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Advice on best upgrade path for a Mac Mini setup

Hi all,

My beloved PWT transport was shipped out for service last week, so in the mean time I decided to experiment with the Mac Mini which usually resides in my 2nd system. It was no surprise that it doesn't even come close to the PWT, but it sounds OK, and now i'm curious as of what I can achieve with it without spending another $2K.

It's a stock Mac Mini about 2 years old with an SSD drive.
I'm using it to stream TIDAL Hi-Fi.
I have it hooked up to a Schiit Wyrd USB re-generator via a Pangea silver USB 2 cable, which in turn is feeding my DSD via a WireWorld Starlight 7 USB 2 cable.
My thinking was that the Mac-to-Schiit path will be less critical in terms of cables, as it gets regenerated anyway, but I'm open to listen and learn...
That "Wyrd Schiit" re-generator did make quite a noticeable positive impact when I hooked it up in my 2nd system.

My question is - what will be the best bang-for-the-buck upgrades? 

I guess the switching power supply is a weak link so I looked at Mojo Audio stuff and those prices seem unreasonable - they want more for their power supply than what I paid for my PWT (including its superb power supply).
Any other recommended power supply upgrade kits?
I'm good with DIY and can probably do the upgrade myself.

Perhaps go with much better cables? Better isolation? Better re-generator?
What did you guys try that proved to really do the "magic" for similar setups?
Perhaps it is a 'losing battle' and it will never sound nearly as good as my PWT without spending $2K in upgrades?

Thanks for your advice!

Ami

128x128ami
ghosthouse's avatar
ghosthouse
4,279 posts
 
Good timing! @jond .  Auralic Aries Mini - that just might be the ticket.  Do you know whether I'd be able to play my ALAC formatted burned CDs direct from a 2TB Western Digital powered hard drive?  I see it supposed to be able to recognize ALAD, just not sure about the hard drive.  

I had looked previously at the Aries Mini but it required an iPad to support the Lightning control app.  I didn't want to spend for an iPad.  Now the app is available for an iPhone which I've got.  I just got off the Audio Advisor site (they carry the Aries Mini) before I saw your post.  

Thanks.  Let me know what you think about working with an external hard drive and sound quality.   I'll be very pleased if it works out.


glennewdick's avatar
glennewdick
1,500 posts
 

The microRendu seems interesting as i'm in a simular situation. question for people that use it how do you get a display/ Interface to work with it ie; HDMI, Wirless Keyboard  other?

I currently use an Asus Vivo mini PC (Win 10 based) with 500g hard drive internal, 2x2TB external Hard drives for storage, SPDF optical out as well as a half dozen USB's,HDMI for display. I use the optical out to an older MSB Link 3 Dac with Burston Audio Descrete OP-Amps. this directly to my Integrated. Its desent sounding but not ultimatly what i want. new DAC is in the near future though.  

dbtom2
382 posts
 
@ghosthouse 

My recommendation to you is to look seriously at a MacMini to hold and play your rips. You can run it headless and control it from your MacBook using Screenshare and / or iPad//iPhone using Apple's remote app. You already know the operating system and could have it up and running in no time. Eventually you could use it (with an Apple Superdrive or equivalent) to rip CDs. All told, still well under $1000.00.

That WD Hard Drive will connect right up to the Mini.

You'd have the iTunes software and the Apple remote app to control selection and playback - no costs there.

No, a MacMini is not a dedicated music server and yes, it IS a computer but they work great, sound great and you already know how the operating system works. It has an HDMI port so you can connect a TV when you need to do any troubleshooting. I have mine sitting under my 60" flatscreen, a Magic Mouse and Wireless keyboard handy. So I use my Mini for more than music. But it plays all my music and I control it wherever I am with my iMac, iPad, iPhone.

Just my free advice. ;)



jond's avatar
jond
5,657 posts
 
@ghosthouse yes it plays ALAC this is cut and pasted from the Auralic website:

The Tesla platform has a calculation ability of 25,000 MIPS, more than enough to decode a vast spectrum of audio formats, including AAC, AIFF, ALAC, APE, DIFF, DSF, FLAC, MP3, OGG, WAV, WV and WMA.
ghosthouse's avatar
ghosthouse
4,279 posts
 
Tom -  BTW-read you post about sonics during the Sunday service at the old Baptist church.  Well written.  Felt like I had been there.  

Thanks for your input.  The Apple Mac Mini is something I have been thinking about too.  Thought the Aries Mini might be cheaper.  Did not know there was a remote app for the Mac Mini.  I was thinking wireless mouse and keyboard needed to do initial set up.  Would screenshare allow that to be done from my Macbook?    

There are pluses for staying with Apple besides familiarity.  BitPerfect is one of them....low cost music playback software that improves over iTunes alone.  Only $10 but it does seem to make things sound better.  AND with a Mac Mini I'd be able to watch YouTube music videos on the flatscreen with sound into the main system.  

The upside to the Aries is it's dedicated and would save me a few bucks on the mouse and keyboard since I could control from an iPhone.  Downside is no BitPerfect and no YouTube.  

The good news right now is I can sit tight and do nothing for a while.  Of course, prices always seem to rise over time.  Thanks again for the input.


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