Hi, I’m trying to move away from Qobuz towards Apple Music (I do it reluctantly, but still…)
I need a Mac mini on which to run Apple classical and Apple Music and connect to my PS audio DAC via HDMI.
It doesn’t have to be very powerful; anyone have a Mac lying around? Want cheapish—say USD200.
There’s a bunch on Ebay.
An AppleTV will do this too, and they’re much cheaper. Edit: not sure about classical, I’ll check.
Apple TV is limited to 16/48 I believe, or maybe 16/44.1. Of course, if you’re using Airplay it doesn’t matter.
This image is Roon playing on my Mac Mini (late 2014) with RAAT over WIFI to a RPi4. This is just to demonstrate high resolution on a Mac Mini.
Of course, why would I have thought otherwise since it’s Apple?
No, I don’t want to use Airplay. That’s why I’m trying to get a Mac mini; so I can connect it to my DAC. Or can do it through RAAT on my Holo Red streamer and then to my DAC
Unfortunately looks like I. need an M1 Mac mini since Apple is about to end of life their intel based ones. So I’ll have to pay more.
You said you’re moving to Apple Music. RAAT is Roon only. You can use Airplay or connect a DAC directly to the Mac Mini for high resolution. I just installed a 1 TB NVMe M.2 in my late 2014 Mac Mini and no longer use the 1 TB Intel HDD although it’s still in there and usable. I paid $200 for the Mac Mini and $70 for the upgrade including the SSD and adapter.
You can see my upgrade thread in the Tinkering category.
https://community.roonlabs.com/t/question-about-apple-mac-mini-late-2014-roon-server/258131?u=jim_f
The 2014 Intel models are nice because the models that come with an SSD have internal space for a 2.5" drive.
So mine has the stock SSD for OS - and another 4TB SSD for media.
Of course their support life is now limited.
The 2018 Intel models are much faster (although you probably don’t need this) - and I think still supported.
Yeah you’re right. Brain not working.
I read that the 2019 Macs (last ones with intel) are about to be end of life-ed. Are you guys saying I shouldn’t worry about it and just get an old Intel Mac?
Also how much RAM do you think one should have on board?
The Mac Mini late 2014 has three versions and all have the ram soldered to the mother board. They are not upgradable but could have been ordered in different configurations. If you go with one of these, do not get the cheapest of the three. It has a lesser processor and only 4gb ram. Mine is the mid-level with 8gb ram. It was very slow with the 1 TB Intel HDD, but is quick with the new 1TB SSD.
