Mac Book 5.1 to Yamaha ?????

[admin_exported]

Hello all, I am hoping that you may be able to offer some pearls of wisdom. After several hours of trawling the internet I am none the wiser. I have connected my MacBook Pro to my Panasonic plasma and Yamaha DSP A5 amp with a mini display port to HDMI adapter and toslink cable. I am unable to get anything other than stereo sound using the toslink cable direct from the computer to the optical in on the amp. If I play an i-Tunes track or music video there is stereo sound, but as soon as I try to play a DVD there is no sound.

I am 99.9% sure that I have all the settings correct at the computer end, am I missing something at the amp end? Is the amp to old? Getting confused, need the help of people who know.

Any help appreciated

CB

 

[professorhat]

This is strange so I did some investigation and found I had the same issue. Turns out, by default, the Mac only outputs 2 channels from the optical port unless you're using the built in DVD Player which is able to bypass this if you have the correct setting - see here.

So it's worth checking your DVD Player preferences - go into DVD Player, or insert a DVD so that it loads up, then press Stop to stop the DVD so you just have the application open (as you can't change the audio settings if something is playing). Now, from the top menu, click DVD Player, then choose Preferences.

Then click on the DVD Setup option and, under the Audio section, ensure the Audio output is set to Digital Out - Built-in Audio:

Now try it again - should sort it out.

 

[Anonymous]

Professorhat

Thank you for your reply. I have tried the DVD prefs. settings, and the audio output automatically defaults to digital out but when I try to configure the speakers it will only allow stereo output and won't allow me to select any of the other 5.1 , 7.1 etc. options. Stereo fine, pink noise out of left and right, but not centre or rear. Bloody technology, no then where are my wax cylinders?

The Mac forums are rife with this problem and there does not seem to be a definitive cure, which is what made me think that it might be an amp issue. I will go and have another fiddle.

Thank you agin.

CB

 

[professorhat]

Hmm, very strange. Once I'd set this, I was successfully able to get 5.1 from my Onkyo amp. This was just set to auto mode and it picked up the Dolby Digital soundtrack straight away.

Hope you find a solution.

 

[Anonymous]

Professor

Is your about me up to date? I was toying with the idea of a Onkyo amp (early Christmas present 2011 =) )

Also what OS are you on, Snow Leopard?

Regards

CB

 

[professorhat]

It is indeed, I have an Onkyo 905 (quite an old amp now, but still excellent). I'm actually on Leopard as I have an older PowerPC based Power Mac so couldn't upgrade to Snow Leopard.

 

[Anonymous]

Professorhat

Right been having a poke about, and discovered that the DVD prefs. was not allowing me to switch to digital out put; which in my despair and rage I had overlooked . Having quit DVD player and restatred it without a DVD in it finally allowed me to change the setting, then bingo DTS, Dolby 5.1, 96k Stereo.

Thanks again for making me look a little harder at what was staring me in the face = l

ATB

CB