2. pc-audio
  3. 1325426864

2010 Mac Mini Audio Tweaks

First of all Happy New Year to Everyone!! : )

I am looking to try and optimize the Mini for audio. The only thing is that i do need to use the mini to stream the internet and it is not a dedicated music server. I may do that down the road but not at this time. Mac Mini currently has 4gb of Ram and i know it is best to have 8gb. I am using a HRT Music Streamer ll+ USB DAC in conjunction with Pure Music. I am thinking of taking the plunge towards the Eastern Electric Minimax Plus DAC down the road. External Firewire drive in the works as well.

About Tweaks:
I have read of some things to do but was wondering if these will have dramatic performance issues for me while surfing the web at any time?
Did turn off Bluetooth as it was enabled and i was unaware that it was. This definitely did make things sound better right away!

I read about running at 64 bit (which i thought i was??)
Playlist mode?
Cache mode?
ignorant of what these are and if they will effect surfing performance negatively if changed

Are these things i need to do in the "Terminal"? If so i am not that computer literate and would appreciate any help in helping me get my computer optimized for audio performance within the parameters of still needing to be able to surf the web at the same time without me screwing up my computer. Thank you!!
seekburk

Showing 2 responses by turboglo

turboglo
110 posts
 
Thesoundhouse:

1) Do you use a SSD or HDD with the Oyen?

2) Do you power it through the firewire bus or a/c adapter?

3) Could you restate this: "One little tweak that yields nice results and cheap, is to listen to the mac mini with flipping the plug over at the wall until you find the which sounds best."
turboglo
110 posts
 
In response to the original poster, getting Pure Music settings right helps a lot. The most important things, IME, are deselecting upsampling, using hog mode, toggling "less-is-more," and of course memory play with 8 GB of RAM.

The mac mini tweaks are also important. For some of them, it's difficult to discern the effect of the individual change alone, but taken together, the improvement is significant.

Play around and have fun!
More to discover