Linear power supply for Mac Mini circa 2009

I have a very simple an basic question for all you, if I understand rigth problem is the power supply is INSIDE the mini, and I should say, I agree switching power supplies generate alot of noise, and also agree it affects digital signal, but side your discusion, if instead of the mac mini I use my mac book, keeping the ps as far as possible from it or even bether, I use it just with the battery, will I have same quality as if I change the ps of one mac mini?

Alfredo

From Mexico

The company that I know of that offers power supply upgrades is Mojo Audio. I haven't used one or heard on in action, but it does make a lot of sense. Nothing worse for audio is noise, so the better systems are going to have high quality power supplies and have a lot of noise rejection circuits.

It's not cheap, but they can sell you the parts and you can upgrade it yourself, or you can send in your MacMini and they'll do it for you, or they actually sell prebuilt systems with a variety of upgrades.

No, they don't. They are producing small volume, they use expensive components like Toroidal transformers, high quality capacitors, cases, etc. and they do have to make a decent profit. Look on the inside of the Mojo Audio power supplies they sell. you couldn't build that for $100 if your life depended on it and match the quality they have. True, they buy components in decent quantity, but to make one unit? It would probably cost a lot more than they are charging to have something identical to theirs.

Here's what I found out from talking to various high end audio people, the MacMini is a great box because it can easily be setup as a server (headless) and with these external power supplies, they actually can sound better than using a MacBookPro. That's what I've been told and that's probably the reason why the MacMini is so popular for a media server for the audio community. WHen using a computer to do both serving music and general purpose use, sometimes it's better to turn off a lot of the features of the OS like Bluetooth, WiFi, Spotlight, etc. etc. etc. and basically optimize it exclusively as a media server and nothing else. At least that's why I've read. I use my Late 2012 27inch iMac to serve audio through a USB DAC and I can't wait to see what the next MacMini updated model is and to see if I can afford to buy one and dedicate it purely for audio and use my iMac purely for everything else.

Well, the problem with noise within the computer is digital noise is a problem. Ever hear of corrupted files? I'm sure you've had the experience of a corrupted file here and there? We all have. How do those files get corrupted? Plenty of ways. Bad RAM, not shutting down properly too much noise from the power supply disrupting data as it flows through the system. Heck, there are companies that have USB DACs and they are selling external power supplies as an upgrade and that's just for the DAC. iFi, Meridian and others are starting to do that as getting power from USB isn't that great. The more you can eliminate noise, the better that digitla file is going to be. We aren't doing a transfer as much as streaming the data through USB. USB DACs don't typically have large RAM buffers, that's done inside the computer.

What some of the high end DAC companies are finding out is that if they can eliminate as much noise from digital systems, the music becomes much clearer sounding, etc., etc. and that's not just with the computer, it's also within the cables as they are moving to split cable designs where the cable is split into two cables, one for data and the other for power. What one company found is that there are a lot of problems with losing Least Significant Bits and noise within the system was causing it.

Some of the audio mfg are using VERY expensive, precision test measurement equipment whereas us Joe Blows most likely don't have access to the same equipment to test. But if you are really serious about audio, then I'm sure getting one of these upgraded Power Supplies can make a big difference. Obviously, if your system isn't that expensive, then it might not be worth it, that's a question only the owner can answer. many people do not have a problem spending tens of thousands of dollars on an audio system, so for them, a simple thousand or so for a nice power supply can be a welcome improvement.