Thoughts on hi-Rez setup, music servers, etc...advice needed!

Not sure about that receiver, but many (most?) AVRs convert analog back to digital to apply signal processing for (optional) simulated modes and/or room correction. So there's a double conversion.

Some have a "direct" mode to bypass all that, but it also bypasses room correction if I'm not mistaken.

In that case, feeding it the HDMI might be optimal and give you more flexibility, but makes those nice outboard DACs kinda overkill.

 

No thunderbolt on the oppo. I use the oppo interface and connect to my NAS.

 

Is your wife's music distinct form your music? If so, no worries. Just throw it on a directory on the Mini, and point Sonos to that directory. She can control it with her phone, and any music that lives on her phone can be sent to the Sonos as well. You might find the best solution to pair with the Sonus isn't an actual file library, but a $9.99/month subscription to Spotify, Google Music, etc.

You can also point Sonos to your iTunes directory, of course. I think there's a way to do his and her libraries as well - there's definitely his and her Google music/etc setups.

 

Oh! My mistake. Can you tell me what that (almost) square shaped port on the back is? It says USB DAC but it's not shaped like a regular USB. Having never owned a Mac before I assumed it was some kind of Mac connector

 

That's USB a. The same plug a printer has.

 

Thanks. What would you use that port for? So I'm guessing the Mac mini would plug into the front of the unit?

 

No, the Mac mini plugs into that port you're talking about with a standard USB cable like this: http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-...UTF8&qid=1426080092&sr=8-1&keywords=usb+cable

The front port is to plug in USB drives and such.

 

Excellent, thank you kind sir!

 

Ok, I got this set up, thanks to everyone's help. One question; instead of running the audio out to the Oppo via USB DAC, could I just use hdmi out to my yamaha receiver? Would there be a big difference? It's simpler to manage because I can see and hear at the same time.

 

You don't have to burn anything to DVD for the OPPO BDP-105. It has a USB input to the DAC. All you need is a USB cable between the computer and the OPPO. If you go that route, get the 105-D. You'll be able to play DSD files through the USB DAC. The 105 can't do that. It's only $100 more for the Darbee edition.

 

I would expect there to be a big difference, as the Oppo is noted for its excellent DAC - it's what people buy it for. Plugging the Mac Mini directly into the Yamaha receiver via HDMI would absolutely work (for both audio and video), but I wouldn't expect it to sound nearly as good.

Note that you can do both, and this is what I do. You'd just toggle in the Mac's audio section if you wanted sound to be output via the HDMI or USB. Note that changing audio to USB wouldn't impact the Mac Mini's HDMI's video connection to your receiver/TV.