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Need help moving from CDP to Mac Mini music server

I've decided to move try a music server solution because my listening habits have changed (maybe the ipod lifestyle has ruined me). So the time has come to sell my beloved Sony SCD-1 and I need some help figuring out how to implement a sonically comparable (or better) music server solution. My system is an Aesthetix Janus with a BAT VK-250 feeding a pair of Totem Forests. I'm currently thinking of getting a Mac Mini with a 500 GB HD and streaming ALAC to my airport express, then using the toslink out to feed a D/A (likley a Benchmark DAC-1) which would run balanced to my Aesthetix. I'd then use my powerbook to control the mac mini through bonjour (although I can also use my plasma as a display).

My first question is, can anyone familiar with using the mac mini server solution comment on the sound quality, especially in comparison to a quality CDP such as the Sony. I want the convenience of having my whole library be accessible, but I want to definitely don't want to sacrifice the sound quality to do it.

Secondly, I've read that the digital out on the mac mini has higher jitter and that using the usb to output digitial is better. Is it also preferable to utilize the usb method instead of using the Airport Express's optical out?

Thirdly, does anyone recommend a specific external hard drive to use with the mac mini? There seem to be a bunch out there.

Lastly, how do people feel about the Benchmark DAC-1 in this setup? I want to keep the whole budget under 3000 w/computer, external drive, DAC and wires, so any suggestions on DAC would be welcome (heard Stello makes one with a digital input).

Thank you so much in advance for your help,

Matt
mimberman

Showing 5 responses by snipes

snipes
119 posts
 
Mimberman, the storage recommendation by Edesliva is a good one. If you can get 1TB or .7 TB (700GB) usable of RAID 5 storage for $670 you should jump at that. The RAID 5 setup basically means you can have one hard drive fail and not lose any of your data until you can get around to the replacing the disk. As others stated, don't skimp on non-redundant storage. I've just setup my AE based wi-fi music server, but haven't listened to it much so I can't comment on the sound quality between it and my cd player. One thing that I did find, that I feel every AE owner might want to jump on in is a high quality optical cable. I picked up a Van Den Hul Optiplexor II for ~ $80. You can order it with the digital-mini on one end. It looks to be much better quality than the old monster cable that Apple touts and many others use. As an FYI, if you have an optical cable you like, you can order the optical-> digital mini converter from Parts Express for ~ $6. Of course they hit you up for another $7 in shipping charges.
Good luck and let us know how it works out.
snipes
119 posts
 
Sfar, There is no requirement for drives configured in any type of RAID configuration to be housed in the same enclosure. There might be limitations based on what device is handling the RAID setup (i.e. the controller in the external storage).

Multiple enclosures, multiple paths to the data, etc. are all just additional layers of protection. In the end the goal is to eliminate as many single points of failure as possible/makes sense. Having two seperate disks or enclosures and synching them up manually via a copy or something similar may make sense for some, but setting up a simple RAID 1 or RAID 5 device isn't rocket science, it just takes a little research that anyone on this site can handle with a bit of investigation. Again the end goal is not to lose all of your hard work, whichever method one uses, that method should be good enough. Personally, I'll probably buy 2 internal drives and mirror them with the OS, that will be good enough for me. I'm confidant enough if one drive fails I can get at the data on the second easily enough.
Personally I think the biggest gain in audio quality in this entire setup is going to be the way the data gets from the source componant to the DAC. I don't think the traditional optical and digital coax type of connections will be the way to go once PC based audio really takes off in the high end. Where / how it's stored as well as how it gets there won't be as important as that "last leg" to the DAC. Just my opinion of course.
snipes
119 posts
 
I'll respond to either this thread or one of the ones I started a few months back once I've adequate time to evaluate the AE and the quality running it wireless. As for my audio-server, right now we're in beta mode if you will. I've ripped all my Pearl Jam CD's to my PC upstairs and share it via itunes. I access it through my wireless laptop downstairs where my stereo is and point the laptop to the AE . I haven't had one audio hiccup due to interference. If you think about the path the music has to travel to go from my laptop to the stereo that's pretty impressive on a 54mb/sec wireless setup. Edesilva explained the RAID 5 setup well enough, but let me just add one or two things in case you are still a bit confused. Using the Terra station as an example. If you have .7 TB usable, in his exmple using 4 disks, it's probably made up of 4x300GB drives. Again this is just a guess as there are many different RAID5 schemes used by the vendors, but the point is you don't make use of all of the space on all of the drives, that's by design. A simplistic way to think about it is take the total number of drives you have and subtract one. The remaining total is roughly what you will have usable under R5. Also, you mentioned using two drives and only filling up half of it. The way it works is you have a mirrored pair. It's called RAID 1 (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks). You have the full capacity of one drive, and the second drive is not directly accessable, the OS "mirrors" the data on the first to the second so if it dies, with a bit of work you can access everything by activating the second drive.
snipes
119 posts
 
I forgot to add one thing. One benefit of manually copying the data as Sfar suggests over using an automatically mirrored pair of disks, is if you accidentally delete what is on the active disk, guess what, your mirror is going to remove it as well. That might be reason enough for some to stick with the old manual method.
snipes
119 posts
 
Matt, please post the exact link to the unit you are talking about, I couldn't find it on the site. The word STRIPE in your description has me worried. Striping offers no data protection, it's strictly for increased performance, which is not necessary for streaming audio. As for the confusion concerning the Terrastation R5, the confusion is coming from the two different protection mechanisms. RAID 5 gives you usable space on roughly all the disks minus 1 (parity disk). The implementation is rather confusing, see Edesilva's explanation above. Mirroring you get exactly 1/2 of the total amount of available space for use, one disk has an exact duplicate of the other. Both offer data protection against loss of a single disk, just through different implementations. The main difference to keep in mind is with R5 you need 3 or realistcally 4 disks minimum. R1 (mirroring) only requires two.

Again, please post the link to the exact device. My concern is if it's listed as 800/400. My guess is they are giving you two 400 gb disks and you can either mirror them via R1 and have 400 gb usable or stripe them via RAID 0 and have 800 GB usable. Striping you write across both disks, but different data. If you lose either disk you lose everything.
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