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Music Server now bane of my existence

After years of waiting and rendering the landscape of servers as too complex, confusing and basically useless for my purposes, I've delved into the world of a Mojo Audio music server. The Biggest Dog they sell. Now, I've determined I'm technically in over my head and run out of invectives.

I need a "Music Server for Dummies" lexicon and flow chart. Yes, I will contact them this week also.

To my surprise, there is no drive with the new Mini Mac. So I need that. And how will I burn discs for friends? And do I just use the USB out from the server to my USB DAC for optimal playback? Which USB? Or should it be a USB conversion to coaxial? I researched and purchased a 3TB Western Digital hard drive for dedicated backup. Will that suffice for this?

I purchased the Apple wireless keyboard and outboard trac-pad to navigate.

I'm at a crossroads as to continue with predictable brain damage assembling all of the parts or return this and wait again for this industry to collectively simplify the process. I've gone with the MAC so I can easily interface with my iPod pieces. Thank you to all for insight into this gnarly subject.
celtic66
ebm
9,311 posts
 
I will stick to my turntable.
timrhu
2,779 posts
 

I have limited time. Do I want to spend my time listening to music, or fooling around with glitzy hardware/software issues? If I want frustration, I'll just go to work or start a serious discussion with my wife.
Too funny.

I use a Mac Mini with 1TB external hard drive to store music. Normally play it back through a PS Audio DLIII with a Monarchy Audio Super DIP in between. Sometimes stream to Apple tvs in various rooms.
Files are ripped with XLD to ensure bit perfect copies. Playback is just fine through itunes.
This was not too difficult to set up, and I am pretty much computer illiterate. Oh yeah, and this setup cost me just over $1k.
jkorten
36 posts
 
You should definitelyp try hi res, sounds amazing. My issue is evidently caused by poor network speed on wireless Mac mini. Plan on trying dedicated wireless ntwk for audio to improve response.
doggiehowser
672 posts
 
Actually, setting up the Mac to play music isn't difficult and once it's setup, when I was paying a lot less money for power, I used to leave my gear on all the time so any time I had a moment, I just used the app to select my music and began playing from my entire library. I spent less time selecting songs and listening vs with my analog system which required a ritual of cleaning :)

The difference is with tweaking. If you want the best performance squeezed out from the computer, Mojo Audio is one way to get about it. You can also do simple stuff like making sure the music storage hard disk is on a different bus/interface from the audio (to the DAC). Again, the setup is only done once and you can benefit from it for a long time.

If you want someone to do the optimization for you, have a look at the Aurender.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,410 posts
 
I use MacMini with external 1TB Firewire drive transmitting music over Wi-Fi across the room. Music is stored in ALAC and played by Itunes. Computer noise, computer speed, amount of memory, playback program etc don't make any difference in this setup. It required setting up initially but I use it for a long time without any problems. As for the cost - this MacMini is my main computer, so the only cost is Benchmark DAC1 and Airport Express - total about $1k, but since I use Benchmark as a preamp (that would cost >$1k anyway), I consider it free.

Traditional system is simpler, I agree, but computer playback offers more. Not only that I can change CD quickly but it is also much easier to find it. I can sort by artist, composer etc and also create playlists. In addition my computer plays files ripped without errors while CDP interpolates, especially on the less than perfect CDs. CDs or LPs can and will get scratches, but computer files will stay intact forever.
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