Optical Audio question

The Optical "Out" jack on the back of my Mac Pro is lighted with a red light but the "In" jack is not.
Can anyone else confirm this. Why would one jack be lit and the other not? I just want to see if other Mac Pro's are like this. Thanks.

Optical audio works by having a transmitter and a
receiver. The data is transmitted as red light, so
the audio out has a red light blinking to transmit
the data. The audio in doesn't need a transmitter,
because it is a receiver, so that's why there is no
blinking red light.
Hope this clears everything up!
Liam.
Thanks Liam! Should the red light be on even though I don't have an optical cable connected to it?

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Question on optical audio out

Hi all, I recently got an entry level 5.1 surround system for my PC (Logitech X-530, if you're that curious) and am wondering if it's possible to utilize my optical audio out with this system. From what I gather, I'd need some kind of decoder, but beyond that, I'm lost. I've tried googling it and searched around this forum a bit, but I can't seem to be pointed to any one product that'll do this. Any help is appreciated.

Ok, the speakers you got are just powered speakers with analog inputs.
They do not have the better digital inputs and do 5.1 decoding.
Mac's don't do 5.1 decoding, so you need either a separate device (like a 5.1-7.1 decoding receiver with digital optical inputs) or a M-Audio sound card installed in your PCI slots.
The M-Audio card for the Mac will use your CPU's to do the 5.1 decoding and send it out analog ports which you can connect those speakers too.
The M-Audio card produces line level output, no amplification. But your powered speaks will do the amplification.
http://images.devshed.com/dh/stories/Logitech%20x530/image005.jpg
(The three plugs on the right are for connecting to a sound card)
If your really into better sound, a quality 5.1-7.1 receiver with digital optical inputs (toslink cable) and good speakers with 80+ watts each and a decent 100+ watt subwoofer will make you cry with happiness. Of course you need to pay over $1000 and up. But it's worth it if your into music.
Check out the Volume Logic iTunes plugin, it's cheap and makes your music sound so much better.
NOTE! Make sure you check that the current M-Audio card will work in your Mac. The PCI spec of the M-Audio card may not match the one's needed by your certain spec of PowerMac G5.

How to make my computer send all the audio through optical audio cable instead of headphone jack?

Howdy,
To listen to online radios or CD's played from my computer, I used to connect the computer to my home entertainment system from the computer's headphone jack to the AUX port on my home entertainment system.
I now wanted to get better sound and purchased the optical audio cable. However, I don't know how to tell my computer to send the audio signal to the home entertainmeny system through the optical digital cable rather than through the headphone jack. If I just unplug the cable connecting the headphone jack and the AUX port and only have the PC and the system connected with the optical audio cable, I don't hear any sounds. I suspect the computer isn't sending any data through the optical audio port. I'm not able to find how I can adjust the settings on my computer so that from now all sounds are output through the optical audio.
1) I'd like to do that mainly for my HP desktop (configuration below) and any advice on how to do that would be appreciated.
2) I also have a HP laptop (configuration below) and was wondering if that would be doable too (even though it doesn't appear to have a audio out, but it has HDMI out - can one convert it to optical audio?
Thanks in advance!
My desktop is:
ENVY h8xt,
• Windows 8 64
• 3rd Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 quad-core processor [3.4GHz, 8MB Shared Cache]
• 12GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [3 DIMMs]
• 1TB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive
• No secondary hard drive
• 1GB AMD Radeon HD 7570 [DVI, HDMI, DP, VGA adapter]
• 300W Power supply
• SuperMulti DVD Burner
• Wireless-N LAN card (1x1)
• 15-in-1 memory card reader, 2 USB 2.0 (front), 2 USB 3.0 (top)
• No Additional Office Software
• No additional Security Software
• No TV Tuner
• Beats Audio (tm) -- integrated studio quality sound
• HP USB volume control keyboard and mouse with Win 8 keyboard
• Adobe Premiere Elements & Photoshop Elements 10
And the laptop:
HP ENVY 15t Quad
• Windows 8.1 64
• 4th generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4700MQ Processor
• NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GT 740M Graphics with 2048MB of dedicated video memory
• 15.6-inch diagonal Full HD BrightView LED-backlit Display (1920x1080)
• 8GB DDR3 System Memory (1 Dimm)
• 1TB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
• 24GB flash Hard Drive Acceleration Cache
• No Additional Office Software
• Security Software Trial
• 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery
• No Internal DVD or CD Drive
• Standard Keyboard
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam w/ integrated digital mic
• 802.11 AC WLAN and Bluetooth(R) [2x2]
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View Solution.

Hello @_goma,
Welcome to the HP Forums, I hope you enjoy your experience!
I have read your post on how you are looking to make your computer send all the audio through an optical audio cable instead of the headphone jack, and I would be happy to assist you in this matter!
To configure your desktop to enable the optical audio cable, I recommend following the steps below:
Step 1. Click the Windows Key Button on your desktop
Step 2. Type "Control Panel"
Step 3. Select "Control Panel" in the top right-hand corner
Step 4. Select Sound
Step 5. Under the Playback tab, right-click the white area below the devices available
Step 6. Select "Show Disabled" and "Show Disconnected Devices"
Step 7. Connect your Optical Audio Cable
Step 8. Select your Optical Audio Cable as the default device and click "Enable"
Since it is not possible to convert the HDMI out to audio out on your notebook computer, it is unfortunate that the notebook is not able to connect with an optical audio cord.
Please re-post with the results of your troubleshooting, and I look forward to your reply!
Regards
MechPilot
I work on behalf of HP
Please click “Accept as Solution ” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the right to say “Thanks” for helping!

How to connect Digital Optical Audio output iMac with Receiver Input

I have connected iMac with onkyo hts-3300 home theater system receiver through optical audio TosLink Cable.( http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Optical-Audio-TosLink-Cable/dp/B001ZU3G2I/ref=sr12?ie=UTF8&qid=1292865309&sr=8-2 ). Unfortunately there is no sound coming out from the Home theater system. I have verified the Receiver optical input is working fine by connecting with my TV optical audio digital out put and the it's working great. The only difference between TV and iMac is, on my TV, it has optical audio digital output and I can use this cable (http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-A102-02M-Digital-connectors/dp/B0002WPREU/ref=s r11?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1297320792&sr=1-1) to make it work. I can also verified my optical audio TosLink Cable working because I can see the red light coming out from the cable. So the only problem could be from iMac. I doubt I need to change the additional setting to configure iMac to use external optical audio setting instead of the buit in audio setting. Hoe can I able to do it? or my iMac(IMAC 21.5"/3.06/2X2GB/500GB/9400M-ITP
MB950ZP/A) doesn't support optical digital audio out put? I have follow this thread http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12769423&#12769423 and to my surprise which doesn't work out for me. I doubt that i need to change some setting, but when I got to setting>> sound I cannot change any setting. I was quite depressed aldy. Can someone answer my question as i m a newbie here. Thanks a lot

Thank you very much for your reply.
@Király : May i know how to Open Audio Midi Setup? Is this Audio Midi Setup is in the locatated in the Setting in Mac Snow Leapord OS? or how to locate this "Audio Midi Setup " in Mac enviroment. Is it possible to open this Audio Midi Setup in windows 7 enviroment also? I Just want to get the audio from my iMac in Hts-3300 onkyo home theatre. YOur help is much appreciated
@rkaufmann87 : Thank you very much for your sharing about this http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/ connection. for me what i understand is the digital audio output in airportexpress is the same as the audio out put in iMac in terms of details sepcs. So this airportexpress will only help you connect wirelessly to home theatre system, rather than waired connection. Other than that nothig much difference. So there is no point for me to spend extra bucks to attain the wireless connection. Unless the airportexpress have optical digital input, which i believe not. Correct me if I m worng, thanks

How do I connect the Apple TV to the home theater if the optical audio port is in use

I had an airport express connected from the home theater system to the speaker out port on the express through which air play worked just fine. Then the express wouldn't work with my new router so I looked for something to replace it. The new Airport Express was the same price as the Apple TV and so I went with it for the added HDMI from NetFlix benefits. Now I find that the cables I used on the express won't work on the Apple TV. It wants an optical cable but there is only one port on the speakers and it is needed to get the sound from the TV to the speakers. So, is here a work around? An adapter or something? What I really wanted it for more than anything else was to use air play to get my music from the computer to the theater speakers.

I have a further question about this. It turns out I do have 2 optical audio ports but I was told I wouldn't need it if it was connected via hdmi. I have 4 ports and they are all in use so the question is whether the best solution is to just get an optical audio cable and connect it directly or get an hdmi splitter so I can add in the Apple TV?

When should I use "Optical Audio"?

Hello,
I have the new (3rd Gen) Apple TV connected wirelessly to my home theater and HDTV. I have the HDMI cable connected to my surround-sound receiver. I was under the impression that the HDMI cable carries both sound AND audio. If this is the case, I'm trying to figure out what the Optical Audio input is for? I went ahead and purchased an Optical Audio cable and connected it to my surround sound receiver.
My question is this: Do I need to have that Optical Audio cable connected, or should I disconnect it and just use the HDMI connection? I looked in the AppleTV manual and it does not describe why you would connect this, and I'm scratching my head trying to understand this.
Thanks much!

Some old receivers didn't handle digital audio over HDMI very well - the only reason I can think of using the port.
If it worked without the optical before, you don't need it now!

Optical Audio to Regular Speakers

Hello, I am planning to purchase a 3rd Gen Apple TV and I want to use it with my Acer monitor (20.1") over DVI with a HDMI-DVI adaptor but if I use that there will be no sound (My monitor has no speakers anyway), So my question is this: How to use the Optical Audio port and send it to a 3.5mm output (just the standard 3.5mm port, the one found on many speakers)? Is there a cable that does it?

To convert audio from the Apple TV optical cable to analogue you will need a DAC such as this (although I'm not posting the link to suggest this particular model), you would also need a cable to convert from phono to mini jack.
You should also be aware that DVI is not officially supported by the Apple TV, you would need to ensure your TV supported 1080p/720p and HDCP and may be worth testing before purchase.

Optical audio but Analogue output

Hi, I connected my AppleTV to my Bose audio system ONLY with optical audio cable.
I figured out that sounds comes out with a movie in DD and ALSO with other sources (like youtube videos).
The Audio & Video settings on ATV is setup to ON regarding DD.
Question: I thought that with that configuration I could hear only DD audio stream. Is a BOSE features or ATV output audio through optical always regardless its source format ?
Thanks, Roberto.

Oh yes, this is the reply I was looking for, so in this case I could avoid using the analogue output (RCA) on ATV ? In the case I'm going to use it anyway which will be the channel used by ATV for outputting audio ?
Question: if I have a movie with two audio tracks (the first one stereo and the the second one in DD) and connect the ATV to my Bose audio system with optical audio cable and my ATV is setup with Dolby Digital on which will be the audio stream passed to my Bose audio system ?
Thanks, Roberto.

Optical audio output jack

Just purchased this new desktop and am running the audio output out throught the optical audio output jack into my surround sound receiver, AWESOME! Wanted to know if I could connect an optical audio splitter to this jack and split the audio output of the computer into TWO separate receivers?
This question was solved.
View Solution.

There are SPDIF/Tolink splitters out on the market... here is an axample.
http://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-Toslink-Optical-Splitter-VHD-TS1X3/dp/B00G191YL8
( I am an HP Employee )

Optical audio output specs

What sample rates and frequencies can the optical audio output handle?
Is 96kHz/24bit available?

I am not convinced you've given a valid answer. Maybe if I elaborate a bit more...
I have a song in iTunes that is in the Apple lossless format. The song is sampled at 96kHz/24bit.
When I play that song via AirTunes to an Airport Express, the optical digital output of the Airport Express provides 48kHz/24bit to the input of my standalone D/A converter. It appears that somewhere between iTunes and the Airport Express the audio information is down-sampled from a 96/24 signal to 48/24 signal.
So my original question, rephrased, is: when I play a 96/24 Apple Lossless file in iTunes, and send that song via AirTunes to AppleTV, what is the sample rate at the optical digital output of the Apple TV? Does Apple TV, like Airport Express, down-sample the digital information, or does it pass the ausio information through at the full 96/24 bitrate of the audio file?

Optical Audio Cable Troubles

I recently purchased the the Panasonic G20 50" HDTV and the Panasonic blu-ray/reciever combo with surrond sound. I have the TV connected to the blu-ray player via the HDMI AV, I was told that I needed an optical audio cable to get surround sound from cable (Charter). When i try to connect the optical cable, I can't get a connection as in the cable can literally fall out and there is not a "snap" when I try to insert the cable. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?
oh by the way its not the $10 cable, they are monster cables.

My two thoughts are:
1) You're inserting the cable in the wrong orientation and it's not going all the way in
2) The optical connector on the device in question is damaged/defective/loose. Which device is the cable falling out of? The surround receiver, the cable box, or both?
Personally, I'd recommend not wasting your money on Monster ever again by the way. I've seen $4 TOSLINK cables that do just as well as the Monsters.
*disclaimer* I am not now, nor have I ever been, an employee of Best Buy, Geek Squad, nor of any of their affiliate, parent, or subsidiary companies.

Analog vs. optical audio out ... and what cable to I use?

I've ordered an iPod Hi-Fi, which I intend to use in place of external speakers for my G5. I have two questions:
First, do I want to connect using the analog or the optical audio out?
Second, if the latter, what kind of cable to I need if the optical is preferable?
Thanks

I don't have a wireless network -- the house we live in is wired for Ethernet, and neither of us use a portable computer. My only concern, therefore, is to find a cable that will go from the PowerMac G5 optical audio out to the audio in on iPod Hi-Fi. From what I've been able to learn online, the former is Toslink, the latter -- as you say -- mini. So I'm assuming that the "mini-to-optical digital Toslink audio cable" will do the job.
I confess, however, that most of this information has not been easy to come by. Apple could certainly do a better job here.

Trying to use optical audio

I have a DVR (slave) connected to a computer monitor as HDMI-2. My computer is connected to this monitor as HDMI-1. When I try to watch TV on this monitor (HDMI-2), video is fine but the only sound I obtain is through the puny speakers built into the monitor. I want to be able to use the surround sound speakers connected to the computer. So, I've attempted to use the optical audio plug on the back of the DVR unit. The sound card in my computer has optical audio in and out ports. I connected a plug from the optical audio plug on the DVR unit to the optical audio "in" plug on the sound card. However it isn't working. The only sound I get continues to come from the tiny speakers inside the monitor.
Can anyone offer me advise how I can get the TV connected to HDMI-2 to use the speakers connected to the computer?
Thank you very kindly.
David

Optical audio out is enabled by default on the Verizon boxes. In fact, I don't think it can be turned off.
You most likely need to adjust a setting in your computer to make it use the optical audio input. It may be a simple as a volume slider. The exact procedure depends on your operating system, sound card and sound card driver.
Good Luck.
If a forum member gives an answer you like, give them the Kudos they deserve. If a member gives you the answer to your question, mark the answer as Accepted Solution so others can see the solution to the problem.

Optical Audio in Vista 32-bit : Different/Wrong behaviour in iMac & MacBook

Hi,
I've installed Boot Camp a long time ago, but couldn't subscribe to these Apple forums for an unknown reason... well I've finally managed to.
About my questions, I've searched on the web but couldn't find a precise answer, or it was just not exactly my problem that I would find. So here are the problems :
*iMac (Late 2006)* : I cannot get sound from my Logitech Z5500 that are plugged via a TOSlink adapter, the optical way. It's just not working at all, while it's working flawlessly in OS X Leopard. The only workaround I have is to remove the adapter from the audio plug, so my iMac produces its sound from its own speakers... They're good, but you know, I don't wanna do that.
*MacBook (Late 2008)* : The optical audio plug is constantly red, meaning that the system forces the sound to be optical, while I don't have anything plugged it. Keep in mind that it works flawlessly, once again, in OS X Leopard. I heard about "the toothpick, the q-tip and the match" trick in the plug, but you see, I tried it, and it's seriously not the problem, because it wouldn't work in OS X. I also noted that by plugging my Z5500 speakers with their adapter in my MacBook, no sound would come out of the speakers. Strange or normal?
So basically, both of my computer have different problems related to optical audio, and I can't get them to produce any sound.
Can anyone shed some light on this? (not red please...)
Thanks in advance!
- Dave

Arg, I didn't really mean to post this in "Installation & Storage"...
Oh well, I believe we could say I didn't succeed in installing the sound devices properly :-\

Apple TV optical Audio stops working when connected to switch

Hi everyone,
I'm installing a brand new Apple TV in the following setup:
Apple TV (is up to date)
- HDMI to HD Beamer
- Optical Audio to Sonos Playbar (Works instantly)
- Optical audio through switch to Sonos Playbar which doesn't work
UPC Box
- HDMI to HD Beamer
- Optical audio to switch to Sonos Playbar (Works instantly)
I've tested all the ports on the switch and cables already and they all work. So the weird thing is when I connect the optical from Sonos directly to the Apple TV it works perfect. But when I use the switch it doesn't work. I see a light in the switch so there should be signal...
The switch I'm using is:
http://www.allekabels.nl/optische-kabels/5/1424/optische-schakelaar.html
I've read older questions and tried different audio settings but nothing seems to work. Can anybody help me?

so i solved my own problem haha here's what i did incase anyone has the same issue
go to system preferences > sound > output > click on headphones then turn the volume up from mute
for some reason every time i reconnect to the uni wifi it goes back to mute. not the regular volume only the one through that pathway.

Optical Audio question

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