Mac mini 2011 HDMI audio issues

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Level 1

10 points

Mac mini 2011 HDMI audio issues

What are the known issues with HDMI audio with Lion and the new Mac minis?

I'm in the process of swapping out an older Mac mini that was connected to my home theater (Pioneer SC-05 reciever, Pioneer TV), with a new 2011 i5 Mac mini. The old Mac required use of a minidisplay port to HDMI adapter, and a toslink adapter to get audio to receiver through an optical cable. Previous setup was working fine, but with the new 2011 Mac mini swapped in with the direct HDMI connection to the Pioneer SC-05 receiver, I'm not getting 5.1 audio. The video is fine and is being passed through to the TV, but the receiver is only doing dolby prologic audio, even though the movies are Dolby Digital 5.1.

I'm using Plex .934 on the Mac. Audio on the Mac is set to HDMI. Plex is set to Dolby (AC3) digital capable receiver, etc.

Posted on Aug 16, 2011 11:55 AM

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Answer 1

MSM126 Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 17, 2011 11:07 AM in response to MSM126

Update: I spent quite a bit of time with AppleCare today. Did an SMC reset, and tried a few other changes to resolve the issue; none of which worked. I'm waiting to hear back from next level of support.

Can anyone confirm that they are successfully getting Dolby Digital 5.1 audio out through HDMI on a 2011 Mac mini?

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Answer 2

MSM126 Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 18, 2011 12:11 PM in response to MSM126

I've yet to find anyone here or in other forums that is successfully getting pass through of multichannel audio (AC3 dolby digital and/or DTS) out of the HDMI port on 2011 Mac mini.

My AppleCare case was escalated to the next level of support, and I spent some time with them trying to get audio to work using Audio MIDI Setup and some other steps. None worked.

Please reply if you're successfully getting pass through of multichannel audio with your 2011 Mini.

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Answer 3

Aug 19, 2011 7:22 PM in response to MSM126

I am interested to find this out too

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Answer 4

Aug 20, 2011 2:57 AM in response to MSM126

Try setting in Audio Midi Setup under the HDMI

selection, set audio to 2 channel, 24 bit. Do not

set to one of the multichannel modes. Dolby and DTS

are "encoded" streams and not independent channels.

When you set to multichannel in Midi Setup, the source

is expected to be multichannel PCM. Encoded signals

will not pass in this case.

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Answer 5

Ziatron

Level 5

4,185 points

Aug 20, 2011 2:50 PM in response to MSM126

I'm not getting 5.1 audio. The video is fine

As a test (to eliminate some of the unknowns) try to play a DVD movie.

If you get audio with a standard DVD, we can look at software issues.

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Answer 6

MSM126 Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 20, 2011 8:37 PM in response to Ziatron

Ziatron, I assume you're referring to playing from a DVD through the receiver to test audio? If so, the receiver properly handles Dolby Digital, DTS, TruHD, etc all fine through the bluray player, and Dolby Digital fine from Directv.

Woodmeister, Apple support took me through all of the Audio Midi setup questions, and it is set correctly.

Thank you both for the suggestions.

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Answer 7

Aug 20, 2011 8:54 PM in response to woodmeister50

I just setup the Mac mini to multichannel 8bit not sure as to what kHz just took the lowest.

Under 8 channel I was getting to choose option as to what speaker setup I have.

I selected 5.1 and tested the speakers one at a time. The Mac sends test signal to each speakers and it passes!

Any comments? Suggestions?

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Answer 8

MSM126 Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 23, 2011 11:18 AM in response to woodmeister50

Woodmeister50, setting Audio Midi Setup to 2 Channel, 24 bit just results in a 2 channel stereo at the receiver -- at least in my case and according to what I was told by Apple Support.

I've spent a couple of weeks on this with Apple support (Case 239621624), and after multiple escalations of the issue up to engineering, the answer I received is that what I want to do is not supported by Apple software. Here's a summary of what I want to do:

Connect my 2011 i5 Mac mini through HDMI to my Pioneer SC-05 stereo receiver
Have the Dolby Digital and DTS audio processed / managed by my the receiver

Apple's recommendation:

Use Audio Midi Setup to set audio to 8 channel, 24 bit
Click configure speakers option in Audio Midi Setup, and set to 5.1 audio

The Apple recommendation works fine with Quicktime, VLC, DVD playback. Unfortunately, it does not work with Plex as simply launching Plex causes the audio settings to immediately default back to 2 channel stereo.

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Answer 9

MSM126 Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 24, 2011 12:12 PM in response to MSM126

Confirmed today with both of the new i5 Mac mini's that even the toslink setup that used to work with the 2007 mini, no longer works to get encoded Dolby Digital / DTS signal to the receiver. In other words, I reverted back to the same setup I had with the 2007 Mac mini:

Video through HDMI
Audio through toslink to optical adapter to the stereo receiver

The toslink connection now results in the same behavior as HDMI -- only way I can get multichannel audio to the receiver is to set Audio Midi Setup to 8 channel, 24 bit with speaker configuration set to 5.1. As with HDMI audio, this works fine for VLC, Quicktime and DVD player; but as soon as Plex is launch audio settings revert back to 2 channel stereo.

It seems like multichannel audio out is #$%Q with OS X Lion and at least the mini's I'm working with. The 2007 mini running Snow Leopard continues to work flawlessly. Hopefully a software update or 3rd party tool will fix this.

BTW, Apple did suggest I try Perian and Soundflower ... neither worked for my setups.

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Answer 10

Aug 25, 2011 3:15 AM in response to MSM126

Lion is not the issue, it is the new 2011 Mac Minis that are the issue.

I am running just fine with Lion 10.7.1 on my 2010 MacMini.

I get Dolby and DTS passed through to my receiver from

all app sources (iTunes,PLEX,XBMC,VLC) without the use of

any third party software. All the audio is send over HDMI

with video to my receiver.

I'm not defending Lion, as I had my issues with it which

have been solved, but that the new Mini's weren't ready for

prime time.

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Answer 11

Aug 28, 2011 12:15 AM in response to MSM126

Hi All, I have the new 2011 macmini to replace the 2010 version. I had issues with HDMI sound as well, but it turns out the issue lies in having AND the HDMI cable in AND a toslink/headphones cable.

In the 2010 version you could select the Sound output to go via HDMI or Analog.

In the 2011 version (if you have plugged-in a cable in the headphones) the HDMI sound output is impossible to choose. It is only selectable when you have unplugged the headphones cable. So what is the use of the Output settings if you cannot select anything if you have more than 1 output.....

The guy form AppleCare told me this is a firmware bug that 'should' be solved.....

When I unplug the headphones and start a movie in Movist, I have DTS and DD. With VLC it does not work, but that has to do with the upgrade to Lion (see the VLC forum).

I assume the firmware upgrade will come soon otherwise I will be VERY dissapointed in Apple quality this time and will certainly stop buying new Apple gadgets when they come out. As this was the reason why I switched from Microsoft to Apple......

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Answer 12

Aug 28, 2011 3:01 AM in response to remkofromnl

remkofromnl, this sounds very familiar. I do recall, even

with my 2010 Mini, earlier this year trying to debug some

audio issues, I had found that if you plug in an optical

cable, it "overrides" the HDMI, at least on my Mini.

Seems some similar firmware/software carried over

to the new Mini.

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Answer 13

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,102 points

Aug 28, 2011 3:21 AM in response to MSM126

Although "roaringapps" says that Plex 9 is Lion compatible, there are audio problems discussed in the Plex Forum, especially the 2 channel/8channel thing. I have seen rather complicated workarounds with kextinstallers and pacifist. Too complicatef for me.

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Answer 14

Aug 28, 2011 7:25 AM in response to woodmeister50

Do you know how to fix this myself? I saw there are applications like Soundflower and JackOSX that can take care of audio outputing.

Is this a way to overrule Apple's firmware/software? Any experience with this?

Thx

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Answer 15

Aug 28, 2011 9:43 AM in response to Lexiepex

Lex, if you have a 2011 Mini, it is more likely that it is

the problem with PLEX more than Lion. I am

using PLEX and Lion on my 2010 Mini without any

issue. The new Mini seems incompatible with alot

of stuff (hardware and software) from what I have seen

on this and other forums.

Have you tried updating to 10.7.1? Might help, but

doubtful on a new Mini.

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