[wink]

The amount of improvement is entirely dependent on the available technology and how anal retentive the builder is in the implementation of that technology.

 

[johnjen]

I run a Mac Pro with 4 cpu's and a bunch of ram and SSD's
I run JRiver 24/7 sending music to my audio system.

Here is an experiment for those who run their system in a likewise fashion.
After 1 (or more) day(s) of feeding music to the system, try restarting the mac and dac and listen to the same track and see if it sounds 'better'.

I have noticed ram creep and when the amount of ram being used reaches 1.5 times the initial startup amount (or more) a restart makes a demonstrable improvement.

I wish I knew why.

JJ

 

[crazychile]

I run a Mac Pro with 4 cpu's and a bunch of ram and SSD's
I run JRiver 24/7 sending music to my audio system.

Here is an experiment for those who run their system in a likewise fashion.
After 1 (or more) day(s) of feeding music to the system, try restarting the mac and dac and listen to the same track and see if it sounds 'better'.

I have noticed ram creep and when the amount of ram being used reaches 1.5 times the initial startup amount (or more) a restart makes a demonstrable improvement.

I wish I knew why.

JJ

I've got Mackeeper on my Mac which includes a utility to free up unused RAM. I wonder if this would have the same effect without a restart. I'll have to give it a try.

 

[420277]

Glad to here you like robert hunter the stuff he an garcia did in 60s 70s still remain some of the greatest music ever made .dont listen to much rock anymore mostly cassical and jazz but man every now i put on the dead and its like yes thats whats its all about .sounds like youve lived a fasinating life man keep the journal ticking over .

 

[Baldr]

Below is a hardware description of what I am currently using as a USB streamer. (Now that I have a backup running.) But first, this is not an endorsement. There are many, many units/computers I have not tried. I have found this to be relatively inexpensive, reliable, easy to use, and good sounding. There are some DIY abilities required to complete the server. I am not available to provide any help or customer support whatsoever. This is intended to be a report of my experience in making a server only. Finally, this is subject to change as I fiddle with more server solutions (Which over my dead body Schiit will ever manufacture). I'm unlikely to try others for quite a while – my plate is full with my prior stated projects. I refer any further questions to u-toob or head-fi where answers are available. So here is the recipe:
 
Ingredients:
1.  One used Mac Mini model MC238xxA or (slightly preferred) model MC239xxA (both are late 2009 NOT early 2009 models and $150-$250 on ebay)
2.  Unless the unit is so configured, 8 gig RAM upgrade ($50 or so on ebay)
3.  A SSD (sata 2) with a brand you trust and capacity you need. I use a 1 tera Samsung.
4.  One of those USB to Sata power and signal cables (a very few bucks on Amazon)
5.  For backup, a sata 2 hard drive and case for the drive. This is of course optional, but I still trust mechanical Hds more than SSDs.
 
So first, consult u-toob first and take the unit apart and install RAM (To speed up the machine.)
Visit the Apple Store to download, install, and upgrade to the latest El Capitan (Makes it even faster). (Make your install a fresh install)  Download and install Super Duper (what I used – although it was optional, I sent them the $27) to clone the drive. Install the drive in your Mac Mini and put it back together. Finally, in you dislike I-tunes, pick a player you like – this link can be very helpful and there is much info right here on head-fi:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/a/mac-os-x-music-players-alternatives-to-itunes
 
As an added bonus, the multi-drive can be used to rip CDs to your collection.
 
A final note, I have tried at least three different Mac Minis, including much faster and newer models. This is THE model to use for the performance criteria I list in the first paragraph, PARTICULARLY the last one.
 
​Enjoy your reliable, great sound.  If you are a victim of Redmond, Wa OS audio, you may be especially pleased.

 

[jeremy205100]

  Below is a hardware description of what I am currently using as a USB streamer. (Now that I have a backup running.) But first, this is not an endorsement. There are many, many units/computers I have not tried. I have found this to be relatively inexpensive, reliable, easy to use, and good sounding. There are some DIY abilities required to complete the server. I am not available to provide any help or customer support whatsoever. This is intended to be a report of my experience in making a server only. Finally, this is subject to change as I fiddle with more server solutions (Which over my dead body Schiit will ever manufacture). I'm unlikely to try others for quite a while – my plate is full with my prior stated projects. I refer any further questions to u-toob or head-fi where answers are available. So here is the recipe:
 
Ingredients:
1.  One used Mac Mini model MC238xxA or (slightly preferred) model MC239xxA (both are late 2009 NOT early 2009 models and $150-$250 on ebay)
2.  Unless the unit is so configured, 8 gig RAM upgrade ($50 or so on ebay)
3.  A SSD (sata 2) with a brand you trust and capacity you need. I use a 1 tera Samsung.
4.  One of those USB to Sata power and signal cables (a very few bucks on Amazon)
5.  For backup, a sata 2 hard drive and case for the drive. This is of course optional, but I still trust mechanical Hds more than SSDs.
 
So first, consult u-toob first and take the unit apart and install RAM (To speed up the machine.)
Visit the Apple Store to download, install, and upgrade to the latest El Capitan (Makes it even faster). (Make your install a fresh install)  Download and install Super Duper (what I used – although it was optional, I sent them the $27) to clone the drive. Install the drive in your Mac Mini and put it back together. Finally, in you dislike I-tunes, pick a player you like – this link can be very helpful and there is much info right here on head-fi:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/a/mac-os-x-music-players-alternatives-to-itunes
 
As an added bonus, the multi-drive can be used to rip CDs to your collection.
 
A final note, I have tried at least three different Mac Minis, including much faster and newer models. This is THE model to use for the performance criteria I list in the first paragraph, PARTICULARLY the last one.
 
​Enjoy your reliable, great sound.  If you are a victim of Redmond, Wa OS audio, you may be especially pleased.

Fascinating. If you have the time to explain why this mac mini compared to others I'm sure many of us would find it interesting.

 

[bigro]

Mike,  Thanks for the insight and the no BS confirmation that you don't really care to build a Music server. Considering switch gate, the argument of where the buttons on the GUI of a music server should be placed would be never ending. I attempted an older mac mini. The Year of production is key as many of the older ones cannot be upgraded. As I have found like the one the wife had in storage. The Fleabay hunt continues. The Linux Die hard will be up in arms but OSX is far more easier to deal with on apple hardware than pick a flavor of linux on random hardware.99% of the time OSX just works. Your easy to use point is key here.
 
You Gave us a Sneak Peak, Now I am curious about what the Lair of a Mad Audio Scientist looks like. If I seem like the annoying kid on the block that keeps asking questions, it's only because I am curious as hell.
 
What is is your DAC/AMP Combo of choice? Do you prefer Headphones or Loud Speakers?

 
Any stories behind the Mani? It seemed to have very little fanfare upon release but started picking up steam and has gotten great reviews. I don't think Many people expected it and if they did, Jason being viewed from the outside of the Schiit box as the "analog guy" we would have expected it to be a creation of his. Considering you thought it was worth while to build the Mani, I am led to believe you still have a turntable or two sitting around. If so what does that setup look like?
 
Wow I really do sound like that kid that just will not stop asking questions. I'll Stop now

 

[Currawong]

I have an old 2006 MacBook Pro which I put a Seagate hybrid drive in which I've experimented using for music playback. I've thought of trying to strip down the system and remove unused drivers and software to see if it will make any improvement. I think though that Audirvana Plus does the most in this regard, shutting off Spotlight and Time Machine. I take it a bit further and unplug the network cable and make sure wireless and Bluetooth are off.

 

[sheldaze]

  I have an old 2006 MacBook Pro which I put a Seagate hybrid drive in which I've experimented using for music playback. I've thought of trying to strip down the system and remove unused drivers and software to see if it will make any improvement. I think though that Audirvana Plus does the most in this regard, shutting off Spotlight and Time Machine. I take it a bit further and unplug the network cable and make sure wireless and Bluetooth are off.

This is what interests me - the portable arena. And the issue here is I doubt I could easily A-B compare my current Mac laptop to anything new, for example while at the local Apple store. I would be interested in a thread with posts from people who have done the A-B themselves. There are clearly audible issues from my old MacBook - thus if a new MacBook (of any variety) lessens the audible changes made by REGEN/Wyrd products, it would be worth it!

 

[kstuart]

​Enjoy your reliable, great sound.  If you are a victim of Redmond, Wa OS audio, you may be especially pleased.

Hmmm..... "There is a better alternative to Windows - but you can only use ones from late 2009." is not saying very much.
 

 A final note, I have tried at least three different Mac Minis, including much faster and newer models [but they are not as good as the late 2009 one]

Another DAC designer did a double-blind study - repeated four times - demonstrating that faster MacBooks sound better than slower ones IF they were decompressing lossless files on the fly.  The implication is that processor load affects sound quality, with the speculation that the power supply is affected.

 

[Ableza]

My music server runs Fedora Linux.  Works great.

 

[madwolfa]

  Another DAC designer did a double-blind study - repeated four times - demonstrating that faster MacBooks sound better than slower ones IF they were decompressing lossless files on the fly.  The implication is that processor load affects sound quality, with the speculation that the power supply is affected.

 
I highly doubt it. FLAC decompression algorithm is extremely lightweight. Even a tiny 75MHz ARM core is enough for realtime decoding. For any desktop CPU released within last 10 years it's nothing at all, barely above idle.

 

[kstuart]

The double-blind test was between FLAC and WAVE.  The faster the MacBook, the less likely was the listener to notice any difference.

 

[AndreYew]

It could be generated noise (acoustic or electrical) as well. For electric noise, if some audio component is susceptible to EMI, then its performance could be affected. For acoustic noise, that might be an alteration of your listening environment that could affect the sound itself.
 
It doesn't take much computing power to effect a change, and switching power supplies do vibrate and cause noise in response to different computing loads. The consequences of this was demonstrated in a very real way by some Israeli cryptography researchers whereby they extracted a 4096-bit RSA key by listening to the power supplies of a PC as it decoded encrypted emails. It's not very high tech either as they also demonstrated a similar attack with a cellphone:
 
http://www.tau.ac.il/~tromer/acoustic/
 
They also demonstrate how electrical noise in a computer can be listened to, and used to extract those keys.

 

[Baldr]

I perhaps need to reiterate that I have only tried a dozen or so available server options. My choice of the Mac Mini late 2009 was in part determined by the fact that I felt that was the minimum speed required for the specified operation.
 
I also failed to mention that I store all of my music at full PCM (Redbook for the overwhelming majority). I do not use FLAC or any other compression/decompression schemes. It seek (although it is not my purpose here to make any tech arguments) to have my server running the fewest possible number of processes possible for best potential sound. At full Redbook PCM bitwidth, I can fit 1600 more or less complete CD size albums on an under $300 1TB SSD. This is less than eighteen US cents per album. The FLAC compression may well be lossless, but for the savings are trivial for my peace of mind.
 
Please understand that the described server is only intended to be offered as a low-cost, functional, very good sounding and very well behaved server. It is in particular suitable to be a cheap replacement for buggy Windows based machines. I do not know it to be the best server there is. I am not in and do not plan to be in that biz
 
As a bonus, if you are not farting around with compression/decompression on the fly (Why??) I attest it to be better performing and sounding than many later, far more expensive Macs.
 
As a final comment on Windows – I do not hate it – I use it daily for R&D schematic capture and circuit board layout. It is very well suited for that. I just do not use it for email or web browsing. It is never connected to the internet. Over the years, I've had my emails spoofed and been virused more than once. It's lack of security compared to Linux and Mac is such that I needed about ten rubbers (in case 9 of them break) over any physical connection to the internet.