Regarding which mini, not sure that it really matters. I've seen folk that say the older ones (with the drive and Snow Leopard) can be better for audio, but don't recall why or really believe it. If I were starting from scratch, might also consider a Mach 2 Mini conversion. (Google mach2music). They do stripped down and modified Minis for music servers. No experience, but look intriguing. Ultimately, a big premium for stuff you could do yourself, (but it's a pile of stuff I likely won't be bothered to pull off myself....)
I use a FireWire 800 drive on the mini in the rack with all of the lossless and high def rips on it. Took a while to find one that worked there -- ie, quiet enough to have in the rack -- but ended up with the Oyen Digital Datatale PAIR portable RAID. It's configured as a 1tb redundant RAID and it's wonderful (dead silent, damn sexy tech). Also keep a 2tb minimax under the airport extreme (in another room, the drive was way too loud to keep with the system) for backup purposes. Takes about 35 hours to backup 1/2tb to the wireless drive, which is fine, but also convinced me that streaming lossless/high def for playback might not be ideal. It will work in a pinch, but can be a little glitchy and far less than ideal. (Actually have three iTunes libraries in the house, on three separate computers, two of which are lossey AAC only. Each can see and stream from any of the others wirelessly (2 Mac, one PC), which is convenient for playlists and casual listening, but wouldn't use anything other than the hardwired drive and lossless material when I care what I'm listening to.).
Finally, before you spring for a fidgety (and pricey) PITA like PM or Amarra, check out bitperfect. There's a long thread on it over at Computer Audiophile. $5, automatic bitrate switching for highdef material, and a seamless overlay for iTunes. For years, I refused to spend hundreds, or thousands, on a clunky, overwrought iTunes proxy, when all I wanted was simple, transparent functionality, automatic format switching, and some dedicated device hogging for optimum playback. Apparently, the author felt the same way, and wrote it. Worth a consider. Hope you enjoy the Ayre as much as I do. Cheers.
I use a FireWire 800 drive on the mini in the rack with all of the lossless and high def rips on it. Took a while to find one that worked there -- ie, quiet enough to have in the rack -- but ended up with the Oyen Digital Datatale PAIR portable RAID. It's configured as a 1tb redundant RAID and it's wonderful (dead silent, damn sexy tech). Also keep a 2tb minimax under the airport extreme (in another room, the drive was way too loud to keep with the system) for backup purposes. Takes about 35 hours to backup 1/2tb to the wireless drive, which is fine, but also convinced me that streaming lossless/high def for playback might not be ideal. It will work in a pinch, but can be a little glitchy and far less than ideal. (Actually have three iTunes libraries in the house, on three separate computers, two of which are lossey AAC only. Each can see and stream from any of the others wirelessly (2 Mac, one PC), which is convenient for playlists and casual listening, but wouldn't use anything other than the hardwired drive and lossless material when I care what I'm listening to.).
Finally, before you spring for a fidgety (and pricey) PITA like PM or Amarra, check out bitperfect. There's a long thread on it over at Computer Audiophile. $5, automatic bitrate switching for highdef material, and a seamless overlay for iTunes. For years, I refused to spend hundreds, or thousands, on a clunky, overwrought iTunes proxy, when all I wanted was simple, transparent functionality, automatic format switching, and some dedicated device hogging for optimum playback. Apparently, the author felt the same way, and wrote it. Worth a consider. Hope you enjoy the Ayre as much as I do. Cheers.