MacBook Pro or Mac Mini as music server

Between the amarra and puremusic, i feel the amarra is more fuller sounding, amarra is more lively. Although amarra is placed on macbook pro while the puremusic on a normal macbook.. whats your take ?

if you are setting up a music server, you will need 2 large drives. i have 2 external 2TB disks linked to my mac mini using firewire. also, when you rip cd's to this server, you need to use xld or max, much better than itunes. why 2 drives? because you will need a backup of the 1st drive. i actually use 3 disks. the 3rd disk is a copy of all my macs in the house including the music server. every qtr i back all the machines up to this disk, then store the disk in a vault so if something happens to my house (fire, etc...), i have all of my info on my 3rd disk.

also, you will not hear any difference in sound using ssd. i deal with ssd's everyday and they are mainly used for speed and you don't need this kind of speed for music. plus, the ssd drives for PC/macs are of the cheaper set.

i have setup pure music to play the song from memory so it takes a few seconds for pure music to load the song in memory before playing the song.
good luck

When setting up the Mac-Mini as headless, do you guys leave it on standbye when not in use ?
At somepoint, especially in initial setting up, is monitor needed ?
Considering that route rather than going w/ a Macbook PRO.
If you are using the MacMini as a server, how does one disable the other functions not useful for music making ?
Also, is it possible to have Amarra and Puresound on the same computer ? Doesn't it conflict w/ each other ?
Thanks again..... its been an interesting thread !

do you guys leave it on standbye when not in use ?

This is a matter of personal preference. I leave mine running all the time. Energy Saver is set to never sleep. If you don't use it everyday, you might want to shut it down and power up only when you need it. You don't need a monitor for this. You can power down from your remote device (ipad, laptop).

At somepoint, especially in initial setting up, is monitor needed ?

This will be the easiest way. When you're done with set up, you can remove the monitor and use your ipad or laptop to remote in and do everything you need. Here are instructions on how to set up screen sharing:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/11848.html

If you are using the MacMini as a server, how does one disable the other functions not useful for music making ?

Instructions to disable Spotlight:

http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20091030173117381

You'll want to have some sort of backup system in place. You'll get plenty of advice for different routes to take. IMHO, the easiest approach is Apple's built in software called Time Machine:

how to set up Time Machine to perform backups

You'll need an external hard drive for this. In my experience, smaller 2.5" USB and Firewire drives are significantly quieter than 3.5" drives. They get their power from the cable connected to the Mini. 3.5" drives have a separate power supply with fans which makes them inherently louder. Sizes and pricing on 2.5" drives is not as good as 3.5", but you can find 500gb for $60 and 750gb for $80.

Hello Mingles,

I tried this procedure using my IPAD:

This will be the easiest way. When you're done with set up, you can remove the monitor and use your ipad or laptop to remote in and do everything you need. Here are instructions on how to set up screen sharing:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/11848.html

but for some odd reason my Ipad can't read or open my Macbook. Do i need some sort of VNC viewer ?

Thanks again for the helpful insights.

My question is, if the Macmini is off, i definitely need to turn in on, correct.After that can the ipad already access it ? do i need to put a mouse or keyboard on the macmini to do some functions, etc ?