AC3/Dolby 5.1 sound through my Mac Mini

Is there an adapter that allows me to take advantage of Dolby 5.1?
I want to hear my videos and movies through my stereo system in 5.1/AC3. There must be some sort of adapter that exports AC3 through usb, firewire or the Stereo port.

I'm using this software.
http://geekwithfamily.com/2007/07/05/home-theater/howto-5-easy-steps-to-output-d olby-digital-from-quicktime-player/
Works fine with OS X 10.4.x & QuickTime 7.2
You just need a toshlink cable & toslink to Mini-toslink adaptor.
I got them here.
http://www.mycablemart.com/store/cart.php?m=product_list&c=11
I also get Dolby 5.1 using Apples DVD player & VLC

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No Sound through HDMI - Mac Mini

Hello Forum, New user to this forum, I have a problem, I have bought Mac Mini ( August,2010) for home use and recently bought LG -32LD450 - 32". I have connected my TV directly to Mac Mini using a 1.3X HDMI cable. I have video/ display - however no sound. All i can hear is sound from the Mac Mini's internal speaker. I tried to change the setting through - System preference/sound/output. It displays - LG / HDMI - however i cannot select, the setting is active with internal speakers only. Please advise how i can obtain audio from the TV.
I forgot to mention the message seen in System Preference/Sound/Output - LG TV HDMI - Settings for the Selected Device : The Selected Device has no output controls.
In addition to the above, i have tried to check the output controls through Utilities/Audio Midi Setup. Here too i am not in a position to alter HDMI Settings.
Help in this regards is highly appreciated...thanks
Please help

Krusdublin: I am experiencing similar issues with no real solution yet:
I have a Mac Mini 2010 connected to a Sony Bravia HD TV via an HDMI cable
sound output via TV speakers was not working when I first connected the two (about 4 mos ago)
couldn't figure it out- and just used an headphone cable to connect the mac mini to a stereo
somewhere between then and a month ago I disconnected all incl. power, and reconnected as I had to re-setup my tv (all reconnected in the same outlets via HDMI) (also got rid of the stereo at this point)
then about a month ago I was back in the Sound preferences and found that I was able to get audio output via the TV speakers.
about a week or so ago I disconnected all incl. power, and reconnected as I had to re-setup my tv (all reconnected in the same outlets via HDMI)
however, about 3 days ago, sound output via TV was no longer an option
when I say it is not an option, I have two lines under name and types as follows:
"Internal Speakers" > "Built-In Output"
"SONY TV" > "HDMI"
when I switch from internal speakers to HDMI, I notice that the sound volume bar at the bottom of the screen goes faint, and I can't adjust the volume using the sound keys on my keyboard (bluetooth)
the speaker icon in the top right of the screen is also greyed-out and not changeable...
I notice that when I switch input on my TV aerial to the MacMini (HDMI 1) I get a little yellow triangle with exclamation mark in it, and the text: "AUDIO only" at the bottom right of the tv screen. (In not sure if I had this before or not - dont completely remember seeing it, but vaguely do...)
I've also updated my macmini whenever an update is released (within a few days)...
I've spoken with an Apple tech over the phone and went through a number of reboot (while holding down certain keys, etc.) to no avail. She then recommended that I go into the Apple store and have the mini checked out....
At the apple store, the apple tech took the machine to the back, out of sight, and returned about 20 mins later to say that it was working fine. I asked to have it hooked up to one on display - so I could see for myself. We hooked it up to an HDTV via HDMI and booted up. Went to System Preferences > Sound and selected: "Panasonic TV" as the output device. I still could not adjust the volume bar (it went greyed out) - but I could crank up the tv volume directly and get sound. Great! Sort of... While now I could get sound - it was not the same as before where I could control the sound through the mac - only directly through the TV. The Apple guy said that he didn't know what I was talking about - and said that they way the machine was now working was the proper way. He unhooked my mac mini, and gave it to me, and walked away.
Frustrated, I walked down to the Sony Store to try out the mac mini there. Same result as in the Apple store. I could control sound directly via the TV, but not through the mac mini controls.
Took the mac mini home, reconnected everything and now get sound through the TV - but I cant control it with the mac mini on-screen controls, nor the volume buttons on the mac blue tooth keyboard.
Today, I was watching a movie via itunes, hit pause, and went to do something for a few minutes. When I returned, the TV indicated 'no signal' via the HDMI (I assume because the mini went to sleep.) Tried to wake the mini - but couldn't. Had to resort to pressing the button at the back. When the mini came back, I had no sound at all coming through the TV speakers, even though the sound preferences settings were still the same. I had to resort to shutting down the mac mini, and then unplugging the power on the mini for a few minutes. Powering back up, sound was again able to comefromt eh mac through the TV speakers - but still could not control sound using the mac mini controls.......
Thats where Im at so far....
Aarrgh.
THOUGHTS?
Thanks in advance,
MAJM

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The Griffin Technology FireWave will give you the 3 'cables' ("FireWave outputs six channel audio through three 1/8” (3.5mm) stereo mini-jacks: Left/Right, Center/Subwoofer and Right Surround/Left Surround.") connection for surround sound (speakers) audio. Whether or not a particular headphone set is compatible, you might ask Griffin directly about that. If you're playing a DVD with VLC or the Apple DVD Player, you will get surround sound. But, you'd have to find an MP3 with multi-channel audio inside it to play surround sound out of iTunes.
-Doug

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There have been various threads realting to this but nothin up to date or resolved as i can determine. I plan to use a Mac Mini as the core AV processor in a high end 8 channel sound system in a home cinema set up. The mac mini runing XBMC or similar will need to process high definitiion video files that contain Dolby and DTS True HD 8 channels bit streams and be able to pass these streams unchanged and uncompressed to the HDMI port for external decoding.
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I know this thread is a little old now, but I've been wondering the same thing myself - so I googled it and came up with this thread.
I've just bought a new 7.1 Amp, the Yamaha RXV677 from Richer Sounds. It handles DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 and Dolby TrueHD 7.1. Up until now I've not been able to try this sound format out as my current 2009 Mac Mini only sends audio through the Optical Out, so the best I can get is Dolby Digital 5.1 pass thru via S/PDIF. I was quite happy with this arrangement, until I get around to buying a blu-ray player. However, I realised my work laptop is a 2014 MacBook Pro with HDMI out. Therefore out of curiosity I decided to download a couple of HD demos from demo-world.eu that have DTS-HD MA 7.1 audio tracks embedded in them. I tried opening them up in VLC media player (version 2.1.5) and hooked up my 2014 MacBook Pro via HDMI to my Amp. To my amazement it worked!! - I got glorious 7.1 DTS-MA into my Amp, and it sounded simply stunning!! In VLC I had two HDMI audio devices to choose from 'HDMI' and 'Encoded HDMI' (or something like that - I'll have to hook it up again to be sure). When using straight HDMI output, my Amp read it as 'PCM Audio' but when using 'Encoded HDMI' it read it as 7.1 DTS Audio giving the sample rate and bit rate. I need to spend a bit more time testing this out - but it definitely works, and it definitely plays in surround from all my available speakers (I have a 5.1 setup, so can't test the other 2 surround channels).
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Hi all,
I have a funny situation where my mac no longer recognises my receiver as a surround sound device through the digital optical connection. It used to, it worked for about a year and a half, then suddenly stopped sending 5.1. 2.0 still worked (mp3s, avis), but trying to send 5.1 (mkvs) ended up with no sound whatsoever, on any app (VLC, Plex).
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Resetting the NVRAM / PRAM, as per > About NVRAM and PRAM
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3. Turn on the computer.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
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Hi there,
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http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103865&cp=&origkw=audioy+adapter&kw=audio+yadapter&parentPage=search
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Thanks,
Ken

Hi,
Thanks for the info. I confirmed at one of the Apple Stores near me that the sound is exactly as you described it. I agree with you, this is the noisiest optical drive that I've ever heard, significantly louder than the sound that an empty floppy drive makes when booting a Windows machine.
Thanks again,
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http://sourceforge.net/projects/cotvnc/
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Let me explain:
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http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Target_Disk_Mode
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http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
Boot the G5 iMac holding the Option/alt key, & see if the Install Disc in the Intel iMac shows up as a boot choice.

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Sorry if this question has been asked before,
and maybe it is a feature that is "undocumented",
but this is the first Mac I've owned ( and I got several)
where the onboard speaker is low and tinny,
even with the volume all the way up.
I had to plug in a pair of old powered compaq speakers
into the headphone jack to get decent sound, comparable to
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or my iBook G4 1.25.
Is this natural, or should I be concerned?

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What do you mean by poor sound?
The Sound is controlled by System Preferences>Sounds>Output

AC3/Dolby 5.1 sound through my Mac Mini

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