Mluv2013 Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I have a late 2009 MacMini running 10.6.8 with 4gb presently for my music server. I'm thinking about upgrading to 8gb which I have heard is possible but curious if anyone has done this. Is it worth it if I'm not running Mavericks. Link to comment
pooger Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 What software are you using to play music? I'm pretty sure you can take a 2009 up to 16 gb if you want to, and if you're willing to set up RAM disks, you can get a bit higher SQ by utilizing them also. Some players, like A+, work better with more ram. Link to comment
4est Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I held onto mine far too long. Get new one, it will sound better. I have a late 2009 MacMini running 10.6.8 with 4gb presently for my music server. I'm thinking about upgrading to 8gb which I have heard is possible but curious if anyone has done this. Is it worth it if I'm not running Mavericks. Forrest: Win10 i9 9900KS/GTX1060 HQPlayer4>Win10 NAA DSD>Pavel's DSC2.6>Bent Audio TAP> Parasound JC1>"Naked" Quad ESL63/Tannoy PS350B subs<100Hz Link to comment
Mluv2013 Posted June 21, 2014 Author Share Posted June 21, 2014 What software are you using to play music? I'm pretty sure you can take a 2009 up to 16 gb if you want to, and if you're willing to set up RAM disks, you can get a bit higher SQ by utilizing them also. Some players, like A+, work better with more ram. I'm running Amarra 2.5.1. Recently upgraded to the 2.6 but it sounded too bright to me in my system. I hear 2.6 runs better with Mavericks. Link to comment
Superdad Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 I have a late 2009 MacMini running 10.6.8 with 4gb presently for my music server. I'm thinking about upgrading to 8gb which I have heard is possible but curious if anyone has done this. Is it worth it if I'm not running Mavericks. To answer your question directly: Yes, you can take a 2009 min to 8GB. I did mine a couple of years ago. That machine now resides on my wife's desk as it lost out in a carefully controlled 3-way SQ comparison to 2010 and 2011 minis (and that was even with the 2009 being the only one of them at the time to be powered by an external linear power supply). UpTone Audio LLC Link to comment
4est Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 That is what I was getting at... To answer your question directly: Yes, you can take a 2009 min to 8GB. I did mine a couple of years ago. That machine now resides on my wife's desk as it lost out in a carefully controlled 3-way SQ comparison to 2010 and 2011 minis (and that was even with the 2009 being the only one of them at the time to be powered by an external linear power supply). Forrest: Win10 i9 9900KS/GTX1060 HQPlayer4>Win10 NAA DSD>Pavel's DSC2.6>Bent Audio TAP> Parasound JC1>"Naked" Quad ESL63/Tannoy PS350B subs<100Hz Link to comment
Mluv2013 Posted June 23, 2014 Author Share Posted June 23, 2014 To answer your question directly: Yes, you can take a 2009 min to 8GB. I did mine a couple of years ago. That machine now resides on my wife's desk as it lost out in a carefully controlled 3-way SQ comparison to 2010 and 2011 minis (and that was even with the 2009 being the only one of them at the time to be powered by an external linear power supply). Interesting. I have a Core Audio setup with their external P.S. using Amarra 2.5.1. I recently upgraded Amarra to 2.6 but it sounded too bright in my system so I re-installed 2.5.1. I want to upgrade to Mavericks and try the 2.6 again. Looks like I will have to look into upgrading the machine then to do that. I assume you are using a 2011? What software are you using? Thank you for your help. Link to comment
Mluv2013 Posted July 1, 2014 Author Share Posted July 1, 2014 @Superdad, when you say the 2010, 2011 minis are better than 2009 were/are you using a linear power supply? Link to comment
Superdad Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 @Superdad, when you say the 2010, 2011 minis are better than 2009 were/are you using a linear power supply? When I did the comparison, the 2009 was the only unit with the benefit of an external linear (though not a particularly good one--just a big Astron bench supply I had--it still helped the 2009). So my 2010 and 2011 still had their stock internal PS--and still sounded better than the '09. YMMV... UpTone Audio LLC Link to comment
Mluv2013 Posted July 2, 2014 Author Share Posted July 2, 2014 When I did the comparison, the 2009 was the only unit with the benefit of an external linear (though not a particularly good one--just a big Astron bench supply I had--it still helped the 2009). So my 2010 and 2011 still had their stock internal PS--and still sounded better than the '09. Thanks. I think I will look for a newer mini and give it a try. Link to comment
Superdad Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Mluv2013: Did you happen to see this short report from a fellow in Japan posted just this morning? http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f10-music-servers/which-mac-mini-20618/index2.html#post332757 I am about to buy a 2012 i7 Mac mini to replace my 2010 Core 2 Duo model. Not ideal timing for me (cash-wise and considering that Apple really should finally be updating the min with a Haswell processor), but my son's inherited G5 iMac finally died (it could not run his video editing or stop-motion s/w anyway), so I'm taking the opportunity to upgrade my music server. I'm looking forward to better being able to test the more processor-intensive filters of the newly OSX-native HQPlayer from Miska at Signalyst. UpTone Audio LLC Link to comment
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