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RE: Mac Mini/iTunes--Please help me AbeCollins!


For me the main advantage of the internal SSD is very fast bootup times and very fast software updates, etc. The Mac operating system is on the SSD and some claim that separating the boot SSD from the disk where your music is stored can benefit the sonics. I'm not 100% convinced of that but it is something you can experiment with on your own if you wish. To get started, there's no harm in using a less expensive HDD or the Fusion Drive. With the Fusion Drive setup the Mini will still bootup very fast as the OS is kept on flash memory (like an SSD) while less used files will stay on the HDD.

The only thing I'm not sure of with Roon is whether it's database will use the flash portion of the Fusion Drive as it appears as one large volume. You don't "see" the flash memory and the HDD as separate entities and I'm not sure if Roon will either. But, I suspect that unless your music library is huge, Roon will still function and be responsive w/o it accessing the flash memory. My setup is 100% SSD and it was a bit pricey. I have not played around with a Fusion Drive. Your call on the Fusion Drive.

Your choice of the 2011 Mac Mini probably makes the most sense in weighing the cost + options vs the cost of a brand new Mini. At least you get the Intel i5 processor which is much better than the previous gen Core 2 duo. And loaded with 16GB RAM and SSD would make for a pretty sweet setup.


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