Mac Mini with Firewire - What to do with it??

[Ralf11]

I have a Mac Mini with Firewire and am wondering if there is any reason to use it in my HiFi system.  I currently use a 3 TByte iMac driving the system over WiFi (AirPlay).  however, that transmission mode won't work for HiRes, which I am slowly accumulating.

 

I have an Oppo-205 so in essence the DAC will be a Sonica.  I don't think it has a Firewire input.

 

The other issue is cost.  The Mini currently has a 750 Gbyte HDD in it, and my library is rapidly approaching that limit (which is smaller due to formatting and the OS) - ripping my dozen or so SACDs to reside on the disc will likely put it over the storage limit, so spending on a drive upgrade might bring the cost close to a new unit of some sort.

 

I've heard that Firewire is superior to USB (but "those were different times" as Lou Reed has explained).  Is keeping a Mini for its Firewire output meaningful these days?

[AudioDoctor]

I have one still (mid 2011) with an SSD and 16GB of RAM acting as a glorified Apple TV at the moment, it was my main audio source until I bought the Aurender server. I even have a Firewire drive of slightly older vintage still connected to it, and working. I don't really know what else to do with it.  I suppose I could use it as a ROON endpoint and install just the remote software on it.

[n2it]

What year / model do you have?

 

Firewire 800 is better than USB 2 but not great compared to USB 3.  Since you are asking, I assume you have a pre 2012 without USB 3 (otherwise you would probably want to use it).  Firewire is a little bit of a premium (vs usb 2/3) and I wouldn't invest in too much Firewire hardware, but for a HDD, it may make sense.   Some options:

 

• Firewire 800 enclosure - it's would be fine for an external HDD (could put a 4+ TB drive) - the read speed of a normal HDD maxes around 90-100 MB/s.  That is about the same speed as Firewire 800 (it maxes out around 80 MB/s so you'd be able to pretty much support the max speed of an HDD, but you leave a little on the table).  Look at something like  https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ME3QHKIT0GB/ which has firewire 800 and USB 3 and 2 - so it would be useable everywhere - not just on a mac with FW 800.  If 2.5 enclosure:  https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MSTG800U3K/ which again supports USB 3, 2 and Firewire 800.  Might be worth trying and you could move it to any other USB 3 in the future
• Internal drive upgrade.  it would not be too much at all.  A 2 TB (7200 rpm) 2.5 in HDD is under $100.  Again, depending upon the mac mini version you probably have either SATA II or SATA 3 which support 2 to 4 times faster rates than Firewire 800.  So this would allow full access to the speed of an HDD.  
• 2 Internal drives upgrade (e.g. SSD boot + HDD or 2 HDD). If yours will support 2 drives (with something like OWC's data doubler bracket https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIYIMM11D2/), change out the boot drive with an SSD (that is a huge improvement - I just did that on mini and it boots up really quickly - this is the best upgrade I have done on it) and also add a new HDD for data.  Or keep your 750 GB and add a 2 TB ...
• USB 2 enclosure - is very marginal for an external HDD - could use the same enclosures as FW 800 above. Again, HDD physical max is around 100 MB/s - and USB 2 maxes out around 50 MB/s.  
• Thunderbolt (assume version 1).  You might have a thunderbolt (version 1) port on yours - that is fast (2x USB 3) and you can get docks that have USB 3 and eSata for those, but they are expensive (not sure they would be worth it - also you can probably only find thunderbolt 2 accessories although they should be backwards compatible with thunderbolt 1).  This might give you the most expandability, but also be the most expensive.  Latest macs have thunderbolt 3, so not really forward compatible.  

I'd probably get a Firewire 800 / USB 3 and 2 enclosure to add more space - it would be moveable to any other computer and if there is a better interface at some time, you just replace enclosure.  

 

[AudioDoctor]

I am considering repurposing mine as a ROON server into my MAC7200 here in my office, and just controlling it at my iMac or phone/tablet. If I do that I will probably take the spinning drive out of it, leave the SSD, and do a clean OS install so there isn't anything cluttering it up beyond what has to be there. Then I can take my time finding a ROON server.

[wgscott]

8 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

Is keeping a Mini for its Firewire output meaningful these days?

 

I use mine for my external drive, which is a 1TB bus-powered (SSD). I use USB (direct, or USB/coax) into my DAC.  Airplay is your weak link.  The mac mini seems the perfect solution, and you can remote-display it on your iMac (which is what I normally do).

[jacobacci]

Some thoughts:

• The Weiss DAC 202 (and some other Weiss models) has a Firewire input and it actually sounds best using Firewire.
• The internal HD of the Mac Mini can be exchanged for an SSD or Solid State Hybrid Drive. Instructions here
• An external Hard Drive enclosure with a Firewire input. These have become a bit hard to find and are usually more expensive than the USB types

Overall I would not bother finding a use for the Mac Mini. The only true benefit of firewire in an audio context would be using a Firewire DAC, but that's an expensive route using vintage hardware both for the Mac Mini and the DAC.

Your Oppo BDP 205 has a USB input that is DSD capable, no Firewire.

I would go for something like

• a NUC with a M.2 SSD (Coffee Lake NUC8i5BEK coming shortly) and a large external USB3 HD such as this one
• jRiver as player in order to be able to play SACD.ISOs. The i5 of the NUC should easily handle any DSD to PCM conversions might they ever be needed
• If you want to stay in the Apple ecosystem, wait for the new Mac Minis that should be announced shortly

If you only have a dozen or so SACDs that you will rip, I would convert the ISOs to DSD files, so you can tag the files natively. jRiver can tag SACD ISOs, but then you're stuck in the jRiver ecosystem. Staying away from SACD ISOs would also open up the route to us a minimalist solution such as an Odroid C2 running Volumio with an external HD (sounds really good, fun and cheap).

Good luck and enjoy

 

[Lio_B]

I can confirm, I had a USB connection between my MAC mini and my DAC, and I changed it by using a firewire cable and Weiss 202 interface and Digital cable out to my DAC. The SQ is just awesome