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New Mac Mini as Source? - Page 2

post #16 of 26
11/8/12 at 2:52am
The BitPerfect app costs much less and the sound quality is in the same ballpark as Amarra.

Doesn't support FLAC though but does support the Apple Remote app and you can use the same ALAC files on an iPod.
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post #17 of 26
11/8/12 at 1:53pm

I use a 2011 Mac Mini running Pure Music/iTunes, controlled on my iPad via the Splashtop remote desktop app. Works perfectly.

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post #18 of 26
11/8/12 at 1:59pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jk6661 View Post

I use a 2011 Mac Mini running Pure Music/iTunes, controlled on my iPad via the Splashtop remote desktop app. Works perfectly.

Sounds good. Does it work with FLAC files?
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post #19 of 26
11/8/12 at 2:24pm

Pure Music does. iTunes by itself does not.

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post #20 of 26
11/11/12 at 12:07pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for all the help guys. Yesterday I went shopping. I bought the new Mac mini (2.5GHz, i5, 4GB), Magic Mouse, & Wireless keyboard. Since the Mac mini supports USB 3 I also walked out with a 2TB LaCie USB 3 drive. Initial setup has went well although migration from and subsequent reformatting of existing NTFS hard drives took some time.

Running iTunes reminds me just how much I loved Foobar though. iTunes really is a mess. Sound-wise things are different too. For some reason the sound is now much brighter than I was used to. Admittedly so far I've only listened to a few mp3's as opposed to full-fat FLAC but still...

The Remote app works, albeit it somewhat patchily. I'm putting this down to my BT Home Hub 2 router. This really needs replaced soon as. On that topic, can anyone tell me if the Airport Express will do the same thing as my router? If does it have good range? If not what would you guys recommend as a good router? Preferably something that's relatively easy to install. I know this is going somewhat off-topic but I'll be back on-topic once I've had some real time to listen to what I have now.

Gordon.
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post #21 of 26
11/11/12 at 4:18pm
The airport express is a good quality wireless access station, it won't replace your home hub completely though, you will still need that to convert your incoming connection to Ethernet.

A new completely new version of iTunes is supposed to be coming out later this month, at least it's new interface wise. No one outside of apple has seen anything except screenshots as yet.

You can make the existent iTunes nicer by disabling the side bar on the right and I ticking stuff like books and apps in the preferences. Also once it has built a cache of your album artwork it is smoother.

Surprised about the sound, are you using a USB DAC?
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post #22 of 26
11/11/12 at 4:22pm
I don't think the express has great range, based on what I have seen with the older models, it's small so can't have a very large antenna in there.

The airport exteme is supposed to be good, but a cheaper linksys, belkin or whatever should give you just as good possibly better signal.
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post #23 of 26
11/16/12 at 7:43am

The only nice thing about the Airport Express is the optical output.  I keep it attached in the other room just so I can stream music elsewhere in the house from iTunes.  Airport Extreme is a much more capable router, quality is above linksys/netgear/dlink/belkin IMO....I've installed many of the others and they have been meh for me.  Extreme runs fantastic in my house - and it is 2.4GHZ and 5GHZ which your new mini should love.  Also, with a USB hub you can support several hard drives connected to it for Time Machine, storage, etc...i've got 4 drives hooked to mine and all work via network.

 

As to the remote app - yeah, its bit glitchy at times...it has gotten much better and should continue to do so.  I'll be interested to see what iTunes 11 brings....

 

I know it was a while back this was discussed - but consider using MAX as a converter from FLAC to ALAC...works very well for me and I'm happy with it.

 

I'll also second using BitPerfect.  Simple, hides away nicely and seems to do a little ...something... to the audio coming out of my optical - dac - tube amp - hd650.

 

Enjoy your mini!

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post #24 of 26
11/16/12 at 10:19am
Thread Starter 
That's food for thought as I hadn't really considered the AirPort Extreme. No reason for that really. I take it then that the Extreme does not have an optical out then?

I decided to splash out the other day and ordered some more RAM. Specifically, 16GB from Crucial. Not really had the chance to test it out but it's good to know it should cope with anything. I'd like to find a quality USB 3 hub though, that would be useful. When the inevitable new Mac mini comes out I plan to upgrade this machine with an SSD.

One more thing. Is quite a change from Windows. Things which initially seemed quite obscure are starting to make a lot of sense now.

Another thing, sorry. Hats off to the makers of Cog. If it had an app for remote control it would be perfect!

Gordon.
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post #25 of 26
11/17/12 at 8:16am

The new apple airport express is a better router than the old one (it is dual band, has 2 ethernet ports) and still has the analog/digital out (use a minitosklink to toslink).  I just bought one to use as a wifi repeater/streaming devicen and it is working great.

 

http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/

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post #26 of 26
11/17/12 at 6:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zorrofox View Post

I take it then that the Extreme does not have an optical out then?
 

 

you are correct - Express has optical but NO drive support (the USB is for printer only).  Extreme will support external HDD and printers, but NO optical.  Dont ask me why they couldnt do both but hey, its a selling point I guess.

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