Further
03-28-07, 12:52 PM
All new Macs, as well as some older ones (the G5, for example), include as standard an optical digital port. Using an optical cable (and adapter -- see the Mac FAQ for more information), you can connect your Mac to a home-theater audio amplifier and enjoy surround sound (also called Dolby Digital, DTS, AC3 and 5.1).
Earlier, it was not possible to play back surround sound in Apple's Quicktime, however, a solution has now been found! You can read the instructions how to do it here (http://geekwithfamily.com/2007/07/05/home-theater/howto-5-easy-steps-to-output-dolby-digital-from-quicktime-player/) . If you need a simple (and free) prefs editor (as mentioned in the article), you can find one here (http://www.nightproductions.net/prefsetter.html). Or, if you feel comfortable using Terminal, (thanks to AVS member Yuvi) just type in (without the quotes) "defaults write com.cod3r.a52codec attemptPassthrough 1".
As an added bonus, Apple's Front Row will now also be able to play back in glorious surround sound many of the file types it previously only played in stereo.
There are basically two file types that contain surround sound: 1. DVDs and 2. everything else (.avi, .dvix, etc.). Apple's own DVD Player can playback DVDs (either the original disk or a disk ripped to a hard drive) with full surround sound. VLC, a freeware program can play both 1. and 2. (DVDs and everything else) with full surround sound. MPlayer, another freeware program, is also able to playback DVDs and other file formats, but it is unclear whether surround sound will work for all users.
In both Apple's DVD Player as well as VLC, you will first need to adjust the preferences so that audio is sent as a digital signal via the digital output.
EyeTV, a DVR program, can playback TV programs it has recorded containing surround sound.
There are also "front-end" programs for the Mac that can playback surround sound, but they are limited mostly to DVDs. They major ones are: Apple's Front Row, MediaCentral and MythTV Frontend.
We expect that more programs will become available in the future with surround sound ability. We will update this sticky when they become available.
Earlier, it was not possible to play back surround sound in Apple's Quicktime, however, a solution has now been found! You can read the instructions how to do it here (http://geekwithfamily.com/2007/07/05/home-theater/howto-5-easy-steps-to-output-dolby-digital-from-quicktime-player/) . If you need a simple (and free) prefs editor (as mentioned in the article), you can find one here (http://www.nightproductions.net/prefsetter.html). Or, if you feel comfortable using Terminal, (thanks to AVS member Yuvi) just type in (without the quotes) "defaults write com.cod3r.a52codec attemptPassthrough 1".
As an added bonus, Apple's Front Row will now also be able to play back in glorious surround sound many of the file types it previously only played in stereo.
There are basically two file types that contain surround sound: 1. DVDs and 2. everything else (.avi, .dvix, etc.). Apple's own DVD Player can playback DVDs (either the original disk or a disk ripped to a hard drive) with full surround sound. VLC, a freeware program can play both 1. and 2. (DVDs and everything else) with full surround sound. MPlayer, another freeware program, is also able to playback DVDs and other file formats, but it is unclear whether surround sound will work for all users.
In both Apple's DVD Player as well as VLC, you will first need to adjust the preferences so that audio is sent as a digital signal via the digital output.
EyeTV, a DVR program, can playback TV programs it has recorded containing surround sound.
There are also "front-end" programs for the Mac that can playback surround sound, but they are limited mostly to DVDs. They major ones are: Apple's Front Row, MediaCentral and MythTV Frontend.
We expect that more programs will become available in the future with surround sound ability. We will update this sticky when they become available.