Experience with Mach2 Music Server?

Tvad - I don't ever open the Screen Sharing application, clicking "New" or any of that - I follow the latter procedure, going to Finder and clicking on the Mini under the shared heading and then clicking on Share Screen in the upper right, as you say. Just a few clicks - no typing of passwords or host names involved, and I find the process pretty painless, but I guess YMMV.

Sorry to hear the setup isn't floating your boat. Sounds like you're a man who doesn't have a whole lot of romance with the Apple scene and whatnot, and I can certainly synpathize and respect that.

Cfluxa, we're doing the exactly same thing to initiate Screen Sharing. No password is required. If you were to launch the Screen Sharing app and click on "New", I believe you would be prompted to enter the address of the host computer.

I have stated several times now, if I use VNC on the MacBook Pro, a password is required. However, no password is required using the same VNC app on my iPod Touch.

Sounds like you're a man who doesn't have a whole lot of romance with the Apple scene and whatnot...
Cfluxa (Answers | This Thread)

That's simply a wrong conclusion. I've been an Apple owner/user for over 20 years. However, I hold the opinion that computers in general, including Macs, aren't as user friendly as they should be...or will be in the future. They're getter there, though.

My comments here have been from the ease-of-use perspective between the computer-as-source and CD player-as-source, and my conclusion is that the CD player (or iPod) is easier.

Consider this...how many threads have you seen with a lengthy back-and-forth exchange about how to play a CD? I haven't seen *one* in seven years.

Obviously, I'm open to a computer-as-source, and I'm moving forward with my set-up, but the concept's execution is still in the geek realm. Several companies have developed one-box servers, so I'm sure the day is coming soon when a really excellent, simple-to-operate solution will be introduced. The MacMini (and similar) set-ups are temporary stops on the way...reserved for geeks like us willing to futz with them.

IMO, FWIW, YMMV...and any other disclaimers I've missed.

Kumbaya.

:)

Tvad - fair enough, and I agree that getting the whole thing set up was somewhat painful - in addition to all the geek stuff, there's the initial process of ripping one's CD collection, which can easily take a week if one does nothing else.

On the flip side, I also have mixed emotions about how scandalously easy it is now to navigate my entire CD collection, scrolling and clicking on an album in an instant, as opposed to scanning my racks of CD spines, searching for a misplaced title - a relatively "old-school" ritual that was the best I had after giving away all my vinyl years ago... Not that I don't dig my Mini setup at the end of the day, but I do think I'll be in the market for a turntable again soon...

I guess I'm fortunate not to have thousands of CDs. Also, my CDs are arranged according to genre (rock/jazz/classical) and alphabetized. It's easy to find a CD.

I bought a turntable about four years ago (then changed tables four times...) to re-enter the vinyl realm. I had sold almost my entire LP collection fifteen years earlier. I retained maybe 20 LPs from that collection. After buying the turntable, I purchased about 40 more LPs. Sold it all a little over a year ago, but it was fun for a while.

There are dozens of new USB DACs coming out this year, along with quite a few servers and CD/DAC combo players. The future looks bright for the computer audio arena.

Indeed, I think your own striking testimony comparing the Mach2 server to a $10k Esoteric component speaks volumes... I just can't conceive of investing in a CD player at this point - soundwise, it simply doesn't offer the bang for the buck you can get with a computer-based setup, and the thought of investing in some kind of overbuilt CD transport seems not only anachronistic but extravagant. From the perspective of my own budget and priorities, it's a bit of an unaffordable luxury to entertain concerns about plug and play.

My own USB DAC can't quite do some of the things that my old vinyl rig could, which is partly why I think I'm going to dabble with vinyl again. But the DAC coupled with the Mini does a lot of things amazingly well, close to vinyl and far better than any CD player in my budget, and I am also excited to hear what the future brings.