New Mac Mini released

[Duke Weber]

If you're using the iTunes remote app, it's the same for now on the iPad as on the little guys. You can blow it up to the 2x blurry version like other apps designed for the iPhone, but that alone wouldn't be a reason to get an iPad.

 

Airports all around are very satisfying, and wired 1000 network makes life easier.

 

That assumes you've already got a great DAC, and analog elements - amp and speakers.

 

[Phil Townsend]

Apples web site says 24 bit@ 192... is this for real???

 

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4214

 

[jonmarsh]

HDMI 1.3 supports lossless (LCPM) multi-channel audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master audio; this is high bit depth high bit rate LPCM.

 

[audiozorro]

to release a HDMI hi-rez audiophile quality multi-channel DAC for the new Mac Mini? Is there nothing on the horizon except for the mid-fi (but quite affordable) home theater receivers or preamps that now exist?

 

[Audio_ELF]

Not sure exactly if you count them as High End enough ... but can already buy something like Classe SSP800 or Lexicon MC12HD, use the Meridan 621 with a 800v6 (and other Meridian processors) or wait for the Bryston SP3 (if it ever actually appears!).

 

I think the issue is that most of the time if going Multi-channel unless you have a perfect room where you can have 5 identical speakers in a proper pentagram formation with the listener in the middle, you're going to want some form of signal processing and that is best performed by a dedicated processor (i.e. a DSP!).

 

Does anyone know if the MacMini's HDMI can even supply high-resolution uncompressed multi-channel audio? And if it does - what software exists for getting this off a BluRay or DVD?

 

Eloise

 

[jonmarsh]

Keep in mind thAt for efficiency sake, HDMI is designed to support lossless compression to keep data rates down. As the HDCP software standard requires encryption anyway, the processing required for lossless compression is not much of an adder.

 

But frankly, it seems just more complication than is worthwhile, compared to just using a LIO-8 with the new Mini. That's the path I've chosen for now, and in fact my LIO-8 should deliver today, according to my UPS shipment notification! So maybe by this weekend I'll have some words about how that combo works!

 

Jon

 

[audiozorro]

how to and what connections are necessary to get multi-channel audio from the new Mac Mini and a LIO-8.

 

[Audio_ELF]

"how to and what connections are necessary to get multi-channel audio from the new Mac Mini and a LIO-8."

FireWire will support 6 or 8 channels easily. It's more about getting the software to interface with a multi-channel system like that - AFAIK Mac's have never had multi-channel soundcards and always relied on Digital Bitstreaming of DD or DTS.

 

Eloise

 

[souptin]

"5 identical speakers in a proper pentagram formation with the listener in the middle"

 

Wow, I didn't know you could do that with speakers - I thought you needed candles made from human flesh, eye of newt, toe of frog, etc...

 

Just so I'm clear, if you get the incantations right, is it the devil you can summon up, or just Chris Connaker wearing a goat outfit?

 

[Audio_ELF]

"Just so I'm clear, if you get the incantations right, is it the devil you can summon up, or just Chris Connaker wearing a goat outfit?"

Which would be scarier??

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Don't mess with my goat outfit :~)

 

[souptin]

I was originally going to post that I know of two programs that claim to work with multi channel sound: Apple's Logic Pro / Final Cut applications, which are aimed at mixing rather than playback, and VLC, the multi-purpose open source audio and video playback engine. I think the DVD player application relies on an outboard processor (eg a receiver) to decode.

 

As I may have mentioned before, the VLC route sounds interesting, but I haven't ever experimented with it due to lack of time. Sorry I can't be more helpful, but I have this problem with poltergeist audiophile goats you understand? "Baaahhhhts are baaaahhhhhts" they keep chanting.

 

[barrows]

has never really caught on with most of the high end, as Eloise notes, not everyone has a room that can really accommodate a 5.1 (or 7.1) set up properly. As I see it, another problem is that 5.1 and 2 channel cannot really coexist properly in the same system, as the placement for the LF and RF speakers for proper 5.1 playback will put them in a the wrong position for 2 channel playback. The additional expense of multichannel is another big problem, good speakers are really expensive-there is no real way around this, and needing three more, and the necessary amplification gets expensive really fast.

One does not see too many high end pre-processors for all of the above reasons, as well the expense factor for the manufacturer. To market a processor, a manufacturer has to pay the licensing fees for MLP, Dolby, DTS, etc. For a mass market vendor like Sony, etc. these fees are no big deal, but for small audiophile companies the fees are huge obstacles. So even for just a two channel DAC to decode from HDMI, the manufacturer would have to pay the licensing fees, I suspect even HDMI itself has a licensing fee.

 

[cfmsp]

 

For adventurous souls, there's a theoretically better approach to multi-channel playback, called Ambisonics.

 

I'll be delving deep(er) into it this summer I hope. I'll report back.

 

If you think about it rationally for even one second, the whole 5.1, and now 7.1, setup is a big f#$King kludge. Mathematically speaking, it's a ridiculous proposition.

 

just my opinion, of course. ;0

 

clay

 

 

[audiozorro]

Surround sound encompasses a range of techniques for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. The three-dimensional (3D) sphere of human hearing can be virtually achieved with audio channels above and below the listener. To that end, the multichannel surround sound application encircles the audience with surround channels (left-surround, right-surround, back-surround), as opposed to "screen channels" (center, [front] left, and [front] right), i.e. ca. 360° horizontal plane (2D).

 

Surround sound technology is used in cinema and home theater systems, video game consoles, personal computers and other platforms. Commercial surround sound media include videocassettes, DVDs, and HDTV broadcasts encoded as Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby Digital, or DTS. Other commercial formats include the competing DVD-Audio (DVD-A) and Super Audio CD (SACD) formats, and MP3 Surround. Cinema 5.1 surround formats include Dolby Digital and DTS. Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (SDDS) is a 7.1 Cinema configuration which features 5 independent audio channels across the front with two independent surround channels, and an LFE.

 

Most surround sound recordings are created by film production companies or video game producers; however some consumer camcorders have such capability either built-in or available separately. Surround sound technologies can also be used in music to enable new methods of artistic expression. After the failure of quadraphonic audio in the 1970s, multichannel music has slowly been reintroduced since 1999 with the help of SACD and DVD-Audio formats. Some AV receivers, stereophonic systems, and computer soundcards contain integral digital signal processors and/or digital audio processors to simulate surround sound from a stereophonic source. [End Quote]

 

It just seems to me that the future for surround sound audio is growing and bright. I base this opinion on the following:

 

1. The market for mult-channel Home Theater dwarfs the market for High End Stereo

2. The slow but steady pace of SACDs and nearly defunct DVD-As will soon be supplanted with multi-channel music on Blu-ray

3. The Video Game market is becoming increasingly multi-channel for more realistic simulations

4. Audiophiles into high end multi-channel audio of SACDs and DVD-As generally find them to sound superior and more realistic than the stereo versions

5. Most people with mid-fi Home Theater systems find that hybrid discs such as DVD-As and music video DVDs sound better in multi-channel playback than stereo playback

6. Most AV receivers and processors are multi-channel and many have digital room correction capabilities for improved sonics

7. Modern recordings are usually multi-channel digital recordings

 

I sincerely believe the three most important components of audio are the source material, the speakers and the room. I have found that at least nowadays multi-channel SACDs and DVD-As to be a bargain compared to high-rez digital downloads that are usually more expensive. For example my AIX Records come with DVD-A and DVD video discs, surround sound in Dolby Digital, DTS and MLP Audio Encoding, 24/96 Stereo, alternative mixes of stage and audience surround sound, multiple camera angle video with pan and zoom capability, extensive interactive liner notes and a nice case to boot, all for less than $25. To get all this through digital downloads would cost 2 to 3 times as much.

 

Thus with multi-channel source material superior to stereo source material, an excellent digital universal player like the $499 Oppo BDP-83, any one of a number of decent and very affordable AV receivers with Audyssey MultEQ from Integra, Denon or Onkyo what else is left besides a good 5.1 speaker system. For the budget conscious I would project that 5 Audioengine AP4 speakers and the S8 subwoofer would be a good start for around $1,000. I would also expect such a setup to work well in most home listening rooms. Upgrade to better speakers and multiple subs if you want something better and more bang for the buck.

 

 

[Audio_ELF]

Just to note, emphasising what I implied but not sure I stated very well before ... there is a difference between the theoretical best for multi-channel (SACD or DVD-A) music and multi-channel movie sound.

 

With multi-channel music, the 5 speakers are positioned equally around a circle, identical distance from the listener - certainly not compatible with positioning of 2-channel speakers.

 

For multi-channel movie sound, the front 3 should be across the plane under a screen.

 

Eloise

 

[escapes]

Need some advice. New to MAC's, think it time to get a mini. Without dual booting into Win is there anyway to play FLAC's in iTunes?

 

[audiozorro]

The pentagram formation is interesting but not very practical. Assuming 10 ft diameter circle with the listener in the center puts the center channel speaker 5 ft directly in front of the listener, the left front and right front speakers 1 ft- 6.5 inches forward of the listener, and the left rear and right rear speakers 4 ft- 9 inches behind the listener. Of course the distance from the listener to any of the 5 speakers is 5 feet.

 

The common speaker setup in the typical rectangular listening room has the center, left front and right front speakers placed along the front wall and the left rear and right rear speakers placed along the back wall. The speakers are usually not equidistant from the listener and this rectangular configuration is compatible with the front speaker placement for stereo. Even without any digital correction for speaker distance, the multi-channel surround system will typically sound significantly better than the stereo setup.

 

A slight variation for the typical rectangular listening room may include the rear speakers moved further up along the side walls. A further improvement would be the 7.1 or 7.2 channel surround system with seven discrete full range speakers; left front, right front, center, left surround, right surround, left rear, right rear plus mono or stereo subwoofers.

 

I don’t want to get too far off topic but my interest was the HDMI capability in the new Mac Mini with products like the Integra receivers or preamplifiers for multi-channel audio. Perhaps we are not there yet with computer audio, but with high-rez video or multi-channel audio, like the DVDs from AIX Records, guarantees that optical disc players may have a place in the homes of videophiles and audiophiles for the foreseeable future.

 

 

[Bob Stern]

There is a freeware plugin to play FLAC in iTunes, but it was pretty flaky when I tried it.

 

The freeware program XLD can convert your FLAC files to Apple Lossless or AIFF files. When you visit the XLD website, scroll past the confusing instructions regarding the command line version and look for the download link for the GUI version.

 

[wgscott]

FLAC can be converted to Apple Lossless for iTunes, or you can play it without conversion using Songbird or Play.app (and probably a bunch of other third-party options).

 

You shouldn't let that prevent you from getting it. Also, you can install windows on it too if you absolutely had to.

 

[Audio_ELF]

Audiozorro: I did say the THEORETICAL setup for music, very rarely is this possible so we use DSP and time delay to implement it in a real world room.

 

Eloise

 

[RankStranger]

That's gonna save me some time. xACT can go jump!

 

[almaatakz]

http://www.chordelectronics.co.uk/news_article.asp?id=44

 

One of the new gems in the range is an audio-inspired computer!

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Thanks for the Chord link. Interesting product.

 

[Renerator]

Hey guys. I just got my 2010 Mac Mini. I'm going through the learning process that goes between a PC (Windows 7) and and Mac OS. I have a M2Tech HiFace with rca connection. As I look into the System Preferences section, the only option for sound is "Internal Speakers", which is a "built in output". Can anyone tell me how to add the capability of outputting music through a USB port? Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks