is being used in the music/HT room.

This makes me wonder if the best solution is to possibly add a second dedicated music server only mac mini in the listening room next to the DAC and just run the video output to the TV monitor?

Hey Kenreau,

Since you want to keep an independent iTunes functioning at your home office computer location and, if your budget permits, adding that second Mac Mini as a dedicated music server in the listening room makes the most sense. Short cable runs, a dedicated Mac optimized for music serving, easy UI considerations all make for a much better configuration.

If your budget can't be stretched that far, you could leave all the gear as is, run AES/EBU out to your DAC and a “KVM” extender as well. You can run both over your existing UTP if you have suitable baluns for the AES/EBU, look up “utp video balun suppliers” in Google. AES/EBU has about the same bandwidth requirements as baseband video and, any impedance mismatches (75 vs. 110 ohm) shouldn't affect the eye pattern too much at the AES receiver.

I'd recommend staying away from the Apple TV as it does limit your sample rate to 44.1, not so great considering how much higher rez audio is now available.

[kenreau]

Thanks for all the input AC members. 

I elected to go with an additional separate mac mini dedicated as an audiophile music server and keep the apple tv for the family to watch photos on the tv and play background music.  I recently picked up a used 2009 used mac mini on craigslist and solved the sharing issues.

Kenreau