Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Mac and Meridian

Thanks mx9. Personally I'll be avoiding the use of Airport Express for my main system as I experience dropouts (unless these can be stopped). AE is fine for the F80 as listening in the kitchen is less critical!

It seems the main issue with a Mac Mini is having to manually switch between 16 and 24 bit. If I upgrade I'd like to extend capacity and gain access to 24/96 and 24/192 at the same time (which I assume my HD621/568.2MM can process as the 568 was designed to work in conjunction with the 598 DVD-A player).

Yes. You can also use the Time Machine/Capsule features for backup.

FYI - According to Apple Support, the recommended method of networking iTunes media is via the "Home Sharing" feature included with iTune 9.

You use the "Audio Midi Setup" utility to switch. I leave it in the dock for easy access. Its no big deal.

I called Apple Support on this one and they said its just the way it is, for now.

There may be a work around with Perian or some other utility, but I haven't had time to explore alternatives.

At present I'm backing up with Time Machine to a Time Capsule, although I understand this does not provide RAID safety features.

Good point. At the moment we have "Home Sharing" but it only works when the Imac/Macbook whose iTunes library you wish to access is switched on. If I had a Mac Mini or NAS based central music server permanently switched on, then I assume each computer could access this using iTunes "Home Sharing", and we could copy selected music to any Mac Book/iPad/iPod hard drive when travelling away from home?

No. iTunes home share in only available over the local network. You can transfer to a Mac Book/iPad/iPod before leaving and take the files with you.

Time Machine backs up every hour, which is frequent enough for iTunes media files.

My apologies as that was what I trying to say, i.e., transfer selected files to the MacBook/iPad/iPod before leaving and take the files with you!

I think Apple are talking their own book. The ReadyNAS storage system I have has built in Apple iTunes Server 7.0. Other makes of NAS also have streaming servers built in, this means you don't have to leave your main PC/Mac on in order to access your music. QNAP and Buffalo spring to mind. I also have a Thecus, but I prefer the ReadyNAS for support and ease of use. None of these are cheap, but they do something that Apple doesn't quite achieve, IMHO.

When you open iTunes on your iMac or Mac Mini the server shows up much as an iPod would do, and you can access the media either from the server or from local drives. I have mine hard-wired rather than using Airport Express or the like. I'm not a fan of wireless, and it gives mne plenty of bandwidth.

I can also run Squeezebox on the same device, allowing me to use the same library for both.

It also supports Time Machine, so I can back up my Macs without a Time Capsule.

We have gone OT, haven't we?

I have been investigating Amarra, which bills itself as an audiophile player for the Mac.

They also recommend local storage over NAS:

Basic Macintosh Tips for Best Performance

iTunes Preferences:
• Disable the Crossfade Songs preference in iTunes
• Disable the Sound Enhancer preference in iTunes
• Disable the Sound Check preference in iTunes

Energy Preferences:
• Disable Sleep and other Energy saving Preferences.

Spotlight:
• Disable Spotlight

Time Machine:
• Disable TimeMachine on your media drives.

• We recommend a fresh install of the operating on a clean disc.

• We recommend that your computer be used exclusively for music playback.
Email, web browsers, screen sharing and applications can effect performance.

• Do not use FAT 32 formatted volumes.

• Use an SSD drive for the Operating System.

• Use an internal or external drive for media, NAS drives may effect sound quality.

My understanding is that it is not OT to discuss various configurations of the various sources that can be fed into Meridian kit. There are numerous discussions detailing various permutations Sonos, Squeezebox, Oppo, PS3 etc.