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Level 1

0 points

Loud Static with 5.1 surround audio in iTunes

Hello,

I'm using a Griffin FireWave firewire audio device with a Logitec analog 5.1 speaker system. I've gotten great surround sound in other applications (QuickTime, WoW, etc...), but when I try to turn on 5.1 audio on a HD TV show in iTunes, I get a very loud, harsh static noise, and nothing else. If I open the file in QuickTime and turn off the stereo audio channel and turn on the 5.1 channel, I get nothing. Silence.

I just recently bought this brand-new 24" iMac (it's awesome, by the way). My old 20" white iMac had the same problem. I'd had other problems with iTunes on that computer (such as not being able to burn CDs from iTunes) so I figured, brand new computer, skip the Migration Assistant, just transfer over files, might fix the problem. No such luck. Of course, it fixed the CD burning problem, still no 5.1 in iTunes.

Contacting Griffin tech support seemed futile, as they no longer make FireWaves, and their software driver hasn't been updated in forever... support page is pretty, "make sure your speakers are plugged in"... and it seems like the company is steering in another direction.
The FireWave itself is very simple. Not many options, not very hard to understand. It does the job, though. 5.1 has been very nice with the FireWave in all other respects. Audio/MIDI Setup works fine with the speaker test. Great sound. Easy to use. HD Apple movie trailers sound fantastic! And I've yet to see ANY other options for connecting 5.1 analog speakers to an iMac.

If anyone else has had this problem, it'd be good to hear it, because searching the forums, I haven't seen any other posts about this. I'd love to know that I'm not alone.
If anyone can help me find a solution, that'd be amazing. I'm a pretty avid user... I had a Mac SE... I used ResEdit! I've been at this a while! This problem has me totally stumped.

Alternatively, if anyone knows of another solution for getting real 5.1 audio using analog speakers on an iMac, please let me know.
I love this speaker system! I don't want to have to replace it!

Thanks for any input,

-G.

24" iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.7)

Posted on Jul 12, 2009 3:35 PM

39 replies

Dec 24, 2009 8:28 AM in response to Imperial Hawk

http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/

BSteely

Level 5

7,643 points

Dec 24, 2009 3:00 PM in response to MichKor

MichKor, thanks. I now have surround sound working through the optical digital out on my Mac mini when playing my iTMS HD movie purchases in iTunes. Oddly, playing the same movie with either QuickTime player or Front Row, I still only get stereo. 😟

MichKor

Level 1

64 points

Dec 25, 2009 6:35 AM in response to BSteely

No problem, glad your movies are playing right 🙂

…now if I could only get the Handbrake stuff to extract and play in iTunes in 5.1….!

aqwhiteh

Level 1

0 points

Jan 9, 2010 10:07 PM in response to Dave Hawkins1

Thanks Dave Hawkins1.... I was struggling with this, VLC and DVD Player produced 5.1 sound without issue but NADA to the HD movie "The Cove" that I bought. Simply turning off the equalizer fixed the issue, sounds great now!

Feb 4, 2010 8:40 PM in response to {G}

I recently resolved this issue, one of the earlier posts was correct for me. I fiddled with the settings and noticed my volume slider was not at max (which I had adjusted down via iPhone remote earlier and forgot). As dolby digital does not have pre-amp volume control the volume slider was preventing me from getting non-static Dolby Digital. Pushing the slider up to max works fine. By the way the problem and solution was replicated on a MBP and Mac Mini, both the newest model. Hope this helps some people. The equalizer did not impact my ability to play back properly. If you want a permanent fix I would call AppleCare, as they are the way to get escalations up to engineering for patches.

holtsch

Level 1

5 points

Feb 13, 2010 3:40 PM in response to Dave Hawkins1

Make sure your volume slider is at maximum

Cool - that fixed 5.1 surround for me. Too bad I was just finished watching a movie. Another problem I noticed is that sound completely disappears when I jump a chapter forward or backward. All in all, the experience is not too pleasant.

A fix is urgently needed!

Sep 2, 2010 11:46 AM in response to holtsch

OK Fellas,
I can confirm that the static problem is still here in iTunes 10 & when using a brand new HDMI-equipped Mac Mini.
I've tried messing with the volume control (which worked on my last Mini, until I restored my back-up to the new Mini) & the other settings people have suggested with no positive effect, just more static.
Any ideas?
*More importantly - APPLE FIX THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

efithian

Level 1

18 points

Sep 2, 2010 1:56 PM in response to MichKor

When you use handbrake, format as mp4, use H264 for video, use 1280 by 720 in picture settings, in audio use AC3 passthru. I have tried this with EyeTV mpg files that have DD and 1080i. Result plays in iTunes when equalizer is off and volume is set to max.

Jul 4, 2013 12:40 PM in response to {G}

Hey,

I had a similar issue and a temporary solution for me was this:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3518

Its not idea, but for an emergency its good enough.

Loud Static with 5.1 surround audio in iTunes