Mac mini v server

You might try the linear PSU and also an outboard AV HDD to store your tunes. Run the system and player from the SSD.

FWIW, Srajan Ebaen with the on-line review e-zine, 6moons, has reviewed a number of servers and concluded with this;

If Aurender's €15'000 W20 is representative of the best current servers—I don't know—it would seem to take a lot of engineering effort to improve just minorly upon a current quad-core Mac computer properly set up to do only music.

and, I don't believe Srajan's mini even has a linear PSU. I was pretty happy with a linear PSU and work performed by Mojo Audio.

Thanks for your response guys. As luck would have it a mate who knows nothing about computer audio has asked me to set up his brand new out of the box antipodes server. Will set up and give it a serious road test in the coming weeks and post my feedback. Mark Jenkins is a nice guy and knows his stuff so wouldn't really mind him proving me right.

Sorry wrong :/

I'm running a 201x (can't recall exactly) Mac Mini that was modified for a linear PSU by Mojo audio. It made a HUGE difference in quality of sound.

The PSU has a split cable; one fixed cable powers the Mini, the other removable cable powers a 4TB AV HDD. From there, a TA Premium USB cable feeds a PS Audio DirectStream DAC, and then TA ICs straight to the amp. I have used an Off Ramp from Empirical (great piece of kit), but the jury is out on whether the DirectStream really needs it.

The Mini has been fully optimized for music (easy), and runs nothing else except basic system functions and WiFi so that I can control it from any Mac or tablet in the house.

I chose this route at this time because, if one knows a bit about Macs and isn't intimidated by some basic tech setup, it's flexible and pretty reliable. I've had very few problems, and nothing major.

Digital is changing quickly. Who knows what will come up even in the next year or two? Having my library committed to a portable HDD, as well as the ability to change the brain, protects investment. A dedicated server will likely be more difficult to adapt, and I would think one would be beholden to the manufacturer to provide improvements and upgrades (although I admit I have little experience on that side.)

I have an ifi usb and wondered if you guys had compared this to a good quality linear psu?