vrln

Already posted this in another thread, but I guess it´s most suitable here. Some food for thought: http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/index.php/internet-audio/373-mac-mini-2011.html Seems the new Mac Mini does NOT suffer from the issues the previous models (apparently) did. Measurements wise the Mini is all good. Perhaps the transport paranoia is sometimes just paranoia? That said, personally I wouldn´t mind having a good commercial digital transport, but the prices are just too high to make me consider one seriously. With some basic computer assembly skills you can easily build a good transport for much cheaper than the commercial variants (even if you use expensive audiophile parts like the SOTM PCI-USB chip). And of course the Mac Mini is a nice "buy and forget" solution.

It´s common to see arguments against PC´s as sources due to noise/RF and so on, but the latest HiFi World magazine did some measurements on the new Mini and well, it seems the new one at least has no issues. The jitter levels are also very low with the built-in coaxial output: http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/index.php/internet-audio/373-mac-mini-2011.html To sum things up: "There are now no serious issues from computer problems people fear: noise and jitter and clock rate conversion." Maybe something has changed with the new unibody Mini? Some people have reported on various forums that the new Mini sounds better than the 2010 version. Who knows...