06-Nov-2018, 13:49
@PeppaPig, if it's any help I can give you my experience of using a Mac Mini as a streamer.
My October 2014 Mini is running Roon on macOS 10.12 and is connected to my D440 Pro (CI) by wired Ethernet, actually via an Apple Airport Express which has a built-in two-port switch. Roon is using its built-in AIR protocol support, rather than Devialet's separate AIR driver. The Mini runs "headless" with the Roon control software running on another laptop and/or an iPhone. When necessary I can manage the Mini using Apple's Screen Sharing - normally, that's only needed to do back-ups or OS updates.
For the record, I use standard, commodity Cat-6 Ethernet cables.
Almost all my listening via the Mac Mini is from my local library, which is mirrored nightly from a NAS onto the Mini's internal disc. This is mainly 16/44.1 ALAC, with some higher-resolution files as well.
I've been running this configuration for about one and a half years and I can say that it works really well: I've not experienced any drop-outs, and everything seems to be stable. Audio quality is fine to my ears - though obviously that's subjective. Although the Mini is in my listening room, in an open equipment rack about 3m from my listening position, I have never noticed its fan running. Not surprising because the Mini is very lightly loaded. Probably more important is that it has an internal SSD which is of course completely silent unlike a spinning disc.
That said, I have never compared this set-up to a dedicated "audiophile" streamer in my system so it could be that I don't know what I'm missing
My October 2014 Mini is running Roon on macOS 10.12 and is connected to my D440 Pro (CI) by wired Ethernet, actually via an Apple Airport Express which has a built-in two-port switch. Roon is using its built-in AIR protocol support, rather than Devialet's separate AIR driver. The Mini runs "headless" with the Roon control software running on another laptop and/or an iPhone. When necessary I can manage the Mini using Apple's Screen Sharing - normally, that's only needed to do back-ups or OS updates.
For the record, I use standard, commodity Cat-6 Ethernet cables.
Almost all my listening via the Mac Mini is from my local library, which is mirrored nightly from a NAS onto the Mini's internal disc. This is mainly 16/44.1 ALAC, with some higher-resolution files as well.
I've been running this configuration for about one and a half years and I can say that it works really well: I've not experienced any drop-outs, and everything seems to be stable. Audio quality is fine to my ears - though obviously that's subjective. Although the Mini is in my listening room, in an open equipment rack about 3m from my listening position, I have never noticed its fan running. Not surprising because the Mini is very lightly loaded. Probably more important is that it has an internal SSD which is of course completely silent unlike a spinning disc.
That said, I have never compared this set-up to a dedicated "audiophile" streamer in my system so it could be that I don't know what I'm missing
Roon (Mac Mini), Wilson Benesch Full Circle, Expert 1000 Pro CI, Kaiser Chiara
Warwickshire, UK
