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Hi All,
Profit sharing comng next week. Looking into a new 2011 Mac mini for my audio only OSX based system.
Wondering which speed/processor to get:
Standard 2.5GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5, or optional 2.7GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7 at an extra $100.
Any opinions on which would be a better choice for audio? Is faster always better?
TIA.
Follow Ups:
Steve
Sorry if I was not clear about the video.When I talked about not using it for video I meant that I did not us my mini for watching videos on a large screen. Some people use their minis in a dual role for both music and to watch video playback. Since I do not use mine to watch videos I expect the standard on board video would be adequate for me without going to the higher spec video card in the next model up.
I am wondering if sticking with the lower powered video card would have any benefit for music playback ?
Any thoughts on potential differences Between the dual core or quad core processor for music playback
Regards
Mark
Mine has the 2.5 Ghz i5. Sounds fantastic with memory play and PM. Has 8 Gb RAM. Recently replaced the hard drive with a SSD. Used a Force 3, super fast read/write speed. Could not tell the SSD helped any with sound quality.
I know a SSD should not make a difference with memory play. Same with a faster processor. But hope springs eternal that some of these things will effect sound quality.
George
I'm not sure there would be a sonic difference between an i5 and i7 Dual Core. There was a big difference going from Dual Core 2.93 to an i7 Quad Core 2.3 for me.
The Force 3 is super fast in Sata 3. At least the computer boots up fast :).
Amarra has released their new version 2.31. Actally sounds pretty good listening today.
Thanks Mercman
Just to get it clear. Am I correct in asuming it was the quad core that was the better sounding option in your system ?
Regards
Mark
.
Since it is audio only the cheap one will do fine.
Two channel audio has been a trivial task for any cpu in the last 10-15 years.
I have also been contemplating which 2011 Mac Mini would be best for a dedicated music server.I have no need for video so I wonder if the models without a separate video card might have less electrical noise, current draw and heat generated and wether this would make for better sound in a high end system ?
I also wonder if the 2.0 Ghz quad core available in the server model might have advantages over the 2.7 Ghz dual core in the standard model? Whist the 2.0 Ghz model will have less speed for the core involved with music playback is it an advantage to have up to another 3 cores available for any other functions the CPU has to do at the same time? I am assuming of course that the operating system is up to the task of managing this correctly ?
Are you looking to stay with Lion or are looking at trying to install Snow Leopard ? From what I have read no one seems to have got the server model working properly on SL. Although more recent reports seem to be indicating that Lion is not as bad for music playback as first reported. Especially on the new hardware
So many questions, and in my case so little knowledge.
Regards
Mark
Edits: 09/16/11
Mark,
We have had Snow Leopard running and available on the 2011 Mac Mini since the day after they were released. http://mach2music.com/order/order.html
Admittadly, it was very difficult to get running right, but Snow Leopard sounds fantastic on the 2011 Mini.
Darrell
www.mach2music.com
as I use it to rip, search the net for cover art, download software (e.g. Carbon Copy Cloner, XLD, Pure Music, iTunes updates), adjust settings, etc.
What don't I understand about this?
It is true once I am playing music, everything can be done from my iPhone with the Apple Remote app, but there is so much else...
Just wondering, thanks, Steve
I just finished researching what Mac Mini set-up to use. Both Gordon Rankin and Steve Nugent confirmed that faster computers sound better, although the reasons may not be clear. Also, Gordon Rankin has pointed out that it is best if your USB DAC is not sharing a USB bus with other devices, including those internal to the Mac, such as bluetooth or an infrared sensor.
The 2010 and 2011 devices are generally faster, but they also have fewer USB buses than the 2009 models. I found that the later two models have 2 USB buses supporting four USB ports, suggesting that it may be difficult to dedicate a bus to the DAC. However, the 2009 units have 3 buses supporting 5 ports, making it easier to find a bus to dedicate to the DAC. I have not made any comparisons between models, but I went with the late 2009 model. If you look on eBay, you can find the late 2009 model with 2.53 MHz processor, which should be comparable to the 2010 model at 2.4 MHz. I just received my Mac Mini and have not yet loaded it with a SSD and 8 GB of RAM, so I cannot report on the listening results.
Good luck with your system!
Cheers,
Bill
from Pure Music, and modify as needed.I went with the last of the slot loaders, upgraded to an SSD and 8 gig RAM from OWC. Using external hard drives (5400 rpm) from OWC too. I use XLD to rip and Pure Music over iTunes. I only installed the main disc, not the applications disc. Using Snow Leopard, not Lion OSX (based on ability to play integer mode and feedback on this forum). FW to HD and USB to DAC. Rips are in AIFF. Using Ice Cube aftermarket adapter and audiophile a/c cord into Mini.
This all works well in HOG mode and memory player mode. Takes less than a second to load and start playing and might be even faster if you disable sleep mode on the external HDD and/or use a faster (but possibly noisier) drive. NO dropouts at all, ever. Control it with an iPhone with Remote software. System is super quiet, and sounds good...clean, master tape type sound, very resolving and dimensional, on CD rips. I can't play hi rez yet.
I also followed the Ayre and Wavelength online advice on system setup.
If you have not upgraded the SSD on one of these machines, there is a You Tube video on how to do it. Be sure you carefully lift the cables out of the sockets, straight up, and reinstalling the antenna is tricky. My advice on that is at the YouTube site.
In memory player mode I am not sure why processor speed would matter. Per Pure Music I close programs, get activity to <1%, and restart machine, then go into memory mode. From the time I hit "reatart" the machine is back up ready to use in 9 seconds with the SSD.
Let me know if you have any questions as things go along...
Steve
Edits: 09/15/11
Hello Steve,
Thanks for your very informative post. I am in the process of trying to plan a Computer Audio system using a Mac Mini as my server.
Most of my files will be from ripping my CD collection but would also like to access Hi Rez files from various sites on the Net. Was wondering 2 things. Which DAC are you using and why have you not been able to play Hi Rez on your system?
Thanks,
JayG
.
..I've the top of the line version w/ the built in CD reader. I only have the stock 2 GB of RAM, will get more soon, but after the music has been playing for a while I start getting drop outs. If I restart the thing it goes back to working fine. I'm feeding the signal thru a VLink and out to DAC via coax. So I'm not sure if it's jitter causing this but it seems to me if it was it would happen all the time. Sooo..I'm thinking more RAM is needed and I would certainly think a faster processor would be a boon too. But, again, I'm no expert on this.
Although more RAM can be beneficial overall, I don't think more memory or a faster processor will solve your "drop out" problem.
I have an older 2007 era Mac Mini 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 duo and 1GB RAM. It works perfectly with no dropouts. I did eventually upgrade it to 4GB.
I also have the mid 2010 Mac Mini 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 duo and 4GB RAM. This is the model that still has the DVD drive just prior to the most current design. It works perfectly too and I hear no difference between this one and my older 2007 model.
...and I use the USB port for my backup disk. ;-)
But still, DAVID's drop-out problem is unrelated to the speed of his CPU or the amount of memory he has. It's either an issue with his chosen USB port, the device attached to it, or his cable.
..is causing it? It only does it after it's been playing for quite a while. It doesn't matter if it's hi-rez or whether or not the upsampling is being used w/ Pure Music.
David,
Not all USB ports are created equal. Use the system profiler found in the utilities folder to find the USB port that is most direct and is not shared with other devices. Remember there are a ton of other devices inside.
Apple Icon-> About this Mac-> More Info will bring it up.
Select USB from the hardware list and it will show your device.
You can hit refresh ounce you have swapped the port.
More memory is advised and pretty cheap and easy to install.
Thanks
Gordon
J. Gordon Rankin
.
I'm new to Apple. That was a tip I needed. I 'see' the 2 usb ports on my macbook; one is fairly booked up on the buss with trackpad, bluetooth, keyboard and maybe other necessary stuff. The other just has an IR receiver on the buss, which I disabled (no use). So the usb dac will be going in the latter now by itself. I knew that was there somewhere, but hadn't figured out how to find it. U da man!
Hi Gordon,
Any opinions on clock speed or processor options on the 2011 Mac mini?
For audio use it doesn't matter. I use a 2006 core duo, NOT core 2 duo, iMac for music and it keeps up just fine. Don't get caught up on the speed of the processor or the ram. For that matter I only have 1gb of RAM in mine. I connect via wifi using Twonky media server to my Oppo 93. While it is being the server I can still do other things on my mac without impacting the sound.
The bitrate of CD audio is so low that it just doesn't matter. Hi-res is a little more demanding, but it JUST DOESN"T MATTER!!! You're talking Ghz processors handling Mhz sound. 16X44100x2 = 1.411mhz. 24x96 = 4.6mhz. They handle more than that while you type.
IF you are doing video processing or 3d rendering maybe you need the speed, but not for audio.
..two USB ports and two USB high speed ports. I'll switch to one of the high speed ones tonight after work and see if that works better. Thanks for the tip!
Thanks David.
I was thinking faster + better too. Wonder if the change from Intel i5 to i7 processor makes a difference?
I'm going to bump up the supplied 4GB memory to OWC or Crucial 8GB, and swap the 60GB OWC SSD from my existing mini.
I'll replace the original HD in my old mini and sell it.
...and put the drive I pulled from my Mini into it. It has the little card and powers off the USB.
My intention is to keep the internal SSD cloned onto this, and all the music files I have on an external drive cloned onto another 2TB drive I just bought.
This duplicates everything this music server has in memory, period (even though I think the chance of the internal SSD failing is remote, for $15, why not?).
Just a thought...Steve
Just my two cents as a avid computer user.
If you're just doing audio playback, the system shouldn't have much of an impact. Just the connections to the system, your drivers, and your operating systems bloat. ( The stuff enabled that you don't really need. )
You should only really care about the Processor speed and Ram if you're going to be doing extensive audio, video, or 3d editing.
Using Ableton on an old computer, when having many streams of sound playing, can bog the system down a bit, ergo having the fastest processor and ram would help for that sort of thing. But you can playback audio, as someone else mentioned, on systems that are 10-15 years old with zero issues, as long as all the connections are fine. ( Some machines that old wouldn't have the supporting Usb ect, but would still have the power required. )
Personally when I'm dropping over a thousand dollars, I prefer to be better safe then sorry. My Laptop has a core i7 in it and it's very nice. Also Macs cost a lot of money for the hardware that you get, so if you're already spending so much to get an i5, the upgrade imo would be worthwhile.
If you know for a fact that the system will be used only for audio playback, I would honestly look for a second hand model that's a few years old, as the usb port thing seems to be a valid issue that would far outweigh the benefits of the newest processors and ram.
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