A VERY LOUD +1 to audiotroy
I used to listen to a Mac mini as a server, I'm miles beyond that now (and a few grey hairs).
If you don't have a highly resolving system, you may not not hear the difference as much, the DAC being a big player, and your source's connection to it.
Personally I have a low powered fanless commercial grade embedded CPU (8Watt dual core). Linear power supply to the Mainboard/CPU, linear power to the JCat FEMTO USB card, linear power to the SSDs (one for OS and apps, the other strictly for media files). Fanless case with heat sink built in. Absolutely no moving parts, and AC power filtration, external linear power supply (also helps keep heat out of the computer case).
The cable you link between them makes an audible difference, you could also try a reclocker with a linear power supply. I use Curious Cables USB (I made mine because I used to work for them) there are others reportedly better than my older style cable, including their newest USB cable.
There are others in this forum with way more elaborate setups than mine, with newer technologies even. Software and operating systems to reduce jitter make a significant and profound sonic improvement.
+1 tobes - linear power supplies make a difference, easy upgrade.
Non switching power supplies as well.
Balancing the budget between the source, interconnect, and DAC these days will require some due diligence, but my goodness there are good options for every budget. The Mac Mini was a good starting point 6 or 7 years ago, but there's a lot of gear come up since then.
I used to listen to a Mac mini as a server, I'm miles beyond that now (and a few grey hairs).
If you don't have a highly resolving system, you may not not hear the difference as much, the DAC being a big player, and your source's connection to it.
Personally I have a low powered fanless commercial grade embedded CPU (8Watt dual core). Linear power supply to the Mainboard/CPU, linear power to the JCat FEMTO USB card, linear power to the SSDs (one for OS and apps, the other strictly for media files). Fanless case with heat sink built in. Absolutely no moving parts, and AC power filtration, external linear power supply (also helps keep heat out of the computer case).
The cable you link between them makes an audible difference, you could also try a reclocker with a linear power supply. I use Curious Cables USB (I made mine because I used to work for them) there are others reportedly better than my older style cable, including their newest USB cable.
There are others in this forum with way more elaborate setups than mine, with newer technologies even. Software and operating systems to reduce jitter make a significant and profound sonic improvement.
+1 tobes - linear power supplies make a difference, easy upgrade.
Non switching power supplies as well.
Balancing the budget between the source, interconnect, and DAC these days will require some due diligence, but my goodness there are good options for every budget. The Mac Mini was a good starting point 6 or 7 years ago, but there's a lot of gear come up since then.