Need advice on small box for home music office

[Goaty]

Hi All,

Long-time member but have fallen behind the tech curve. I have nice gaming rig mid-tower, good-to-go there.

But my laptop died and I need small box for my music studio. Nothing fancy like video editing, just need:

- smallish form factor, don't need laptop as it will stay put.
- have good monitor and peripherals
- have nice AudioEngine USB DAC + speakers, so onboard sound is fine
- hdmi or displayport output connector
- i'm developer so I have all the Windows OS I need, looking for barebones so I don't pay for OS.
- won't game on it, will use GarageBand, stream 720p (at highest) video with good wifi, and decent amount of storage (1TB) for videos & music.

Kind of overwhelmed by all the choices out there right now. Leaning towards Intel NUC or Gigabyte Brix, but they aren't all that cheap & I don't need HTPC smallness or quietness. Would consider mac mini but they neutered them in 2014.

Thought I'd post here for further input b4 pulling trigger on a NUC.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[Cerb]

Both NUC and Brix are series, not models. They each have models within them, with sometimes rather vast differences in performance and features. Only the highest-end are competitive with a normal sized tower in performance.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

If you're using GarageBand, you want a Mini. Or you could build a hackintosh.

There are hardware compatability lists out there - an ITX Hackintosh would be easy, inexpensive, etc.

If you want smaller than an ITX rig, I guess it's a NUC/Brix. (There are a lot of models to choose from.)

 

[monkeydelmagico]

used/refurb mac mini seems easier than building.

 

[Goaty]

Thanks guys. Right understood on the different NUC/Brix models. Not looking to compete with my mid-tower in terms of performance.

Have this one in my cart at Newegg

Intel NUC BOXD54250WYKH1

Intel Core i5-4250U
Intel HD 5000 Series Graphics
support 2.5-inch drives

with a m-SATA SSD and add 2.5" HDD later if I need it.

But I do GarageBand on my iPad now & it would sure be nice to have it on the Mini...

Just hate the idea of overpaying for the Apple Logo (NUX/Brix > mini mac for value) especially since I have access to free windows.

 

[Goaty]

used/refurb mac mini seems easier than building.

Yes! Any suggestions on where to find one (besides Ebay)?

 

[Goaty]

ok I guess I'm easy, just bought a new mac mini from B&H Photo:

dual-core Intel Core i5 2.6GHz (Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz), 8GB RAM, 1TB Hard Drive, Intel Iris Graphics, Mac OS X Yosemite

No sales tax, free 3-day ship (unlike Newegg "smartpost") and free copy of Parallels 10.

My wife & I are heavy iPad users, I love my GarageBand, just wish it had SSD for the $ they charge...

Thanks to all for getting me back on track to what will work best for me, even if the price/performance ratio is a bit low.