Mac Mini Media Centre Setup

Native Tongue

Hey all,

I have a Mac Mini that's becoming redundant in use and would like to use it as a Media Centre system. I have a 36" Philips LCD TV with a DVI connection at the rear, a regular Sky subscription (not Sky+ or Sky HD), a Sony 160GB HDD/DVD Recorder and a Sony AV unit with a 5.1 surround sound setup.

I was wondering what wiring setup I should go for, and what additional hardware/software will help me get the most out of the Mac Mini as a Media Centre system. If anyone has what they believe to be the ultimate Mac Mini Media Centre system set up, I'd love to hear about it!

Thanks,
NT

8T8

Well you have a few options;

Windows XP MCE

Windows XP - GB-PVR or Media Portal etc running atop as the media centre UI

Linux/MythTV

OSX - Frontrow if it came with your version of OSX - note media playback only no PVR features.

OSX - iTheater & another escapes me me sounded like Frontrow or stage running atop OSX as the media centre UI - note media playback only no PVR features.

{there are hacks/plugins I believe that enable some TV recording features to be integrated into Frontrow}

Obviously the Windows based media centres are the most easy to setup & capable in terms of features/hardware/driver/codec support.

All you need to get the system up & running is an external USB tuner again this will depend on the media centre software you go with.

The Mac Mini should have an optical out SPDIF which you should be able to use with your surround sound system, in the event your sound system has the coax SPDIF you will need an optical to coax adapter.

If running Windows MCE you will need an MPEG-2 decoder like PowerDVD, NVIDIA Purevideo or WinDVD.

For configuring the display you should be able to get at least 1280x720 or 1360x768 without having to resort to custom resolutions in Windows not sure about OSX but probably the same.

Forcing a custom resolution of 1366x768 the native res of your display because it is a non-computer resolution could be tricky with Intel integrated graphics.

First step you need to decide is what media centre software you are going to use.

Native Tongue

Well I'm definitely using OS X. At the moment, I don't have a tuner so recording features can be put on hold. I've seen references made to EyeTV by Elgato in the past, and that it will add PVR features to Front Row. But I haven't heard if any of Elgato's products work well with Sky?

I set up the Mac Mini earlier this evening, hooked up to the display and am getting a res. of 1280x730 or something along those lines. It looks very well but there is a slight bit of the screen chopped at the bottom (very slight it's not a big deal).

Not too sure about the SPDIF output on the Mac Mini, I have it connected to use regular 2ch sound from the AV unit at the moment and it's working fine. Will I get full 5.1 throught this SPDIF? There are two audio inputs on the rear, haven't looked into what exactly they are.

It's working nicely so far, I have a lot of TV show episodes converted to MP4 so they are displaying nicely in Front Row along with my music collection. Next thing I need to sort out is the tuner, so any advice on whether Elgato EyeTV or another system works with Sky would be much appreciated.

Thanks for your guidance 8T8.

8T8

Native Tongue wrote:

Well I'm definitely using OS X. At the moment, I don't have a tuner so recording features can be put on hold. I've seen references made to EyeTV by Elgato in the past, and that it will add PVR features to Front Row. But I haven't heard if any of Elgato's products work well with Sky?

That's the most popular one I hear with Mac's and is this the one to go for from their product range as it is USB & has s-video/composite inputs which will be needed for capture the output from the Sky box.

However there are drawbacks such as not being able to change the channel as it has no IR blaster so you will have to change the channel to the right one to record a program. EyeTV use a subscription EPG service called tvtv you get one year free then it is 20 bucks a year.

Native Tongue wrote:

I set up the Mac Mini earlier this evening, hooked up to the display and am getting a res. of 1280x730 or something along those lines. It looks very well but there is a slight bit of the screen chopped at the bottom (very slight it's not a big deal).

Maybe 1280x720 you mean ? which is other wise known as 720p. As I mentioned the native res of the panel is a non-computer resolution as I'm not familiar with utilities that force custom resolution in Mac's so your are on your own there. You should be able to use the resolution of 1360x768 as well perhaps even 1368x768 though that last one may be unavailable.

Native Tongue wrote:

Not too sure about the SPDIF output on the Mac Mini, I have it connected to use regular 2ch sound from the AV unit at the moment and it's working fine. Will I get full 5.1 throught this SPDIF? There are two audio inputs on the rear, haven't looked into what exactly they are.

Yes you will get 5.1 surround sound from the SPDIF connection**, according to the picture on Apple's site the audio output doubles up as an optical out. (I think earlier gen Mac Mini's might not have had this). However you need a miniToslink jack to optical/Toslink converter in order to enable the functionality.

This is an example of such a cable that comes with the adapter. But here are the bits you can source yourself, Toslink mini jack & get a Toslink cable from here or pick any Toslink cable of desired length. In the event your receiver has the coax SPDIF connection you will need a conversion box like this to handle the optical to coax then get a coax SPDIF cable to plug into the receiver like this.


* The other Apples Media Centre UI I could not recall was CenterStage a preview is also available here.
* There is a Mac Mini HTPC guide here that may be of use.
* Use this to enhance media playback support in Frontrow, it is basically the same codecs VLC & ffdshow use but bundled as a QuickTime plugin (Frontrow is just QuickTime).


** There are two types of SPDIF connections for digital audio coax and optical (also known as Toslink) the one in the Mac Mini is optical check your Sony receiver to see if it has an SPDIF input and whether it is coax or optical.

Native Tongue

8T8, you're a legend! Thanks for all the info, I really appreciate it. I'll post pics of my setup once I get it up and running.

Dont be at yourself

Check out MediaCentral and iTheater as well, as other OS X media centre alternatives.