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In Reply to: RE: Core Audio Mac mini posted by AbeCollins on January 18, 2015 at 20:46:25
No I have not. I would like to get started with one but was wondering if a turn key set up would be the way to go? I have no other experience with mac except an iphone.
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It kind of depends on whether you want to learn the Mac and do some easy tweeking yourself to get started... or you just want an 'appliance'.
The potential problem I see in getting a completely turnkey system is that you won't know how the basic Mac environment works let alone how the custom tweeks work. If something ever goes wrong you'll be at the mercy of Core Audio to fix it.... and possibly their specific OS load as well.
I've seen some other guys get hosed with MOJO Audio tweeks. The system gets corrupt and the user has no clue where to start looking.
You could get a basic Mini, learn a bit about Mac OS, software installation, backup / restore strategy, disabling unneeded processes, etc. If you still feel the need for a custom Mini, you will at least know a little bit about what's going on under the hood.
Just my 2-cents worth.
Regarding Abe's common-sense suggestion to learn about Mac Mini "software installation, backup / restore strategy, disabling unneeded processes" -- can you please suggest a link or two that would take a Mac newbie by the hand and lead him gently through some of these procedures? The goal is to set up a Mini exclusively as a music server. (Yes, I've already done my own Web search and found Too Much Information, thus hoping for some guidance.)
Regarding whether to buy a new Mini or used -- How important is it to have solid state drive? I see used Minis, ca. 2009, with SSD available, but new ones with regular hard drive or (at a cost) Fusion drive. Note that all music files will be on external NAS, not on the Mini's drive.
Thanks for any help you can offer.
Thanks Abe! That pretty much is what I was looking for. I was actually going to pm you on this but had seen that you don't accept pm's. Which of the new models would you recommend to start with or would you find an older one?
One inmate claims that the 2009 Mac Mini with external power brick sounds best. That might be the case but I have an even older Mac Mini with external power supply and a fairly recent 2013 model with the power supply built-in. They both sound wonderful.
That being said, your choice will depend on what you want to do with the Mini. If it will be used mainly as a music server, any of the recent Minis will do including the entry model which LISTS for $499. If you plan to use it for other tasks as well, you'll want the middle model for $699 LIST.
With the new Mini I would recommend buying it with 8GB of RAM minimum at the time of purchase as the RAM is no longer user upgradeable.
You can find new Minis discounted slightly on Amazon and other retailers. If buying used, I would say about 2009 to 2015 models should do fine. You can find used Minis on Craigs List.
Thanks again! thinking about going new to avoid near future software upgrade issues. I'm also willing to bet that more about the power supply will have been discovered by the time I figure this thing out.
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