Mac Mini Headless - help required

I've got a 2007/2008 mini so it's one with the external power brick, rather than the later internal PS version. The PS is from Welborne labs - not the easiest company to deal with out in the US (rather slow) but the previous PS i built as a kit from them was good quality.I'm open minded to this sort of stuff and I like to try things out so if it works well then that'll be a good result and it'll be interesting to have a play with that and the Uptone device.

I'll report back if of interest. 

James

Lucky you, I'm still swithering .. hope you'll post your experiences with it.

Please do james

Indeed although i don't expect much SQ, if any, difference between this and Hugo. After the TT for other reasons

Still worth knowing though .. even though it's the balanced outs, remote control and galvanic isolation that makes it particularly attractive for me.

After a few days running Audirvana i thought i would post my opinions in comparison with JRiver and Aurender.

Firstly im not using JRiver in a standard fashion.  Firstly I'm using it in UPNP mode with Minimserver on my NAS. So my NAS transcodes FLAC to WAV and then JRiver transcodes this to 2xDSD. Why, well because i like the sound.

Audirvana - No iOS app at present but the interface is quite nice to be honest, its quick to search although i would prefer an alphabet bar on the side. It displays a good amount of info and you can see the track load into memory which is nice. The sound is a little laid back, it sounds very natural tonal wise but it feels like its holding back. Soundstage is not as large as the others yet separation and air around instruments seems better than JRiver. This seems to work very well with simple vocal and jazz tracks, but on something like The Rolling Stones -Brown Sugar it just doesn't get going, its too polite it should be more raucous.

JRiver - i use JRemote and i think it is a fantastic app. Lots of ways to view your info and is very slick in operation. JRiver can do an awful lot, streams films can connect to iradio stations it really is a full function system. Support is great but their online information system is pants. Rather than a manual its a load of wiki pages which is very hard to navigate. So to sound quality, as i said above i have a lot of conversion going on but i think it sounds great. Brown Sugar really hots the mark, you get the energy in the track no chance your foot can stop tapping. It may not have the air and space of Audirvana, but on this track you don't need it. Even on simple vocal and jazz tracks, yes it gives a little to Audirvana but overall i find It more enjoyable. That old case of more of something does not make it more musically enjoyable.

Aurender - Well I'm not even gonna bother, although I don't have the N100 here to compare directly to Audirvana, for me in my system there is no comparison. The Aurender wins hands down, no contest. The Aurender has a larger soundstage, sounds more natural, sounds more enjoyable. It has that sit up and listen presence. Could the Mini ever match it, who knows, maybe, but not sure it would be worth the effort to find out.

Obviously these are only my thoughts in my system, so it will be interesting to hear others opinions. 

Graeme

Interesting review of the Aurender N100H on Computer Audiophile today if you were interested

Several weeks on and with Mac Mini and Audirvana well established I have to say that I wish I'd made the jump earlier as the combination is fantastic.  Its also made me realise just how good the rest of the system is because its never sounded so good.  Next steps are an upgrade on speaker cable, Nat05 to replace the tuner on the qute and a Hicap dr for the SN2.  Happy days.

Glad you are enjoying dayjay. I'm looking forward to adding an MM to my set up as well at some point. What spec MM did you go for in the end?

I went for the cheapest brand new model, just 4 gig of ram, on the basis that if I didn't like it I could put it in my son's room at a relatively low cost, but it works flawlessly.  Bought a magic mouse and keyboard to go with it but other than that its been a really easy change.  Well recommended.

Thanks Watt, I need to shuffle things around a little so will need slightly longer cables, so I'll have a listen to to a couple of options and see/hear what sounds best

I bought some string from Poundland. Beat Chord Sarum for inky blacknes.

Yours, Professor Aloysius O’Brien O’Rourke Haggarty