Mac Mini For music streaming.

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Hi all!

I am looking to purchase a used Mac Mini to house all of my music, which will be controlled via Apple remote, and connected directly to my stereo Via optical.

There seems to be a few used ones around, and their processor specs range from 1.5 - 1.8 and then up to 2.0ghz.

Does anyone think that a 1.8 or even a 1.53 core duo with 2gb ram would be suitable enough for the job?

Im not too bothered about HDD size, as i can replace that at the start.

There will be nothing else loaded onto it apart from my music library, which i will manage from my MBP via screen share.

Thanks!

:)
 
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Hello there,

I read about this recently and it seems the processor speed versus cores debate has appeared to rest on the side of the processor speed being the most important for audio along with RAM upgradeability.

It sounds like it's going to be a neat system particularly because you'll be hard-wired into your amp with optical.
 
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Ah ok thanks.

So, with that in mind, its probably best i look out for a minimum of 2.0ghz model.

Thanks again.

:)
 
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chas_m

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You'll also want to be sure to get a model that has easy access to the HD. Some models made it REALLY challenging to swap out the HD.
 
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Ok, i didnt know that.

Are there any particular models that present this challenge?

I am currently looking at a late 2009 MC239B/A

Thanks!
 
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Ah ok thanks.

So, with that in mind, its probably best i look out for a minimum of 2.0ghz model.

Thanks again.

:)

Hi,

The thing is I think it may only make any real difference to you if you are actually producing and/or recording music with sophisticated software for say producing music with convolution reverb.

Here's a short article CPU Cores
 
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Thanks PW.

That article does seem to lean more towards production more.

However, a couple of minis that i am looking at, 1 has a 750gb HDD already installed with a 2.0ghz cpu.

Another has a 2.53ghz cpu and 500gb hdd, but is more expensive.
 
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Thanks PW.

That article does seem to lean more towards production more.

However, a couple of minis that i am looking at, 1 has a 750gb HDD already installed with a 2.0ghz cpu.

Another has a 2.53ghz cpu and 500gb hdd, but is more expensive.

Hi,

If all you are doing is storing and playing music files I would go with the one with higher HDD capacity. You're not doing anything computationally intensive so clock speed is not really of paramount importance to you. Opinions may differ obviously.

The best thing to do is to post up the specs,year of model and prices of the machines that you are looking at for comparison. Some members on here are extremely good at spotting potential bargains and pitfalls.
 
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Ok, this is the spec of one that i am looking at..

Listed as an Early 2009...


Processor
Processor Type Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed 2 GHz
Number of Cores Dual-Core

Hard Drive
Hard Drive Capacity 750 GB
Hard Drive Rotation Speed 5400 RPM
Hard Drive Interface Serial ATA II

Memory
RAM Technology DDR3 SDRAM
Installed RAM Capacity 3 GB
RAM Supported Speed 1066 MHz
RAM Memory Slots Qunatity 2 x SODIMM

On sale for around £350, which i think is quite reasonable, considering the HDD size?

:)
 
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chas_m

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I would say to have a look at Apple's own refurb section for Mac minis as soon as they get some back in. You may well be able to get a better overall deal for not much more than that.
 

bobtomay

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15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
So you're thinking a machine approaching four (yes, 4) years old;

with a 2.0 C2D
and 3 GB RAM

is worth 70% of a brand new machine - with warranty - and:

a 2.5 i5 with turbo boost to 3.1
and 4 GB RAM

because it has a 250 GB larger hard drive?

Don't really think so. £250... maybe.
 
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Good point, but the new Mac minis dont have a built in cd drive?

Apple do have a 500gb refurb at £399 but then i would need an external drive at £65 ish.

TBH i really need a one box solution as space is a bit limited!
 

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