mac min or pc

yes, appleTV had HDMI outputs very cool, cheap, and a great music server.

AppleTV was designed more for video. Its digital audio output is limited to 16/48. Mac Mini on the other hand, can output 24/96.

One big advantage of the mac mini is that the power supply is separate from the computer, this makes for a very quite (electrically speaking) set up.

Secondly for the most part the Mac mini runs silently in the audio sense, it is rare indeed that you would hear the fan at all in normal operation.

About the only downside is limited HD space, but ideally you should be using an external drive dedicated to audio, and you can even get a matching drive!

Join the cult of the mac mini, the other solutions are really pretty clunky by comparison.

I can vouch for the Mac transition. In February 09, I purchased a refurbished MacBook as my server...now, 6 weeks later and I have now dropped the cash for the new 17" MacBook for my household. Now the server is doing sole duty and a fixture on the audio rack. While I get more and more used to the Mac, i get further and further away from every going back to a PC. In fact, if Intuit didn't make such a mess of Quicken for Mac I am SURE I would never use a PC again...

Enjoy the search, John

The mac mini is definitely quieter and looks better than most PCs for sure.

If you like, you can swap out the hard drive with a bigger/faster one if you won't want the clutter of an external one.

It also comes with a remote so you can use iTunes remotely even without an iPod.

I don't know what to do for a DAC either :)