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Apple MacMini replacement or.....

I cannot find this question answered specifically in the archives. I have an aging Apple MacMini and I can no longer upgrade the OS and therefore cannot upgrade my Audirvana. This MM will not play the Masters Tidal or hi-Rez Qobuz. I have two USB storage drives, 500GB each in a Raid 1 which output to the MacMini. USB out of the MM to an Oppo Sonica DAC. I rarely play hi-Rez since I only have a few. It works flawlessly otherwise and streams to several Apple TVs throughout the house. I use iTunes with Bitperfect or Audirvana for playback. All the tunes load to RAM cache before playback to avoid Accessing the hard drive. Controlled by my iPad or iPhone.
I can replace the MM with a new one for $799. 128 GB SSD and 8 GB of RAM. Everything stays the same except I can upgrade all the software and have an SSD and stream from several classical streams that I like. The dilemma is this: Is this the best way to use my existing library of ALAC ripped CDs, keep music through the house, use my iPhone or iPad for controlling the music and have Apple reliability or is there a better way today? Or to put it another way, how much more do I have to spend to retain this functionality and have even better sound?
The rest of the system: 17 x 20 foot room with treated walls and carpeted floor, Modwright SWL 9.0 SE, Wyred4sound SX-500 monos and Von Schweikert VR-4JR speakers. Thank you.
tgrisham
tgrisham OP
1,291 posts
 
Thank you. I understand. Sometimes I like it and sometimes I don’t. In my system sometimes Bitperfect seems clearer and cleaner. Very system and recording dependent. That becomes one of the questions concerning Bluesound Node. Much appreciate the responses so far. TG 
ljgerens
152 posts
 
I think a Mac Mini is your best choice. I have been streaming my lossless ripped CDs from an iMac or MacBook Pro to an Apple TV or an Airport Express in 4 different rooms for over 8 years. Recently, I decided to set up a stand alone music server using a Mac Mini. I purchased a late 2014 Mini with 8 GB Ram and a 500 GB HD on eBay for $320. Setup was a breeze and it is performing flawlessly. 

I doubt a Node2i will sound better. We tried a Node2 a while back and with its internal DAC, it did not sound as good as an iMac, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or Mac Mini streaming to an Apple TV or Airport Express with our DACs. We could not tell a difference when we tried the Node2 using our external DACs. It certainly did not sound better. So the internal DAC may be the weak point in the Node2. 
tgrisham OP
1,291 posts
 
Again, a perfect response to my question. So often a post gets derailed by promoters and sellers, or just argumentative people. Much appreciated. My only remaining question is how long a 2014 MM will last until I can’t update the OS?  Maybe by that time things are so different it won’t matter. I like plenty of RAM so I never access the HD during playback. And I have liked Audirvana and most people like the new version even more. Since I’m not going for the $10,000 set up with NAS, custom renderer, etc., I might just stay with Apple. I appreciate the responses so far. TG 
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