Mac Mini (Mid 2010) Optical Audio Annoyance / Issue

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Mac Mini (Mid 2010) Optical Audio Annoyance / Issue

Hi,

I just purchased a new Mac Mini a few days ago and got it up and running with HDMI to my TV and optical audio to my AVR. I have bitstream passthrough working in DVD player and VLC / Quicktime with Perian installed. Happy camper on that end.

My issue lies that I am unable to change my speaker configuration from 2ch stereo in Audio MIDI Setup. This means that I can not use my 7.1 AVR to monitor 8 channels of audio out of the pro apps I'm trying to use! (Final Cut/Soundtrack)

I even wen as far as to take the HDMI out of the mix thinking that it was affecting the amount of audio channels available to me and switched to using a MDP->DVI adaptor with a DVI->HDMI cable so that audio is not passed. No dice.

Is there some kind of magic mojo that is needed to get Audio MIDI Setup to allow me to select more than 2 channels when using an optical connection? I really would like to use my pro apps and monitor my mixes as well as watch

Look forward to hearing from the Apple guru's here! Thanks.

Mac Mini (Mid 2010) 2.4 GHz, Mac OS X (10.6.4), 5GB ram

Posted on Sep 5, 2010 4:26 AM

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Answer 1

MacProCT

Level 2

366 points

Sep 5, 2010 10:04 AM in response to Immie

The only way to get 8 channels of sound out of a Mini is to use HDMI.

The toslink can only support up to 5.1 channels.

The reason you are only seeing 2 channel options is because you are feeding the HDMI to the TV and not the receiver. The TV is a 2-channel-only device itself.

And further, the sound that the TV passes out of the toslink is 2-channel only. This restriction is common with digital televisions.

You'll need to connect your mini to the receiver first and then have an HDMI cable from the receiver to the TV.

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Answer 2

Immie Author

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Sep 5, 2010 10:31 AM in response to MacProCT

I thought that might have been the problem, so if you notice in my original post, I mention I'm not using the HDMI out anymore. I'm using the MDP port with an adaptor to DVI with one of those DVI to HDMI cables to insure that no sound is passed or the HDMI audio capabilities are detected.

My Onkyo AVR does not do HDMI switching or contain any HDMI inputs as it was made before the advent of HDMI and Blu-Ray players.

So in theory I should be able to set it to 5.1 and pass 6 channels of audio over the optical, correct? But everything is greyed out in the multichannel option except for stereo 2ch.

What can I do short of buying a new AVR with HDMI on it?

I don't really want to wipe and re-install SL as I've spent the last 8 days installing and tweaking the settings on this machine to my liking.

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Answer 3

MacProCT

Level 2

366 points

Sep 5, 2010 12:01 PM in response to Immie

I believe what you are trying to do requires HDMI. I am not 100% sure, but that is my understanding.

Because you are trying to do discrete multi-channel sound. To my understanding, that requires HDMI.

I believe Toslink can only do encoded multi-channel sound (e.g. Dolby Digital). Discrete channels is a different beast.

When I had my mini connected to my receiver via HDMI, I had the 8 channel sound output option available in the MIDI panel. Now that I am using Toslink, I only have 2 channel modes and "encoded digital audio" as options.

All this, combined with Apple's tech document on the 2010 Mini saying that 8 channels requires HDMI, tells me that discrete multi-channel sound requires HDMI.

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Answer 4

Immie Author

Level 1

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Sep 5, 2010 12:48 PM in response to MacProCT

I see.. That explains it... Looks like I'll need to start saving for a new AVR! Thanks!

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Answer 5

Mr.C UK

Level 2

410 points

Sep 6, 2010 5:50 AM in response to MacProCT

As far as I'm aware any form of DD or DTS whether it be 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 or indeed 7.2 is discrete by nature. That is the whole idea behind DD and DTS. Whether it is using a digital/coax optical connection or HDMI doesn't matter. For example my Sky satellite box has a digital optical or toslink cable going to my Onkyo TX-SR707 surround sound receiver and it is outputting discreet DD 5.1. My PS3 and Xox 360 did the same when they were connected to my old receiver in the same way ( they are now connected using HDMI to the Onkyo outputting multi channel PCM and DD 5.1 respectively ). In short DD and DTS are inherently discrete sources by nature regardless of the type of connection/cable used to output them.

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Answer 6

Dah•veed

Level 9

66,505 points

Sep 6, 2010 7:08 AM in response to Immie

I'm using the MDP port with an adaptor to DVI with one of those DVI to HDMI cables to insure that no sound is passed or the HDMI audio capabilities are detected.

It was my understanding from the posts from others that this would carry digital audio.

Dah•veed

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Answer 7

Mr.C UK

Level 2

410 points

Sep 6, 2010 11:19 AM in response to Dah•veed

Not if you're going from MDP to DVI to HDMI. DVI does not pass through sound. You can buy an MDP to HDMI adapter cable which along with and HDMI cable will pass through sound from the MDP on 2010 Macs.

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Answer 8

MacProCT

Level 2

366 points

Sep 6, 2010 12:06 PM in response to Mr.C UK

Mr.C UK wrote:
As far as I'm aware any form of DD or DTS whether it be 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 or indeed 7.2 is discrete by nature.

They contain discrete sound channels, but all are contained within one bitstream. They are encapsulated, if you will.

To my understanding, multi-channel PCM is not encapsulated in the same manner.

David.Austin.Allen wrote:

It was my understanding from the posts from others that this would carry digital audio.

Yes DisplayPort can provide audio. But you have to either be using an displayport-to-displayport connection, or using an appropriate adapter.

But a typical MDP to DVI adapter is not going to pass audio.

Mr.C UK wrote:
...DVI does not pass through sound...

This is correct insofar as the fact that the DVI spec does not include audio. And as you said, a typical MDP adapter does not pass audio.

But just so you know, the DVI interface can actually carry audio, if it is present. When I had my 2010 Mini's HDMI port connected to my DVI Detective (via HDMI-DVI adapter) and then the DVI detective was connected to my HDMI reciever (via DVI-HDMI cable), I was receiving the HDMI audio stream at the receiver.

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