Last minute recommendations for Mac Mini purchase/set

[CB]

I've spent a fair amount of time searching the various forums at CA and think I have put together a game plan for transfering my collection onto a music server. I plan on going with a Mac Mini since it appears to work good out of the box and meets many of my other criteria (reasonably affordable, size requirements, relatively simple to use, good SQ).

 

For now I plan on connecting the mini to my AVR via the mini's digital line out. I expect to eventually insert a USB DAC between the mini and AVR. In prior posts its been recommended that I consider a Peachtree Nova, but I don't think I'll go this route as I will lose the multi-room function on my receiver and lose the ability to utilize the surround sound processing for DVDs.

 

With that said, any last minute recommendations on this setup would be appreciated. I am not a computer guy so I'm still a bit nervous I have this thought out correctly.

 

Thanks in advance for any comments before I begin swipping my credit card.

 

 

1) Current model Mac Mini with 2.4 ghz processor and 320 GB HD.

 

2) Swap out the 320 GB HD with OCZ 40GB SDD - any thoughts/recommendation on this would be great?

 

3) External hardrive connected via Firewire for storage. Hardrive = Hitachi 1TB HDD with Onnto External Enclosure. Should I be considering Onnto's 2 bay with 2 TB HDDs. I'm not an IT guy, but I'm guessing with the 2 bay option I can create an auto backup. I have about 500 CD to add to storage.

 

CB

 

 

 

[audiozorro]

my recommendation is the Mach2 Mini that even those with expert skills have praised.

 

http://www.mach2music.com/order/order.html

 

And if that exceeds your budget just purchase a stock Mac Mini and forget about any upgrades for now, except perhaps for an external hard drive.

 

[AudioDoctor]

First: the Peachtree Nova and iNova have a Home Theatre bypass...

 

Second, use an external CD drive to rip your CDs, or you will wear out the one in the Mini if you have a large collection. Apple will not fix it for free if you do that.

 

third: get an external enclosure with a multitude of interfaces so you can use a different interface than your DAC if you get a new DAC with a new interface in the future.

 

[souptin]

2. Would you consider a ram upgrade to 4gb instead of / before the solid state drive? I appreciate that many people report sound quality benefits from ssd in fairly high end setups, but with your receiver acting as your starter dac this may not be a factor. On the other hand, more ram will make your mac run better, particularly if you're wanting video / dvd playback as well as music.

 

3. If you put both your backup drive and your media drive in the same enclosure then whilst you are protected from drive failure you don't gain any protection if it's the enclosure that fails. Two separate 1TB externals may be better - check that you can daisy chain them as the mac has only one fw port. Time machine software (comes as part of osx) may meet your needs for simple automated backups.

 

Other random thought: Apple says that the hdmi output on the mini will allow surround sound output, but I am not so sure about the optical output.

 

Sounds like a decent plan regardless, I think you'll enjoy it.

 

[goldsdad]

Hi CB

 

I went with the Mini for much the same reasons as you, and have absolutely no regrets. Also using Firewire external drives and USB audio output.

 

My advice is to get two separate external drives, one for music and occasional manual Time Machine backup of internal system drive, the other for a complete backup of internal system drive and music drive. Don't store the backup drive in the same location as the rest of the system; fire, flood, theft, raging spouse, etc - you don't want to lose the lot.

An excellent backup tool, in my opinion, is SuperDuper.

 

Here's my setup...

 

Internal drive.

Two partitions; primary for OS and apps, other for sandbox (a feature of SuperDuper).

 

External 1TB 2.5 inch bus-powered drive.

Always connected, cool-running, no fan, almost silent.

Two partitions; primary for music files, other for Time Machine.

 

External 2TB 3.5 inch mains-powered drive.

Usually stored off-site for safety. With fan and noisier than 2.5, but never connected when listening to music so no problem.

Multiple partitions, but some are for backing up another computer. Of concern to this discussion are three; bootable clone of internal drive's primary partition, and clones of the two partitions of the 2.5 drive.

 

The stock internal drive performs perfectly adequately for me. I advise seeing how you get on with it before ordering an SSD replacement. In any case, if you can wait a year or more, SSD prices could be substantially lower.

 

Order the Mini with the base 2GB RAM, then shop around for a 2x2GB or 2x4GB RAM upgrade kit elsewhere (Apple is way too pricey) if you experience excessive memory paging when using your choice of software.

 

 

[CB]

Oops - I meant to include that I'll upgrade to 4GB Ram. Any reason not to go with the Apple upgrade vs buying the RAM elsewhere and doing it myself?

 

[CB]

I think in order to use the bypass on the Nova I then lose the ability the use the multi-room feature on my AVR since the front channel speakers are connected to the Nova. My AVR lets me assign the back surround speakers to another room. I could be wrong on this though.

 

Any recommendations for the external CD drive?

 

I think the Onnto DataTale 3.5" External Enclosure has multiple interfaces but will double check.

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

[wgscott]

The one with the mini is fine. If it dies, then buy an external one.

 

You can get 8 gig of RAM from OWC for about $100. Much much cheaper than Apple. Replacing RAM in the new mini takes about 10 seconds.

 

[AudioDoctor]

however, will disagree on the need for an external CD reader for ripping.

 

[wdomeika]

Overkill.

 

Really for all but the completely obsessed do we really need to rip out chunks of OSX and put little feet on the mac mini to get what we want audio-wise?

 

Can't say it doesn't sound pretty...because I've never heard one. But it's a lot of $$$....I'm skeptical from a price value perspective.

 

As for a newbie...this would really be a road too far.

 

Cheers,

 

Bill

 

[wgscott]

put little feet on the mac mini to get what we want audio-wise?

 

In general it is a Very Bad Idea to remove anything from /System/Library. OS X 10.6 is an exceptionally efficient operating system. If you deactivate eye-candy and toys like Dashboard widgets, Spaces, Spotlight (to prevent bog-downs while it reindexes), and limit Time Machine to one backup per night, you will have done most if not all of the important things. Also, I strongly recommend not turning off filesystem journaling.

 

As for Little Feet, I think everyone should have a copy of Waiting for Columbus. They are kind of like what the Grateful Dead would have been if they did more coke and less heroin.

 

The 2010 mini is absolutely fine right out of the box. If you want to do memory play, third-party memory is very easy to add.

 

[4est]

"As for Little Feet, I think everyone should have a copy of Waiting for Columbus. They are kind of like what the Grateful Dead would have been if they did more coke and less heroin."

 

ROLMAO, Dead shows were great but I prefer Little Feet at home.

 

Wgscott has a point, as I have been screwed by not having journaling...