Mac Server - Mac Pro Overkill?

**lloydelee21** · 08-04-2012, 09:53 AM

Hi All,

I am betwixt and between on servers...and am happily looking for Transport. But as i read more...i am looking for a simple dumb man's version of a server that will provide SOTA digital input into a DAC. What would happen if i bought a Mac Pro (not the notebook...the tower)...and used the 4 swappable drives to have 2 SS drives for active use and 2 regular drivers for back up...and ran it with an ipad?

USB out to a DAC which has a customized USB interface...i am thinking STahl-Tek with its USB to i2s bridge direct into the DAC.

I could play a disc from MAC Pro into the DAC...or i could load it up onto the SS Drive, and back it up on the swappable regular drive.

Yes a bit expensive...but swappable drives, thus automatic backup, MAC interface, ipad, etc...makes life easier for a serious NON-techie...

...does this make any sense at all? If i do SS drive to DAC via i2s...am i likely to rival SOTA transports this way?

I have read Mac Pro is the best for music servers, followed by Mac Mini...in both cases, way cheaper than SOTA transport. Thanks for any advice.

**Phelonious Ponk** · 08-04-2012, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by lloydelee21

Hi All,

I am betwixt and between on servers...and am happily looking for Transport. But as i read more...i am looking for a simple dumb man's version of a server that will provide SOTA digital input into a DAC. What would happen if i bought a Mac Pro (not the notebook...the tower)...and used the 4 swappable drives to have 2 SS drives for active use and 2 regular drivers for back up...and ran it with an ipad?

USB out to a DAC which has a customized USB interface...i am thinking STahl-Tek with its USB to i2s bridge direct into the DAC.

I could play a disc from MAC Pro into the DAC...or i could load it up onto the SS Drive, and back it up on the swappable regular drive.

Yes a bit expensive...but swappable drives, thus automatic backup, MAC interface, ipad, etc...makes life easier for a serious NON-techie...

...does this make any sense at all? If i do SS drive to DAC via i2s...am i likely to rival SOTA transports this way?

I have read Mac Pro is the best for music servers, followed by Mac Mini...in both cases, way cheaper than SOTA transport. Thanks for any advice.

To be honest it sounds like overkill to me. It would certainly be neat, but the processing requirements of a music server are not challenging and you could easily accomplish the same thing with a Mac mini and external hard drives. they make them in the same footprint, so you can stack them. The mini and a few terabytes worth of storage could be stacked, with cables neatly tucked, in a small fraction of the space a tower would take.

Tim

**joeinid** · 08-04-2012, 10:18 AM

I am sure it would work fine and I personally prefer the Mac Pro, but I think they are a little noisier.

**lloydelee21** · 08-04-2012, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by Phelonious Ponk

To be honest it sounds like overkill to me. It would certainly be neat, but the processing requirements of a music server are not challenging and you could easily accomplish the same thing with a Mac mini and external hard drives. they make them in the same footprint, so you can stack them. The mini and a few terabytes worth of storage could be stacked, with cables neatly tucked, in a small fraction of the space a tower would take.

Tim

Thanks Tim...i was also curious about the SS hard drive capacity...probably 1TB plus 3TB of backup...i probably have a couple thousand albums so i was thinking close to 1TB to begin with in SS. Does it make that much difference (in terms of noise?) i am a serious neophyte...i dont even know how to setup wifi...when it goes down, my fiancee sets it up (she worked for AT&T in their network server division).

I am thinking plug and play in the dumbest of dumb ways...and not have compromises i need to take care of with new software upgrades, new external harddrives that need to be added on, with application software to be recognized by the main computer, etc....i hate that stuff. I want to turn it on, put in a disc, hit 'save' and press play and have the best digital transfer to the DAC.

Or are servers not there yet...even MAC?

**EddieSudz** · 08-04-2012, 11:11 AM

I've got a mac mini connected to my Playback Designs MPS-5. As far as external drives go I have 2 - LaCIE 3TB daisy chained via Firewire into the mini along with 2 - 3TB WD My Books via USB.

The mini boots up, opens Audirvana which then opens iTunes. All I have to do is choose the song/playslist in iTunes and I'm all set. It's about as easy as I could make it.

**lloydelee21** · 08-04-2012, 12:05 PM

Thanks, Eddie. How does the Mac mini compare to the transport of the MPS5?

**EddieSudz** · 08-04-2012, 12:19 PM

Originally Posted by lloydelee21

Thanks, Eddie. How does the Mac mini compare to the transport of the MPS5?

Great question! I honestly have not made the comparison. Wonder if anyone else here has?

**lloydelee21** · 08-04-2012, 12:29 PM

Originally Posted by EddieSudz

Great question! I honestly have not made the comparison. Wonder if anyone else here has?

If you try it, please let me know! I am, as many people here will attest (and are probably sick of hearing about it)...struggling with throwing down on a Zanden transport to go with my Zanden DAC...trading it in for Stahl Tek Opus and starting all over again...and now i am thinking a good solution might be Stahl-Tek Opus DAC and Mac Pro USB into the Stahl Tek ABC re-clocker which goes i2s into the Stahl-Tek Opus...and forget the Opus Transport (which is partly what is stopping me).

But i am loathe to go for Mac Pro if it is going to result in a fair amount of money spent on a compromise.

**docvale** · 08-04-2012, 01:03 PM

Originally Posted by lloydelee21

If you try it, please let me know! I am, as many people here will attest (and are probably sick of hearing about it)...struggling with throwing down on a Zanden transport to go with my Zanden DAC...trading it in for Stahl Tek Opus and starting all over again...and now i am thinking a good solution might be Stahl-Tek Opus DAC and Mac Pro USB into the Stahl Tek ABC re-clocker which goes i2s into the Stahl-Tek Opus...and forget the Opus Transport (which is partly what is stopping me).

But i am loathe to go for Mac Pro if it is going to result in a fair amount of money spent on a compromise.

Lloyd,

If you go through USB, there's not going to be any difference between a Mini or a Pro.
The advantage of the Pro would be to install a professional PCI card such as a Lynx, in order to go directly into the AES/EBU input of your DAC.

Regarding the storage features, once you have iTunes plus Pure Music and you run with memory-play, having all your files on an SSD drive might not be relevant. I would get a smaller SSD and store every file on a Drobo unit set with automated backup.

**Phelonious Ponk** · 08-04-2012, 01:57 PM

Thanks Tim...i was also curious about the SS hard drive capacity...probably 1TB plus 3TB of backup...i probably have a couple thousand albums so i was thinking close to 1TB to begin with in SS. Does it make that much difference (in terms of noise?)

I don't think so but I'm not nearly as picky as some people around here. I upgraded to a 500 GB high speed drive, in my MB Pro so I could backup my computer and my music files all in one move. It is easily twice as noisy as the one that it replaced, and I don't hear it when music is playing. But really, if you're going to control with an iPad and the drives are going to be on the other side of the room, it's not an issue, IMO. If you stopped all the music, shut down your amp, sat very, very still, held your breath and listened very closely, you might be able to hear a hard drive spinning from 10 - 12 feet away. Don't do that and it probably won't be a problem. Fans? Fans can be a problem. The fan on my MB Pro, which is pretty quiet as fans go, almost never comes on.

I am thinking plug and play in the dumbest of dumb ways...and not have compromises i need to take care of with new software upgrades, new external harddrives that need to be added on, with application software to be recognized by the main computer, etc....i hate that stuff. I want to turn it on, put in a disc, hit 'save' and press play and have the best digital transfer to the DAC.

I think it's there for Mac or Windows, but Mac makes everything a little easier IMO. And I personally think the best plug and play is a Mac running iTunes. It's far too common to be audiophile approved, but it just works, and yes, throw just a few software switches one time (and if you get there I'll be happy to walk you through it) and when you put in a disc it will automatically burn it to your HD and eject it when it's done. The only caveat -- do you use hi-res? If you do, Core Audio, the audio engine in OSX doesn't automatically change sample rates. But all you have to do is download and install Pure Audio - $50 - and it will do it for you. No muss no fuss.

Yeah, servers are ready on the Mac. Easy to set up. And once you've got them going they really, really rock. I find myself listening to music I haven't listened to in years, just because it is so accessible. And in the process of error-checking as iTunes copied my CDs, it healed all the errors. Hard to argue with that.

Tim