Let me share my experiences with Mac Mini as a music server. I have a mac mini as music server connected to a Denon a/v receiver in a low profile a/v setup in main living room (connecting to Denon's spdif digital input via Halide Design Bridge Spdif cable). I really liked what I hear compared to budget dvd/cd player. I decided to buy another mac mini to integrate to my main audio setup in my listening room. I also ordered a custom made power cord for mac mini from Transparent Cable (High Performance Power Link) with Furutech special connector to suit to mac mini's tiny power cord sockets. Last but not the least was a usb audio cable from Transparent (Premium USB audio cable). I connected mac mini to my EMM Labs XDS1 V2's usb audio input. Last night I made an A-B test, same cds from player's transport vs mac mini dac (lossless format). Since internal dac is same for both digital sources, I presume it is transport of XDS1 vs mac mini+usb cable for the differences. I should say mac mini as source is close to the transport but not equal. Contrary, one can easily verify the differences between them in a critical listening session. So contrary to many claiming, I still prefer transport to use as reference digital source. Should it be different if instead of mac mini, if I used a much more expensive music server like Aurender etc, I do not know. Again, if I used a more expensive usb cable (current usb cable that I have is also an expensive cable IMHO), it might have been better for mac. Anyways, I could not justify to myself to get rid of transport and get a dac+music server for the time being. Even if I upgrade from XDS1 one day, I will go always with a transport included solution. My humble thoughts for sure.