Best Mods for a Mac-mini used as a Music Server

@sbank 

Thanks so much for your thoughtful responses.  I will definitely take your wisdom into consideration.  I have "seen" a microRendo in my ruminations & googling...I will do some deeper reading.

Dave,  I'm sure by now you're up and running with your Mac Mini, but I wanted to pass along that I have been extremely happy with my Mac Mini that I had modified by Benjamin Zwickel at Mojo Audio.  I purchased a Mojo Audio Watt, external linear power supply, and a Mojo Mystique v2 NOS DAC.  My music is stored on a Synology NAS and I play it through JRiver's Media Center.  As I said, I have been totally pleased with the set-up.

https://www.mojo-audio.com/mac-mini-upgrades/

I run Roon on a Mac Mini.  Today I added a microRendu with CI power supply.  It takes ethernet and outputs USB to an Ayre Codex connected to an Ayre A7e amp that drives a pair of KEF LS50s.  The sound quality is excellent.  Total cost of microRendu and power supply was under $1K.

I bought the Ayre components used, so the total cost of the setup was under $5K, leading me to wonder why I spent so much more on my primary setup.

I have had good  experiences with Teradak linear power supplies:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TeraDak-2010-2018-MAC-Mini-Audiophile-HiFi-Linear-Power-Supply-DC12V13A/123...