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What server to choose?! Any experience?


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  • 2 weeks later...

  I have four Mac Mini’s;

 

2009 i5, external power supply upgrade, 16 GB ram, SSD.

2011 i5, SSD, 16GB

2011 i7, SSD, 16 GB

2012 i5, SSD 16 GB, four USB 3.0 ports. 

  Currently use the 2012 connected via Thunderbolt to a Focusrite Clarett 4Pre. Store library on four external drives. The USB 3.0 drives that emit a lot of RFI but make coping so fast.

  Want to stream. Would the lowly 2009 with upgraded external power supply be my best option as a server?

 

2012 Mac Mini, i5 - 2.5 GHz, 16 GB RAM. SSD,  PM/PV software, Focusrite Clarett 4Pre 4 channel interface. Daysequerra M4.0X Broadcast monitor., My_Ref Evolution rev a , Klipsch La Scala II, Blue Sky Sub 12

Clarett used as ADC for vinyl rips.

Corning Optical Thunderbolt cable used to connect computer to 4Pre. Dac fed by iFi iPower and Noise Trapper isolation transformer. 

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12 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

the CPU is not important

 

Umm, sure...maybe...but aren't there about a hundred other things that arrive along with the processor?  Except in the broadest of strokes (which do not need to be repeated here), I do not know why my new Naim Uniti Core sounds much better than the Mac Mini I just replaced, but all those little things add up, as does the cost of a Mac Mini once all the extras are considered.  

 

Before investing or reinvesting into a general purpose CPU, I recommend a close look at an entry level music server.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I will vouch for Steve Nugent's prowess with digital and modding in general.  In fact, I just bought his old speakers and was a customer of his back when he was just doing mods.

 

That being said...I also just bought the newest Lampizator Superkomputer and it's in another league.  It weighs around 60lbs and the power supplies/transformers used internally are nothing that can be duplicated on the cheap. Same with some of the other parts and design. It also has a separate AES/XLR and SPDIF output which is rare to see on servers.

 

Software-wise, you can duplicate many things. I'm running Windows server 2016 by special request, but it normally comes with Linux.  I also run Roon, HQP, and AO which can be duplicated too.  However, I caution anyone thinking they are getting the same performance without having all the hardware in this thing too.

 

I was super skeptical because I thought my previous custom made fanless server, outboard power supply and other tweaks had duplicated the same things in many other mega dollar servers.  However, the Lampi Superkomputer made me a believer that much more performance could be extracted at the server level via hardware/software done right from the ground up.

 

It's not cheap, but it's one of the most surprising and rewarding purchases I've made in over 30 years in the hobby.

 

Thus, getting back to the original question of this thread, I would highly recommend trying the Lampizator Superkomputer if it's in your budget. If it's not...knowing what I now know...I would just tweak whatever PC/server I had now and save up until I could get one.

 

BTW, it's my second lampizator product (Big 7 balanced DAC).  The service/support has been excellent which is an important criteria for me and many others I'm sure.

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