HQplayer 4 and Mac-mini M1

[LondonDan]

Some info for those thinking of M2 pro Mac mini

 

I was using MacBook Air 2021 M1 8gb 8 core running Roon and HqPlayer (not as a stand alone server but as much turned off as possible while listening)

 

it would run poly sinc ext2 44.1x256 ASDM7 

60% cpu with temps up at 80c with room temp around 23c (not ideal cpu temp but it worked) 

 

Mac. Mini M2 pro 10 core 16gb runs poly sinc ext2 48x256 ASDM7EC

36% cpu but temps climb quick to 70c and I didn’t test long term but I suspect higher

 

its plugged into a tv through hdmi for screen when needed.

 

Using TG pro fan control I have set the fan control to 35% when cpu is above 50c which means fan is running 2800 rpm which sees everything running long term at 61c highest cpu and 56c average.

 

sound is great, absolutely love it but my point is I think M2 pro is running hotter than M1 chip set even at lower cpu utilisation if you want to max out the cpu usage of the M2 pro… that fan is going to need to be set higher than 45% now that is not the big noise reported by some reviews but you need to use a software like TG pro fan control to manipulate the fan speed because when the fan is at 70% it’s too noisy (I tested manually). If you Mac is in another room then no problem.

 

at 35% fan speed I don’t hear it in the rack at the bottom unless changing cables or close to it but on a desk top you do hear it when music is off from a few feet away but with music on it doesn’t interfere at all. Taking off the bottom black cover increases the noise AND doesn’t improve cooling on the CPU temp so wouldn’t recommend that. Raising Mac min up on 4 rubber / silicone pads 12mm high helps a little and probably reduces any vibration too.

 

it’s proving super stable with no issues at all.

[LondonDan]

 Yep seems M2 Pro runs much hotter. 

Runs many filters with no fan (ticking over at 1700) but when cpu usage goes up the heat builds quick) 

what cpu utilisation are you getting when going to 256 asdm7ec with poly sinc ext2 ? 

[LondonDan]

Thanks, I can’t compare sound between M1 and M2 pro but seems cpu utilisation is very similar 8 core M1 to 10 core M2Pro but heat is managed better on M1 chip

 

maybe 12 core M2 pro manages the cpu load lower.

 

An M1 with highest ram seems a smart move for anyone thinking between the two  and saving some cash

[LondonDan]

On 3/19/2023 at 8:46 AM, LondonDan said:

Some info for those thinking of M2 pro Mac mini

 

I was using MacBook Air 2021 M1 8gb 8 core running Roon and HqPlayer (not as a stand alone server but as much turned off as possible while listening)

 

it would run poly sinc ext2 44.1x256 ASDM7 

60% cpu with temps up at 80c with room temp around 23c (not ideal cpu temp but it worked) 

 

Mac. Mini M2 pro 10 core 16gb runs poly sinc ext2 48x256 ASDM7EC

36% cpu but temps climb quick to 70c and I didn’t test long term but I suspect higher

 

its plugged into a tv through hdmi for screen when needed.

 

Using TG pro fan control I have set the fan control to 35% when cpu is above 50c which means fan is running 2800 rpm which sees everything running long term at 61c highest cpu and 56c average.

 

sound is great, absolutely love it but my point is I think M2 pro is running hotter than M1 chip set even at lower cpu utilisation if you want to max out the cpu usage of the M2 pro… that fan is going to need to be set higher than 45% now that is not the big noise reported by some reviews but you need to use a software like TG pro fan control to manipulate the fan speed because when the fan is at 70% it’s too noisy (I tested manually). If you Mac is in another room then no problem.

 

at 35% fan speed I don’t hear it in the rack at the bottom unless changing cables or close to it but on a desk top you do hear it when music is off from a few feet away but with music on it doesn’t interfere at all. Taking off the bottom black cover increases the noise AND doesn’t improve cooling on the CPU temp so wouldn’t recommend that. Raising Mac min up on 4 rubber / silicone pads 12mm high helps a little and probably reduces any vibration too.

 

it’s proving super stable with no issues at all.

Update on M2 pro mini 10 core

 

If I grey out multi core instead of ticked which I had on before CPU use drops from 35% to 25% which is quite a shift.

 

Everything else the same 44.1 to 48 dsd256 with 48 ticked.

 

temperature dropped 3c with fan on 2800rpm and now running 2500rpm to give highest core 60c and average 55c in a 23c room been running all day like that.
 

why is greyed out multicore more efficient than ticked multicore if anyone knows?

[LondonDan]

20 hours ago, Schafheide said:

Re your M1 (and maybe your M2 Pro}

It is a mystery to me why, given that your room temp is only 3 degrees C warmer than mine, why does your Mini M1 run so much hotter than mine? Have you removed all processes that are not required (assuming that your Mini is only needed for HQPlayer?

Mine has some things disabled some things not. It is not only for Roon / HQ player. All programs are force quit when playing music but Bluetooth is on for mouse and keyboard. Programs like TG pro fan cause small spikes in cpu as well as other background processes. Never above 2.5% cpu and mostly under 0.5% cpu, but I get the point, the less on the OS running or eve installed the better. 
 

i would be curious about other users of M2 pro but I suspect it just runs hotter than M1.

 

I Will test out some other filters to see how it does without the fan needing to be on much higher.

 

any suggestions?
I like ext.2 quite a lot with my select up. Dac supports up to dsd256 or 384 - 32 bit pcm

[LondonDan]

1 hour ago, musicjunkie917 said:

I like these settings:

 

SDM Integrator: FIR2
SDM Conversion: XFi
48K DSD: Checked
DAC Bits: 20
Default Output Mode: SDM (DSD)
SDM Defaults:
1x = poly-sinc-gauss-xla
Nx = poly-sinc-gauss-hires-lp
Modulator: ASDM7EC-super
Bit rate: 48K x 256
Multicore DSP: Greyed
Adaptive output rate: Checked

 

great settings musicjunckie also I like the below but I think my planar mids and AMT tweeters may have an impact on preference here too.

 

SDM Integrator: FIR2
SDM Conversion: XFi
48K DSD: Checked
DAC Bits: 20
Default Output Mode: SDM (DSD)
SDM Defaults:
1x = poly-sinc-ext3
Nx = poly-sinc-ext2
Modulator: ASDM7EC-v3
Bit rate: 48K x 256
Multicore DSP: Greyed
Adaptive output rate: Checked