Hi all,
I've been lurking for a while. This has prompted me to post -
http://download.cnet.com/Mac-Bluray-Player/3000-13632_4-75453324.html
It's a blu-ray player for mac. I've tested it with an external blu-ray drive and it works.
The part where it gets interesting is if you have a mac mini with a HDMI out and have set it up to employ 192/24 output you now have an upsampling (audio) blu-ray player. Which is pretty much the holy grail of what I've been looking for, as I can't seem to find a DAC that will take a HDMI input and upsample it (by the way if anyone knows of such a thing - please let me know). My current set-up is a Sony CX7000ES into an STR-DA6400ES via HDMI. The mac-mini is a media server and upsampling FLAC player (using Fidelia/Audirvana).
The sound on standard 48khz blu-ray discs out of the mac mini with external blu-ray @ 192 khz is noticeably better than on my above setup (QQ). More separation, increased detail and ambience - all the good stuff. I have tested a few discs with which I am familiar and it is significantly better. And I'm pretty sure I'm not crazy. Haven't tried Akira yet but I'll give it a go tonight.
Obviously the control mechanism isn't as user friendly as the uni-remote with the dedicated blu-ray player, but hey, if a mac mini can do it for $600 US - surely some kind of HDMI - DAC can be developed for a not obscene price. The difference between 48khz and 192khz is night and day.
Anyway - for those of you with mac mini's (and an external blu-ray) handy-- enjoy !
Cheers