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HTPC: Mac vs. PC

Kain

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In your opinion, which makes a better HTPC? If I am not mistaken, iTunes/Apple Music on PC is limited to lossy audio whereas on Mac you get lossless and hi-res lossless audio.
 
HTPC as in movies or music?

Apple Music is lossless on Windows too.
 
In your opinion, which makes a better HTPC? If I am not mistaken, iTunes/Apple Music on PC is limited to lossy audio whereas on Mac you get lossless and hi-res lossless audio.
I have never used a Mac, so my response is mostly about using a PC as a HTPC.

I have Windows on my work computer. It is too bloated, in my opinion, and frequently requires reboots. Thus, I would not be inclined to use Windows in a HTPC.

From what I have heard about Mac, there are fewer such issues. If it were a choice between Windows and Mac, I would seriously look at Mac before making a decision.

I do use Linux, which is the way I probably would go. Linux can be run on a PC or a Raspberry Pi (though I am not sure if a Raspberry Pi is suitable for video streaming). Linux is lightweight, and will run fine on hardware that otherwise would choke Windows. But, setting up Linux beyond the basic installation can be challenging to those that are not technically inclined and are not willing to learn, and/or to those that are intimidated by using the terminal. Some Linux packages are great, and some not so great. If interested, you could investigate the packages that would serve your needs.
 
HTPC as in movies or music?

Apple Music is lossless on Windows too.
Yes, HTPC as in movies and music.

Are you sure Apple Music is lossless on Windows too? I sold my PC last December but when I used iTunes/Apple Music to stream music it was lossy. On my Mac, I get lossless and high-res lossless music.

If it means anything, I also asked ChatGPT for fun and got the following answer:

Screenshot 2024-08-29 at 3.48.55 AM.png
 

Listen to lossless audio in Apple Music on Windows​

If you subscribe to Apple Music, you can play and download music encoded using the Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC), which makes files smaller while preserving all the original data in the file. In Apple Music, lossless music is available in two formats:

  • Lossless: Up to 24-bit, 48kHz
  • Hi-Res Lossless: Up to 24-bit, 192kHz
Albums and songs available in lossless have the Lossless button
a1ba7f974b3845f311101af6b1e9504d.png
next to them.

Note: Apple Music and lossless aren’t available in all countries or regions.
 
Okay, thanks. Didn't know that.
 
First off - Don't use iTunes! If I had an Apple Music subscription I still wouldn't use iTunes, it's just gotten that terrible.

Second, what's the big deal if it isn't presented 24/96? Can you hear the difference?

I keep an old 2018 Mac mini active to use as a home media machine. I keep my music and movie collections on separate hard drives and the Mac hosts the core and databases for Roon and Plex with a ethernet connection. With airplay/Roon endpoints (and a WiiM pro recently added into the mix) I have access to my local media in 3 buildings around the property via ethernet and wifi connections. Two 4K Apple TVs are also in the mix and I usually use Plex (free) to view my own media + whatever video streaming services we might have. Works great. If you've already got an iPhone or iPad the ecosystem gets even better.

You could just use an Apple TV as Blumlein suggests but you'd need to host a DLNA server somewhere for local files.

I've been using Macs as HTPCs way back to my old bubblegum iMac G3 I put in a console cabinet when I got the G4. Great fun when the DVDs arrived from Netflix once a week.

:cool:
 
I have Windows on my work computer. It is too bloated, in my opinion, and frequently requires reboots. Thus, I would not be inclined to use Windows in a HTPC.

"Bloat" depends on what crapware the IT department at your workplace has installed on the PC's. The PC's I have at work are all ancient computers with insufficient RAM and take FOREVER to do anything basic. In contrast my minimalist PC I use for audio has next to nothing installed on it and it is absolutely stable.
 
I'm going to go against the grain here and put in a strong vote for Windows, mainly because you can run EQAPO and I don't think any similarly tidy application exists for Mac.

Basically you get room correction 100% free on Windows... do your measurements in REW and pop them straight into EQAPO. Big sonic improvement for $0. If you don't have a MiniDSP or AVR to do it for you already, that's a big deal.

As for bloat or whatever, it's not that hard to strip down the installation.
 
If you're not going to game on it, then I don't think it matters all too much. Use what you feel most comfortable with.

As for 'bloat', simply install Windows 10 LTSC. It's a bare bones install of Windows with just a browser installed. It doesn't even have the Windows store preinstalled.

The big advantage of Windows and Linux PC's is that you can build the system you want in the chassis you want to suit your needs. Even the tiny Intel NUC style PCs have space for a 2.5" hard drive. Or you could use a larger case and fit a GPU and 3.5" drives.

FWIW I use Tidal for music and mpv for video playback. I stopped streaming when they became fragmented into a dozen different services.
 
Don't know what you have in mind for use cases. Would an Apple TV 4K device do what you want? Maybe better than having an HTPC.
Yeah, I did think of that as well. So, for the purpose of movie and music playback (via Apple Music and playback of MKV files via Infuse), an Apple TV 4K will fulfill the purpose just as well as a Mac?
 
I’m using Qobuz app in PC for music listening. And for movie, I use Kodi app. Nothing can’t be done by PC. The best in all around.
You can’t do gaming in Mac because it doesn’t have DirectX.
 
which makes a better HTPC?

Neither. But it depends a lot on precisely what you want to do. For locally hosted music and movies I would put them on a NAS which are usually Linux based (Synology, QNAP or various flavours of DIY servers). Then for actually playing media an AppleTV or Kodi box of some sort (Vero 4K, RPI etc.). Desktop operating systems are the wrong tool for the job.
 
Yes, HTPC as in movies and music.

Are you sure Apple Music is lossless on Windows too? I sold my PC last December but when I used iTunes/Apple Music to stream music it was lossy. On my Mac, I get lossless and high-res lossless music.

If it means anything, I also asked ChatGPT for fun and got the following answer:

View attachment 389082
This is not accurate at all just more AI nonsense. I use Apple music on Windows 11 and have no issues with lossless streaming. In fact I only run Windows for this purpose and ordinarily use Linux.
 
"Bloat" depends on what crapware the IT department at your workplace has installed on the PC's. The PC's I have at work are all ancient computers with insufficient RAM and take FOREVER to do anything basic. In contrast my minimalist PC I use for audio has next to nothing installed on it and it is absolutely stable.
I don't have an IT department. :) I only installed the plain version of Windows Professional with the apps I use for work. Initially it was Windows 10, and after installing it I went through and de-bloated it. At some point I upgraded to Windows 11, and bloat came back. I have again removed apps I don't want but, frankly, it is not something I would want to deal with on a HTPC. I only deal with it on my work computer because there are apps I need for work that are Windows only.

If Windows is a must, perhaps Windows 10 LTSC, as mentioned by RemedyCRD, is the way to go.
 
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