Have to buy a new Mac to sync music to iPad?

[AVR2]

My in-laws have just bought themselves an iPad, so it's running iOS9. Their only computer is a 2007 Mac mini running 10.6.8 (which is all they need), and so of course it won't talk to the iPad because the most recent version of iTunes they can run is too old.

Officially, their mini can only be upgraded to 10.7, and they'd need to go to 10.8.5 as a minimum in order to run a version of iTunes that will be able to sync to iOS9.

All they need to do is get their music collection from the mini to the iPad. Is there any third-party software that will do that? I've seen advertisements for apps like TunesOver, but no reliable reviews of how well they actually work. There is no way they're going to go to the expense of replacing the mini simply so that they can sync to the iPad.

I guess that worst-case, I could copy their music library onto a USB drive, then use my own El Cap mini to sync it to their iPad, but I'd prefer a method that didn't involve having to do that.

 

[Shirasaki]

There are some Music apps allowing you to store music inside their apps, rather than just iTunes Music app. One I previously used is nPlayer. But this one is quite pricy if you hate the ad. I am not aware any of them able to manage files using Wifi.
Many file manager app like Documents and GoodReader provides webpage/FTP transmission methods over WiFi. You can organise those music into folders and manage those folders using FTP/webpage. Those music should play well on iPad as long as file format is natively supported format.

 

[M. Gustave]

...I'd prefer a method that didn't involve having to do that.

You could upload/match their music collection via iTunes Match or Apple Music. Then they're no longer tied to any particular device. If they want to retire their Mac, they can; if their iPad is damaged, lost, stolen, or upgraded, their music collection is unaffected.