[tonygeno]

I just purchased an M-Audio Audiophile Firewire for my Mac Mini. I'm running OSX 10.4.2 and have the latest driver. When watching DVDs I'm able to get Dolby Digital but not DTS. Am I missing a setting? Thanks for any help.


BTW J&R has these puppies for $139 which is unbelievable.

 

[newHTowner]

I just bought the Sonica Theater and was able to pass through DD. However, DTS is not showing up on my receiver - what settings are you using? I've read that DTS does passed through but I can't remember from where.

 

[tonygeno]

I'm just using SPDIF out and chose the M-Audio in the DVD Player Audio settings menu. But DTS is MIA. I know one guy claims to have got it to work with an M-Audio Firewire, but I'm not sure he said how.

 

[tonygeno]

I guess no-one's been able to get DTS to work. Oh, well.

 

[chefklc]

sorry tony, yeah, I'm the guy with the M-audio Firewire Solo and a mini and I've had DTS pass-through since day one with Apple dvd player, all the way from 10.3.8 through 10.4.2, but the Solo is a newer product than the Audiophile, I'm not sure if that's made a difference.


What driver are you using--1.5.3?


Besides checking in DVD Player audio preferences to select the M-audio device out, have you also looked in Utilities > Audio MIDI Setup and also in System Preferences > Sound > Output--you should see it there as well. Select the Audiophile in all three and try your DTS again.


I took a look at your model's software control panel online and it is a little more complex than mine--and I'm not at home so I can't verify exactly which boxes in which menus are checked--but from what I remember, in that first mixer column "1/2 sw rtn" I have both the "1/2" button and the "spd" button highlighted--so when I switch between iTunes and surround passthrough with Apple dvd player, I never have to change any setting within the Solo control panel--it just works. It'll be another day before I'm back in town and can check settings on the Solo itself. Under the "output" panel do you see a choice between "pass through" and "mixer?" Have you tried both?


If none of this works, the other thing I noticed on the M-audio site is that under the Solo it says "OS X 10.3.5 or later required for Dolby Digital and DTS pass-through with Apple DVD player" while under the Audiophile it says "OS 10.3 required for Dolby Digital and DTS pass-through with Apple DVD Player." I'd call up tech support and ask can it be that the "or later" was not inadvertantly left out with the Audiophile?

 

[chefklc]

ok Tony, I just checked for you, in my Solo control panel, under "hardware" > "spdif output source" > I can choose between "pass thru" and "mixer" and I leave this set to "mixer."


and under "mixer" > "1/2 sw rtn" > I have the following 3 buttons selected (highlighted in blue): "link" "1/2" and "spd" and under "spdif sw rtn" I have "link" and "spd" selected.


that arrangement, in 10.4.2 with driver vers. 1.5.3 for the Solo, gives me DTS passthrough when playing a dvd/video_ts and iTunes when I want to listen to music--without having to go into the M-audio hardware control panel each time and switch back and forth between "pass thru" and "mixer."

 

[tonygeno]

Thanks, I'll try it. I am running the latest driver software, so hopefully this will take care of it. I'll let you know.

 

[tonygeno]

Well, unfortunately, no go regarding DTS. It might have to do with the older Firewire Audiophile. Thanks for the suggestions. I guess my next line of attack is M-Audio's tech support.

 

[tonygeno]

Well, I did some more trouble shooting and discovered the following: my M-Audio Firewire was stuck at a sampling rate of 88200. Why, I don't know, and I was unable to unstick it. Then I did a search on the internet, and there was some talk as to how software would lock the sample rate. I just didn't know which software was locking me in. I decided to open garage band as I knew it allowed variable sample rates which might allow me to reset the M-Audio, at which point the sample rate of the M-Audio dropped to 44.1, Dolby PL2X started working on my Outlaw 990 (the 7-channel variety didn't work before), and DTS worked on the Apple DVD player. Weird to say the the least. At least I now have a fix if it gets "stuck" again at 88200.

 

[lpfactor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chefklc ok Tony, I just checked for you, in my Solo control panel, under "hardware" > "spdif output source" > I can choose between "pass thru" and "mixer" and I leave this set to "mixer." and under "mixer" > "1/2 sw rtn" > I have the following 3 buttons selected (highlighted in blue): "link" "1/2" and "spd" and under "spdif sw rtn" I have "link" and "spd" selected. that arrangement, in 10.4.2 with driver vers. 1.5.3 for the Solo, gives me DTS passthrough when playing a dvd/video_ts and iTunes when I want to listen to music--without having to go into the M-audio hardware control panel each time and switch back and forth between "pass thru" and "mixer."

I'd like to thank both you and TonyGeno for dealing with this issue. For the first time I was asked to help a friend set up his Mac so he can enjoy his DVDs, including full sound. I finished the job in five minutes and gave both of you full credit for setting up the M-audio device.

 

[chefklc]

That's great news, which Mac and M-audio combo did he choose--did you steer him toward a firewire interface? For those of us trying to push less-expensive Macs deeper into home theater contexts, I don't know where we'd be without M-audio.


I downloaded the 10.4.3 update last night and can verify the M-audio Firewire Solo still works perfectly with it for AC-3 passthrough and iTunes.


(I read a user report on Macintouch about 10.4.3 breaking the functionality of his dual G4 with a M-Audio Audiophile 2496 card, but that's the only thing I've seen.)

 

[lpfactor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chefklc That's great news, which Mac and M-audio combo did he choose--did you steer him toward a firewire interface? For those of us trying to push less-expensive Macs deeper into home theater contexts, I don't know where we'd be without M-audio. I downloaded the 10.4.3 update last night and can verify the M-audio Firewire Solo still works perfectly with it for AC-3 passthrough and iTunes. (I read a user report on Macintouch about 10.4.3 breaking the functionality of his dual G4 with a M-Audio Audiophile 2496 card, but that's the only thing I've seen.)

A purchase of the Firewire Audiophile had been made. The OS is 10.3.9 on a Dual G-4 so I can't comment on the 10.4.x-m-Audio interaction, if any. I spent more time tuning his listening room than configuring the hardware. I managed to find a place to keep the CPU (fan noise) and slipped in a FW PCI card to provide a separate bus.