Music Server offering a significant upgrade over a Mac Mini?

[foodfiend]

For those on the MacMini, one thing to consider is to mod it with a better power supply. This actually cleans up the noise floor significantly.

 

If you want to change out of the Mac Mini, do consider that any music server is a computer of some sort. A properly-designed custom motherboard can help to mitigate noise, and give better playback. Also, off-the-shelf SSDs do not necessarily improve the sound of audio playback, due to the frequently changing demands on electricity (lots of things happen in the background, even when the data is not being accessed). There are a few audio-specific SSDs on the market, and they use electronics to minimize these swings in electricity demand.

[foodfiend]

19 hours ago, Charente said:

@foodfiend I did consider the MMK power conversion kit for the MacMini after a conversation with UpTone ... at the time I was using USB out ... and that looks like a neat solution. However, now, I'm using a renderer via Ethernet on the network, rather than USB. I presumed that modifying the power for the MacMini would be not be worthwhile in these circs. The renderer and its PS is not a cheap solution, but probably about the same cost as a good quality server. Apart from the music going across Ethernet, rather than 'noisy' USB, a good renderer with clean output signal qualities can produce very good overall sound improvements.

Well, I would say that using a renderer then shifts the majority of potential tweaks to that box. It is not really using the MacMini as a player anymore.

 

There has been some talk of "the benefits of cleaning up your network" when it comes to Ethernet. Do you have any experience on this?