I would suspect that you will be able to get sound quality on either system that is close enough to not be a factor. Perhaps consider other factors like what software you want to playback with (you mentioned jplay) as well as what you want to use as a dac and what interface it uses. Personally I dont care PC or MAC as both are tools, likely similar from a reliability standpoint, and once both are configured youre done. That aside also consider controls. I know you can remote control a mac mini with a ipad or touch? and that may be a desired feature. I am pretty sure that you can also do it with PC but I've only heard it discussed on mac. I would skip android and linux for now if that matters. too much churn there. Oh and have a look at computer audiophile online and see if there is anything that give you ideas there.
PC or Mac?
I'm getting close to entering the computer-based audio world. I've read good things about PC- and Mac-based systems, but I've not read any recent comparisons between well-implemented examples of both formats.
So, initially I was thinking about a Mac Mini-based system since it takes a lot of the computer complications out of the equation -- I'm unfortunately one of those audiophiles who has little patience or ability for troubleshooting computer issues. But if I can get similar/better performance from a Mac laptop I'm open to that too. Right now I'm leaning toward a PC laptop using JPlay (which I don't think is available for Mac as of yet), but wondering how a well-executed version of this would compare to a similar implementation of the other two Mac options?
I realize there are a lot of variables in each of these options in terms of implementation, but if anyone has compared good setups between any of them and has some real-world opinions on sound quality and ease of setup/use I'd be very interested. By the way, although sound quality is most important to me I don't want to mess with endless hassels/glitches. So if there are meaningful sonic benefits I'm willing to do some work and put up with some occasional problems to get them, but if the system's not stable and requires constant tinkering I think that could be a deal breaker.
Anyway, thanks for thoughts or links to other discussions that may have already addressed this topic.
So, initially I was thinking about a Mac Mini-based system since it takes a lot of the computer complications out of the equation -- I'm unfortunately one of those audiophiles who has little patience or ability for troubleshooting computer issues. But if I can get similar/better performance from a Mac laptop I'm open to that too. Right now I'm leaning toward a PC laptop using JPlay (which I don't think is available for Mac as of yet), but wondering how a well-executed version of this would compare to a similar implementation of the other two Mac options?
I realize there are a lot of variables in each of these options in terms of implementation, but if anyone has compared good setups between any of them and has some real-world opinions on sound quality and ease of setup/use I'd be very interested. By the way, although sound quality is most important to me I don't want to mess with endless hassels/glitches. So if there are meaningful sonic benefits I'm willing to do some work and put up with some occasional problems to get them, but if the system's not stable and requires constant tinkering I think that could be a deal breaker.
Anyway, thanks for thoughts or links to other discussions that may have already addressed this topic.