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Loving the Mac Mini as a media centre!

It looks like the one developed by Lorenzo Thurman but it is an older version I have that used to be free. Looks like it has been updated now and is on the App Store as a paid app. I'll check to see if I still have the original free version.

http://www.spikesoft.net/?page_id=21
 
Storage

mike68 said:
Finally, storage has become a problem quite quickly - in all the excitement of deciding to digitise my entire DVD collection I have now found myself running a pair of 1TB WD Elements USB drives. What do you guys use and recommend for external storage (brand/model?)
Click to expand...

I've been running WD Green drives for some time now. They have a lot of storage and are energy efficient at the expense of performance, but for this application, it works great. I play 1080p movies from it and haven't noticed any performance issues. Newegg has a 3TB WD Green drive which will periodically go on sale for $80-$90 US. Just keep in mind that the bigger drives get, the more prone they are to errors. Having a copy of SpinRite laying around for periodic drive maintenance is recommended.
 
HDMI Audio issues

I've been having a few HDMI audio issues with my 2014 Mac Mini resulting in grabbled sound or the sound coming out of the Mac minis internal speaker.

The Mac does not always see the HDMI audio connection and appear in the Sound preferences. Picture is fine.

Even if I unplug the HDMI cables and plug back in, restart the Mac, restart all my equipment sometimes it shows sometimes it does not. I can't pinpoint the issue.

My current workaround is to use an optical cable but its annoying that I'm seeing these HDMI handshaking issues.
 
urbanmacUser said:
I've been having a few HDMI audio issues with my 2014 Mac Mini resulting in grabbled sound or the sound coming out of the Mac minis internal speaker.

The Mac does not always see the HDMI audio connection and appear in the Sound preferences. Picture is fine.

Even if I unplug the HDMI cables and plug back in, restart the Mac, restart all my equipment sometimes it shows sometimes it does not. I can't pinpoint the issue.

My current workaround is to use an optical cable but its annoying that I'm seeing these HDMI handshaking issues.
Click to expand...

It has to do with older HDMI cable. You need something like MonoPrice 18Gbps Ultra slim Series HDMI 2.0.

 
urbanmacUser said:
satcomer said:
It has to do with older HDMI cable. You need something like MonoPrice 18Gbps Ultra slim Series HDMI 2.0.

Really, I thought the HDMI port was only 1.4.

My cables are BlueRigger, which have great specs.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/BlueRigger-High-speed-Cable-Meters/dp/B00316263Y/
Click to expand...

Well it says it does say in the specs "Category 2 Certified - High-Speed 10.2 gbps / 340 MHz (Supports up to 240hz Refresh Rates and 48-Bit Deep Color & Category 2 Certified - High-Speed 10.2 gbps / 340 MHz (Supports up to 240hz Refresh Rates)" & " Supports 1080p FullHD Resolution and fully compatible with PS3, Xbox360, blue ray players and other hdmi equipment."

So it was not ready for 4k at 30hgz. I link to an 18Gbps cable that will support 4k and 30Ghz!
Click to expand...
 
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Still getting audio issues with the Mac mini and my Sony PJ and Sony AVR. From what I've read this could be a EDID issue as the AVR has two HDMI outputs one to a TV the other to the PJ.

Any ideas how to solve?
 
magicMac said:
Multi-channel PCM is better than Dolby digital because it has no compression. The OS will by default decode the Dolby stream and send it over its continuous multi channel PCM uncompressed output.
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I disagree, i prefer my purpose built AV receiver to do my decoding thank you very much. In theory there shouldn't be any difference but i still prefer my expensive amp to do the decoding.
 
torana355 said:
I disagree, i prefer my purpose built AV receiver to do my decoding thank you very much. In theory there shouldn't be any difference but i still prefer my expensive amp to do the decoding.
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Lol I'm sorry but you have no idea what you are talking about. You just said an expensive Dolby decoder is better than multi-channel PCM.

Well I have news for you PCM is not just lossless, it's actually not compressing the audio at all, unlike Dolby AC-3 which does compress the audio. PCM is literally a process of converting analogue sound waves into digital information and back. Might be worth googling something as basic as that before coming out with an outrageous claim such as yours.

It's also worth noting that the cost of the Dolby decoder should not have any effect on its ability to decode the AC-3 stream.
 
magicMac said:
Lol I'm sorry but you have no idea what you are talking about. You just said an expensive Dolby decoder is better than multi-channel PCM.

Well I have news for you PCM is not just lossless, it's actually not compressing the audio at all, unlike Dolby AC-3. PCM is literally a process of converting analogue sound waves into digital information and back. Might be worth googling something as basic as that before coming out with an outrageous claim such as yours.
Click to expand...

You have ZERO idea or you are misunderstanding something.

"To make it simple, the difference between bitstream and PCM, is where the audio is getting decoded. If you choose PCM, audio gets decoded from DD5.1 or DTS 5.1 or DTS-HD or whatever, to PCM and then gets sent over the audio portion of HDMI to your receiver where it's converted from digital to analog and played over your speakers. If you choose bitstream, the audio track in DD5.1, DTS 5.1, DTS-HD or whatever, gets sent directly to your receiver over the audio portion of HDMI. There it gets decoded to PCM, converted from digital to analog and played over your speakers.

So really, the choice is simply a matter of where you want the audio decoded. In some cases your receiver may not support one or another audio format and the PS3 does. So, you would choose PCM so that the PS3 would decode the audio and send it to the receiver.

I should point out that it's quite difficult to do an objective comparison between the two, if there is ANY difference in volume between the 2 cases, as listeners invariably pick the louder one as being better sounding. Ideally, whether you chose PCM or bitstream, it should sound identical."
 
torana355 said:
You have ZERO idea.

"To make it simple, the difference between bitstream and PCM, is where the audio is getting decoded. If you choose PCM, audio gets decoded from DD5.1 or DTS 5.1 or DTS-HD or whatever, to PCM and then gets sent over the audio portion of HDMI to your receiver where it's converted from digital to analog and played over your speakers. If you choose bitstream, the audio track in DD5.1, DTS 5.1, DTS-HD or whatever, gets sent directly to your receiver over the audio portion of HDMI. There it gets decoded to PCM, converted from digital to analog and played over your speakers.

So really, the choice is simply a matter of where you want the audio decoded. In some cases your receiver may not support one or another audio format and the PS3 does. So, you would choose PCM so that the PS3 would decode the audio and send it to the receiver.

I should point out that it's quite difficult to do an objective comparison between the two, if there is ANY difference in volume between the 2 cases, as listeners invariably pick the louder one as being better sounding. Ideally, whether you chose PCM or bitstream, it should sound identical."
Click to expand...

You are still completely confused. I never made any claim the source was Dolby in the first place. I was just literally stating that PCM is better than AC-3, which is true, whether you like it or not...

Also, as I said before, if the source is Dolby, it makes no difference where it is decoded it will always be the same Lossy waveform at the end.
 
magicMac said:
You are still completely confused. I never made any claim the source was Dolby in the first place. I was just literally stating that PCM is better than AC-3, which is true, whether you like it or not...

Also, as I said before, if the source is Dolby, it makes no difference where it is decoded it will always be the same Lossy waveform at the end.
Click to expand...

Yes but DTS-MA and TrueHD are lossless formats which is equal to PCM. I agree that an uncompressed track is better then Dolby digital as its highly compressed. Im sorry i didn't read that you were referring to AC3....
 
torana355 said:
Yes but DTS-MA and TrueHD are lossless formats which is equal to PCM. I agree that an uncompressed track is better then Dolby digital as its highly compressed. Im sorry i didn't read that you were referring to AC3....
Click to expand...

Ah I didn't know you were referring to DTS-MA and TruHD! My apologies, I thought you were saying your AC-3 decoder would sound better than a pure PCM stream from source lol (you'll be surprised what I've heard people claim)

I don't know if the Mac mini can even decode those lossless multichannel codecs! I've only got movies with AC-3 tracks!
 
magicMac said:
Ah I didn't know you were referring to DTS-MA and TruHD! My apologies, I thought you were saying your AC-3 decoder would sound better than a pure PCM stream from source lol (you'll be surprised what I've heard people claim)
Click to expand...

No just a simple misunderstanding between us. All good :) My point was i like my Amp doing my decoding rather then my HTPC or console ect ect. I run XBMC on a HTPC which can decode TrueHD and DTS-MA but i prefer to decode on my amp anyway. :)
 
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Hi Donka,
You helped me out last year and I'm loving my mac mini setup.

I have my mac mini set up to my Sharp Aquos tv, which is also setup to my yamaha soundbar. Plex running on mac mini.

The only thing I find annoying, is that sometimes when I switch on my TV, and go to HDMI 1 - where the mac mini is connected to, and push a button on the mac mini it doesn't seem to wake up the mac mini. I'm not sure what the problem is.

Any thoughts?
Lonnie
 
Hmm, not sure. Is this new behaviour? I have a wired mouse connected to my Mac mini and a click of the button always wakes it up.
 
Donka said:
Hmm, not sure. Is this new behaviour? I have a wired mouse connected to my Mac mini and a click of the button always wakes it up.
Click to expand...

I have a wireless mouse and keyboard, but I'll try and mouse connected directly to see.

It happens probably 50% of the time since when I first set it up. I wondered if when I leave the mac mini in plex or another program is does something strange, so I try and exit when I can remember.

Thanks
 
Do you have wake for keyboard access under settings for Bluetooth? I'm just wondering if the mini is actually sleeping or just the display sleeping?
 
Hello all. Thanks to OP and all the contributions from the others - this is really useful.

I'd just like to test some ideas of mine - hoping someone will confirm that I'm not missing something obvious!

I had a JB ATV2 connected to the flatscreen in the lounge. Picked up a Quad-core 2.3ghz 2012 Mini at a laughably discounted price, when one of the major tech vendors down these parts decided to get rid of "old" stock with the release if the 2014 models. Joy.

That is now connected to the flatscreen, running Kodi and Plex. An external DAS is connected, where I have some movie media stored.

With the above, the old ATV2 (JB) has been sitting unused in a drawer.

The tv in the bedroom is on the way out. It's big, and old. So old - that it has no HDMI inputs - thus, no way to have connected the ATV. It is connected to a cable decoder, and had a DVD player, until one of the kids managed to break it.

So, the TV will be replaced by a flatscreen. Will probably get a blu-ray, since not all of the kids dvd's could be ripped by handbrake - and might be useful to still have one (although, I'm not convinced).

We have a centrally placed wifi router, but in the next few months,
will look at running Ethernet to the Mac Mini, and hopefully, down to the bedroom (where the ATV2 will(?) be).

4 iPads, 2x iPhones, Mac Mini, MBP, and MBA in the house.

My query:

In my head – I'm thinking I try and install Plexconnect on the Mini and ATV2, using the Trailers hack.

*Is that still possible?*
*Is it still possible/has it ever been possible on a JB ATV2?*

Connect ATV2 to Ethernet, point it to Mini serving up Plex, which is seeing my data on the DAS, and done. Still have the option of Cable as well.

The drawback to the above, is that in the absence of a *smart* tv, I won't be able to connect to the Internet for Netflix (or the local equivalent) *unless* the ATV2 keeps on chugging along. I'm a bit worried about the latter. And If I upgrade to an ATV3/ATV4 – I presumably lose the ability to run Kodi, and Plex?

That being said – what would the image quality be of an ATV2 on a new, HighDef flatscreen?

Would it be more future savvy to get a smart-tv with built-in Internet connectivity? And I should probably wait until after the new ATV4 is announced, to gauge what would be preferable?

Any opinions would be welcomed!
 
It sounds like you are keen to keep the ATV2. Do you use it for anything else such as AirPlay or iTunes sharing? If not, maybe replacing it with a cheap Roku and using Plex on that is a simpler option? Otherwise I would hold off to see what official apps are released for ATV4. I think Plex is virtually a guarantee.
 
Donka said:
It sounds like you are keen to keep the ATV2. Do you use it for anything else such as AirPlay or iTunes sharing? If not, maybe replacing it with a cheap Roku and using Plex on that is a simpler option? Otherwise I would hold off to see what official apps are released for ATV4. I think Plex is virtually a guarantee.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Not necessarily set on the ATV2 – bought it 2nd hand, and hardly used it – so would consider other options if they make more sense. But then again, I've clearly only scratched the surface of it i.t.o. what it can do...

For instance, I forgot about the iTunes sharing option – that would be where it "sees" the iTunes library on the Mini(?), and plays the library on the TV in the bedroom? That could be useful, but not a deal-breaker I guess. As for AirPlay, liked the idea in theory, but it hardly ever worked properly when I had the ATV2 set up – battled to get my various devices to "see" the ATV, and vice versa – so also not something that would be crucial, I don't think...

Regardless, probably best to wait and see what comes out on the 9th.
 
I personally would wait to see what is announced on the 9th. I do like the ATV but an App Store would make it a much more useful device for me.
 
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