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  Mini Mac as audio server?
OK, I've existed in blissful ignorance of the OSX world, being a Windows dude. But, this little miniMac thing might change my world. Small enuf to stick next to the stereo... Cheap enuf too... With DVI and DVD, probably eliminates my DVD player as well. Check it out:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore/

Sooo, someone wanna educate a non-OSX user on audio via Macs? Right now I'm 70% through ripping over 1K CDs to WAV files. I'm thinking the files will eventually end up on one of the Buffalo Terabyte NAS RAID 5 devices when they become available next month. So... the questions...

- Can I play the WAV files via iTunes?
- Is iTunes smart enuf to recognize that I've dropped the files into /Artist/Album directory format and create tags?
- Anyone using an Edirol UA-1D via USB out of the Mac? Any compatibility issues?
- Anything better to do PCM output from the Mac than the Edirol?
- If I watch a DVD, and output the video to my plasma via the DVI port, will the Apple media software recognize that I want PCM output, not multichannel?

Any help appreciated.
Edesilva  (System | Threads | Answers | This Thread)

01-12-05
  Responses (1-47 of 47)
Click title to read one, or click date to read all below it.

01-12-05   Hey ed, mac-curious? welcome aboard, heheh. so you saw th ...   Gunbei

01-12-05   Thx gunbei... i think i'm going to pull the trigger. i lik ...   Edesilva

01-12-05   You guys are makin' my brain smoke with all this high faluti ...   Tvad

01-12-05   By ipod mini, do you mean ipod shuffle? that is the new one ...   Edesilva

01-12-05   Yes, i was about to edit my post...i was referring to the ip ...   Tvad

01-12-05   Welcome on (mac-) board! --can i play the wav files via itun ...   Aida_w

01-12-05   That's what the one terabyte firewire drive is for!   Gunbei

01-13-05   The grace unit is leagues beyond the performance of the edir ...   C123666

01-13-05   After doing some further research, i think i'm actually goin ...   Edesilva

01-13-05   The best output from a computer that i have heard has been t ...   Aswils

01-13-05   I think with the minimac, you are limited to firewire or usb ...   Edesilva

01-21-05   Definitely no room for a pci card in the mini, or in any oth ...   Fishpatrol

01-21-05   Why not get one with a wireless card installed, get an airpo ...   Themadmilkman

01-21-05   Madmilkman -- that is my plan. i am in the process of upgrad ...   Mcmanus

01-25-05   Depends what else is happening on the network and what kind ...   Fishpatrol

01-25-05   Why would a mini mac be better than, say, a used g4 ibook? ...   Tvad

01-25-05   A mini is a g4, and clocks in at less than $600 w/the bt key ...   Edesilva

01-25-05   Edesilva, no doubt the mini mac looks cool, and has a small ...   Tvad

01-25-05   Bt=bluetooth... wireless. the mini has a dvi out--plugs in ...   Edesilva

01-25-05   Bt=bluetooth. aha..now i understand why you don't need a sep ...   Tvad

01-26-05   I've got an apple bt wireless keyboard & mouse. for couch-t ...   Edesilva

01-28-05   Fishpatrol - i'm getting a cd player instead of just a dac f ...   Mcmanus

01-29-05   Mcmanus-- there are too many variables to give an easy answe ...   Themadmilkman

01-30-05   Anyone know what kind of fan noise this thing has when its p ...   Hitchhike79

01-30-05   Well, i'm talking beyond my knowledge here, but i haven't se ...   Fishpatrol

01-31-05   Fishpatrol is right on. i've used the mini to playback some ...   Edesilva

01-31-05: Fishpatrol
In-store yesterday with a Mac mini 1.42 w/512 RAM, I took it to task. iTunes playing music, large-size visualizer, QT playing back a trailer, Photoshop Elements 3 rasterizing a PDF, and me goofing around in Pages. With this little RAM, switching between apps was exceedingly slow, but once to an app it performed admirably. Never actually heard the fan, and I did stick my ear down to it once. (You know, trying not to look too suspicious.) Obviously there was plenty of room noise, but I can sure hear my iBook's fan when it kicks in, noisy room or not. I'd take this as a good sign.

I dearly want to sell my MDD Tower, it's noisy as sin. But for what I'm likely to get for it, it's a pretty lateral move. MDD: faster, room for internal drives, PCI slots, more RAM slots. Mini: smaller form factor, iLife '05, much quieter...

Fishpatrol  (Threads | Answers | This Thread)


01-31-05   I'm guessing you didn't get the fan to kick on. mine's a 1. ...   Edesilva

01-31-05   Modern computers are designed to handle video processing, wh ...   Pabelson

02-01-05   Hey guys, here's a good article on using the new mini as a ...   talbot@

02-08-05   How-to at engadget as well: http://features.engadget.com/ent ...   Fishpatrol

02-09-05   My nas is hardwired ethernet. itunes pulls wav files throug ...   Edesilva

02-12-05   11b ibook sitting about 6 feet from the airport, direct line ...   Fishpatrol

02-13-05   1 mbps? that does seem slow... i thought the nominal spec ...   Edesilva

02-13-05   This has turned into a great thread guys. great info and lin ...   Gunbei

02-14-05   I've set up my ibook back-to-back with a powerbook (11g) and ...   Fishpatrol

02-14-05   Fishpatrol, so you made sure the "built-in ethernet&quo ...   Gunbei

02-16-05   Gunbei, actually i just ran a firewire (400) cable from the ...   Fishpatrol

02-16-05   Duhhh?!! hooking up a firewire with an ethernet cable? what ...   Gunbei

02-17-05   Just got my mini mac and i'm using it as music server as i t ...   golix@

02-17-05   Striping and mirroring with removable portable drives. who w ...   Gunbei

02-18-05   No worries gunbei, though i believe this is a new feature in ...   Fishpatrol

02-18-05   Fishpatrol--i've never seen data rates given as megabytes pe ...   Edesilva

02-18-05   Ed, is that right? i just assumed so because all the ethern ...   Gunbei

02-18-05   Actually, its eric... my house if far less color coded w.r. ...   Edesilva

02-18-05   Gunbei, most big companies buy ethernet cabling in bulk, sli ...   Fishpatrol

02-20-05   I just saw this on apple's site. might be nice for some of ...   Themadmilkman


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