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Last Post
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Aug 3, 2009 6:17 AM
by: mct_asd
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Posts:
2
From:
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Registered:
Sep 10, 2008
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Dolby 5.1 from iTunes 8?
Posted:
Sep 9, 2008 10:21 PM
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Is there a way to get Dolby Digital 5.1 surround from the new HD downloads in iTunes 8? Whenever I change the audio track to surround, the audio goes away completely. Windows Vista Media Center has no trouble sending Dolby 5.1 audio to my receiver.
PC
Windows Vista
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Posts:
5
From:
New York
Registered:
Sep 26, 2007
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Re: Dolby 5.1 from iTunes 8?
Posted:
Sep 10, 2008 10:27 AM
in response to: philspice1
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Same exact problem here. I dont see any settings in prefrences. so how do you get it to work?
Self Built
Windows Vista
64 Bit
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Posts:
2
From:
Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Registered:
Sep 10, 2008
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Re: Dolby 5.1 from iTunes 8?
Posted:
Sep 10, 2008 2:19 PM
in response to: pdaunt
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I don't know about it working in Windows, but it does not work in Mac OS X either. I am pretty upset since I have the AppleTV upstairs not really connected to a surround sound receiver but my imac is connected to a surround sound receiver using optical cable and I cannot get surround to work from iTunes. DVDs work fine. I hope they fix this issue since they are actually selling HD shows and advertising it as working on PCs and Macs.
Also, I submitted a bug report against this in Apple Bug submitter page.
Message was edited by: bommai
iMac 24" 2.8GHz Core2Duo
Mac OS X (10.5.4)
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Posts:
7
From:
Buffalo, NY
Registered:
Jan 28, 2008
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Re: Dolby 5.1 from iTunes 8?
Posted:
Sep 10, 2008 4:47 PM
in response to: philspice1
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Yeah, same problem. 5.1 in iTunes 8 with new HD shows is not working on either Line Out or Optical Out. Any ideas???
Mac Pro 2.8 (8-core) 6gb
Mac OS X (10.5.1)
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Posts:
6,952
From:
California
Registered:
Sep 2, 2005
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Re: Dolby 5.1 from iTunes 8?
Posted:
Sep 10, 2008 5:10 PM
in response to: philspice1
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Hey phil,
Are you seeing this with all HD TV shows?
If the show was not created in Dolby Digital it may not be in Dolby on iTunes.
Try downloading a few of the FREE on iTunes TV shows. There is currently 9 free HD TV shows.
Launch iTunes> click iTunes Store on the Left side of iTunes> FREE on iTunes near the bottom center of the page.
Jason
MBP 2.0, 2GB ram
Mac OS X (10.5.4)
Original iPhone, iPhone 3G, Apple TV, Airport, iMac, iPods..
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Posts:
2
From:
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Registered:
Sep 10, 2008
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Re: Dolby 5.1 from iTunes 8?
Posted:
Sep 10, 2008 5:33 PM
in response to: Jason L
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Jason,
I downloaded several of the free NBC HD shows yesterday as I was anxious to see if I would indeed be able to get 5.1 surround. Instead when the audio is set to surround I get no sound at all. Stereo works fine.
Custom-built PC
Windows Vista
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Posts:
13
From:
NV
Registered:
Jan 24, 2008
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Re: Dolby 5.1 from iTunes 8?
Posted:
Sep 10, 2008 8:58 PM
in response to: philspice1
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I'm having the same issue. I have a MacPro with factory Optical out, into a 5.1 receiver. I don't know about your windows set up, but with Mac you have to have the plug-in Perian installed in order for Quicktime to decode AC-3 (Dolby) soundtracks. I have this installed on my computer, yet, when I rip a DVD into a .mp4 leaving the AC-3, my factory sound card is only able to produce 2 channels over optical in PCM format. L=1, C=2, R=3, SR=4, SL=5, SW=6, hence, I only get L and C from source routed to L+R speakers. This is b/c the lousy sound driver doesn't create 5.1 channels, only 2. Macs will only produce 5.1 from DVDs*, this is through a function (sort of hidden preference) called PassThrough. DVD player takes over the output (disables Optical as your system out, if selected), and sends the unchanged AC-3 bitstream to the receiver. There are instructions on how to get Quicktime to PassThrough the AC-3 of a file, but I have not gotten this to work properly. In order for iTunes (quicktime) to do this, they will have to add functions, decoders, preferences that are/were not there. Let's hope Apple fixes this, so we can watch HD iTunes and DVD rips with AC-3 instead of just stereo. I'm going to tinker with what I can and, from what I've learned from geekwithfamily.com and will report back. Everyone else do the same, please.
*EyeTV has the function to PassThrough broadcast HDTV's 5.1 to Digital Out. Why can't Quicktime???
Isn't Apple supposed to set the bar for media on a computer? I guess they set it pretty low.
PS-I think it's pretty funny that Quicktime has the capability of 24 channel audio, yet the factory sound card/driver/whatever of a $2000+ Mac can't even produce 6. I guess I have to get a $1000 sound card, and who knows who makes that, useful hardware is almost nonexistent for Macs. There's a million useless USB devices, though.
MacPro
Mac OS X (10.5.2)
5GB RAM, 750GB int, 250GB ext, NVIDIA7300GT
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Posts:
17
Registered:
Sep 15, 2006
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Re: Dolby 5.1 from iTunes 8?
Posted:
Sep 30, 2008 5:46 PM
in response to: philspice1
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I can confirm that my Macbook Pro and Mac mini both will not play the 5.1 audio stream. I think it is completely dishonest for Apple to "upsell" customers to a Mac mini over an Apple TV. I think it is also misleading to say "Enjoy your favorite shows in high-quality 720p, many with 5.1-channel Dolby Digital surround sound audio, on your Apple TV or computer." when in fact you cannot enjoy any 5.1 on your computer. Just saying.
MacBook Pro C2D |16gb iPhone 3G | 30gb 5G iPod
Mac OS X (10.5.5)
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Posts:
3
Registered:
May 18, 2005
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Re: Dolby 5.1 from iTunes 8?
Posted:
Nov 3, 2008 3:57 PM
in response to: philspice1
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I came looking for an answer to this question and found four threads from the past couple months all with no answers! Interesting...
So I have a mac mini, Im running an optical cable into my 7.1 receiver. I get perfect DD5.1 from VLC (a video player) when playing xvid videos etc....
I got the season premiere of 30Rock from the itunes store and when I flip the switch in itunes over to dolby digital surround I get no audio at all.
Seems like there could be a few answers to this question we all have.
1) The shows on itunes simply do not have 5.1 audio. Why offer the option to play it then?
2) Its a bug.
Either way I would love an answer from Apple.
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Posts:
145
From:
NY
Registered:
Feb 11, 2005
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Re: Dolby 5.1 from iTunes 8?
Posted:
Nov 4, 2008 3:27 PM
in response to: Justin Baum1
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After messing about with handbrake, VLC, Quicktime and itunes I found that quicktime / itunes does not support AC3 audio files. An Ac3 audio track is what most DVD's use for discrete audio separate channel surround sound. 5.1 tracks are ac3 and the only way to get a video on my mac to play these files was to encode with handbrake using ac3 passthrough for the audio with certain video codecs. Avi can have an ac3 track as an example but quicktime will not play them in surround but vlc did. I downloaded Dexter hd from the Apple store and if you hit "command i" you will see the info of what codec and audio track is in use by the video. Dexter in HD from the Apple store is only stereo, usually it's dolby prologic II which uses phasing to create a fake surround sound and sends audio to your surround system but it is not 5.1 discrete individual channels of audio like a dvd.
I don't have an apple tv I have a Power Mac g5 hooked up to my tv via dvi and optical for audio.
Apple announced that Apple tv does surround sound now.
Apple says this about the Apple TV new software 2.0 update
Apple TV Software Update 2.0 features:
* In the US, rent movies from the iTunes Store in Standard Definition and stunning High Definition with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound directly from Apple TV.
Audio formats supported
* AAC (16 to 320 Kbps); protected AAC (from iTunes Store); MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps); MP3 VBR; Apple Lossless; AIFF; WAV; Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound pass-through.
After reading some other posts people are saying some movies come with AAC and AC3. I beleave in my tests using the latest Handbake that quicktime and itunes will now play the ac3 files but it down streams them into stereo or it defaults to the aac stereo track, so only the new Apple TV can playback AC3 true 5.1 surround.
People say the quick start up movie when you turn on the Apple tv plays some 5.1 audio. I think one of the facts are very few movies except for really new ones have the ac3 tracks. Even my Dexter dvd only has stereo sound which I thought was cheap of Showtime. So number one is you must have a movie or show that actually has an AC3 track and two I guess the only way to play them back is with Apple tv 2.0 or maybe VLC. I have yet to get a file from Apple that has an ac3 track but I don't buy that many shows or movies from Apple.
If any one can name a tv show that is in fact has ac3 5.1 on their Apple tv I would love to check it out and see if vlc will play it in surround, that could be a way to get your computer to play movies in 5.1 from apple without the Atv.
Mac Pro 8 core 2.8, Macbook Pro, Power Mac G5 duel 1.8, iphone 3G
Mac OS X (10.5.4)
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Posts:
41
From:
U.S.A.
Registered:
Dec 26, 2007
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Re: Dolby 5.1 from iTunes 8?
Posted:
Nov 15, 2008 6:01 PM
in response to: philspice1
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Come on Mac get it together. My apple TV is upstairs and my HTPC is down in my Home Theater. A HTPC with no 5.1 is useless to me. Please do something on this or I'm going back to Vista Media center with an Xbox extender.
iMac G4 1Ghz
Mac OS X (10.4.9)
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Posts:
3
From:
Canada
Registered:
Dec 8, 2008
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Re: Dolby 5.1 from iTunes 8?
Posted:
Dec 8, 2008 8:09 PM
in response to: philspice1
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Apple is totally dropping the ball on this issue. It's actually a bit sad that Plex and XBox media centre (not to mention VLC) -- all FREE third party software and readily available for Mac users -- are doing a much better a job at handling dolby 5.1 from digital movies. Apple needs to get it together if they thing we're going to keep supporting them as the leader of multimedia computers.</rant>
That said, here's what I've discovered:
Handbrake files will encode just fine ... the problem is with quicktime. I can't speak to the AppleTV, but using encoded M4V files from Handbrake in Plex or XBMC works just peachy ... you just encode with the "AppleTV" preset and then switch the audio channel during playback to "5.1" ... the GUI allows you to do this even using the Apple Remote.
Where everything falls apart is when you try to play a file in Front Row, iTunes or QuickTime (all use quicktime under the hood I'm reading over and over). Getting around this is also not easy and doesn't work nearly as well as it should.
Firstly, if you encode using Handbrake, you can just encode with the AC3 Passthru track only and just skip the default Dolby Pro Logic (stereo basically) mixdown track thereby making the 5.1 track the only (and default) track for Front Row. This is the only way I've discovered to make front row play 5.1 since there is not currently a mechanism to select the channel you want.
I've discovered that opening an encoded M4V movie file in QT Pro and selecting the Audio Properties reveals that the channels are messed up. Default is "L, C,R , LFE, RS, LS" ... changing this to "L, R, C, LFE, LS, RS" and then saving the movie as a ".mov" file allows you to play the movie in QuickTime or iTunes with 5.1 just by selecting the audio channel "AC3 Surround" ... however, without a way to select the audio channel in front row, we're still out of luck on that.
Note, you also need Perian 1.1.X installed and you need to run a command in the terminal to allow passthru ... but I haven't experimented lately to see if that's a step you can skip if you have QT Pro or not.
Either way - there needs to be a convenient way to play encoded files (that ARE compatible with XBMC and Plex and VLC) in front row and ATV - without 5.1, what's the point (other than having us all run out to by apple tvs) and buying DRM'd content from iTunes store, of course)?
<Edited by Moderator>
MacBook
Mac OS X (10.5.5)
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Posts:
1
From:
New Zealand
Registered:
Dec 17, 2008
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Re: Dolby 5.1 from iTunes 8?
Posted:
Dec 17, 2008 2:20 AM
in response to: JPinHalihood
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I use my unibody MacBook via a optical cable to my new home theatre. Can get Front Row (DVD player only) and DVD player to output over optical in 5.1 but not quicktime or iTunes. Have Perian installed seems not to help very much even with output set to multi-channel digital. Midi set-up, which I read can fix the issue.... Didn't
Maybe the wonderful Apple could fix what seems like a mistake.
Unibody Macbook 2.4 - 4GB
Mac OS X (10.5.6)
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Posts:
3
From:
Canada
Registered:
Dec 8, 2008
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Re: Dolby 5.1 from iTunes 8?
Posted:
Dec 18, 2008 8:48 AM
in response to: webdevnz.
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Apple has their own encoding system to facilitate the DRM they use in the iTunes store. My theory is that the channels have been deliberately switched in QT so that Front Row, QT and iTunes Player cannot use the "HD" content from the iTunes store.
Modifying the way QT handles AC3 passthru allows Apple to use their own encoding scheme to place the channels where they want them. Placing restrictions on the iTunes content allows them to determine the audience for their content ... namely allowing only ATV users to download "HD" content with "custom built" AC3 soundtracks. The motivation here, of course, is to encourage more people to buy Apple TVs and to download more iTunes content.
Just a theory.
Apple will prove me wrong when they finally address this issue.</hint-hint>
... notice this thread still goes un-answered by apple.
MacBook
Mac OS X (10.5.5)
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Posts:
5
From:
Robinson, IL
Registered:
Jan 12, 2009
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Re: Dolby 5.1 from iTunes 8?
Posted:
Jan 12, 2009 10:04 PM
in response to: JPinHalihood
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I too am wondering what is going on! I just purchased the Season Premire of '24' ONLY because it said it was in 5.1 Dolby Digital, but it won't play in 5.1! According to Apple's HD info..it says,
"Enjoy your favorite shows in...with 5.1-channel Dolby Digital surround sound audio, on your Apple TV or computer."
What is up? I believe either Apple needs to address this, or give customers like me my money back. I just spent $3.00 on something I could see on FOX TV for free!!
Anyone able to get iTunes HD content to actually do what it says?
Thanks!
MacBook
Mac OS X (10.5.4)
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