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Your experience & thoughts on SSDs for MacMini

I have a 2007-2008 MacMini that I use exclusively as a music server on a third system with the stock HD. I am considering replacing the stock HD to an SSD. The stock HD makes noise that is audible often enough to draw unwanted attention to itself.

I'm looking for experience-based thoughts and commentary on the various SSDs that are available for this replacement. I'm using SnowLeopard and iTunes 10 with Pure Music for playback of AIFF files from a peripheral HD (which is silent).

So far, my research on this seems to get a bit confusing. For example, Other World Computing offers two levels of SSD, one over 50% more $ in price (and 25% larger 40 Gb vs 50 Gb than the other (offering a longer warranty, etc.) And I know there are several other manufacturers of SSDs out there with varying price points and related benefits.

This MacMini isn't used for anything else than serving music, ripping files, streaming audio, playing Netflix downloadable movies, and the occasional download from iTunes.

Your points of view are appreciated.

:) listening,

Ed
istanbulu
tvad
9,467 posts
 
...if you really wanna know what your own ears detect you're gonna have to give it a go or just ignore it and be happy with the sound you have...
Perrew (System | Threads | Answers | This Thread)
Agreed.

I have yet to read a single audiophile topic where there is consensus of opinion.
almarg's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
almarg
8,673 posts
 
03-10-11: Perrew
Its the first post by PeterST Im referring too, he is Not advocating what you say thats what Miska says, Peter says to deal with all small spikes.
Yes, that is the post I was referring to also, the one entitled "SSD" and signed "Peter" at the end. As I said, I found it to be somewhat incomprehensible, so it could very well be that I was misinterpreting the point he was trying to make.
All Im trying to say is that the story on SSD having superior sound is suported by some but some others dont support it, so I figure if you really wanna know what your own ears detect youre gonna have to give it a go ....
Agreed 100%.

Regards,
-- Al
rbstehno
916 posts
 
all the ssd devices that are in mac's and pc's are of the cheap kind. sure they are faster than mechanical disks, but again, they are very cheap. for a mac mini, i would use a hdd which i do. i am involved in this technology for a living and the normal price for a enterprise class ssd can be around $12,000 depending on configuration. these ssd devices vary quite a bit compared to the cheap ssd devices found in macs and pc's: they provide more fault tolerance by over-provisioning so they have a larger mttf compared to a hard drive.
also, music won't sound better by using an ssd vs. a cheap hdd. for playing music off a mac or pc, you don't need the speed that ssd provides. way over-kill. the benefit you will get is a more quiet pc and a more cooler running pc.
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