new 2012+ macmini as music server(all ssd vs ssd plus hdd ie fusion)

[bobbmd]

i am trying to decide on what mac mini to purchase

for the moment all i will use it for is listening to streaming music from MOG via usb to schiit modi to mvr avr and via magni to my headphones

eventually i will have my cd collection ripped by "pickled productions" near chicago. to apple lossless and loaded on time machine and will upgrade to schiit gungnir for dac

 

should i just get the 256 gb ssd mac mini or the 128gb ssd and one tb hdd mac mini

none of the mac forums or reviews address use of ssd for music(only about how fast files get transferred or fast things "load")

cnet says all ssd does is fill up with what you load and anything beyond 128gb goes to hdd( and acts like a super flash drive) or am i wasting money on ssd?(a lot of threads here and other places say what apple charges is way too much and all one needs is about 64gb ssd. i just dont get what the ssd does other than its noiseless and has no moving parts so it should last much longer than the hdd(my adult childrens macs-not macminis-seem to fail every 3years yet my hp 2003 windows xp is still flying after 10years

my assumption is that i should keep all my music on /in time capsule(plus photos etc) and use them on ssd portion as i listen,correct?? will the transfer(from backup to ssd) be akin to what i had on my pc with media monkey and wmp the music was on my backup external seagate hd and then seamlessly tranferred to wmp/mm when i wanted to play/listen to music

or look at photos,files etc?

 

next question-if i use pure music or amarra as the player will the player improve the sound quality of MOG streaming? the modi imho improves the 320kbps to better than cd quality ie clarity soundstage separation and is totally nonfatiguing

 

finally(whew!) if macmini has hdmi port out to your monitor(mine is 37" bravia,used for cable and pc monitor,dvds) but doesnt have dvdplayer/or support bluray what is its purpose? and if i get external optical drive(maybe even that samsung dvdbluray that is supposedly mac compatible) if i watch a dvd where does the audio portion go-hopefully somehow out to the dac and then to my avr/speakers??

 

any help suggestions will be appreciated

 

cant say enough about schiit modi/magni what a delight for $200

 

bobbmd

[wgscott]

I would use the SSD on the inside, and use a conventional external hard drive for the music library.

 

I just got an iMac (for work) with the fusion drive, and I really like it, but for the application of a music server, the main reason for the SSD is to remove moving parts from the chassis of the computer. The fusion drive doesn't do that. It allows you to open frequently used files and applications faster, which really isn't that important for the music server application.

[bobbmd]

thankyou always find your answers and comments concise and to the point and even humerous when its appropriate

[wgscott]

Thanks. BTW, I'm currently using an i7 mac mini with two internal SSDs. (I originally had other plans for this box.)

[nieldm]

You can fit an SSD and a regular SATA drive in the MacMini enclosure, I have done. There are some kits available from the likes of OWC (although not available here in the UK so I just "winged it"). It works well and flies using a decent (6gbps) SSD.

 

Mr Scott can occasionally be witty, in a grumpy old man sort of a way, you are right....8-))