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On my wish list for a MacMini

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engrssc

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On my wish list for a MacMini

PostWed May 20, 2020 8:11 pm

which has been discussed at some length, that being an (easy) positive way to switch power on (and off). I made up a small solenoid powered by a one-shot which almost works most of the time (very Mickey Mouse) to push the back panel button switch. Then there's the pull the plug approach for a hard shut down. Neither of which I esp like. While there are some good features about a M/M, this power thing isn't none of them. Neither is the soldered in ram. It's an Apple does what Apple does situation. I have discounted the Mini's as a result. AFAiIK, nothing has changed in that regard, right?

Rgds,
EI
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Grant_Youngman

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Re: On my wish list for a MacMini

PostWed May 20, 2020 10:43 pm

engrssc wrote:While there are some good features about a M/M, this power thing isn't none of them. Neither is the soldered in ram. It's an Apple does what Apple does situation. I have discounted the Mini's as a result. AFAiIK, nothing has changed in that regard, right?I


The 2018 mini has pluggable ram. Likely the next version will, too — and may even have an 8 core processor instead of 6. I bought the lowest available ram from Apple, and upgraded with OWS ram to 64GB. The upgrade is straightforward, but there are some touchy spots in disassembly/reassembly, and of course you have to have the right tools. Apple stores or authorized resellers will do it for not much $$. The SSDs are soldered in, though, so I bought the bullet for 2 TB. Power switch hasn't changed.
Grant
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GeoffUK

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Re: On my wish list for a MacMini

PostThu May 21, 2020 3:29 pm

Hi,

I am using a 2011 MacPro but the power button is the same idea as Mac Mini.

Instead of a mechanical device, have you thought of a software solution? It's one line of AppleScript and an icon on the screen. I close down HW then double click on the icon. It shuts down OSX as if the power had been cut.Then I cut the power. When I put the power on next time, the Mac sees the power is restored and boots without touching the power button. I use a wireless switch and remote wand to switch the mains power on and off so I can control it all at the console.

If that would suit your setup, I'll can give more details.

Cheers,
Geoff
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engrssc

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Re: On my wish list for a MacMini

PostThu May 21, 2020 3:52 pm

GeoffUK wrote:If that would suit your setup, I'll can give more details.


Yes, it would be of interest. The only needed work around would be that in this case, the console is headless, no screen. But I'd like to look into it.

A positive is the quality of the native sound output of the Mini (via the headphone jack). Not needing a separate external sound card for only 2 channels is a definite plus. Right now we we are using MOTU with 8+ channels. way too much overkill. I'd be interested in a suggestion for less outputs, but still high quality. Thoughts?

And thanks.

Rgds,
Ed
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larason2

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Re: On my wish list for a MacMini

PostFri May 22, 2020 10:32 am

I would put a plug in for the Steinberg UR22. Only 2 channels out, very high quality. There are a few other companies that make good quality audio interfaces in that price range though - Presonus, Focusrite to name a few, though I don't have any experience with them. It's hard to get less expensive interfaces at that level of quality.
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JRP

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Re: On my wish list for a MacMini

PostFri May 22, 2020 5:21 pm

I have found that Macs are designed to stay powered on but in a sleep mode. I recently was using an iMac and found the best way was to have separate power to it so that it would stay on and the rest of the organ and audio would be turned off when not in use.

When I want to use the organ, I power up the audio which includes a Motu 16a and then after half a minute, wake the iMac and restart it. This way the booting process of the iMac would find the Motu and load drivers etc.

In order to make it easy to restart (especially in the case above where the Mac mini is headless) I use the Elgato Stream Deck. The Stream Deck plugs straight into the USB and has a set of buttons which can be programmed. I have setup the buttons on the Stream Deck to restart, launch Hauptwerk, sleep, and to quit all applications. It works really well. I am using Keyboard Maestro to run the macros and assigning hotkeys and then linking the hotkeys in the Stream Deck.
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engrssc

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Re: On my wish list for a MacMini

PostSat May 23, 2020 3:09 am

I was looking at Stream Deck as a candidate for stop control. Unfortunately, it is not possible to customize a layout with the present configuration altho it is very user friendly. Still there remains some neat possibilities esp in being able to change stop label id's for different sample sets. Not to mention it being relatively cheap and quite compact. I can see S/D as an improvement over LaunchPads.

https://www.amazon.com/Elgato-Stream-Deck-Controller-customizable/dp/B06XKNZT1P?th=1

Kinda small, maybe? 4.6 x 3.3 x 0.8" (118 x 84 x 21mm)

Rgds,
Ed

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