New mac mini

[Sevenfeet]

On 3/13/2019 at 11:22 AM, dc-audiogeek said:

The i7 Mac Mini can produce a lot of heat when it's worked hard. When I use HQPlayer to upsample to DSD256 with demanding filters, core temperature can go up to 90C-100C, which causes CPU throttling to occur. I've solved this issue via software and accessories. I purchased a Mac app that overrides the Mini's fan settings and allows me to customize them. I run the fans at their maximum setting (it's not very loud) for as long as I use the computer. I also purchased a set of 4 isolation cones from Parts Express ($30) and used them to lift the Mini off the surface of my desk. Now the maximum core temperature doesn't go above 60C and no throttling is occurring, as far as I can tell.

 

I wish Apple had incorporated better passive and active cooling to accommodate the increase in heat from faster processors, but I've made the best of it.

 

What filters can't your Mac Mini handle?  I'm looking at a Mac Mini to replace my 2008 Mac Pro as a central server & HQPlayer machine.

[Sevenfeet]

3 hours ago, dc-audiogeek said:

I do like my Mini quite a bit, but it's not at all an ideal audio machine/server.

 

You know about all the issues with the T2 chip and audio in the newer Mac models, right (like you can't install Linux or any other operating system but Windows)?  I wish I'd known about them before I bought the Mini. It's very difficult to get inside it to add your own RAM, not to mention the SSD is soldered to the logic board, which isn't ideal if you ever want to swap it out for a newer model.

 

As a server to my NAA, my Mac Mini can handle all of HQ's DSD256 filters. I'm using it as a HQPlayer/Roon server for my NAA. It is connected via a network switch via Ethernet. Mine was getting unpleasantly hot and the cores maxed out with the XTR and Closed-Form-16M filter. Once I added the isolation cones, it could handle them without any thermal issues and lower CPU usage. The core temperature doesn't go over 60% (or lower) running XTR and Closed-Form-16M filters, which is the lowest temp I've seen the Mini reach with my octa-core i7 chip, 32 GB of RAM, and a 1 GB SSD drive.

 

I'm not sure about the Mini's HQPlayer DSD512 capabilities. I have not tried sending DSD512 audio via Ethernet. I use my Mini with a monitor, not as a headless source. I'd need to use it as a headless server if I wanted it to feed either of my DACs directly.

 

There are limitations on the level of HQPlayer-upsampled DSD that the Mini can put out when it's directly connected to a DAC. I've read conflicting information that it can only put out DSD128 and/or DSD256 at most. 

 

If you're not already tied into the Apple ecosystem, I'd suggest looking at the newest configurable Intel NUCs instead. They are a little bit cheaper, can output DSD256/512 directly to a DAC, and have the same (or better) abilities with HQPlayer.

 

First, you can disable the T2's security measures with a supplied Apple utility so you can boot to Linux if you want.  However, it's not on the main boot volume.  You'll need to boot from the recovery partition to access it ("Startup Security Utility").  Reboot with the option key pressed to access the recovery partition.

 

My Roon/HQPlayer machine as I mentioned is a 2008 Mac Pro.  It was pretty stout 10 years ago or even five years ago but a modern Mac Mini will run rings around it.  But the Mac Pro has much better thermals....so your methods of dealing with it are of great interest to me.  My Mac Pro sits under the house in a non-living space so I don't care about running the fan at high speed all day since no one would hear it, especially over the din of my Dell Poweredge server :).  (It's also ancient).

 

As you may have guessed, I'm fully steeped in the Mac/iOS universe so while I can certainly build/operate a NUC Linux machine, I'd rather just go with a Mac Mini since I want to run Plex and a few other things the Mac Pro is doing now.  And I don't care about a Mac Mini directly accessing a DAC since the DAC it would talk to (my Oppo 205) has a NAA if its own....in this case an elderly 2008 iMac running Windows 10.  It's too slow for regular general use but it makes a perfectly serviceable NAA and/or Roon client.  As it stands, nothing in my house is powerful enough to run the Oppo at DSD512 but it sounds like the Mac Mini can except for non -2 filters, which are currently not runable on most people's rigs.

 

 

[Sevenfeet]

10 hours ago, dc-audiogeek said:

 

As Consuela would say, "No...no...no." You, sir, do not actually own a new Mac Mini. I do. 😁I have tried this "solution."  It doesn't work at all. You cannot install Linux or boot from a linux hard drive at this point. I am working with Euphony Audio, which makes a Linux-based audiophile OS, to try to get this to work. Their engineering team has not any luck so far, and I have not seen any proof in an online forum or news post showing that it's possible.

 

OK true.  I did read about the solution online but I guess you can't trust that pesky Internet sometimes. 😁  Oh well.  In any case, my needs aren't centered around running my favorite Linux distro on a Mac.  If I got a new Mac Mini, it would be running MacOS.  But again, if a Mac Mini Core i7 machine could tackle most HQPlayer duties, then i'd be fine.  All I'd need is 512MB for a boot volume or maybe 1TB for a stretch purchase since everything else this machine does would be on the USB 3 and Thunderbolt attached external storage.

[Sevenfeet]

On 5/4/2019 at 12:22 PM, Panelhead said:

  I am lost on this.

 I think Apple with add the M2 memory soon. The EVO 970 sticks have read speed rating of 3500 MB/sec. The write is around 2500. Smokes the 2.5” SSD. 

  Built a NUC with these, but been concerned how fragile the Hackintosh is. People with them are constantly changing the settings to address OS updates. Just have Windows 10 on it for now.

  I think I would replace my late 2012 Mini with a new model Mini if it was able to use the latest chips and drives. 

 

Maybe, but Apple tends to not change hardware configurations with MacOS that often anymore.  Given that the 2018 Mac Mini isn't even a year old yet, we might not see a substantive upgrade before 2022, or whenever Macs go to ARM chips, whichever comes first.