Next steps in improve SQ, SSD & LPSU for Mac Mini or bin & start again???

[mattjtaylor2809]

Hi All,

 

First time post on CA....as I'm not finding the answers on traditional "stereo" forums.

 

I'm investigating where I spend money to either improve SQ on my current set up (see below) with SSD & a LPSU or do I save the money & invest in something else like a music server +/- NAS?

 

Current Set Up

1. All my music is stored on my 2009 mac mini & my iMac (I burn rip most CD's on my iMac & copy them over via homesharing.....when this want to work that is!!)
   
2. My music files are accessed via iTunes however I do have some flac files
   
3. I use PureMusic2 to play my music (I also have Audirvana plus)
   
4. Elijah USB to PS Audio NuWave Dac
   
5. PS Audio DAC to Pre va XLR's
   
6. Pre into W4S ST-500 2CH power AMP
   
7. Dynaudio X32's
   

In short, I'm actually quite pleased with the SQ but I know I can do better (lower noise floor, tighten up the bass etc).

 

SO......do I spend $200+ on a SSD &/or $400 on a LPSU OR do I save the $600, sell my mac mini & move to another more "audiophile" set up?

 

If I were to move, it would have to have the following characteristics:

• Ease of Use, both playing & ripping / downloading (for my wife as well)
  
• Improved SQ
  
• Easy access to my stored music files
  
• keep my PS Audio DAC
  

 

Is there such a set-up for under a thousand as most searches for music streamers etc result in $$$ offerings with built in dacs etc..? I'm finding lovely gear but costing thousands & thousands....i.e.

 

Aurender x100, Antipodes DS Music server etc..

 

Cheers all

Matt

 

PS - I'm not that computer savvy so I don't see myself "building" a HTPC.

[wwaldmanfan]

Welcome to the forum. You have a good setup already. Just invest $200 in an UpTone Audio USB REGEN. This will make a surprising improvement in SQ.

 

USB REGEN – UpTone Audio

[wwaldmanfan]

deleted-duplicate post

[mattjtaylor2809]

Welcome to the forum. You have a good setup already. Just invest $200 in an UpTone Audio USB REGEN. This will make a surprising improvement in SQ.

 

USB REGEN – UpTone Audio

 

Thanks for the suggestion; I assume it's similar to the following USB products?

 

Totaldac USB

Schitt Wyrd

AudioQyest Jitter bug?

 

Looking at your signature it looks like you use SSD's but you still think that this is the largest improvement in SQ for the money?

 

FYI - Discussion on a Aussie forum:

 

We have a new Aust usb champion cable. - Digital, DACs & Computer Audio - StereoNET

 

Cheers

Matthew

[EuroDriver]

Read through the various Uptone Regen threads and you will see, the other devices in your list are not in the same sonic league as the Regen Amber for improving USB playback

[firedog]

It's the same general idea -cleaning up and/or reclocking the USB; none of the devices in question do exactly the same thing or do it in the same way.

 

I can say from owning both that the Wyrd makes an improvement; the Regen makes a bigger improvement....IME.

 

 

Thanks for the suggestion; I assume it's similar to the following USB products?

 

Totaldac USB

Schitt Wyrd

AudioQyest Jitter bug?

 

Looking at your signature it looks like you use SSD's but you still think that this is the largest improvement in SQ for the money?

 

FYI - Discussion on a Aussie forum:

 

We have a new Aust usb champion cable. - Digital, DACs & Computer Audio - StereoNET

 

Cheers

Matthew

[Yucca06]

A very good PSU for your Mini will also make wonder.

 

Uptone Audio does this (with the Regen), and somme others too (I have a Mojo Audio). These kind os PSU are quite expensive, but very effective. You can look also to Teradak PSU's, less expensive, but some here will say it's a class below. Other ones : YFS or Paul Hynes.

 

As you have a Mini, you can also add a MMK kit (separate PSU for the fan). Teradak does this kind of kit also. It's easy to install on a 2009-2012 Mini, you can find videos everywhere...

 

You can also add an USB/spdif or AES interface between your Dac and your Mini. For me , the Yellowtec Puc II lite is by far the best solution (unbelievable price/quality ratio) if your Dac has an AES input.

 

Last one : a good clock, for reclocking (not sync). Look to the Mutec MC 3+. Input on the Dac side needed : optical/AES or Spdif.

 

Every solution will improve your system. If you want something fast and easy, and not (too) expensive, the Regen is the way to go. You'll have to wait 2-3 monthes (or more) to get it, though...

[mattjtaylor2809]

Thanks everyone, looks like I'll have to form an orderly line if I want a Regen but a line suggests it actually works!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[wwaldmanfan]

Looking at your signature it looks like you use SSD's but you still think that this is the largest improvement in SQ for the money?

Cheers

Matthew

 

I did upgrade my MacBook Pro to an internal SSD, but I'm booting it from a SanDisk Ultra Pro SDHC card, and unmounting the internal SSD. I run my OSX and apps from the card, and load music files from the external FW drive into Audirvana/playlist mode with the memory cache set to 2GB.

And, yes, the REGEN, even with the stock SMPS, made a large improvement in SQ. Recordings sound much smoother and more realistic, with much less digital glare, harshness, and sibilance.

[AnotherSpin]

Matt,

 

As a true devotee of Church of Regen, I would love to suggest amber for any kind of improvement, even in audio.

 

To be less serious, my experience tells me everything in power supply area would bring dramatic effect. Not only dedicated LPSU (I have Paul Hynes), but special cables as well. Try bulk Nordost or Oyade. Still, we all heard, Alex is saying something important will arrive this fall - some addition to cheap Mean Well PS which will turn it into Golconda diamond.

[Superdad]

Hi Matt:

Welcome to CA (or at least congrats on your first post to shed your lurker status ).

 

Thanks to the rest of you suggesting a REGEN for him. Looking at his system, one would honestly be the biggest bang for his buck. I'm just sorry the queue is still about a month long. Am really trying to do something about that.

 

Matt, your 2009 mini does not need our MMK to be able to utilize an external linear power supply because, as you of course know, it already has an external brick switching supply.

While I know firsthand how much the 2009 will benefit from an LPS (I had a 2009 for a long time), that model is actually quite power hungry (2011,'12, '14 much less so), so you have to be careful when selecting a PS for it. 5-6 amps is really what you need to be looking at. Technically the 2009 runs on 18.5V, but when I had mine I ran it on 13.8V. Just remember, at the lower the voltage, it may draw more current. (It is not as if laptops or any computer actually needs 18V--or even 12V for that matter--the chips all run on 5V, 3.3V, 1.8V, etc. They just configure for use with high voltage supplies so they can use lower current units and not need big thick wires.

 

Anyway, to cable up an external LPS for your 2009, you need to search on eBay for the Chinese reseller who sells original Apple DC power cords with the oval plug at one end. (It will have the actual pins and strain-relief for fitting into the stock brick at the other end.). I'm traveling, but if you decide to purse this, I can send you links for configuring such a cable later on.

 

Good luck!

--Alex C.

[BobL]

Hi Matt:

Welcome to CA (or at least congrats on your first post to shed your lurker status ).

 

Thanks to the rest of you suggesting a REGEN for him. Looking at his system, one would honestly be the biggest bang for his buck. I'm just sorry the queue is still about a month long. Am really trying to do something about that.

 

Matt, your 2009 mini does not need our MMK to be able to utilize an external linear power supply because, as you of course know, it already has an external brick switching supply.

While I know firsthand how much the 2009 will benefit from an LPS (I had a 2009 for a long time), that model is actually quite power hungry (2011,'12, '14 much less so), so you have to be careful when selecting a PS for it. 5-6 amps is really what you need to be looking at. Technically the 2009 runs on 18.5V, but when I had mine I ran it on 13.8V.

..................

Good luck!

--Alex C.

I can confirm, along with many others, that the Regen is the best bang for buck. I can also confirm that the 2009 will run far lower than 18.5v. Mine ran at 12.6v, and according to an old citation of an Apple engineer, down to 10v is possible, but I've long forgotten where that citation is.

 

For the best sound, yes 5-6a is recommended. However I was converted to LPS on my 2009 by a Paul Hynes SR3 which was rated at 2a continuous, though it handles pulses about 10x bigger. (Details on various threads for PH on Audio Circle). On a machine used only for audio, that worked very well and gave a really big gain in SQ. Going to a higher current version did indeed give another improvement, but the big step came from a very modest LPS. Of course, if you are doing video work, you should probably ignore this!

[YashN]

I'd first look into whether I am maximising what I have without upgrading the equipment as it is.

 

If you haven't done any Room diagnosis (e.g. with REW) and done organic acoustic treatment, you could start with that.

 

Another fundamental I would look into as I'm not sure your sig show that taken into account is a proper multi-equipment AC filter or conditioner (some go even further and change outlets or use Balanced Power). Since this has an effect on all equipment, you may get large results with a single piece of add-on equipment.

 

Look into whether you are properly isolating your equipment against low-frequency and higher-frequency mechanical vibrations.

 

Now, if you're convinced that proper AC conditioning or filtering is good as well as vibration isolation, you could go through both these routes and mechanically isolate your AC conditioning equipment, also benefiting from any positive changes across all your equipment.

 

The recommendation to look into the Uptone Audio USB Regen is a great one - read the listening impression and the main threads for the technical explanations. There's also a Technical FAQ section on their main website with explanations by John Swenson. Many fellow members are giving positive feedback about the product combined with a variety of DACs, or even combining either a Corning USB cable with it or a Supra USB cable with it, or even chaining the previous version of the Regen into the newest one. This suggests that with a single one, the signal integrity between the computer and the Regen+DAC is crucial.

 

You could also try to do an alternate star-grounding with the chassis of your equipment and listen for changes.

 

Some people report great results with additionally or independently using a box for the signal plane clean-up or signal clean-up, like the Entreq Silver Trellus, but this, like the Tripoint Troy device for chassis grounding is for much, much larger budgets.

 

At the software side, you could compare and contrast HQ Player, Audirvana+ and the various modes of playback, up-sampling and filter/modulator changes.

 

You can try up-conversion of CD/Redbook or DVD audio rips to DSD compared to playing them as they are.

 

You can also compare doing the up-conversion offline vs doing real-time as well.

[mattjtaylor2809]

Hi Everyone,

 

Many thanks for all your input & ideas...In summary it seems that the REGAN USB & a linear PSU are the x2 mods that can make the biggest impact on SQ?

 

Room treatment whilst important would need to "wife/family" friendly & therefore maybe not that practical but I think I will swap out the HD for a SSD.

 

It's interesting surfing the net for an alternative "audiophile" streamer/player & they're all $2-3K+ (Aurender, Antipodes, Lumin etc..) so I can understand why people are making their own!

 

Cheers

 

Matthew

[firedog]

The new Auralic Aries Mini will be only $399 including DAC; if you pair it with an existing DAC I'm sure it will be quite a good streamer. Add in a quality PS, and it will still cost less than the high-end items.

 

Room treatment:IME, the most gain is made by corner bass traps. These can be pretty unobtrusive -depending on shape (rectangular, round, triangle) and fairly wife friendly. You can also get them in colors to match your decor from some of the vendors. So if full room treatments are out of the question, maybe just in the corners....

[mourip]

I'd first look into whether I am maximising what I have without upgrading the equipment as it is.

 

If you haven't done any Room diagnosis (e.g. with REW) and done organic acoustic treatment, you could start with that.

 

Another fundamental I would look into as I'm not sure your sig show that taken into account is a proper multi-equipment AC filter or conditioner (some go even further and change outlets or use Balanced Power). Since this has an effect on all equipment, you may get large results with a single piece of add-on equipment.

 

Look into whether you are properly isolating your equipment against low-frequency and higher-frequency mechanical vibrations.

 

Now, if you're convinced that proper AC conditioning or filtering is good as well as vibration isolation, you could go through both these routes and mechanically isolate your AC conditioning equipment, also benefiting from any positive changes across all your equipment.

 

The recommendation to look into the Uptone Audio USB Regen is a great one - read the listening impression and the main threads for the technical explanations. There's also a Technical FAQ section on their main website with explanations by John Swenson. Many fellow members are giving positive feedback about the product combined with a variety of DACs, or even combining either a Corning USB cable with it or a Supra USB cable with it, or even chaining the previous version of the Regen into the newest one. This suggests that with a single one, the signal integrity between the computer and the Regen+DAC is crucial.

 

You could also try to do an alternate star-grounding with the chassis of your equipment and listen for changes.

 

Some people report great results with additionally or independently using a box for the signal plane clean-up or signal clean-up, like the Entreq Silver Trellus, but this, like the Tripoint Troy device for chassis grounding is for much, much larger budgets.

 

At the software side, you could compare and contrast HQ Player, Audirvana+ and the various modes of playback, up-sampling and filter/modulator changes.

 

You can try up-conversion of CD/Redbook or DVD audio rips to DSD compared to playing them as they are.

 

You can also compare doing the up-conversion offline vs doing real-time as well.

 

Great Post. This should be a "sticky"!

[mattjtaylor2809]

That Auralic Aries mini looks a very interesting prospect as long as it's easy to synch & store new music & it sounds better than a Mac mini?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[4est]

I'd junk the 2009 mini, and get a 2012 (or newer) one. I spent way too long with 2009 one (linear power supplies and such as well) because it was touted as the one to have. Changing to a new mini was a clear step up sonically.

[BobL]

I'd junk the 2009 mini, and get a 2012 (or newer) one. I spent way too long with 2009 one (linear power supplies and such as well) because it was touted as the one to have. Changing to a new mini was a clear step up sonically.

 

I have to say that crossed my mind also; there is so much more you can do with a later Mini, and the sound gets progressively better as you go 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014 ( see comments from Alex/Superdad). It does depend on how much you are prepared to get involved in doing open heart surgery on the Mini, but since you mentioned putting in an SSD, I guess you are used to cracking open (almost literally; the noise is terrifying the first time!) your 2009.

There is nothing so terrifying on the 2010 and later, but you do need to be very delicate about it. Take a look at Alex's instructions for installing the MMK to get a feel for what is involved. If you go that way, you might not need an SSD; several of us have them but have given up using them because SD can be so much better, and that's something you can't do on the 2009 (see Alex's thread on pouring a drink for musicians).

Maybe the mini Aurender would be in the same league as a properly tweaked Mac Mini 2012/14, but I would need to be convinced. However it would be a lot easier!

[4est]

Well, for instance, I was an early proponent to differences in file type and playback software. What was plain as day in that .wav was better than aiff is much more of a struggle these days on my w8 box or 2012 i7 mini.

I have to say that crossed my mind also; there is so much more you can do with a later Mini, and the sound gets progressively better as you go 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014 ( see comments from Alex/Superdad). It does depend on how much you are prepared to get involved in doing open heart surgery on the Mini, but since you mentioned putting in an SSD, I guess you are used to cracking open (almost literally; the noise is terrifying the first time!) your 2009.

There is nothing so terrifying on the 2010 and later, but you do need to be very delicate about it. Take a look at Alex's instructions for installing the MMK to get a feel for what is involved. If you go that way, you might not need an SSD; several of us have them but have given up using them because SD can be so much better, and that's something you can't do on the 2009 (see Alex's thread on pouring a drink for musicians).

Maybe the mini Aurender would be in the same league as a properly tweaked Mac Mini 2012/14, but I would need to be convinced. However it would be a lot easier!

[mattjtaylor2809]

Hi All,

Not sure I will bin the 2009 & replace with another MM but you never know. I've just bought the REGAN USB as suggested here so I'll see how this goes when it arrives in a month or two.

I must admit the thought of cracking open the MM does terrify me as I'm no "technician" but there does seem to be enough step by step guides online/YouTube that if I take my time, I'm sure it will be ok!

Cheers Matthew

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk