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Post your Mac mini setups

My Mac mini M1 setup. Previously, it was a Mac Pro 5.1 with 12 cores and 96Gb of RAM. The mini is much faster.
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My work-in-progress setup. Mac mini 2018 i3, 16/256. 2x WD Passport (1TB Files, 2TB Time Machine). UPS (bottom right) from a mate for free, never needed it so far (thank goodness for reliable power in Germany). Most recent addi(c)tion: Stream Deck XL - what a great automation tool!
Bit messy, but this is how it looks like in real life (and with poor lighting for taking pics). Beats sitting at the dining room table :)
 

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threee said:
Hi PeterJP, thanks for your interest in my setup. Ok, first the speakers. They are Edifier R1280T's, only $99 from Amazon. I've had them for a couple years, but just added them to my desk setup recently. I got back into listening to vinyl 2 years ago, bought a new turntable, and got these powered speakers to go with it. I read through the reviews, and saw a few YouTube reviews, and was impressed. I bought them, and was even more impressed.

The speakers I originally had on my desktop were a pair of AudioEngine A5+'s, which sound really good, and are much more pricey. They cost nearly $400. One day I spent a couple hours doing some A/B comparisons between the two pairs of speakers, and decided I like the sound from the Edifiers better. I think the bass is smoother, and seemingly more impactful. And the highs were better as well. And I noticed details in my music that I just didn't hear with the more expensive AudioEngine speakers. To my ears, they have a nicer overall sound. So they have become my desktop speakers. I'm not even using the AudioEngine speakers anymore.

The stands for these speakers are homemade. I wanted to elevate these speakers 6-7" so the tweeters would sit about ear height. I don't have a table saw, and I needed the cuts to be perfectly straight. I looked around at retail speaker stands, and didn't find many that I liked. And they were much more expensive than I was hoping for. So I decided to make my own, with the least amount of work involved. I was searching Amazon and found these nice little precut MDF pieces, 6x6" square, for about $15 for a pack of 4. I bought two packs of them. I glued them together with some wood glue, sanded the corners just enough to make them slightly rounded and not so sharp, and painted them white to match my white theme.

Finally, on to the little audio setup. It's a stack of schiit. Literally a stack of schiit. lol. From an American company called Schiit Audio. They make many high quality audio components, at affordable prices. That's what they claim, but they do have amplifiers and DACs costing north of $2K. My components are some of the more reasonably priced ones.

The bottom component is called a Schiit Sys. It's basically a 2-way audio switch box, with just a push button to select the source, and a knob to control the volume from the source. My 2 audio sources currently are my turntable, which is about 5 feet away, out of the picture, and the audio output from my monitor. My Mac mini, my PC, and my PS4 are all connected to the display, and whichever of those I'm using is the output that the monitor sends to the Schiit Sys.

The output of the Sys goes to the next component up, with is called a Schiit Loki Mini. It's a simple 4 band EQ, for shaping the sound to my liking. I mainly use it to cut the highs back a bit that can be a bit harsh with some music, or boosting or cutting the low bass a bit. It's a fun little device.

The output from the Loki Mini goes to the box on top, called the Schiit Magni 3. It's a headphone amplifier. It also has an output on back that you can connect to a pair of powered speakers, which of course is connected to my Edifier speakers.

I also have a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 250 Ohm headphones, which you can see hanging under the desk. They sound really incredible plugged into that headphone amp. I just bought them 2 weeks ago, and love them. I always thought my Airpods maxes sounded good. I still think they do, but not nearly as good as the Beyerdynamics.

I will be slightly changing this setup any day now. I've ordered another piece of Schiit. I actually bought this one from an eBay seller. I offered him $60 and he accepted my offer. It's called a Schiit Modi. It's a DAC. Apple Music's new lossless audio made me decide to get a DAC to fully experience lossless, since lossless won't work with any of Apple's wireless headphones. I'll post of pic or two of the updated setup this coming week once I get my new DAC.

Well, that's basically it, I think. If there's anything else you'd like to know, don't hesitate to ask!
Click to expand...
Your Schiit stack works perfect with the M1 Mac Mini?
 
steve217 said:
How would you compare the performance between the two?
Click to expand...
It's complicated.
First, for my workflow, which is large ERP software development, I have never experienced any issues with the Mac Pro 2013, or felt the need to update it. I purchased the M1 mini for a whole different thing - to be my media player under the TV and to replace my aging 2014 Mac mini.
It turned out that the M1 mini has a 48KHz audio output limit and I was not pleased with this.
I left my 2014 Mac mini to continue to be my media player, and I am now evaluating the M1 mini for work.

So far, I am finding it to be a bit snappier than the MP 6,1 but because I got the 8GB model, I am pressed for RAM - a certain large Java project that needs a large JVM is running better on the MP 6,1. Other than that, I am enjoying the sidecar feature that I was not able to use with the trash-can MP.

All-in-all, I do not see big difference for my workflow between the M1 mini and the MP 6,1, even though the M1 SSD speed is almost 3 times faster. I am not noticing this speed bump in my day-to-day work.

In the end, I felt that the 8GB M1 mini can do the job for now, and I will sell the MP 6,1, simply because it is aging, and mostly because of the side car feature where I use my iPad Pro 12,9 as a secondary display.
 
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vddobrev said:
It's complicated.
First, for my workflow, which is large ERP software development, I have never experienced any issues with the Mac Pro 2013, or felt the need to update it. I purchased the M1 mini for a whole different thing - to be my media player under the TV and to replace my aging 2014 Mac mini.
It turned out that the M1 mini has a 48KHz audio output limit and I was not pleased with this.
I left my 2014 Mac mini to continue to be my media player, and I am now evaluating the M1 mini for work.

So far, I am finding it to be a bit snappier than the MP 6,1 but because I got the 8GB model, I am pressed for RAM - a certain large Java project that needs a large JVM is running better on the MP 6,1. Other than that, I am enjoying the sidecar feature that I was not able to use with the trash-can MP.

All-in-all, I do not see big difference for my workflow between the M1 mini and the MP 6,1, even though the M1 SSD speed is almost 3 times faster. I am not noticing this speed bump in my day-to-day work.

In the end, I felt that the 8GB M1 mini can do the job for now, and I will sell the MP 6,1, simply because it is aging, and mostly because of the side car feature where I use my iPad Pro 12,9 as a secondary display.
Click to expand...
Yes, I noticed the same thing in my workflow. M1 Mac mini (16 GB & 1TB SSD) can do “almost” of my tasks that I do with Mac Pro 2013 (12-Core, 64 GB & 1TB SSD) but not all…and is why I still have it.

But…the new MacBook Pro 2021 runs circles around both.

Can replace both if I wanted but keep the two for spare and work.
 
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loby said:
Yes, I noticed the same thing in my workflow. M1 Mac mini (16 GB & 1TB SSD) can do “almost” of my tasks that I do with Mac Pro 2013 (12-Core, 64 GB & 1TB SSD) but not all…and is why I still have it.

But…the new MacBook Pro 2021 runs circles around both.

Can replace both if I wanted but keep the two for spare and work
Click to expand...

Yes, it's always good to have a spare backup computer(s). Even more so if you are working from home.


richmlow
 
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Mac mini M1 16GB and Satechi USB-C dock with a 1TB SSD inside. Nice ventilation pass thru system. Display is a 43” LG 4K monitor with HDR, works very nicely with the Mac, but waking the Mac up or after it has turned the screen off, when it reactivates, the display is washed out. I have to switch the input away and back again. I’ll see if I can attach it via HDMI and see if that solves the problem.

Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard and Logitech MX Master 2S mouse, on top is a Logi c925e webcam.
 
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Just purchased last week, got set up this past weekend. M1 Mini with 8C CPU/GPU, 16GB RAM, and a whopping 2TB of storage. Docked with the ever-popular Satechi dock, attached to an LG 4K 27UN850-W monitor, held up by an Ergotron LX mount in matte black. Annoying thing I found out today: the two USB ports on the monitor are rendered useless unless you connect to the Mac with USB-C. So much for DisplayPort superiority (or assumptions thereof). Camera is the Logitech C925e. iPhone is on an elago MS1 charging stand, which integrates with the MagSafe wireless charger perfectly. Mouse is a Logitech G305.

Speakers (not pictured, lol) are Martin Logan Motion 15's, powered by that Audioengine N22 desktop amp on the left behind the monitor. Earbuds are Melomania 1+.

Four hard drives are as follows: 4TB for Time Machine, 12TB for bluray rips and super high-res music, 6TB for TV shows, and 4TB for other backups. The middle two drives flow straight into a Plex server hosted by the Mini, and are the only two directly attached to the Mini (others on hub). Drives kept cool by an AC Infinity Aircom S7, running 24/7 running at 25%.

Learning a lot about M1, loving the lack of compatibility issues, and finding cool display control tools like MonitorControl lately. Still can't believe how powerful this thing is.
 
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work.jpeg


16Gb/1TB M1 Mac mini
Satechi Type-C Aluminium Hub
LG 27UP850-W monitor, connected via USB C, and it works (!)
LogiLink arm holding the monitor
Logitech MX Keys
Lamicall Tablet Stand for the iPad
KRK Rokit studio monitors
M-Audio Keystation Mini
Scarlett 2i2 sound interface
Ikea wooden desk mounted on a "Edsbyn" raise/lowering thingie
Eames soft pad management chair
Logitech MX Anywhere 2S on a (seemingly) dirty Steelseries mouse mat
… plus some other stuff (like a clay-apple, a clay fish, and … that's about it for clay. I think.)
 
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Upgraded...

audio-workstation-20211217.jpg


UNCOVERED SPEAKERS: Yamaha HS8 studio monitor speakers - HIGHLY recommended for DAWs
COVERED SPEAKERS: JBL EON610 powered PA speakers & Acoustech H-100II sub - tuned for EDM/House
KNOB/BUTTON PANEL: Mackie Big Knob Monitor Controller - switch between JBL and Yamaha speakers
EQUALIZER: dbx 215s dual 15-band graphic EQ
MIXER: Behringer MX802A - the oldest component in the system!
MIDI KEYBOARD: Korg microKEY 61
COMPUTER: 2018 Mac Mini i7 (hiding behind the left display)
 
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