I know that many of us rely on a mac mini for audio server duties.
I picked one up a few weeks ago and am enjoying the sound via 16gb ram, pure music and a musical fidelity v-link 192.
Thinking about the best power source: it's plugged into a large APC UPS (along with my readynas).
Wondering if I'd get better sound via my Tice Power Block C conditioner?
Would I be giving up lots in protection for the sake of less noise?
Curious what everyone else does...

http://www.clonesaudio.com/#!product/prd1/667867321/mpsu
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4jet8KSX8U&list=LL73ELyKcI1j5yrPmt-iwdzw

Our little town gets its power from a local diesel generating station.
I've often wondered if I should be doing something about the power I'm feeding my rig.

I did not realize how old this thread was... I'm not sure the mPSU would even be compatible with your mini... sorry. But, there are other options which I do not recall right off hand.
 
There's lots of options for power conditioning, power supplies, and power cords, which all make a difference... but, with a beginners setup, I would not invest in power cords.
 
I'm not sure if either of these would be compatible with your V-Link 192... I'm not too sure they would be.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Pyramid-PS3KX-3-Amp-12-Volt-Supply/dp/B0002JTD2K/ref=pd_bxgy_e_img_y
 
http://www.amazon.com/Pangea-Audio-P-100-Performance-Supply/dp/B005OYI0R2/ref=pd_sim_e_4 
 
Personally, I like PS Audio's Power Plants. But, the power conditioners from Panamax & Furman are still excellent, and tend to be more reasonably price.
 
Hope that was of some help to you.

I guess there are two issues:

Replace the internal power supply with an external as referred to above.
Hard to do with the modern mini due to the internal power supply, although the video shows how to do it, it doesn't look that easy.

I was posing a simpler question about what to plug a stock Mac mini music source into; an audio power conditioner or a computer battery backup? The two main variables being protection level and sound quality.

I decided to give one of these a try.

The belkin pure av is a good call, it's sort of a hybrid computer ups and audio conditioner.
I use one for my TiVo and video stuff.
The price is good too.
Would love to hear how you like it ice class.

iceclass said:

I decided to give one of these a try.

Click to expand...

What's the verdict? I'm looking for a low cost Mac mini solution while I research the higher end power source replacement vendors!

iceclass said:

Our little town gets its power from a local diesel generating station.
I've often wondered if I should be doing something about the power I'm feeding my rig.

Click to expand...

You might get a bit more frequency fluctuations if your town runs off a diesel generator set, but that's about it.

Oooops!
Double post,
Double post!

Quote:

swansong said:

What's the verdict? I'm looking for a low cost Mac mini solution while I research the higher end power source replacement vendors!

Click to expand...

 
So far. I'm very happy with it.
I'm especially pleased with the fact that each socket is programmable.
Looks aren't too shabby either.