MinimServer on the Mac Mini

Posted by: Dr_J on 03 October 2016

Just been playing with MinimServer on the Mac Mini, late 2012 model, quad core i7, 16Gb RAM, running Mac OS 10.12, aka Sierra.

Appears very noisy by comparison with MinimServer running on a Synology NAS, noticeable level of background hiss at quiet volumes, not present on the NAS variant........

Playback is through wireless streaming to Naim Mu-so in both cases.

Anyone have any thoughts as to why and/or what might be done to improve SQ? Note, Synology NAS wirelessly streaming to SuperUniti is also excellent SQ, so appears to be a Mac Mini issue..... maybe?

Thanks, DrJ

Posted on: 03 October 2016 by ChrisSU

I'm curious: any particular reason why you would want to do this rather than just using your Synology?

Plenty of Mac Mini users here, into a DAC other than a streamer,but maybe they will be able to come up with some ideas. For starters, maybe try sticking ferrites all over the place, as it costs virtually nothing. 

Posted on: 04 October 2016 by Dr_J

Chrissu, just playing with the MAC OS implementation of Minimserver.

Good call with the ferrites, will check that out and also try cabled vs wireless.

KR, J

Posted on: 30 October 2016 by Dr_J

So playing some more on the Mac Mini, building a test library of a few thousand tracks and comparing MinimServer with FireStream....

It appears Firestream, at least with Mac OS Sierra, 10.12, will only play back in 'gapless mode', which the author attributes to the Naim App. MinimServer, however, plays as expected with the same parameters. Curious?

Tried JRiver, but is very expensive by comparison to the other two and is (over) complicated IMHO. And the '30 day trial' crashed after less than a hour and would not be reinstated, despite JRiver's best automated efforts. So, trial terminated. (First App crash on Mac in 6 years!)

However, have built a successful, auto-loading UPNP Server on the MM, which to be honest, sounds no different from that running off the Synology NAS...... Would a Unitiserve or Core sound any better?

Win for myself is a fault-tolerant streaming source, and (yet) another backup for my music library. 

One can never have too many backup options......

KR, J