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CB

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  1. I recall reading somewhere on this forum there is a difference between the various USB ports on the Mac Mini. I have my external HD connected to the mini via Firewire and am connecting my dac via USB. Is one of the USB ports on the Mac mini better than others for connecting to the dac? Thanks in advance.
  2. I currently have a DataTale 2-Bay FireWire 800, eSATA, USB RAID Enclosure from Oyen with 2 1 TB drives connected to my mac-mini using FireWire 800. It is currenlty too noisy for my listening area. Either I have something setup incorrectly or its just the nature of the enclosure, but there is a constant hum from the drive (whether in use or not) which I assume is the fan. I'm contemplating a couple options and would appreciate comments: Option 1 - connect my current external HD to an Apple AirPort express located in another room. Then access the external HD wirelessly. After reading through the discussion board, I'm unsure whether adding the wireless component will affect sound quality. Option 2 - same as above, but only use the external HD connected to the Airport Express for backup. Purchase a new (and quieter) external HD to connect to the mac-mini in the listening room. Any thoughts on a quieter external HD? Two options I am considering are MiniPro™ 2.5" FireWire 800/400, USB Portable Hard Drive or DataTale 3.5" FireWire 800/400, eSATA, USB External Hard Drive both from Oyen. Both appear to be fanless which I assume will be significantly quieter. Thanks in advance for any advice.
  3. I think in order to use the bypass on the Nova I then lose the ability the use the multi-room feature on my AVR since the front channel speakers are connected to the Nova. My AVR lets me assign the back surround speakers to another room. I could be wrong on this though. Any recommendations for the external CD drive? I think the Onnto DataTale 3.5" External Enclosure has multiple interfaces but will double check. Thanks.
  4. Oops - I meant to include that I'll upgrade to 4GB Ram. Any reason not to go with the Apple upgrade vs buying the RAM elsewhere and doing it myself?
  5. I've spent a fair amount of time searching the various forums at CA and think I have put together a game plan for transfering my collection onto a music server. I plan on going with a Mac Mini since it appears to work good out of the box and meets many of my other criteria (reasonably affordable, size requirements, relatively simple to use, good SQ). For now I plan on connecting the mini to my AVR via the mini's digital line out. I expect to eventually insert a USB DAC between the mini and AVR. In prior posts its been recommended that I consider a Peachtree Nova, but I don't think I'll go this route as I will lose the multi-room function on my receiver and lose the ability to utilize the surround sound processing for DVDs. With that said, any last minute recommendations on this setup would be appreciated. I am not a computer guy so I'm still a bit nervous I have this thought out correctly. Thanks in advance for any comments before I begin swipping my credit card. 1) Current model Mac Mini with 2.4 ghz processor and 320 GB HD. 2) Swap out the 320 GB HD with OCZ 40GB SDD - any thoughts/recommendation on this would be great? 3) External hardrive connected via Firewire for storage. Hardrive = Hitachi 1TB HDD with Onnto External Enclosure. Should I be considering Onnto's 2 bay with 2 TB HDDs. I'm not an IT guy, but I'm guessing with the 2 bay option I can create an auto backup. I have about 500 CD to add to storage. CB
  6. mwheelerk - thanks for the response. I can see I might have to balance some competing goals. In your opinion, how much better sound quality are we talking about by using something like a Peachtree Nova versus a non-stereo integrated plus DAC fed directly to the HK AVR (assuming same price range). I assume if I have the Mac Mini connected to the DAC connected to the AVR I wouldn't lose the ability to utilize the 2nd zone when the mini is in use - correct? What will happen to the surround sound signal if a DVD is played through the mini through a DAC to the AVR - do I lose the surround signal? Eloise - it does look like the HK AVR has a true analogue bypass if "stereo off" is selected and the front channel speakers are set to "large". Does this change your thoughts? Thanks again. Music is still the primary concern, just want to make sure I know what the trade-offs are going to be and what the system will look like.
  7. Since a DAC in general is new to me, can you walk me through how a stereo integrated plus DAC would work. Do I have this correct: - Front channel speakers would be connected directly to the Nova, essentially skipping the HK receiver when listening to Mac Mini. If I keep a CD player, I could connect it directly to Nova and again skip the HK Receiver. -Preamp outputs from HK receiver for front channel speakers would be connected to Nova allowing for surround sound listening from DVD player connected to HK receiver - Center and surround speakers would remain connected to HK receiver for use during surround sound from DVD player. Assuming I have this correct (hopefully), this raises two questions. 1) Can I use the Mac Mini as a DVD player with surround sound? Maybe this isn't possible anyway.but another goal is to eliminate the current DVD player too if possible. 2) The HK receiver lets me use the 2 back surround channels to power speakers separately in another room (kitchen). It seems like I will lose this function if playing from the Mac Mini since it is essentially skipping the HK receiver. Like I said, this is new to me, so I'm guessing I have parts or all of this wrong. Thanks in advance for help.
  8. Thanks all for your comments - this has already been a big help. Here's a bit more info: Budget - lets say another $2000. Ideally for the Mac mini and DAC (as its starting to sound like a DAC will make a significant improvement). There's a subwoofer in my future, but baby steps. I plan on burning to lossless or uncompressed. I use 5.1 for DVD/movies but 2 channel stereo mode for music. Music is more important than movie playback. Eloise - no idea about the true analogue bypass. I assume my manual/HK's website will help me with this. I'll check.
  9. I hope to setup a music server but question whether my money shouldn't be spent elsewhere first. Current setup is: Harman Kardon 525AVR Aperion Intimus 5T Speakers Sony 200 disk changer The goal is to retire the Sony disk changer and replace with a music server. I like the size of the Mac mini and am considering the Mac mini setup from Mach2. I'm still learning the basics but it looks like I'll be shopping for a DAC too since I'm introducing a music server. I have two questions: Will a DAC improve the sound quality of the Harman Kardon receiver or is this receiver going to limit the sound quality? Would I be better of putting money towards a new reciever and investing less in a DAC? Thanks in advance.
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