MacBook Pro or Mac Mini as music server

Mac mini and a used or refurbished ipad. That combination should cost less than the Macbook Pro and will allow you to run the mac mini headless. Rowmote, itunes remote and Wyse PocketCloud VNC (free edition) will allow you to control everything you need on the Mac Mini.

I use pocket cloud on my iPad and droid to control my mac mini. Tried a few different vnc apps and the pocket cloud app seemed to be the best free one I tried.

Check out audirvana before purchasing pure music or amarra. More info can be found on computeraudiophile.com

I've never heard a Mach2 mini, but they apparently add some top secret adjustments to your computer for optimum sound quality in addition to the hardware mods. For a turn key product, go Mach2. If you like to tinker or save some money, build your own. If you still aren't happy, send it to Mach2 for their OS optimization.

If you are the diy type you can try installing your own ssd drive in the mac mini. It shouldn't take you more than an hour for your first time and there are some helpful guides on the web to walk you through it. I installed a 60gb OCZ vertex 2 and it is more than enough space for my OS, software and apps. 40gb should be fine too if this will only be used as a music server. Take your time and it is very easy to swap the hd. I use my oem 320gb hd in an external firewire enclosure for my music files.

The ram upgrade is as easy as it gets. Unscrew the bottom, remove oem ram, install new ram.

There are also some OSX optimization guides such as turning off spotlight, etc. etc.

If you need itunes integration, go with Pure music or Amarra for a player. I use Audirvana and prefer it to the other players I've tried. Audirvana seems to be getting better with each new update and it's a free open source player.

The SSD and extra memory do not make a night and day difference in sound quality. You can also drive yourself crazy trying to find the differences between the different players. I would agree that the components (speakers, dac, amps, cables) would make a larger difference than a solid state drive and more ram in a mac mini. Every little bit counts though if you're striving for better sound quality.

Rutgar, you can do the same with the Mac mini. I have 8gb of ram and an ssd in mine and it works great. You can do this yourself or have Apple do it if you're worried about warranty.

Rutgar, I don't think Apple offers a preconfigured mac mini with a 512 SSD option, but you can easily add your own or have an Apple approved tech do it for you. I can assure you it would be much less expensive then buying a mac mini preconfigured with an SSD. You may be able to ask the Apple store to instal the oem 512gb SSD and maintain the warranty, but it would be ridiculously expensive.

I installed my 64gb SSD and it is working great. The SSD is for the operating system and apps only. I use the oem 320GB hard drive in a bus powered firewire enclosure for my music files. The music player (Audirvana) loads songs into memory before playing them, so I don't need a large capacity SSD for my music files. This is much more cost effective than buying a large capacity SSD and there is no audible hard drive noise when the music file is playing since they are loaded into memory first.

Apple made it very easy for the customer to upgrade ram in the new mac mini. It is as simple as rotating the bottom base a few degrees and inserting the new memory. No screws to remove and can be done in a couple of minutes if that. I paid $100 for 8gb of ram compared to $400 from Apple. Considering the premium you pay for ram from Apple, I would definitely buy the base version with 2gb ram and install your own sticks of ram. This is a no brainer since it does not void your warranty according to Apple.