How can I pass hi-res audio through my HDMI port

I found a workaround

It seems that the constraint is indeed software and most specifically the built in output. As mac mini DAC can only do 24/48, it presumes the HDMI input is equal!

Solution:

1. Install BlackHole, 2ch as this was my main focus.
2. Create an aggregate audio device https://github.com/ExistentialAudio/BlackHole/wiki/Aggregate-Device
3. Add all three devices: default (mac mini speakers for me)
4. Select AVR first, then select Blackhole
5. Set Blackhole as the clock source at the desired output sampling rate - 96kHz in this test. I wanted at all costs to avoid resampling
6. Select Blackhole as the output for your app. In my case Amazon Music.
7. Enjoy bit perfect playback

For some reason when everything in audio goes quality Apple has dropped sound quality to junk: They first removed S/PDIF optical out from MBPs (scrapping my near field monitors this way), now they break HDMI Audio.

Apple seem to be fixating on lost battles like "3D Audio" and "immersive audio" for portable devices that are inherently bottom tier and breaking real hi-end audio such as bit-perfect reproduction etc.

[Edited by Moderator]

Hi again and thanks for the attention.

The same occurs with ARC enabled and disabled as well as headed and headless.

If it is any help, I attach a screenshot of the reported format/resolutions reported by audio midi setup.

As you can see the OS recognizes the avr just fine, even the name, recognizes the 7.1 capabilities (8ch) and even reports some absurd resolutions.

It still doesn't recognize the 2-channel PCM ones.

Also, I do not accept the premise that Marantz is to blame as HDMI is an open (sort-off) protocol and both linux and even hateful windows recognize it just fine.

Apple should care for its customers and implement the HDMI to its fullest whether Marantz mentions it by name. Again, it is not a USB connection but an HDMI connection which is a UNIVERSAL and VENDOR AGNOSTIC protocol!

To prove a point, this is how Monterey (same OS!) reports the same AVR with no other change when connected on my 15" 2018 MacBook Pro:

It is obviously some SERIOUS CRAP going on somewhere between the M1 processor, Monterey and the whole closed-source Apple ecosystem that denies me proper playback.

So again I ask why OH WHY has Apple removed this capability from this machine with neither properly specing it nor reasonably managing it?

I take it as a really crappy behavior vis-a-vis us long time customers (since core 2 duo MBP 15" this is my 7th or 8th mac) that trusted Apple silicon.

Hi,

Thanks for answering.

I mostly use Amazon music but it is irrelevant since the problem lies in Audio Midi Setup aka how the OS reports on the capabilities of the output.

Also, yes I tried headed as well. Same.

The problem lies in the fact that the OS does not report the HDMI port as 192/24 capable, not other parts of the system.

For instance I play 96/24 over USB to my Hegel H80 from the same software and system.

Does anyone at Apple even care to solve this issue? I presume there is a config file I can tamper with to force the resolution. That is the info I am looking for.

Marantz menu has an option to enable/disable ARC.

In any case, I still do not see your point.

The AVR currently handles audio playback whether or not I connect an output to the AVR. It reports itself to MacOS along with the greyed-out 192/24 capability it has. My problem is that MacOS blocks all resolutions above 24/48 that ARE reported in Audio Midi Setup.

Using my NUC board I have successfully output 192/24 over HDMI in Ubuntu and Mint while retaining the rest of the components identical. It figures then that it has something to do with core audio implementation rather than the AVR/Projector or other components.

Regarding the USB port, it is a front panel USB A connector, intended for smartphone cable/usb stick. I already own an Audioquest Forest USB B to A and do not wish to purchase another 100$ USB cable. I do not even own an A to A cable to test your idea! Just to say, USB cables make a HUGE difference to sound, repeatedly confirmed in blind A/B tests.

I still don't understand why the OS does not allow its apparent monitor -the AVR- to receive the audio in the resolutions it has already identified as available -up to 768kHZ!!!- nor what the "encoded digital audio" is supposed to mean.

To shift the focus, how can I transmit "encoded digital audio" at any reported available resolution?

Thanks

Also, as you can see MacOS recognizes 2ch 192/24 capability just stubbornly denies its use:

I am sending the video to a projector, optoma HD141X to be exact.

I have also used an LG monitor.

I do not own nor do I care to use a TV.