Logitech Touch V Mac Mini as a Music Server

[LittleTone]

Anyone changed from a SB Touch to a Mac Mini as a Music Server.

Touch getting a bit restrictive now. Have to use it wirelessly and hi-res files can tend to stutter sometimes; especially when I try 24/192 files. I Also have
a DAC which can play DSD files and the Touch can't handle DSD natively.
I realise that as a server the Mac mini wins hands down because it can supply all formats to the DAC; be sited close to the HiFi; negate WiFi .....what I really need to know; does using a Mac mini compromise SQ compared to a SB Touch.

Regards
Tony

[Gazjam]

Have a read here Tony, pretty interesting.
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=119364.0

[LittleTone]

Hi Gaz
Thanks for the reply.
I guess what I'm really after is a server of some nature that will supply my Mytek DAC which is designed to work best via USB2.0 or FireWire. I was really after how good the Mac Mini was for the job. It,s a cheap alternative to building my own Fanless server. I was aware that you can get Dsd

[LittleTone]

Whoops.........
From the Touch, but laying Ethernet cable around the house to overcome the disadvantages of wifi is a no no
Most opinions from other forums seem to suggest thar SQ wise the Mac is not gonna better the Touch.

[lurcher]

I use a Touch + Linux server networked over 500Mbps homeplugs. Works fine up to and including 192/24.

[simon e]

I use a Touch + Linux server networked over 500Mbps homeplugs. Works fine up to and including 192/24.

Hi Nick, do the phone plugs cause any audible noise in the mains supply? My only experience is with a friend who had BT vision installed. He came into work the next day complaining of nasty buzzing from his bass guitar amp. Turned out to be caused by home plugs BT had installed to get a network connection behind the telly.

[Clive197]

It is my experience that computers are a noisy environment. My solution is quite simple if you only want to use a server for entertainment media. Store your music on a NAS, connect via a data switch then onto your Touch. You would then only need to use a computer to rip cd's or download from the World Wide Web and then upload to the NAS. This would take the noisy environment out of the equation when listening. SQ greatly improved.

Clive

[SteveTheShadow]

I have used a Mac Mini as a music server for the past 3 years and have absolutely no complaints about the sound. I use the optical output to a first generation Musical Fidelity M1 DAC.
I use iTunes as the file management system. I have used JRiver MC19 for Mac, but the latest version of iTunes sounds just as good and is easier to use. I have tried all the usual audiophool file managers, such as Amarra, Pure Music, Fidelio et al. None sound any better than iTunes; expensive nonsense, the lot of them.
I can recommend the Mac Mini, wholeheartedly. Connect it to a big TV monitor and you have a superb media centre, that should fulfil your digital music needs. If you want to play FLAC, JRiver Media Center for Mac is a great piece of software and the JRemote app for iPad is second to none for ease of use and it looks the biz too.

[Gazjam]

It is my experience that computers are a noisy environment. My solution is quite simple if you only want to use a server for entertainment media. Store your music on a NAS, connect via a data switch then onto your Touch. You would then only need to use a computer to rip cd's or download from the World Wide Web and then upload to the NAS. This would take the noisy environment out of the equation when listening. SQ greatly improved.

Clive


Hi Clive,

In my hifi journey so far I've tried CD players, Squeezeboxes and computers all to make music in my system.
I've tried various tweaks, quick fixes and kludges in all the different formats all to get to that ideal we keep reading about or have in our heads...

Absolutely loved my SB Touch, I tried all the Edo mods etc (Even wrote some Linux VU Meter screensavers for it) and if it did video it would absolutely be "good enough" not to bother with anything else.
Unfortunately it didn't do video, which led me to look into a "video squeezebox".
This exists in things like Popcorn Hour boxes etc, but they dont sound as good as the SB Touch, especially with Edo mods etc.

Agree with you about the noise, a fanless PC can solve that though and what you want to do is get rid of any ELECTRICALLY noisy parts in the chain, it really makes a great improvement.
Don't have a PC power supply, get a linear supply in there and shield your internal cables too, crosstalk and signal leakage kills music, especially in a noisy environment like a computer.

Music can come from a computer, like anything in this hobby of ours there's more than one way of doing it.
Its a bloody crying shame what happened to the Squeezebox line, it deserved a whole lot better.
I loved mine, but it didn't do video.

My point is that the Sb Touch sounded great, especially with EDO mods outputting via USB, but its not the ultimate digital source.
The Transporter would have had my money(especially the valve output Modright version) if it had done hires formats via a firmware upgrade....

but some just things weren't meant to be.


*Ironically, despite all this jibber jabber about digital systems...I've just bought a turntable. Go figure. :)

[LittleTone]

Running DSD via the Touch now; THANKS to triode's DSDplay plugin.
Not quite so urgent now. Probably wait for the new MacMini to arrive eventually