Mac mini v server

Mitch,

Glad you brought that up.

I neglected to mention that I use an Empirical Audio Short Block to knock out the power leg of the USB cable. It makes a difference.

Rhanson, my mini set-up is almost the same as yours except I run the USB cable into an ifi iUSBPower and then run the dual Gemini cable with only the power side going into a Metrum Hex DAC. The Hex powers its asynchronous USB input from its internal power supply, so I am able to completely isolate the power component of the USB cable from the DAC. I also use the ifi USB filter.

In addition to my reluctance to spend a bunch of money on a server that may be technologically outdated in a couple of years, especially for a debatable, marginal improvement in sound quality, another reason I continue to stick with a computer as my music server, for now, is the variety in available player choices and the ability to take advantage of improvements in player software that continue to occur.

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

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.)

Sorry wrong :/

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.

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.

Yes, the Antipodes is really fantastic, particularly the DX. The Totaldac Server is amazing also, and it does not care what file format you use with it. It also has a reclocker built in.

Its hard to beat the Antipodes. I have used it at shows. I use a Mac Mini at home, but it has a lot of tweaks and a $1K Hynes power supply. For compressed file, the Antipodes is better. For .wav, about the same with my Mini.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

I have a Mac Mini 2011 with 500GB SSD burned with all my favorite CD and Linear PSU. Itune and Amarra updates (free) make my system sound better each time.
I have reservations about the server ($2K +) concept. Large financial outlay, minimal flexibility. It may sound great TODAY, but there is tomorrow. Digital is progressing at the blink of an eye.