Is surround sound easy on a mac

audioitunesmovie

My iMac, Macbook Pro, and Mac Mini all have only one stereo audio output each – none of them have digital audio output either (though perhaps other models do?).

  • Does OS X support surround sound?

  • Are there surround sound output devices (USB, presumably) for OS X, or does the HDMI output (via displaylink adaptor) of later models support surround sound?

  • Does iTunes, Quicktime, or any other video software output surround sound for SD or HD movies, assuming you have an appropriate output device?

I know this could be three separate questions, but the base question I'm really interested in knowing is:

  • Can I use a Mac as my primary entertainment device and easily get surround sound out of it for most applications, or is it going to be limited and/or difficult to set up?

I currently use a windows PC for my TV Tuner, Blueray, DVD, and Netflix all of which support surround sound, and they simply all work together without problems. Is the Mac any easier or harder to do this with?

Best Answer

In terms of hardware, according to Mactracker, Mac Minis (and most other Macs) since early 2006 come with a 3.5-mm analog/optical combo jack and models since mid 2010 also come with an HDMI port, both of which should support multichannel audio if your source material provides it. You can find the specs for your own Mac by clicking the "This Mac" item in the left-hand pane.

Specs for the current (Mid 2011) Mac Mini say:

HDMI port supports multichannel audio output

and for most of the other models, as an alternative to the 3.5-mm analog/optical combo jack, this Apple support page says that you can also use a mini Display port to HDMI adapter to receive multichannel audio and video (though I'm not sure what software support for this would be like):

These computers supply multichannel audio (up to 8 channels) and video signals over Mini DisplayPort:

MacBook (Mid 2010) and later

MacBook Air (Late 2010) and later

MacBook Pro (Mid 2010) and later

Mac mini (Mid 2010) and later

iMac (Late 2009) and later

Mac Pro (Mid 2010)

To connect your television or other HDMI devices to your Mac, use select third-party Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapters that conform to the VESA v1.1a DisplayPort Interoperability Guidelines

Depending on the software player, it should be just a question of connecting the HDMI/optical output to your recevier and getting multichannel output. I use XBMC and get 5.1 surround sound output (AC3 or DTS) over HDMI, and I believe the latest "Eden" release supports 7.1. It also does blu-ray (rips only, I assume), DVD and has an excellent plug-in system which includes Netflix. Alternatively, Plex is an another alternative and will do much the same thing. Once you get your media set up, both will work pretty much out-of-the-box.

As for a TV tuner, Elgato's EyeTV looks very good.

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