re: Audiophile/Vinyl Thread - Post Pics, Advice, Questions, Setups, etc.

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How does this work? Is it just a Mac mini or do you have a monitor hooked up too? How do you interact with your iTunes (via the DAC) how do you add music to the mini?

Just wondering cause I’ve got a pretty large iTunes collection

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I'll try to summarize but with some detail. I definitely wouldn't say this is the most convenient setup for most - it's in part just a setup I put together years before network streamers existed, and have retained.

* The CD collection is ripped from my main Windows PC (because the Mac Mini has no optical drive) to a Synology NAS, via iTunes.

* The Mac Mini is accessed from above PC via RealVNC; so the Mini is mostly used "headless" as a remote controlled computer. (I do have kb/mouse/monitor attached but only used in extenuating circumstances b/c the Mini is not in the most convenient location.)

* I use JRiver Media Center to access and play the NAS iTunes library on the Mini. That means I also have to add any new CD rips to the JRiver library. There is 1 folder per CD on the NAS, but 2 separate libraries pointing to it. iTunes on the PC is set to keep the library organized/updated. This could potentially result in JRiver losing track of a CD but in practice rarely does, unless I myself change something basic like the artist or album name.

* Main problem most would see is that I don't have a good remote control setup for this. The closest is an iOS app called JRemote that I use on my phone, that can control JRiver with some limitations. (Mainly, if the Mini goes to sleep it has to be woken for JRiver to respond.) However, for Tidal I don't have any way to remotely control. I have been thinking about getting a Roon subscription in part to solve this issue.

For most people, especially if you're just setting something up, a streamer probably makes a LOT more sense. I like to have more flexibility and control though. For instance, when I recently tried Apple Music it was easy to just start using the app on the Mini. A streamer would need it to play from my iPhone using Air Play, which would 1) require the streamer to have AirPlay; 2) more importantly, not allow any hi-res streaming due to AP limitations.