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2010 Mac Mini vs. Zotac AD03 for pre-built XBMC option? - Printable Version +- Kodi Community Forum (https://forum.kodi.tv) +-- Forum: Discussions (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=222) +--- Forum: Hardware (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=112) +--- Thread: 2010 Mac Mini vs. Zotac AD03 for pre-built XBMC option? (/showthread.php?tid=111208) |
2010 Mac Mini vs. Zotac AD03 for pre-built XBMC option? - voip-ninja - 2011-09-28 Hi guys. I've asked some questions in the Mac forum (always kind of slow over there) and wanted to pester people here with a couple of questions. I am about ready to chuck my Boxee Box out of the window due to the continued audio dropout issues with not only HD audio tracks, but now, core DTS, etc ![]() All of my movies are either DVD or Blu-ray rips. On Blu-rays I generally have been only ripping the HD Audio tracks, which means I have both DTS-HD and Dolby True as well as the regular assortment of LPCM, regular DD 5.1, vanilla DTS, etc. The solution does not have to bitstream HD audio, but I have to at least get 5.1 real (non matrixed) audio out of the track to be somewhat satisfied with things. I have sort of narrowed things down to a couple of options but wanted to get some input and see if I have missed things. I should also point out that while I have built literally dozens if not hundreds of systems (I am currently employed as an engineer doing alpha/beta test environment work) I have very little desire to do custom builds and tweaking, I just want to plug something in, load an OS and drivers and get XBMC to work. Having said all of that, here's what I am considering; 1. XBMC on 2010 Mac Mini. I have a buddy with a 2010 C2D Mac Mini that he will sell me for $400. Other than a 4GB RAM upgrade, this is stock. I understand that lossless audio is not supported, but I'm not 100% clear on if I will get anything whatsoever out of a True-HD track or not when running on OS X. Another option is to dual boot this into Windows 7 if that would improve things. Why go with an old, used Mini? I love Macs (yes, you can hate me, it's okay)... and I would possibly have other applications for this down the road, or gift it to my parents, etc. 2. Zotac AD03 or similar. I have not run AMD hardware for years, but I understand that the Zotac's are considered about the best "out of box" machines at the moment for HTPC use. However, if I understand correctly, only the AD03 can do HD audio? Or is HD audio via LPCM an option with other models vs. bitstreaming? As I said earlier I don't care about bitstreaming as long as I get high quality multi-channel audio of some kind via HDMI to my Yamaha AVR. Sorry for the long post, any guidance in this area welcome. ![]() - bluray - 2011-09-28 I threw BB out of the window 6 months ago, and it is replaced by a mini-itx htpc below. It can playback bd in full 1080p with dts-hd/truehd using pre-eden and mce7. 1. APEX MI-100BK Black Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 250W Power Supply 2. ASRock E350M1/USB3 3. Kingston SSDNow V Series SNV125-S2/30GB 4. Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) 5. Scythe SY1225SL12M 120mm 6. HP MCE Remote Control 7. LG Black 10X BD-ROM 8. Buffalo Technology MiniStation Stealth 1 TB USB 3.0 9. SAPPHIRE 100324L Radeon HD 6570 2GB - voip-ninja - 2011-09-28 I appreciate the input, see my comments about not wanting to build a custom box. ![]() - bluray - 2011-09-28 if you're not interesting in bitstreaming hd audio, your buddy mac mini should be fine. but with that very nice avr of your, i would love to be able to bitstream hd audio. to be able to bitstream hd audio fluently, you might have to pay quite a bit more for the pre-built htpc. asrock is among the best in mini htpc segment- Mini PC Series - voip-ninja - 2011-09-28 bluray Wrote:if you're not interesting in bitstreaming hd audio, your buddy mac mini should be fine. but with that very nice avr of your, i would love to be able to bitstream hd audio. to be able to bitstream hd audio fluently, you might have to pay quite a bit more for the pre-built htpc. asrock is among the best in mini htpc segment- Mini PC Series Do you know if the Mini, running OS X can at least extract->send DD 5.1 from a THD track? I can't seem to find the answer to this, but from what I can tell it was not working a year ago, it would only send 2 channel audio. I had forgotten the Asrocks, I will give them a look, thanks. - bluray - 2011-09-29 voip-ninja Wrote:Do you know if the Mini, running OS X can at least extract->send DD 5.1 from a THD track? I can't seem to find the answer to this, but from what I can tell it was not working a year ago, it would only send 2 channel audio.sorry, i never own apple. |