Buy New Teradak For Mac
Problem is you do get what you pay for. At least one fellow dropped his dedicated Teddy Pardo when his Paul Hynes arrived ( he runs the digital half of his DAC via USB power from his PH SR7 powered Mac mini and it was better than direct from the Pardo). Last time I visited he asked if I had any use for the TP.
Given I run a dual rail Paul Hynes SR7 myself it was a bit academic, although I was going to check what my Rega P5 uses in the wall wart department. Paul hynes units are very much at the top of the tree in performance terms. If not the very best it's gonna be close. Parts choice is a little on the gold plated side. Can I suggest you move away from the mac mini PC solution which uses onboard DC conversion.
Or essentially lots of SMPS!!! Linear power will help, but you are still converting voltages on the main board. You are much better starting with an itx or MATX setup which doesn't use on board dc conversion. For less than the cost of the linear power supply you are looking at you could purchase/build an optimised ITX, powered music server, powered by a very stable (minimal ripple ATX silent seasonic PS or similar) I think you maybe surprised just how much better this actually does sound V's a small mac mini or nuc build. The next suggestion is to try windows 8.1 for your music listening. Without trying to start a debate on which OS is better (I am not interested in this), you owe it to yourself to try MQN player running on win8.1. Borrow/Purchase a i3/i5/i7 PC capable of sse2/AVX/AX2 instructions.
Then install this - its free: Development thread is found here: I think you will find your jaw will drop, as you realise just how much better music can sound away from OSX. Again not trying to start a debate. Just worth a try. Good luck Edited August 3, 2014 by EVITCA. I did a comparison of Mac Mini running Bootcamp and OSX - both OS running JRiver, and I can't say there was a big difference in sound.
So I suspect the OS makes IMHO not as big a difference. I did find an improvement with my quiet PC build - fanless PSU, fanless CPU heatsink but with one large chassis fan. But I suspect a linear PSU might make a difference too.
Clay (PDX designer) is asking me to trial Daphile (a Linux based OS that's fully optimised for music and runs a SqueezeCenter Server based server) and he's using a really cheap Celeron NUC. That's my next project - it can use the same linear PSU from HD-Plex as well so the entire system is under 700 bucks. I did a comparison of Mac Mini running Bootcamp and OSX - both OS running JRiver, and I can't say there was a big difference in sound. So I suspect the OS makes IMHO not as big a difference. I did find an improvement with my quiet PC build - fanless PSU, fanless CPU heatsink but with one large chassis fan.
But I suspect a linear PSU might make a difference too. Clay (PDX designer) is asking me to trial Daphile (a Linux based OS that's fully optimised for music and runs a SqueezeCenter Server based server) and he's using a really cheap Celeron NUC.
That's my next project - it can use the same linear PSU from HD-Plex as well so the entire system is under 700 bucks. I find Linux based servers to sound quite gritty through the mid frequencies. But in my experience, daphile/vortexbox etc can sound more dynamic v's windows. But you sacrifice midrange clarity - which is everything. Windows in my opinion tops linux, daphile, vortexbox and OSX. In particular MQN+WIN8.1 tops the lot.
Each to their own. Try MQN seriously. Its as good as it gets. Its audio quality over convenience.
And its worth it. Although your collection will need to be in wav format. If DSD is your bag stay with jriver.
If you are going for ultimate sound quality, you'll need (my suggestion): Windows 8.1 or server 2012 (very similar) 24 pin powered motherboard. Either by a good ripple minimised PS or separate linear power/batteries. MQN player Optimised bios linear power injection for your 5v sources such as USB to spdif converters, usb cards etc. An excellent musical DAC Switch off networking in your PC bios. And store your music on the PC's drive My advice. Why start with a compromised PC platform? You already know your ATX setup sounds better than your mac mini?
Seems a little weird to me you are prepared to spend good money on linear power, when benefits can be made just using a traditional ATX powered setup?! Everything matters. And everything is a compromise. Cheers and good luck. Edited August 3, 2014 by EVITCA. I did a comparison of Mac Mini running Bootcamp and OSX - both OS running JRiver, and I can't say there was a big difference in sound.
So I suspect the OS makes IMHO not as big a difference. I did find an improvement with my quiet PC build - fanless PSU, fanless CPU heatsink but with one large chassis fan. But I suspect a linear PSU might make a difference too. Clay (PDX designer) is asking me to trial Daphile (a Linux based OS that's fully optimised for music and runs a SqueezeCenter Server based server) and he's using a really cheap Celeron NUC.
That's my next project - it can use the same linear PSU from HD-Plex as well so the entire system is under 700 bucks. Will provide the same DC conversion issue as the mac mini. I've found big differences with a linear PSU vs a switched mode PSU for many music server builds. So even tho the HTPC I have uses a fanless switched mode PSU, I suspect there are gains with a linear power upgrade. FWIW, I also tested Win8.1 Pro (hated it), Win7SP1 Pro and OS X on a Mac - I honestly didn't find a huge gap between the 3 running JRiver. So again, I'd suspect there isn't much in the OS.
As for the Celeron NUC - at 7W, it would run comfortably without a need for active cooling - and Daphile is really optimised for music playback. It's not trying to reconfigure/setup Windows to run as a music server and it was pretty impressive playing next to an optimised linear PSU music server (running Win7) we had. Cool Not disagreeing with linear power providing benefits.
I have heard all the playback packages listed. So I'll have to politely disagree with Daphile being in the same league as MQN. I think you are maybe missing my point re using windows. MQN only works on windows! Its not difficult to try. You might find MQN is excellent too?!
Also hearing differences between OS's, sources, etc will be highly dependent on the transparency of your hifi rig. And how good your ear is. So if you are happy that is all that matters.
I'll leave it there. Edited August 3, 2014 by EVITCA. Item: Mac Mini (2010) - 8 GB RAM, 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (320 GB hard drive) Location: Sydney (Eastern Suburbs) Price: now $250 Item Condition: Cosmetically very good - Fully functioning Reason for selling: Upgrade Payment Method: Prefer Pickup - COD Extra Info: Used this with Audirvana as a music server and to watch KODI. Very nice sound running into a NAD M51 DAC via HDMI. The extra RAM is useful.
Have acquired a more recent Mac Mini - hence the upgrade. Running Yosemite currently (because Audirvana doesn't work completely with Sierra OS onwards). Prefer pickup. Item: DIGIBIT ARIA PICCOLO Location: Sydney - can post or courier in original box Price: SOLD elsewhere unfortunately Item Condition: Excellent Reason for selling: nlr Payment Method: Pickup - Cash, Paypal, EFT or COD. Extra Info: HIGH END HD MUSIC SERVER -The Piccolo makes listening to digital music easy and pleasurable with a simple control and the ability to look up info on what you are playing and the artist bio on the control app. It can be used as a player connected to your DAC/amp and as a DLNA server on your network for your other players so it will stream to different zones across your home simultaneously with different music in each zone. It comes with an external CD drive to automatically rip and metadata your CDs.
I ripped my entire collection with this and it was very easy to do (aka painless): you just put in the CD and it rips it automatically when you close the drive and when finished you eject the CD and then insert the next one and keep repeating. It automatically sets the tags. It includes an iAria Ipad and iAria Android app for control (you can even edit the tags with the Ipad app). It has USB, optical and SPDIF outputs and WiFI and ethernet connections. Onboard It is a fanless low energy server which you can leave on 24/7 with hardware specifically built for Digibit for high end audio. Will do high res and DSD. The case is machined aluminium and the unit weighs 3kg.
It is very simple to use and you do not need a degree in computer science. Basically plug and play. No need to read over manuals to learn new software (though you can get into the software and change things). Support from Digibit is excellent - they log in to the machine if anything needs changing eg different USB driver for your DAC. This model has a 2TB HDD and no dac.
There is a small nick on the front right side and slight scuff on left corner - see pics. For more info see Pictures:. Item: Sonore DLNA Music Server- Plays your Flac, Wav and all digital files Location: Melbourne Price: $500 Item Condition: Used Reason for selling: Streaming music now Payment Method: Pickup - Cash, Paypal, COD Only Music server The digital output from this server sounds amazing and it plays most file formats, flac, wav etc. This is based on the audio server that Sonore / Green Computer used to sell before the rendu series of products took off and is similar to Vortexboxes sold here in Australia in so much that it uses the same software platform. This was custom built for me by Jesus Rodriguez (the main tech guy and founder of Sonore).
He helped select the design options and built the server for me. I chose not to include a ripper so the server is dedicated to music playback – just load your files and play!! The server has not had much use as I have been streaming all my music with Tidal and before that it was installed in a second system that only had occasional use. It has an intel processor running Linux (massively heat-sinked so no fan is needed) and the server is pretty much silent in operation) and has a high quality external power supply. The Operating System is on a solid state disk and I had the server configured with 4TB of western digital disk (my music is still loaded).
You can attach a hard disk via USB for back-up purposes as well The output interface is a specialised studio quality output card that was used in Sonore severs at the time. The unit is provided with a custom Cardas cable (originally over $300 usd) that was made specifically for these units and provides an XLR - AES / EBU connection to your DAC. You can use your favourite app or the web interface to the server to view, play and manage your music collection.
Any number of renderers can serve up your music and the server has software such as Vortex box and squeezebox, alreadyloaded etc. I used squeezebox which works really well. Happy to demo the unit but its pretty straight forward to use for those familiar with servers / and their associated software renderers such as squeezebox, MPAD, etc. Item: Mac Mini Late 2012 QuadCore i7 2.3Ghz 16gb RAM 500gb SSD Location: Melbourne 3000 Price: $900 Item Condition: very good Reason for selling: surplus Payment Method: Pickup - Cash, Paypal, COD Only Extra Info: Selling preloved Mac mini i7 2.3GHz Quad Core processor late 2012 model. This is the top model with quad core processor. I have upgraded to 16gb Ram and 500gb SSD.
Buy New Teradak For Macbook Pro
I’ve been using this headless as my network player (running Roon), since I upgrade to a new network player I have no longer use of this mac. Excellent working condition, a few tears on the back case but due to normal use, the Mac runs super quiet, fast and reliable. The original power cord has worn out and I have replaced the cord. Specs for the machine Mac mini late 2012 2.3GHz i7 quad core processor 16gb ram 500gb SSD drive (Samsung EVO 850) Pick up available in Melbourne CBD. Item: Mac Mini Server 2010 Model Location: Perth Price: $400 including postage Item Condition: As new (given it's a 2010 unit!) with packaging Reason for selling: Upgraded so no longer needed Payment Method: Pickup - Cash, Paypal, COD Only Extra Info: Mac Mini Server with the following specs: 2.66 Core 2 Duo 8GB Ram 1TB SSD - main drive 500GB spinner - media drive Unit is in excellent condition and comes with original packaging. Currently running Sierra, however can upgrade to the latest High Sierra if needed prior to pickup. Has been a great little media server - mostly using iTunes.
Pictures: As below.