burnd

Q: Audio output in 10.8 on an older Mac Mini

Hi,

 

this is more out of curiosity, although I'd like to change something in my set-up, if possible

 

I used a Mac Mini from 2007 with OS X 10.6 for listening to music, which worked fine. I didn't do anything else with it, it sat on a shelf and quietly filled my flat with music. The music was stored on the internal hard drive and I used JRiver's MediaCenter. The Mac ran headless, I used an app on my iPad to control listening to the music. I also could use an older physical remote control from Apple. The music went out through the digital output of the Mac Mini and directly into a pair of active loud speakers.

 

Two days ago I upgraded the hardware and now have a Mac Mini from 2010, the last model with an optical drive. It also has the infrared sensor and the optical S/PDIF outlet. So my set-up basically kept being the same as before. I took the hard drive out of the 2007 model and put it into the 2010 model and upgraded the OS X to 10.8.5.

 

The change worked well and the Mac is delivering the music as before with one difference: When I start playing music after a (re)start of the Mac or after it wasn't playing music for a while, it needs 11 to 12 seconds before the first sound comes out of my speakers. I don't think, it's a real problem, as the system runs very well after that 12 seconds, but if there is something I can change in the settings, I'd love to do that. I already looked at the audio-MIDI-setup but don't understand the settings there. Most of the settings can't be changed anyway, I guess because the audio signal is only forwarded from the player to the outlet, which would make sense.

If it has something to do with system OS X 10.8 I might as well go back to OS X 10.6 (which was the system the Mac Mini was shipped with). I don't do anything else but playing music files from the system hard drive, so that would be fine for me. But it migt as well has something to do with the hardware.

 

 

Thanks for reading and thinking!

Any hints, explanations and help are very much appreciated!

Posted on Aug 13, 2016 2:18 AM

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Q: Audio output in 10.8 on an older Mac Mini

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  • by den.thed,

    den.thed den.thed Aug 13, 2016 8:13 AM in response to burnd
    Level 7 (27,550 points)
    Aug 13, 2016 8:13 AM in response to burnd

    Personally I do not run a headless server, but I do have several different year Mac Mini's that have survived multiple OS X upgrades. The best example is our 2010 Mac Mini which is currently running 10.11.6. One of my biggest peeves over the years has been, that someone thinks that everyone wants or needs all of the new OS X features loaded, turned on and connected at startup/login. It's been so long since I ran Snow Leopard, Lion or Mountain Lion, that it is hard to remember exactly which of the new features needed to be tamed or turned off to prevent sluggishness.

  • by burnd,

    burnd burnd Aug 13, 2016 12:51 PM in response to den.thed
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 13, 2016 12:51 PM in response to den.thed

    I don't use server software, just plain OS X and propably only 1 percent of its features. The system works well except for this 12 seconds delay in responding to an audio signal which I would like to avoid. I'm not sure what causes this delay and assume it is the system. But it also might be a set-up "problem" that could be solved. As I do not need any of the advantages of a newer system and do have the 10.6 DVDs laying around it would be easier to downgrade.

  • by den.thed,

    den.thed den.thed Aug 13, 2016 3:26 PM in response to burnd
    Level 7 (27,550 points)
    Aug 13, 2016 3:26 PM in response to burnd

    burnd wrote:

     

    I don't use server software,

     

    Sorry, I meant headless media player.

     

    just plain OS X and propably only 1 percent of its features.

     

    I know, problem is that the later OS X's automatically load many of those new features without any interaction on your part. Then worse, they proceed to aimlessly spin about wasting CPU time and memory until you either satisfy or subdue them.