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Advice on best upgrade path for a Mac Mini setup

Hi all,

My beloved PWT transport was shipped out for service last week, so in the mean time I decided to experiment with the Mac Mini which usually resides in my 2nd system. It was no surprise that it doesn't even come close to the PWT, but it sounds OK, and now i'm curious as of what I can achieve with it without spending another $2K.

It's a stock Mac Mini about 2 years old with an SSD drive.
I'm using it to stream TIDAL Hi-Fi.
I have it hooked up to a Schiit Wyrd USB re-generator via a Pangea silver USB 2 cable, which in turn is feeding my DSD via a WireWorld Starlight 7 USB 2 cable.
My thinking was that the Mac-to-Schiit path will be less critical in terms of cables, as it gets regenerated anyway, but I'm open to listen and learn...
That "Wyrd Schiit" re-generator did make quite a noticeable positive impact when I hooked it up in my 2nd system.

My question is - what will be the best bang-for-the-buck upgrades? 

I guess the switching power supply is a weak link so I looked at Mojo Audio stuff and those prices seem unreasonable - they want more for their power supply than what I paid for my PWT (including its superb power supply).
Any other recommended power supply upgrade kits?
I'm good with DIY and can probably do the upgrade myself.

Perhaps go with much better cables? Better isolation? Better re-generator?
What did you guys try that proved to really do the "magic" for similar setups?
Perhaps it is a 'losing battle' and it will never sound nearly as good as my PWT without spending $2K in upgrades?

Thanks for your advice!

Ami

128x128ami
59 responses Add your response
ghosthouse's avatar
ghosthouse
4,306 posts
 
Folks - is there a sub-$1000 option for NON-computer based playback of ripped CDs from hard drive? Stuff like Antipodes and Aurender are way more $ than I’m prepared to spend. Thanks. Hoping this might be of interest to the OP too.

Working on saving my CDs to hard drive. Have 400 of ’em there so far. Playback via ALAC/iTunes/BitPerfect from MacBook Air (USB>>Musical Fidelity V-Link 192>>SPDIF>>Schiit Gungnir>>Amp) sounds darn good now. Curious what "better" lower cost options there might be.

I'm looking at the microRendu site but not sure this will do what I'm asking about.  

Thanks in advance.
dbtom2
382 posts
 
@erik_squires 

LOL I had already thought of that. 

erik_squires
16,056 posts
 
Well, you could always cobble together a motorcycle battery and DC to AC inverter to power your Mini off-grid. I think it would probably last at least half an hour. :) However since most inverters buzz mechanically while working.... maybe not. :)

Best,

Erik
dbtom2
382 posts
 
@erik_squires 

Darn. Thought I'd be able to do a cheap investigation. Thanks for replying.
T.
erik_squires
16,056 posts
 
@dbtom2

Whoops! My bad.  I was thinking "macbook air"

Wrong advice. If running in the same room, I'd put it on a separate surge protector, or separate bank of protectors if available.

Best,

Erik
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,378 posts
 
Agree that microRendu is incredible and only $650 + choice of power supple; it can stream Tidal, but you will want a NAS to store your own library. You won't need the mac at all unless you choose to use it for running HQ Player or similar to do DSD upsampling and/or EQ. Read the online reviews, especially Connaker's. It's a real Swiss Army knife! Cheers,
Spencer
dbtom2
382 posts
 
@erik_squires 

I have a Mac Mini. It has a 120v input.

How would I run it on battery power? (To investigate the same thing: see if there's a benefit to isolation.)
erik_squires
16,056 posts
 
Schiit has some of the best understanding of reclocking and regenerating of a signal on the market.

To follow up on @dbtom2 's idea, You might also try the PS Audio LAN Rover.

A quick test to see if you could benefit from power isolation is to run the Mini on battery power and see if you hear a difference.

Best,

Erik
dbtom2
382 posts
 
Perhaps moving the MacMini to a different location and using something like the Sonore Microrendu (or DIY equivalent) to provide noise (audible and electrical) isolation?

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