Choosing a Mac Mini as a music server

[dionisio]

Hello,

 

Not sure if this has been discussed already (couldn't find anything from a quick search), but is there any particular Mac Mini model/year that lends itself best to adaptation for a music server?

 

I'm thinking along the lines of PSU - as I know this has changed from the early years. What are the differences here?

 

Planning on swapping out the hard drive for an SSD and upgrading the RAM, so I'm thinking anything Core 2 Duo or above should be sufficient if its only job is serving files (which will be on an external HD, probably connected via Firewire). Obviously an i5 would be ideal for future-proofing but cost is an issue.

 

Any knowledge will be greatly received!

 

Cheers

[Hanuman22]

Dion, have you considered the Music server route? Talk to EJ, the engineer at Wyred4sound before you trick out a Mini, he's a wealth of intel, 805-466-9973

[dionisio]

Hi,

Certainly considering that route having browsed a few threads here and read about others' successes in that respect. Am based in the UK and parts are fairly cheap so the homespun route with passive cooling etc definitely appeals also.

Cheers!

[Hanuman22]

Many guys here have built out the MacMini and will probably tell you to spend as much as you can. After just pricing the new Mini with 16GB and two SSD drives, it's up around $2k usd. Building your own would be fun,, and you already have nice DACS, so throwing half that into building your own Mini wouldn't hurt. EJ at Wyred gave me some good advice in regards to servers,, Mac vs PC vs Music Servers..etc and in the end bought his Server for a couple reasons, one being, when was the last time you picked up the phone to call a component company and the designer and builder of the component answers the phone and speaks with you for 30 min about "your needs" and your systems evolution into digital? Then gives you the straight dope on what he feels sounds best and why? Man, you can't buy that intel..