Mac Mini connected to Television

[radar2886]

I have had mine hooked up to an 80" Epson projector for a year and love it. It looks awesome for movies and tv through EyeTV, and with the Mini outputting the sound to my ADM9s, I have my hifi and and video in a nice neat little package.

 

[BEEMB]

 

Hi Aaron,

 

I have mine connected up to my Panasonic Plasma, using Front Row to navigate around my music and sometimes video. I also browse the web this way too - you can hold control and use your mouse wheel to zoom in quickly and easily if text is too small. I don't tend to work on the Mini at all - have enough of Excel and Access during my day at work.

 

I'd be very interested in a Mini with a built in BluRay drive, especially as a number of HD downloads are reduced quality with low bit rates. I was considering a media centre PC but not sure it's quite so easy outputting bit perfect audio to a DAC, so I'm keeping the Mac for now.

 

This is an audiophile forum so I won't go on - but Apple are surely missing a trick here. PUT A BLU-RAY DRIVE IN THE MINI !!! NOW !! And give us a graphics card powerful enough to produce a smooth picture (needn't be expensive now actually) with an HDMI output so I don't have to rely on Displayconfigx to fit the display to my screen. !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[darrenwm]

Is the Apple TV being fed via optical into a DAC within the Meridian?

 

If so, anything that you don't like about the sound is probably down to the Meridian DAC or the rest of the system.

 

Sadly Naim don't provide digital outputs, but if they did you could feed it into the Meridian and notice that the sound is the same, or worse.

 

[Ashley James]

It's my understanding that ATV is the only Apple device that plays hi def. This is the only way paranoid Movie Companies would let them rent out and sell movies. As it is the number available is quite limited because come still have to sign up to the idea.

 

However: http://www.123macmini.com/news/story/631.html

 

Ash

 

[BEEMB]

 

Nice one Ashley. Mind you - at a cost ... the mini would struggle with full HD but for other Macs with a decent GFX card it'd be a breeze.

 

 

 

[Ashley James]

I have to say that HD Movies are not of interest to me, especially as most of my favourites aren't even stereo sound. I'd love a Mini but have an Apple TV as my hi fi front end with the TV and despite comments to the contrary, it's noughts and ones are as good as the best.

 

Ash

 

[watchnerd]

Ashley, I'm not sure what you mean by the Apple TV being the only device capable of playing high definition.

 

I've downloaded high definition movie rips and played them via DVI->HDMI from a MacBook Pro to an HDTV with no problem.

 

[borderdog]

First Test

iMac>Airport Express>Apple TV>Meridian Pre/pro via optical.

Oppo DVD>Meridian Pre/pro via coaxial.

 

I set up the sources in the Meridian so when I switch between inputs, the crossover is bypassed and the sound levels are matched (checked with meter).

Pop a CD into the Oppo and bring up the same album in iTunes.

Cue the soundtrack so both are playing at the same time. Go back and forth between sources.

I would have to give an ever so slight edge to the coaxial input. I really do need to have someone switch the sources for me so I would have a true blind A/B. I don't know if I could tell the difference then.

 

Second Test

iMac>Airport Express>Apple TV>Meridian Pre/pro via optical.

Naim CDP>Meridian Pre/pro via the analogue inputs.

 

Again all sources are level matched. Switch between iTunes and the CDP.

No comparison. The Naim wins hands down. All this tells me is that the Naim has a superior DAC to the Meridian.

Rather than the Naim having a digital output, I'd rather it have a digial input.

 

When I plug my Naim into my other pre-amp, all the above is left in the dust.

The Meridian is a great HT processor, but it can't compare to my pre-amp for 2-channel music playback.

So far, getting the Apple TV and experimenting with the computer music server thing has been a lot of fun and it has shown me the potential. After all, I've invested very little to get my feet wet.

I do honestly believe that once I find the proper DAC and get the music server front end sorted out, that my system will get to another level.

And btw, darrenwm, regarding your comment "or the rest of the system"-it definitely ain't the rest of my system and I'll leave it at that.

Aaron H.

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

I believe what Ashley meant was the Apple store does not allow you to download HD/720p content to your Mac. It only allows these downloads to an Apple TV.

 

I've watched plenty of very good HD movies and programs on my Macs with an Apple 30" display. Stunning! Checkout the Apple movie trailers on the Apple site. They have some great HD content.