Optical Out and Airplay status

I remember when 4.4 came out, the optical out was thoroughly hosed for people who use the ATV as a simple audio-only bridge to an amp, with no HDMI cable attached. I was able to downgrade to 4.3 in time and have stayed there ever since, though I think the bug was fixed in a 4.4 revision. I've since heard people complain about subsequent updates that there can be a burst of static when optical commences. Starting with 4.4, there was also what I remember calling the "Airplay two-step bug", which required one to go back and forth between the Apple TV and the iPhone/iPod targets to get the Apple TV to play. What's the current state of the ATV2 WRT optical out and these and any other issues?

Hi, and a Warm Welcome to the Power Mac G5 Forum!
Presumably it's the Startup Bong that's getting on your nerves - as you shouldn't be hearing Application sound from the puny internal speaker if you have set all the Preferences to use optical audio-out.
The Bong is part of the Startup routine in firmware, and goes to the basic audio circuit because OS X, and your Sound Preferences selecting optical audio-out, haven't been loaded at that initial stage.
The hardware solutions you have already mentioned.
These may be of interest
http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/16425
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/25458
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/28685
Personally, I find the tinny Bong mysteriously reassuring. Good Luck.

Similar Messages

Optical out and internal spaeker issue.. i need help..

how can i get rid of the internal speaker sound without disconnecting it from the board or pluging any 1/8 trs jack at the back while using optical out.
need help ...... thanks!!!!

Hi, and a Warm Welcome to the Power Mac G5 Forum!
Presumably it's the Startup Bong that's getting on your nerves - as you shouldn't be hearing Application sound from the puny internal speaker if you have set all the Preferences to use optical audio-out.
The Bong is part of the Startup routine in firmware, and goes to the basic audio circuit because OS X, and your Sound Preferences selecting optical audio-out, haven't been loaded at that initial stage.
The hardware solutions you have already mentioned.
These may be of interest
http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/16425
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/25458
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/28685
Personally, I find the tinny Bong mysteriously reassuring. Good Luck.

Toshiba 32 XV505 optical out and sound bar

Hi guys, wonder if you can help.
I have a toshiba XV505 TV and I've just bought a Cambridge Audio TV minx sound bar, it works fine with a headphone cable from the TV but for best quality sound I wanted to use an optical out cable. But when plugging in the optical cable I get nothing, I've tried the optical cable with the DVD player and it works fine so the cable is good. Is this some type of restriction with the TV that it can't output the sound?
I can't find a setting in the menu where I'd need to enable it. Can anybody help?

The optical out option is not displayed.
nothing to do with Midi Setup, the issue is Hardware level, when hdmi is plugged there is no way to get out signal from optical out. (no red light). Even with hdmi to dvi converter.
I just bought a none official MDP to DVI adapter, hoping it works.... just paid about 8$. But I think it's a shame to make users find own solutions and spend even more money, after spendig 1000€ in a Mac mini.......
That's not the way to do things, they made a big mistake with that, no way to get optical sound, im going to try this last trick, but even if it works im totally disappointed with apple. After more than two months Late 2012 mini come out, and no solution for this.... just an update we need!!

Possible to use both optical out AND regular line out at the same time?

I currently have my computer speakers (logitech z560) hooked up to the mac pro via regular stereo jack in the back. I have an extra receiver that I would love to hook in to supply me with some needed sound for movie watching and what-not.. Is there a way to enable both line out - digital and line out at the same time?

You can set DVD Player's "Audio output" to "Digital Out" in its "Disc Setup" preference, while other applications use Line Out.
You could use a splitter on Line Out to feed your current speakers, and analog Line In on your receiver. When you want sound to both systems, set the receiver to Line In. When you want to watch DVDs, set it to Digital In. This will give you surround sound if the DVD has multichannel sound, and the receiver supports more than two channels.
If you really want the same output on the Mac Pro Line Out, and Digital Out, you can use the "Auxiliary Device Output" effect in Audio Hijack Pro
<http://www.rogueamoeba.com/audiohijackpro/>
It will not support more than two-channel audio.

Optical out and RCA audio out -- do they both work simultaneously?

On teh Apple TV, does audio get output over the digital optical output and the RCA audio jacks simulatenously?

Optical and HDMI sound works simultaneously as well. You can use an optical to SPDIF converter to convert it to coax, then send across the house via cheap RG6 satellite cable and convert it back if necessary to optical if you want your surround amplifier in an equipment closet somewhere or away from your wall mounted TV.
When you don't want surround sound, you can simply turn the TV speaker volume back up. I haven't tried the RCA jacks, but it appears that all audio outputs are active simultaneously.
When you activate volume control, the apple remote will modify the volume level of the optical output as well.

Line/Optical out and internal speakers?

When a line is inseted into the jack whether it be optical or RCA leads the sound will only be outputted from the jack - obvously.
Is this a software or hardware switch? Is there any way of disabling it allowing sound from both output and internal iMac speakers?

I suppose a speaker with a USB connection will not
override the internal speakers...
Ah, but they do as you must select your output source - in my case I have a 1st generation set of USB Soundsticks and you must select between internal or Soundsticks.
BTW - for those looking for speakers, I would stay away from any USB speakers still out there (although it burns me to do so I might buy a pair of Soundsticks II which use the audio jack... Garageband 3.01 hangs when using the USB Soundsticks unless they're plugged directly into the computer - losing one of the USB 2 ports which HURTS!).

MEGA PC Optical Out

I am trying to use the Optical out from my MEGA PC to my Onkyo receiver. I enabled the analog passthrough so the tuner card audio would go through the Optical out and it is garbled as though there was too much gain. I switched to the 5.1 analog out for now (my receiver has 5.1 RCA inputs), but had to change to 4 channel because there was way too much signal going tothe subwoofer.
Any suggestions for making the optical work better with the analog passthrough or being able to reduce the subwoofer output through the analog? The optical gave me the best sound quality for the digital sources.
Thanks

Yea, i tryed almost 5 DVD Roms to find which one is more silent and quicker in acessing discs both in PC and HIFI mode.
They all worked great but i find LG model the Best....
TrojanBarber

Optical Out

I set up my power mac g5 with an optical out cable to a surround sound receiver but no noise at all is coming out. The receiver is set up right, I changed the settings to optical out and nothing is happening. Anything this could be? Thanks

Hi,
Actually, they do make optical cables like that.
Many of the old mini-disk players from the mid-to-late 90's used them for recording. For those who may not know or remember (of have purposefully forgotten) mini-disk was supposed to be the next big thing in a small portable "walkman-style" cd player/recorder. This was obviously before MP3 players took over and became so huge.
They used this mini-jack digital cable that had an optical mini-jack connector on one end and a regular optical connector on the other. With this cable you could record a digital signal from a standard CD player to the mini-disk player.
You should be able to find the cable at any Circuit City or Best Buy-type store.
Best regards.
RJ
20-inch iMac Intel Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Optical Out Quest

Hi,
I'll start by saying, yes I have read the FAQ's above, but they don't seem relevant to my problem.
I've recently purchased an Audigy 2 Platinum EX. I wanted to connect my PC to my Dolby Digital amp via optical connection. The Audigy dri've does indeed have an optical out, and it connects to my amps optical in no problem. I now expected to play a DVD on the PC (A .VOB file or by running an actual disk) and get a Dolby Digital signal at my amp. My Dolby Digital Amp (A Sony STR-DB925) doesn't seem to think that it's recieving a DD signal and plays in normal stereo.
Anyone have an ideas on how I can get this thing working correctly ?
any help appreciated.
Marc

Excellent, thanks guys. It's all working perfectly now. Although I had looked at Audio HQ I had somehow missed the Digital Passthough setting.
Cheers
Marc

Optical out sounds aweful for voices

right now i have my card connected to an onkyo integra series receiver through the optical out and i plug in a headphone to the receiver. when i play a movie, background noises sound absolutely perfect. heck?i can hear a door squeek like it was right next to me and leaves russling in the wind. however, the voices seem to sound muted for some reason. i can barely understand anything. if i plug?the?headphone into the front panel?the problem goes away.
i'm assuming it's some sort of conversion from surround sound mode to stereo headphones issue. i've already set the sb control panel to headphones..
vista 64
soundblaster x-fi titanium

where is the "dolby digital li've" setting? looked everywhere in the creative audio control application..
dwh wrote:
Do you have Dolby Digital Li've turned on while you're doing this? I'm guessing that might be a factor. It sounds to me a lot like you're only hearing the front left/right channels of a 5. signal, since my understanding is that the voices usually are mostly in the center channel.
-Dave
?[email protected]

Beginning of audio cut off when using digital optical out

Hi all,
This is my first post here since switching to Mac earlier this year.
I'm having problems with the first second or so of audio being cut off when commencing playback using the Mac's digital optical out. This happens with any source of audio in a variety of different applications (e.g. video, iTunes, even system sounds for notifications and the like). I have used a mini Toslink to Toslink optical cable to connect from the Mac's audio out jack to the receiver of my digital speakers (Logitech Z906). Once playback has commenced, audio plays fine; it's just the very first second or so which is usually clipped.
The problem does NOT happen when using the built-in speakers. I've also noticed that if I unplug the cable from the receiver end (leaving it connected at the Mac end) I can see the red LED light shining the optical signal down the cable, but this goes out exactly 30 seconds after audio stops playing. If I start another audio playback within 30 seconds, there is no loss of audio at the beginning, but if I wait longer than 30 seconds (i.e. after the LED has gone out) I encounter the problems with the initial audio being clipped. I therefore suspect that this is an OS issue which is shutting down the digital optical out when audio is not actually playing (presumably to save power or something). I wouldn't have a problem with this if it actually worked properly when audio playback recommences, but it seems that there is a slight delay whilst the optical out service 'wakes up' again and this is leading to the clipped audio.
I've done some searching of the internet (and these support communities) for this problem and there seems to be little information about it. It does seem to affect a few other people though and some have resorted to third party applications or scripts which play silent audio at regular intervals to keep the optical output running permanently (e.g. SoundStay (https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/39833/soundstay) - no longer maintained and the download link is dead). However, these amount to a kludge at best which treat the symptoms rather than the underlying cause, which I would rather resolve.
I tried to log a support case with Apple in order to have them call me, only to have the system tell me that my support has already expired, despite having purchased the Mac only 4 months ago. It seems that my Apple One-Year Limited Warranty is actually only 90 days when it comes to telephone support. So here I am!
Does anyone else have this problem with optical out, and how can I resolve this? Any help would be gratefully appreciated.
Thank you.

Hello kcore66,
Would it be possible for you to upload one of the files in
question so that I can take a look. In Captivate 1.01 there is an
intermittent problem where sometimes the audio is either cut off or
just doesn't play when you publish / preview. To get around this
simply moving the audio object back and forth along the timeline
and then positioning it back in it's original position works 9
times out of 10.
HTH
Regards,
Mark

Worn-out headphone jack as optical out for computer audio via external DAC

I have been using my iMac's headphone output jack to connect with a DAC and my audio system for some time now, but I apparently have inserted and removed the optical plug connector so many times to switch between DAC and internal iMac speakers that it has worn out: pulling the plug out of the jack no longer always switches the sound output back to internal speakers - Built-in. I have to pull it in and out several times and even this doesn't always work. Is anyone aware of a switch I could install to do this without constantly pulling the plug out and plugging it back in?

My suggestion to work around this problem would be to hook up an Airport Express. The AE also has an optical out the same as your iMac. As long as your wireless connection is robust enough you should be able to stream from your iMac to your AE and then have the optical cable connect between your AE and your DAC, which then connects to your Integrated Amp/Receiver/Pre-Amp (depending on your system configuration).
I assume because you are using the optical out and connecting to an external DAC that you are looking for a high level of Audio quality ?

MacMini 2011 Optical Out / z5500

I cannot for the life of me get any sound via optical out and my logitech z5500 5.1 system!
not via midi settings or sound settings.
does anyone have a solution?
thanks

forgot. Ive done a PRAM & SMC reset. And no help.

Dolby Surround with optical out scratches

When I start watching a film in iTunes with Dolby Surround the sound is scratching and it is still not possible to understand a word what they are saying. The audio is transmitted over an optical out and my codec if necessary is Perian.
Thank you for helping!

Just thought I'd jump in and say:
1). Turn on Xbox with no disc in the drive.
2). Go to the 'Settings' menu.
3). Select the 'Audio' menu.
4). There should be an option for Mono, Stereo and Dolby Digital <---Select Dolby Digital.
5). Pop a game in (Halo works best for this ) and enjoy!
Note that some people I know (including myself) have found that the rear speaker come out a bit quiet compared to the front speakers when playing Xbox, so you may need to adjust your speaker set accordingly.
Hope this helps, Kaya.

Audugy 2 Platinum Spdif Optical out audio skips/stutters/static/pop/interfere

I have the Audigy Dolby 5. working, blue light from the sony receiver, but when the dvd plays with powerdvd, the picture is fine, but the audio skips and stutters. It works fine when I am decoding via the audigy and analog,?and I have tried powerdvd and windvd and they both have the same issue with spdif, so the issue is with the Optical out and some kind of interference.
Is there anything?I can do?
Any input would be appreciated, thank you.
My system:
[size="" color="#008000">Coolermaster ATC-20-VX case w/ Rosewill 850W PSU[size="2" color="#000000"> | [size="">[color="#008000">[url=mailto:[email protected]">[email protected][/url] [email protected] w/ Zalman CNPS9700 LED[size="2" color="#000000"> | [size="">[color="#008000">eVga 780i BIOS P03 w/ 2GB OCZ Platinum PC8500[size="2" color="#000000"> | [size="">[color="#008000"> - WD 60GB + 2 - 36GB WD Raptors [size="2" color="#000000">| [size="">[color="#008000">2-MSI [url="http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/profile.php?do=editsignature#">Geforce[/url] 8800GT OC in SLI ([url="http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/profile.php?do=editsignature#">Stock[/url]) w/ Viewsonic G80-2[size="2" color="#000000"> | [size="">[color="#008000">Creative SB Audigy 2 Platinum? [size="2" color="#000000">| [size="">[color="#008000">XP Professional SP2[size="2" color="#000000">

hey roachmojo,
join the club...i have exactly the same issues as you have...WinXP SP2, Audigy Platinum, Optical In from Sat Recei'ver, Creative Gigaworks 7. analog speakers...
sound skips, stutters, cracks, pops continuously
tried upgrading drivers, but made problem even worse
can't go back to old drivers even with thorough uninstall (registry, driver cleaner pro, manual deletion, etc.)
might be because creative "downgraded" firmware on my card with new drivers
i'm using an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe M/B with Nvidia Nforce audio onbard (heard there's major issues with this)
any help would be appreciated, otherwise it's time to toss this junk out

Optical Out and Airplay status

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