Guide to Using a Mac Mini for Audio

tuga

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I have a headless 2011 Mac Mini as an alternative/ redundancy to my streamer. It may be worth looking at the CAD website to get the script for shutting off unnecessary bits of OSX going on in the background

For those who don’t want to subscribe to Audirvana etc, don’t need streaming and for those (like me) who utterly loathe iTunes and it’s heirs and successors, Swinsian is a very good looking, efficient and cost effective player that does lossless well. And the sound quality is very good.

The USB out to a decent DAC (I use a modified Meridian 518) is a much better solution IMO than the mini toslink.

This is not to pee on people’s chips if they like iTunes/Apple Music, just to offer an excellent alternative that doesn’t suffer from periodic brain farts/database corruption.

EDIT - the CAD script mentioned above is to prepare for an Audirvana installation, but I found it works with Swinsian for me. Do read the cautions and implement at your own risk!

Put ‘computer audio design osx disable’ into Google and the page is the first result.
I used the CAD script with HQPlayer back in the (10.9 Mavericks) day.
Do note that it has only been tested up to Yosemite 10.10.2, iTunes 11.1.2 and Audirvana 1.510.
It's best to install in a dedicated machine.

https://www.computeraudiodesign.com/computer-setup/
 
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tuga

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Wammer
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I had not noticed the BitPerfect release that makes it compatible with Apple Music, the programme which replaced iTunes in 2019 with the release of Mac OS 10.15 Catalina.

This means that current Macs can be used as high-quality streamers with Music as the file player.
The $10 BitPerfect automatically adjusts the output to the correct sample rate, provides SRC upsampling capabilities with SoX and uses 64-bit processing for digital volume control.

My first attempt at high quality file playback started with iTunes and BitPerfect, and I was using an Android app to control iTunes. It was a great fuss-free streaming option.
 
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Heckyman

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I had not noticed the BitPerfect release that makes it compatible with Apple Music, the programme which replaced iTunes in 2019 with the release of Mac OS 10.15 Catalina.

This means that current Macs can be used as high-quality streamers with Music as the file player.
The $10 BitPerfect automatically adjusts the output to the correct sample rate, provides SRC upsampling capabilities with SoX and uses 64-bit processing for digital volume control.

My first attempt at high quality file playback started with iTunes and BitPerfect, and I was using an Android app to control iTunes. It was a great fuss-free streaming option.
I'm not sure bit perfect playback is as relevant as it used to be, but these days I use this if/when using Apple Music on MacOS:
https://github.com/vincentneo/LosslessSwitcher/releases/

Not sure it makes any difference to SQ but it just runs in the background doing its thing. Might as well have Apple Music doing the job properly on MacOS like it does on iOS.
 

tuga

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Wammer
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Ricardo
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I'm not sure bit perfect playback is as relevant as it used to be, but these days I use this if/when using Apple Music on MacOS:
https://github.com/vincentneo/LosslessSwitcher/releases/

Not sure it makes any difference to SQ but it just runs in the background doing its thing. Might as well have Apple Music doing the job properly on MacOS like it does on iOS.
iTunes/Music doesn't change the sample rate and bit depth automatically. If your MIDI output is set to say 16/44.1 then all high-res files will be downsampled using the internal ASRC which is far from great and the bit-depth probably truncated.
For this reason it is important to use an auto rate switcher.
On top of that BitPerfect does or used to take full control of the audio output, it also provides an option to upsample, and can play DSD files.

I you only play 16/44.1 files then you're fine as long as you set the Audio MIDI Setup to that value and make sure that alerts are played by your Mac.
 
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Heckyman

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Andrew
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I'm aware of those "issues", my point was more 1) there's a newer, free, open source solution for non-auto sample rate switching in Apple Music on MacOS and 2) I don't actually find it much of an issue in practice, since I don't hear any differences with the "wrong" sample rate like I thought I might have done in the past. Maybe I'm not listening closely enough.

An an aside, I just think Apple Music on MacOS is somehow better than it used to be regardless of that strange quirk. Lately I compared CD rips played via Audirvana with the Apple Music file/app, both playing at native 16/44. I'm not sure they were identical but certainly AV did not sound better, which surprised me.

Edit: I should add I also use the MacOS digital volume control so nothing I play is bit perfect anyway. Another thing I do these days that was always supposed to sound bad. It may not be ideal, but IME it's more ideal than another box of wires, resistors and maybe a PSU if not passive.
 
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tuga

. . .
Wammer
Aug 17, 2007
14,341
7,001
173
Oxen's ford, UK
AKA
Ricardo
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I'm aware of those "issues", my point was more 1) there's a newer, free, open source solution for non-auto sample rate switching in Apple Music on MacOS and 2) I don't actually find it much of an issue in practice, since I don't hear any differences with the "wrong" sample rate like I thought I might have done in the past. Maybe I'm not listening closely enough.

BitPerfect does a lot more than just auto sample-rate adjustment.
Like I said, if auto sample-rate adjustment is all you want or need then the newer free solution you propose is $10 cheaper...
Newer in this case doesn't mean more advanced.

I should add I also use the MacOS digital volume control so nothing I play is bit perfect anyway. Another thing I do these days that was always supposed to sound bad. It may not be ideal, but IME it's more ideal than another box of wires, resistors and maybe a PSU if not passive.

In that case I would difinitely use Audirvana, Mac OS' digital volume control is not bit perfect nor is it lossless (and BitPerfect doesn't have a DSP volume control).
Also, definitely avoid using iTunes/Music's EQ.
 
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