Want to highlight a helpful answer? Upvote!

Did someone help you, or did an answer or User Tip resolve your issue? Upvote by selecting the upvote arrow. Your feedback helps others! Learn more about when to upvote >

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

User profile for user: bradyholt
bradyholt Author
User level: Level 1
1 points

How to play 5.1 audio files

I have ripped my The Crystal Method Legion of Boom DVD-A to 5.1 FLAC files then converted to Apple Lossless (ALAC) using either Amadeus Pro or XLD. The resulting m4a files play in quicktime and preview but won't even import in iTunes. The info properties of the file show 6 channels of audio. I have tried other settings when converting, (24bit, 16bit, AAC instead of ALAC) and the results are the same. Here is the funny thing if I change the filetype from m4a to m4v it shows up in itunes and plays and says in the channel info Multichannel. Obviously it shows as a video. Is iTunes yet capable of playing multichannel audio files? If so what is the best converter to show up as proper 5.1 surround?

MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Sep 5, 2010 9:31 AM

Reply
12 replies
User profile for user: cigame2
cigame2
User level: Level 3
548 points

Sep 5, 2010 10:01 AM in response to bradyholt

I used to play multichannel quicktime .mov audio files with iTunes. AAC and AIF.But not 24 bit AIF.
You need a multi output audio interface for this.
iTunes can play AC3 files only on bought movies or with perian installed via optical out. But problems with jumping from one file to the next or changing audio tracks leading to complete hangs of iTunes made me switch to PLEX, which plays everything perfectly even DTS and 5.1 AAC files over spdf optical into 5.1 receiver.(Converting AAC to DD on the fly).
Back to your question,
if you have a multi output audio interface and Quicktime Pro, you can generate multi channel .mov files and define what track goes to what output.
Reply
User profile for user: bradyholt
bradyholt Author
User level: Level 1
1 points

Sep 5, 2010 12:47 PM in response to cigame2

Yeah I do have an interface and I have been able to do that fine. I was hoping there is a way that I could encode the file with 5.1 and stereo so iTunes will recognize and I can playback via my AppleTV the 5.1 source, or stereo on my iphone, mac or whatever else. Kind of like what handbrake does with the audio but I want the file in m4a format.
Reply
User profile for user: oakapple
oakapple
User level: Level 1
0 points

Nov 29, 2011 9:57 PM in response to bradyholt

I would also like to play my DVD-A's and BD-A's on my iphone 4. I have extracted the audio from the DVD-A and encoded it to 24/96/5.1 FLAC and want to convert it to 24/96/5.1 ALAC and use the HDMI out on the iphone 4 to plug into home receivers as well as car audio (in the future). Apple please make sure iTunes can handle 5.1 24/96/5.1 ALAC files and that it can encode 5.1 FLAC files to the same in ALAC. Otherwise, just support FLAC, which may be simpler.


Thanks

Reply
User profile for user: dsbenson
dsbenson
User level: Level 1
5 points

Feb 10, 2014 8:53 PM in response to Abel Piñate

@abel, if you're just trying to convert dvd-a audio, you can do this with DVD Audio Extractor (among other apps).

But as has been noted, there's apparently no way to play 5.1 audio files with iTunes (you'll just get stereo).


[There's a convoluted way to end up with a "movie" of 5.1 audio that'll play in full 5.1 from iTunes just like other movies do, but it's a total pain, and then you've got a set of individual video files rather than an easily-playable album of audio]

Reply

How to play 5.1 audio files

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.
Learn more Sign up