How to make a 5.1 Surround Sound Blu-Ray with FCP

Question

Being disappointed that FCP only makes Blu-Ray discs with a stereo soundtrack I decided to find a way to make one with my 5.1 soundtrack. After hacking the build process by replacing the stereo AC3 file with a 5.1 version while it was still making the video file I stumbled on a very simple method of making a 5.1 Blu-Ray.
In FCP, choose Share and select Blu-Ray. Check the box that says something like "burn Blu-Ray disc". When the project is ready to transcode and burn, hit the "Send to Compressor" button. Once in compressor, right-click on the Dolby Digital 2.0 setting and select "Edit Setting" (or "Change setting", not sure which, my FCP machine somewhere else at the moment) and browse to the 5.1 Dolby Digital setting. Select it and submit the job. When done, you'll have a 5.1 Blu-Ray disc of your project.

Answer 1

There is no way to create a real Dolby sound unfortunately. The mac currently only supports 2 channel outputs. There are interfaces you can buy that will separate the bass and send it to the subwoofer, and fake a 5 channel sound field, but ultimately it will only run 2 sets of stereo speakers, and one mono in the middle, so it is not true surround sound.
Here's a similar thread with more information if you are interested:
How can I connect 5.1 speakers to Macbook Pro 13 bought Summer 2011
I wish there were a way to do it, I personally am a recording musician and an audiophile, and have looked for the same thing on several occasions. But unfortunately at the time, it seems as though there is not the hardware to do it.