I have been looking at various CD players and music servers (like the olive opus). However, I have a question regarding the comparison between these and my Mac Mini. I f I rip the CD's to my mini can I get similar quality to some like the Opus? How about if I add something like the M-audio audiophile?

Obviously it would be way cheaper than the opus and I can use it for other purposes. If I go this route can you suggest a best method for ripping CD's i.e. programs, compression vs. no compression. Space is not really a concern I have a 500 GB harddrive attached to the mini.

Thanks

I use a Mac mini for all my media needs (actually I do run a CD player as well, but the Mac mini does well).

First of all, if you have a good AVR, you can use the Mac mini's optical out. It's a dual jack - provides mini-jack analog stereo + optical out. Look at amazon.com for an optical cable with a mini-jack adapter. So you would be passing digitally to your AVR as a transport, like you were interested in.

Secondly, I recommend highly sbooth.org's MAX for ripping. It's similar to EAC in that it has a comparison ripper that re-reads each sector - you define how many times - and makes a direct copy of what's on the CD. It can also output to Apple Lossless, which is a decent codec. Apple Lossless is the only lossless codec you can use in iTunes, but thankfully, the compression rate is rather high and a typical CD will only eat up 300MB - so you could potentially have 1666 CDs ripped at lossless.

I have my Mini hooked up via optical out. I had two reasons for asking about the M-audio. First I was going to use it to convert some Vinyl to digital. Second I thought that the DACs might be better than those internal to the Mini.

By the way Thanks for the suggestions on software.

I have my Mini hooked up via optical out. I had two reasons for asking about the M-audio. First I was going to use it to convert some Vinyl to digital. Second I thought that the DACs might be better than those internal to the Mini.

By the way Thanks for the suggestions on software.
I've been thinking about going this route as well. I need a high-storage (want to rip the better part of some 3,000 CDs) box, that looks good enough to put in the family room rack, and will output to an external DAC. I was going to get something like the PS Audio Digital Link III, for its USB input, but if the Mac Mini has an optical out, I'd have to see which I thought sounded better in an A/B.

I was planning on using iTunes to manage the files, so I thought "might as well stay Apple". My only question, which someone already took a stab at in another thread, is, with my volume, I'll obviously need an external drive. Will iTunes let me fill up the "default" directory, and then when I need to, point additional files to an external USB drive? I've heard the Mac also comes with a remote and that its Front Row software will allow you to navigate through iTunes, as well as like Rhapsody? Might be just the ticket for a second-system solution.

CD

I use an external drive for my Mini without difficulties. I have also programmed my Logitech remote to control it. Additionally I purchased a wireless keyboard with trackpad so that I can surf from the couch. I'm not sure what the quality of the optical output is compared to other stand alone devices which is what my initial post really was alluding to.

Why would I spend 2000 on an olive opus?

I have my Mini hooked up via optical out. I had two reasons for asking about the M-audio. First I was going to use it to convert some Vinyl to digital. Second I thought that the DACs might be better than those internal to the Mini.

By the way Thanks for the suggestions on software.

If you're using the digital out, there is no digital-to-analog conversion happening, so there isn't a DAC involved. Therefore, there shouldn't be substantial improvements in sound as long as everything is digital - M-Audio or not. (Your vinyl needs are something else, and I have no experience with that). But for DACs sake, some will argue that there would be differences; I personally focus on other issues, like saving up for more storage space.

Currently, iTunes will not let you bridge libraries over external drives. Your best bet is to buy an external that's big enough. It is more cost effective than upgrading the internal notebook drive. 3,000 CDs will take up roughly 1 TB of storage space, which is not unreasonable in this day and age. Western Digital makes a set of very pretty External drives called "My Book Pro." They come in 250/500/1000GB varieties and are pretty affordable, while matching Apple's famous "silver" motif.

If you are adventurous, I'll offer my solution to this issue: a very old G4 PowerMac. Currently, I use it as a server for all my media and have a 1TB RAID in there; but the sky's the limit with this type of device. The only issue is networking, and I ran gigabit throughout my pad to support the need for high (local) bandwidth. In my applications, sustained transfer speeds over gigabit beat USB 2.0 and Firewire 400, so it was not only cost effective, but performed very well.

I am exactly in the same situation.

I have performed some tests using my Rotel RSP-1066 as a DAC :
- Denon 3910 linked to Rotel through SPDIF
- Mac Mini linked to Rotel through optical
- Airport Express linked to Rotel through optical.

The Denon was playing the original CD and the Mac was playing an AppleLossLess version of the CD. I have enough cables to run them simultaneously and simply switch from one source to another on the Rotel.

OK, they are all very close. BUT my feeling and it is just a feeling is that the Airport and Denon were similar but the Mac Mini was a bit below.

From the discussions I have had on other forums, I understand that adding an external firewire card MAY be a bit better to improve the drive quality. There are "clock" issues with digital streams that seems better handled by external cards.

Having said that, I can tell you that the Denon must be a decent Drive and that the MacMini was "close". Also, bringing an external card adds a new decoder and you may realize that the card is a better DAC than your preamp and that you get the best sound by linking the card to the preamp analogically.

I have not take any decision yet. At the end of the day, the weak point of the system is the RSP-1066 internal decoder which is not that good in stereo (compared for example to my Denon 3910 internal decoders).

So, I am really wondering. And if someone has ever compared the optical out of the MacMini against the optical out of a firewire or USB card that would really help.

I'm not sure why the Airport Express would be any better.

I also wonder if it wouldn't be better to just leave the music in AIFF format after all storage is fairly cheap. I guess I'm still not sure if anybody has answered my original question directly but maybe that was because I didn't ask directly enough.

How does the Mini compare to other music server options or a dedicated CD player?

I have no explanation why the Airport would be a better drive, but one could argue that the Ariport does not perform anything else : it get a stream from the network and converts it into PCM whereas the MacMini is doing many things at the same time. Also, the electronic components may not be the same. I don't know.

To come back to your initial question:
- If you don't have any DAC , audiophile sound card, or good quality preamp to perform the decoding, the mac mini and the airport are very far from a CD player or something like Olive.
- If you have any of the above, then it is a good Drive, very close to my Denon 3910 which was a couple of years ago one of the most audiophile DVD player.

I tend to think that if we can get the same quality as a good CD player, it is better to get a Mac Mini rather than an audiophile server because :
- It is a computer and it does many other things.
- The back-up / Management of your database will always be easier to perform using a mouse & a keyboard.
- New softwares / new hardwares will appear and it is more evolutive.

I have ordered today an M-Audio Audiophile Firewire card, I will post my impression when I get it.

I have ordered today an M-Audio Audiophile Firewire card, I will post my impression when I get it.
Any update?

I has been shipped to me. I should receive it tomorrow. I will probably post something on Thursday.

I'm not sure why the Airport Express would be any better.

Check the Stereophile article where they determined that it was sent over in Apple Lossless Codec, or PCM, don't remember which, but, they said it was an error-less lossless stream that was coming across, so optical out from that, a good DAC, and you're good to go.
I haven't done any trials with my Denon 2900, and AirTunes, but, I haven't done much critical listening lately anyway.

I have received the M-Audio firewire card...

I have tested it a lot over the last two days. On my own and with my wife.

The result is from my point ov view disappointing. It does not bring much to my current system.

Here are the tests :
- Mac Mini Optical out against Audiophile Spdif Out They are both linked to a rotel RSP-1066 and I switch from one to another. I am using good cables for both. We give a tiny advantage to the Audiophile card, but it is minor and from one record to another our results were not consistent. On average very small advantage to the Audiophile but not much.

- Audiophile internal decoder / RSP-1066 internal decoder : for this test I link the Audiophile firewire both analogically and numerically to the RSP-1066 and swith from one source to the other on the RSP-1066. I have to say that the difference is minor. They sound very close to each other. This is bad news as a previous tests that I have made of the internal RSP1006 decoders against Arcam AVR 350 decoders or the internal decoder of my Denon 3910 DVD player were in favor of the latests.

So the bottom line is : the macmini is a good drive and does not need an external card to enhance its PCM stream. In order to make it competitive against a good CD player you need a good external DAC or an Hifi oriented AV Receiver (ARCAM, Atoll, Rotel 1098 or higher)

I have an M-Audio firewire digital i/o interface and experience LOTS of noise: I hear noise corresponding to key-strokes on my mac mini, and when my cellular phone rings or receives a text message, I hear interference noise. I'm not sure which of my components (mac mini, m-audio, or power amplifier) is picking up more of the cell-phone noise, but if the mini is transmitting key-stroke noise over a supposedly all-digital signal path (!!!), I'm guessing the mini and/or the m-audio are contributing.

I'm beginning to believe that USB is the most reliable way of getting clean audio to a DAC. It's working out really well at my desktop, when compared to the optical out on my mini downstairs.

A few things to make sure you're getting the most out of your mac:

1) In iTunes set volume to full
2) Turn off soundcheck, sound enchancer, and eq
3) Set system volume to full
4) In Audio MIDI Setup, set your digital output to 44.1kHz if you're playing CD content

This has served me pretty well, and according to the tech at Benchmark, tests out with the Audio Precision 2 as bitperfect.