The MAC Mini Thread

[ramicio]

No, nothing is lost, hence LOSSLESS.  Lossless compression finds redundant data and unused least significant bits (a simplified explanation) to shrink the file size.  The decoder will then restore every sample, bit for bit, back to the original waveform.  You can sit at a computer all day compressing and decompressing between lossless and uncompressed, and at the end of the day you will have the EXACT same data when decompressed.  In the end, a PCM decoder will send PCM to the audio renderer or DSP section of a player, and lossless codec's decoder will also send that same PCM data to the rest of the chain mentioned before.  Again, lossless is not some psychoacoustic trick like lossy compression that assumes there are sounds you won't hear, so it literally throws the data away never to be recovered again.  It throws nothing away, it simply consolidates things that are redundant.  It applies to zip, rar, or any archives.  It applies to FLAC or any other lossless audio format.  It applies to PNG, TIFF, and other lossless image formats.  It applies to lossless video codecs like HuffYUV.  You can spend all day going back and forth between an uncompressed file and a losslessly compressed one, in any field, and not lose a single bit of data.

Maybe this should be split off into a thread of its own, since this is no longer about Mac Minis.

[Wanderer]

I have to admit, "Lossless Compression" is an oxymoron.

No, it is not an oxymoron, IF the data that is being compressed out is redundant AND the results of the decompressed file is indential to the orignal uncompresed file. The bit stream can, and has, been compared between the source data and FLAC compressed/decompressed data. The numbers in are the same as as the numbers out. No loss = "lossless".

I can write

"222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222"

or I can write

"2  sixty times"

or

"2 60x"

Some versions take up less space but all translate to the same thing. Same information is stored in less space.       

I am NOT saying that in real world FLAC encode/decode will always sound the same as the orginal, but the difference points to an error in the system somewhere. 

     Kevin R-M
 

[Tickwomp]

I have one of the Mach2 Mac Minis.  Love it.  I went with battery powered option, and recently added the Pi Audio Battery Buss.  Was so impressed with the Battery Buss I just ordered an Uber Buss (for the AC powered stuff).

I have both Amarra and Pure Music.  They both sound wonderful, but I prefer the Amarra.  My Mini is controlled with an iPad and I don't even have a monitor or mouse/keyboard connected.  I use iTap VNC on the iPad to connect to the Mach2 via Wlan and it works very well.  I had a boatload of FLAC material on various drives, but used XLD to convert everything to AIFF to store on my music storage drive.  Adding new music is super easy too.  If I have it on a USB drive, I simply plug it into the Mach2 and open XLD and save it to the storage drive.  Ripping CDs is stupid simple too, but because I don't leave the optical drive connected to the Mach2, I have to drag it out and plug it in.  The drive is setup to automatically rip the CD into storage drive.  

Early on, after I got the music server working properly I compared it to my Oppo 83SE NuForce modded player and it was really no contest.  Music player killed the Oppo in every aspect.  Add in the convience factor of never having to dick around with CDs again makes this something I could have only dreamed of 10 years ago.  

Tick

[ramicio]

Does anyone bother experimenting with Linux or Windows 7 with these machines?  I have a tough enough time buying into Linux for its horrible support of being a media-oriented OS.  I would think with all the proprietary crap going on inside of Mac-land, that the media experience would be the worst, by far.  They look like a cool machine, but were way beyond my price range.

[Doc B.]

Tim, we really try hard to be supportive in this community. I think you have spent time acquiring a good base of knowledge worth sharing. But your posts are unnecessarily aggressive, and it has come to my attention that they are turning a lot of people off. That may be the effect you wish to achieve or it may be unintentional. Regardless, I would appreciate your toning down the intolerant nature of your writing.

A good friend of mine once told me "When I was young I had all the answers. As I got older I found out there were a lot more questions."

[ramicio]

You obviously have a PM, and since you likely won't answer it, you lost my business.

[Paul Joppa]

... I'm just saying that it means something in the playing software chain MUST be broken for this to happen.

Given the widespread observations by many whose ears are really good, I think that must be the case.

It does not, unfortunately, follow that anybody actually knows what that something is.

[ramicio]

You might not, but the person developing the decoder could easily figure out what is wrong.  It's just a matter of admitting there is a problem, that the two should sound identical, because they are, and reporting a bug to the developer.

[BNAL]

I agress and it sounds like it could be codec issue.

[Yoder]

I'm real interested in building a music server for my lossless music files. I'm seriously considering a MAC Mini for the job. If anyone has information that can get me started please post it here. I'd be interested in hearing about hardware, software, modifications, compatible DAC's and the best lossless formats. And of course, how it integrates into your Bottlehead gear.

I bought a new mini few months ago and have slowly been converting it to a music server. Once I get a next generation of iMac, is when it becomes a fully dedicated server--about the time I finish my Paramount's, Foreplay III, and soon to be purchased Eros. I bought it with Lion, and a 500 Gb HD. I took it down to the local Apple vendor and they slapped a 64 Gb SSD in it for $140 or so and I use the 500 Gb as my secondary drive for music. I am running Amarra, and am slow disabling certain apps/utilities in the OS, etc. Per the suggestions here I downloaded demos of PureMusic, Amarra, Audvara, etc., and came away preferring the sound of Amarra.

I convert everything to AIFF. Amarra will take FLAC files/folders and do it for you. In fact, last night I downloaded about 12 Gb of free FLAC24 audio and converted all of them to AIFF with Amarra. I may be wrong, but logically it seems that playing FLAC or any compressed file will put extra demands on the CPU since they must be decompressed. I have not run into any problems running Amarra with Lion, and using Bottlehead components. Initially, they were saying that Lion was a less superior audio wise but I have not noticed any difference. I use the optical output of the mini and was using a Firewire DAC for awhile to connect to my DAC.

For comparison, I have a CD player hooked-up to the mini system. When I do not pass the audio through the Amarra there is a profound difference in audio quality. Bottom line, the mini system is far superior to the CD player.

I also have 4-backup drives to store all of my audio files on. Another option is that you can hook-up one of your audio hard drives to Airport Extreme, and the audio can then be played on any computer through out the house.

[btrancho]

In fact, last night I downloaded about 12 Gb of free FLAC24 audio and converted all of them to AIFF with Amarra.

Not to spin this thread off in even another direction, but I'd be interested in where you were able to download 12GB of free FLAC24 files and what genre of music it is.

[Gallowglass]

Hi, I am the guy Grainger49 (there is only one) posted about earlier on. I assume this thread is still about Mac Mini use and hasn't gotten completely off topic.

I picked up a very used 1.5 GHz Intel Core Solo in trade for a MacBook that had suffered some form of breakage on every piece of plastic on it. This MacBook was owned by my son who is eminently qualified to be the stunt double for the gorilla on the old Samsonite commercial, but I digress. Maxed out the memory to 2 GiB, which is just enough to run Pure Music memory play properly. Although I use the Mac for playback, I typically control it using UltraVNC on my Windows 7 notebook.

My music is typically ripped WAV or downloaded FLAC files which I then convert to Apple Lossless before storing on a Buffalo TeraStation NAS, also picked up used off of Craigslist, then upgraded with bigger drives. The Mac and the Terastation are both hardwired to the home network. I use a 6 inch generic USB cable from the Mac to a Wavelength Brick V1. I am fond of the NOS sound (used to own an Ack! DAC), but will probably give in and upgrade the DAC to v3 eventually.  Amplification is a Red Wine Audio Signature 30 via Kimber 8VS to vintage Spendor SP-1 loudspeakers. Sorry, no tubes except for the Brick. I am looking for an LFD Mistral if anyone here happens to have one they would consider selling

This approach, which has been put together over a couple of years without benefit of any homologation, has resulted in sound that my golden eared purist friend thinks doesn't suck at all. YMMV. My musical taste runs the gamut, so not limited to small ensembles or "audiophile approved" recordings. As they say, hope this helps.

[Grainger49]

Ok, Doug's quote, "Doesn't suck at all" isn't what I said and that is why he didn't put quotes around it.  

I might have heard three server systems and Doug's is the best.  We all but lulled ourselves to sleep relaxing and listening.

And welcome to the forum.