Sound to Denon Receiver via Thunderbolt does not work

Question

Sound to Denon Receiver via Thunderbolt does not work

Hello all,

I have a MBP running OS X Lion with thunderbolt technology. Its a June 2011 model.

I am trying to connect it to my home theater to playback movies, etc. and am running into some issues. I can get both video and audio if I connect the Minidisplayport to HDMI cable directly to the Sony TV (in fact, tested it with two different TVs) and it works. However, connecting it to Denon receivers (I have two in different parts of the house) I cannot get the audio to playback. The picture is fine - I can do display mirroring, etc.

Clicking on the Sound preference setting, I see an option listed (depending on which such as Denon AVAMP and HDMI is selected as the output). But no sound - the internal speakers continue to play. I have tried clicking, double-tapping, etc. but to no avail.

Is there a compatibility problem with Denon receivers. The two receivers I am using are Denon AVR 2307CI and Denon AVR 3310CI.

Any insights would be appreciated.

Thanks.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Dec 20, 2011 5:30 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

TheSmokeMonster

Level 4

3,246 points

Dec 20, 2011 5:55 PM in response to AllthingsAAPL

you want to find where it gives you the option of seeing the hdmi audio input, not output.

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Answer 2

Dec 20, 2011 7:50 PM in response to AllthingsAAPL

TheSmokeMonster that was helpful. Not sure I completely followed the logic as I am trying to playback (I assumed that meant "output") to the Receiver. In any case, I clicked the use the audio port for output/input in and out of the two settings and all of a sudden - viola! it works!

Thanks a lot for your quick response.

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Answer 3

Dec 20, 2011 10:02 PM in response to AllthingsAAPL

haha ok.

look at it like this, you're macbook pro is outputting the sound and video via HDMI right? it's literrally sending information from itself to another device.

Imagine, if you will, that we are in a a chocolate factory. everything from the factory is being output from the machine and into the workers hands to put into a box or wrapping. Those workers then output the material to boxes and those boxes eventually end up in the hands of a consumer. The physical act of inputting the chocolate from factory to mouth is like your computer to your receiver.

So your receiver, is inputting or receiving the signal to then output from it's own speakers. But it still needs the signal, the chocolate, for it play anything.

So you are trying to input hdmi INTo the receiver. Where it plays your media. The fact that it outputs audio from your HDMI is just an added bonus to record from or connect to another receiver.

In any case, I'm glad it worked and I'm glad I was able to help. I don't mean to be condescending, some people like hearing things in a different way.

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