My new 2014 Mac mini is a real veil-lifter, soundstage opener and all-around puncher beyond its pricepoint

[Superdad]

To access the ASIO SDK, go to the Steinberg website, click the Developers link, and register (for free) as a developer.

 

Excellent Bob. Thank you again. I now have the SDK and am surprised to see some resources for OS X. Will look into it further.

[Superdad]

October 16th is confirmed for the next Apple "reveal" event. 2nd gen iPad Air (thinner, "bendable" shell, A8 processor, touch ID sensor), 3rd gen iPad mini, 12" MacBook Air, and retina iMac are all part of the "solid" rumors. But check out Apple's graphic for the invitation. The product that most fits the slogan is the MAc mini! Not holding my breath though.

 

[One and a half]

No 17in mbp either, huh.

[Superdad]

No 17in mbp either, huh.

 

Uh, they never bring back models that they cut because they did not del well. The 17" MBP fits into that category. To quote from a post I found:

 

"There were some numbers put out:

 

Monday Apple Rumors: The End of the 17-inch MacBook Pro? | InvestorPlace

 

"Kuo said sales of the 17-inch MacBook Pro amounted to about 50,000 units during the first quarter of 2012, compared to 1.5 million of the 13-inch models and 500,000 for the 15-inch models. Kuo also estimated first-quarter MacBook Air sales at 1.1 million units"

 

These are an analyst's estimates so they won't be exact but even with PC manufacturers, 15" models models outsell 17" by at least 5:1. Apple's ratio is worse because the 17" was $300 higher than the 15" and the spec was the same so you were effectively paying $300 for the extra 2".

 

When the Retina models arrived the 17" would need a resolution that integrated graphics couldn't cope with and the price would have been way too high."

[wdw]

H

October 16th is confirmed for the next Apple "reveal" event. 2nd gen iPad Air (thinner, "bendable" shell, A8 processor, touch ID sensor), 3rd gen iPad mini, 12" MacBook Air, and retina iMac are all part of the "solid" rumors. But check out Apple's graphic for the invitation. The product that most fits the slogan is the MAc mini! Not holding my breath though.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]14823[/ATTACH]

To your thought...think this is must be an Apple TV refresh!

Cheers, W

[ttate90303]

The new Mac Mini announced today does away with the Firewire 800 ports and replaces it with Thunderbolt ports. Still has 4 USB ports though. Going to hold on to my Mac Mini 2012 for now.

[Superdad]

And depending upon how you configure them, the new minis are more expensive. That $499 teaser is for a 1.4GHz i5. And $999 only gets you a DUAL-core i7, a lot more than the $799 I paid for my QUAD-core i7 2012 mini. Though maybe those new, higher-speed dual-core Haswell processors will still be faster. Better graphics in the new ones, though us audio folk running headless don't care much about that.

 

Most interesting thing about the new minis is that they implied that the storage was directly on the PCIe bus, which I took to mean no SATA interface involved. But then that would mean they are not using standard HDs or SSDs. Waiting to find out more about this…

 

The saddest thing for me today was that the amazing 5K display they introduced on the new iMac is not also offered in a stand-alone Thunderbolt monitor. Not that my i7 mini could drive it. Would be incentive to get a MacPro. All for my desktop of course.

 

EDIT: Just read that the PCIe-based storage is an option. For $200 you can get a PCIe flash (SSD) drive instead of a hard drive or the Fusion drive. Wonder which form-factor PCIe flash they are using and where it fits.

[Superdad]

Further research on PCIe flash (SSD) option for new minis would suggest that Apple found a way to put in the same form-factor cards as offered for the new MacPro. These things can't be mSATA or the even small M.2, as both of those still use the SATA protocols and controllers.

 

Since the 256GB PCIe flash option for the new mini is available even for the 8GB $699 2.6GHz i5--bringing it to $899--that might be a really good sounding music server (once one ditches the SMPS and puts linear fan control in of course).

 

And maybe third-party PCIe flash cards (available for MacPro) will work in this new mini as well.

 

Can't wait to see iFixit.com do a teardown!

 

--Alex C.

[Moosbrugger]

So -- for use as a media server, is there any meaningful distinction between the new $699 Mac Mini and an old $599 Mac Mini? Or the 2012 i7? (assuming the 2012 models are still available somewhere, hopefully at a discount.)

[Superdad]

So -- for use as a media server, is there any meaningful distinction between the new $699 Mac Mini and an old $599 Mac Mini? Or the 2012 i7? (assuming the 2012 models are still available somewhere, hopefully at a discount.)

 

Sound quality-wise I doubt it. But to be clear, the new $699 2.6GHz i5 model does come with 8GB of RAM (important for a music server IMO) and a 1-terabyte hard drive, whereas the 2012 $599 unit came with 4GB RAM (which should be ditched for 8 or 16) and a 500GB HD.

 

Also, the new one looses the Firewire port, so your best choices for music file storage/retrieval with the new model are:

1) The internal 1TB HD;

2) An external drive attached via Thunderbolt port;

3) A shared drive elsewhere on your house network.

 

P.S. Don't count on finding hefty discounts on recent Mac minis. People want a lot for them, so I prefer to buy "refurbished" units from the Apple store with a full warranty. $509 was a typical price for a 2012 i5 refurb.

[Bob Stern]

The new Mac Mini announced today does away with the Firewire 800 ports and replaces it with Thunderbolt ports.

Firewire dongle is $30:

Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter - Apple Store (U.S.)

[Bob Stern]

$999 only gets you a DUAL-core i7, a lot more than the $799 I paid for my QUAD-core i7 2012 mini.

Yes, that's a huge disappointment. It appears the main benefit of the new chip is graphics performance, which of course is useless to audiophiles.

 

If the 3 GHz dual-core i7 in the Mini is the same chip as in the 13-inch Retina MBP, there should be published benchmarks permitting a comparison with the quad-core i7 in the Late 2012 Mini.

[wgscott]

I thought all i7 were 8 processors.

[Esprit]

i7 CPU downgrade, RAM could be soldered...

[Esprit]

Firewire dongle is $30:

Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter - Apple Store (U.S.)

Is it compatible with TB2 ports?

[Superdad]

RAM could be soldered...

 

No it's not.

 

Is it compatible with TB2 ports?

 

Yes.

[Superdad]

I thought all i7 were 8 processors.

 

 

Intel currently offers ten versions of i7 with 2-cores/4-threads. See: Intel® Core? i7 Processors

[Jud]

Galvanic isolation IS important, but it can be difficult to do properly with some interfaces without causing more problems. And optical isolators can be especially problematic as well. John Swenson has explained to me a couple of times the issues and challenges associated with existing opto-isolator devices, but I have the memory of a goldfish for the details (he explains in detail so many things to me, but I only remember the details of the methods that hold promise; my brain discards most everything else once I realize it is not a beneficial path.) There are some much better alternative devices for isolation.

But perhaps you were just thinking about an optical distance interconnecting method to replace USB cables. Of course the transceivers at both ends have to be able to perform (and that's one of the big problems with TosLink).

 

Got a short version that I'm translating from a post at Head-Fi. Can't vouch for the accuracy of the following, but here it is FWIW:

 

- Shitty resistors.

 

- Adds more noise than it stops.

[mrvco]

Does the onboard storage choice matter if booting from an sdxc card and streaming music from an external FW or TB drive?

 

I was hoping that they would add an SSD option in the base model, but now I'm trying to figure my next best option short of spending $900 for the SSD equipped model... Or just using my iMac as a DLNA server with a SoTM sMS-100.

[fritzg]

I still have a 2005 mac mini I use with JRiver and USB to stream from my NAS. I imagine it will die someday and I'll need something else with a USB port. I'm hoping there will be a cheaper solution than these minis.

[Bill Lord]

Just get a 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM, and a 4TB Hard Drive connected via thunderbolt, ~$1500.

[Esprit]

No it's not.

Are you sure?

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=20115375&postcount=302

http://www.melablog.it/post/147114/4-cose-che-dovete-assolutamente-sapere-sul-nuovo-mac-mini (in italian, use google translate...).

[mrvco]

Are you sure?

MacRumors Forums - View Single Post - Apple Announces New Mac Mini Starting at $499

Mac mini | RAM saldata |Storage Massimo | Limiti | Opzione Server (in italian, use google translate...).

 

Supposedly there is conflicting information on Apple's website... just waiting on someone to complete a teardown. I can't find where it still says "user serviceable" though.

 

It is hard to imagine that it isn't soldered in since they're stating clearly that you can only upgrade the memory when ordering online.

 

Regardless, nuking the user upgradeable memory (allegedly), quad core option and the server config option definitely makes me think that they are planning to add something between the Mini and the Mac Pro in the future.

[Superdad]

Are you sure?

 

Yes. From a chat with Apple:

 

"Hi there! Welcome to the Apple online store! My name is Shani. How are you doing today?

 

(Me) Hi. Can you tell me for certain if the newly announced Mac minis have soldered-in RAM or do they still have modules which can be replaced?

 

Happy to help with the Mac mini's RAM configuration!

The Mac mini has user upgradeable RAM up to 32 GB so you can replace it or update it at a later time!

Does that help answer your question?

 

(Me) Yes!! I know they now require LPDDR3 type, but are they also still the same physical size/number of pins? And are the modules in the same place right under the round bottom cover?

 

Apple did not make any changes to the physical layout of the new Mac mini--so if you've replaced RAM before in an older model of the Mac mini to do so with the new version will work in the same way."

[Yucca06]

If it's true, it's great. Need also non soldered SSD, and maybe a quad core instead only 2, but it's not as bad as I thought first...

 

Oh, also a fanless build, but no way with Intel.