Can my Mac Mini play 5.1 surround audio?

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Can my Mac Mini play 5.1 surround audio?

I want to use a Mac Mini as a media center in my living room. It does have a built-in optical output, so I bought the necessary adapter cable and hooked it up to my surround receiver (Sony STR-DE545), hoping it would stream the multi-channel encoded audio to the receiver. But no matter what I play on my Mac Mini, be it DVDs or random 5.1 test files, all I get is this:

The surround receiver claims the audio input to be PRO LOGIC, shortly flashing PCM 48 and showing only four of the six available speakers in the display. Also, the blue LED labeled "multi-channel decoding" remains dark all the time. When playing a 5.1 test file which announces each of the six channel distinctively, I hear the rear speakers simultaneously, which seems to confirm that the audio source is "only" Pro Logic, which by definition has four discreet channels, including front left, center and right, a mono rear channel. Low frequencies are cut off and sent to the subwoofer if present.

Note that full surround audio is possible when I connect a standard DVD player to the same optical input: In that case, the receiver lights up the multi-channel LED and shows all six speakers in the display.

Am I missing something? Is there some sort of configuration option that enables 5.1 sound? Or do I need an external device? And if yes, which one would you recommend?

Any help is highly appreciated!

Mac Mini, 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, Mac OS X (10.5.4)

Posted on Sep 2, 2008 2:20 PM

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Answer 1

orinoko1

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Sep 12, 2008 11:45 PM in response to rofemaster

I have a similar problem with Mac Mini. I am using optic output to connect to 5.1 digital amp. Although Eye Tv supports digital TV with Dolby 5.1, The amp does not automatically detect 5.1 or PCM throughput on optical. Manually selecting Dolby on amp only detects stereo. Manually switching to Pro Logic will activate rears but no sub, the rears don't appear to be surround.

Any thought on a solution?

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Answer 2

rofemaster Author

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Sep 13, 2008 9:04 AM in response to rofemaster

I can report partial progress: In DVD Player, I found the setting +Audio Output+ in the preferences under +Disc Setup+. It allows me to switch from +System Sound Output+ to +Digital Out - Built-In Output+. Note that you can only change this option when an optical cable is connected and no DVD is currently playing! Now I can play DVDs in full 5.1 - Yay!

However, the problem with 2 channel digital output remains for other sources like Quicktime and EyeTV. I haven't tried any movies from the iTunes music store yet, but I'm suspicious that they won't play in full surround either.

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Answer 3

markdz

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Sep 15, 2008 5:53 PM in response to rofemaster

"It does have a built-in optical output, so I bought the necessary adapter cable"

i have recently connected my mac mini to the large screen LCD. I was wondering what adapter cable you had gotten for the optical port to get the 5.1 surround. I have the same sony receiver.
thanks

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Answer 4

markdz

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Sep 15, 2008 6:34 PM in response to markdz

nevermind, found it after a bit of digging. monoprice.com

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Answer 5

ps130951

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Sep 25, 2008 1:59 PM in response to rofemaster

Hello All

I've setup my Mac Mini as an htpc and have it connected to a Sony STR 1200es via a Toslink. I get perfect 5.1 when playing a dvd, however only linear pcm 48 with all other sources, eg, divx, itunes tracks.

I have tried perian, the passthroughenable fix but have still not found a solution. I used to have Vista pc and it was able to play itunes/divx in 5.1. I have even resorted to installing Vista using boot camp. Even in Vista, it doesn't list 5.1 as a selectable channel. As far as I understand it, the mini (or any mac using optical via toslink) is not able to encode the 6 channels into the reqd 2 to send to the amp.

Has anyone been able to find a solution for this? There doesn't seem to be solutions on the forums. As I have specifically moved to the mini to use as an htpc, I would really like to find a solution.

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Answer 6

ps130951

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Sep 26, 2008 6:43 AM in response to rofemaster

Hello All

I've setup my Mac Mini as an htpc and have it connected to a Sony STR 1200es via a Toslink. I get perfect 5.1 when playing a dvd, however only linear pcm 48 with all other sources, eg, divx, itunes tracks.

I have tried perian, the passthroughenable fix but have still not found a solution. I used to have Vista pc and it was able to play itunes/divx in 5.1. I have even resorted to installing Vista using boot camp. Even in Vista, it doesn't list 5.1 as a selectable channel. As far as I understand it, the mini (or any mac using optical via toslink) is not able to encode the 6 channels into the reqd 2 to send to the amp.

Has anyone been able to find a solution for this? There doesn't seem to be solutions on the forums. As I have specifically moved to the mini to use as an htpc, I would really like to find a solution.

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Answer 7

ps130951

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Oct 3, 2008 1:03 AM in response to rofemaster

hello all, quick update on the 5.1 stuff. I tried getting it working on the Vista partition (bbotcamp). Initially I had no luck (posts above). But then I installed a software called ffdshow which basically can be configured to pass ac3 to spdif. This WORKS. I now have full 5.1 surround from divx/avis. The blue light on my amp lights up and the the lcd read dolby digital 5/1 😉
So for a start we can now confirm for a fact that its now hardware. Its the mac os itself that is preventing passthrough. I cannot find a similar solution though for mac. I now need to figure out how to pass mp3/wmas via ffdshow rather than using in-built system codecs.

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Answer 8

rofemaster Author

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Oct 3, 2008 5:10 AM in response to ps130951

That's good news, thanks for the update! Actually, I already figured it can't be a hardware issue because meanwhile I'm able to play DVDs with full surround sound (Sorry, I forgot to post this here: DVD Player has a preference "Digital Output" that will enable AC3 passthrough. Make sure no DVD is being played as the setting will be disabled).

I wonder if Apple knows how annoying this issue is for people like us who believe that the Mac Mini is born to a) look good in a living room and b) serve untampered-with digital media to decent home audio equipment.

Especially now that iTunes Store lets you rent and buy movies in HD, Apple should at least add the above-mentioned audio output setting also to iTunes and QuickTime. Or better yet, make it a system preference. Dolby Pro Logic just doesn't cut it, in fact it's insulting for anyone with a real surround system.

Any official comments?

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Answer 9

ps130951

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Oct 3, 2008 5:27 AM in response to rofemaster

I came across this that might also fix the mp3 raw output to the decoder by using ffdshow. By default wmp already has an mp3 codec so it will not use ffdshow. By disabling the mp3 codec for wmp, in theory it should use ffdshow (if you've set it up as below ie)

In the ffdshow audio codec click the 'Codecs' Sections. Set 'Uncompressed'-->'All Supported'.
Next go into C:\windows\system32 and rename 'mfpmp.exe' to something else or delete it (I recommend renaming the extension)
This will allow you to use ffdshow for mp3s, theoretically allowing you to use any mp3 decoder.

Btw to move/rename the above file in vista, you will need to 'take ownership' of the file..good old windows ;-(

Here are the steps to do this
1. Click the Start button.

2. Click All Programs.

3. Go into Accessories.

4. Right-click on Command Prompt.
5. Select Run as administrator.

6. When the UAC Prompt appears, click Continue.

Once you have your elevated command prompt, follow these steps:

For our example, we are going to use the Bubbles screensaver file (Bubbles.scr)

1. At the command prompt, input takeown /f filepath (takeown /f c:\windows\system32\Bubbles.scr).
2. Press Enter on the keyboard.
3. A message will be displayed that this completed successfully.
4. Now input icacls filepath /grant yourusername:f (icacls c:\windows\system32\Bubbles.scr /grant shamanstears:f).
5. A message will be displayed that this completed successfully.

You will now be able to modify or replace the file. When you are done, simply remove the permissions to keep the file secure.

Remember to then goto the sys props of the file by rightclick and add perms to the user

Rightcick in vista on a mac = 2 fingers on teh keypan and then press the keypad button 😉 no need to re-map

I will try this over the w'end and update accordingly.

Agree with roffe...getting this to work in vista makes it all the more frustrating that it doesn't in mac os. I had called mac support and the guy initially even denied they had optical out ;-( and then asked me to contact my amp manuf for a driver !! If only we can at least get a similar 3rd party s'ware like ffdshow

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Answer 10

ps130951

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Oct 3, 2008 2:32 PM in response to rofemaster

just tried the mp3 fix (above) using ffdshow and it WORKS. Full 5.1 playing wmas and mp3s. Followed the instructions above...just remember to enable resampling and select 'resample always'

So, now that we know it works in Vista on the mac mini..next step is to get some sort of passthrough to work on mac os as the h'ware is ready to play. Tried perian but its rubbish..also tried the cli passthrough..does nothing again..I'm praying for ffdshow for mac

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