Optical sound out kills mac volume control

Using standard audio out to powered speaker allows you to control volume from
the desktop, or volume keys on keyboard.
When using optic out to an amp, all volume control at mac end is lost, although sound through amp is fantastic, I would still like to control volume from my keyboard, is there any way of doing this?

I believe that's the way it's designed. You're expected to control the volume out of your stereo, not the Mac. Since there's no way to use the digital optical connection without a stereo, they expect you to control volume from the stereo.
-Doug

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Sound Blaster Zx SPDIF Volume control

Hello, First post so please don't crucify me, but could somebody help me in understanding why I'm not able to adjust the volume when using SPDIF optical out to my Dennon amp on Zx?
What I do not understand is that if I open the Windows 8.1 sound mixer I can adjust the volume for each application? Why not the mixed volume?
Now, I guess the answer is that there is no 'final mix' stage after the sound is send to the sound card from windows and therefore SPDIF is limited when in 'pass thru' mode but really this is just semantics and a driver limitation.. would it be that hard for Creative (or MS) to design the driver or sound subsytem in such a way that the volume could be adjusted in windows rather than on my amp or per application? It seems fairly fundamental and renders my windows remote pretty useless.
Have I misunderstood the situation or is there some other way I can get this to work?

Ok I think this has to be a bug.. I am doing some more investigating and the behaviour of the volume control does not make sense. I have some screenshots below, its hard to explain but hopefully I can manage to do so!
In the first scenario, changing the speaker volume up and down does NOT change the volume coming from the speakers, as you move the main Speaker volume slider the Application sliders move up and down but do not change.. example
Vol at 50% from speakers..
vol1.jpg
Move main slider down, NO CHANGE, note that application slider is changing but still not changing output volume (even though changing application slider with mouse does work)
vol2png.jpg
Change volume of application and suddenly volume changes to louder
vol3.jpg
Again going back and turning main slider down doesnt change the volume...
So you can get to a situation where the volume for the application says very low and its actually blaring out, then just clicking on the slider suddenly drops the volume.
This has to be a bug? Does anyone else have the same behaviour as this?
Attached Images
vol1.jpg
(9.4 KB, 2 views)

The best way to get 5.1 sound out of Mac Pro

Hello. I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but could someone recommend me the best way to get 5.1 sound of a Mac Pro. Since I don't require hi-fi -level sound, just simple directional audio for gaming and such, I wouldn't like to pour a lot of money to this. As I see it, I'd need an external sound card, internal PCI-E soundcard or speakers that have an optical input. I would like for the cost to be in two digits, euro or dollar.
Any suggestions about hardware?

Once again, the issue of 5.1 w/Apple comes up.
Here is the bottom line.
You will only get 5.1 audio if the following conditions are true:
- You are using the OPTICAL output on your Mac
- You are playing a DVD with a 5.1 soundtrack
That's it. The simple truth is, that even if you have a Z-5500 setup (like I do), you still will not get 5.1 surround in ///any/// applications other then while playing a DVD.
There is no way to get 5.1 out of a game on a Mac Pro. No matter how much money you throw at it. The support simply is not there. It is not a software issue, it is not a driver issue. It is the game developer's issue (sort of), and it is a //lack of hardware// issue.
The complex truth, and I will attempt to explain, isn't that simple.
Your Mac Pro or Macbook only has a single line-out, that supports 2 channels at the maximum. Optical audio will only handle 2 channels as well- it's the same signal (in two channels) on a different medium, basically.
All PC soundcards that support proper 5.1 (save for a select few) have //multiple// line-out jacks for Front Left/Right, Center/Sub, and Rear Left/Right (3 plugs total for 5.1). Since your Mac/Mac Pro doesn't have this, you can't hook up a 5.1 speaker set and expect true 5.1.
You do have optical audio, however, this only works in 5.1 when a Dolby Digital signal is piped through the optical cable.
Dolby Digital works by encoding a 5.1 signal as a data stream, sending it to a receiver, where it is decoded and played back as 5.1 stereo. DVD's have this audio pre-encoded on the disk.
If you wanted 5.1 output from your games, they'd need to ether have the sound/audio data encoded as Dolby 5.1, or support encoding on the fly to take a 5.1 signal, encode it, and pipe it out the optical audio plug. Xbox360 does this, because they've licensed the technology from Dolby- as have the game developers.
Unfortunately, none of the developers for Macintosh gaming have yet to include live Dolby 5.1 encoding (I think Doom 3 had a beta patch that did- I could be wrong).
If the game doesn't support the above feature, then you only get basic 2 channel audio.
*Do not buy a Fireface 800.*
This is a professional audio interface (like an external soundcard). While it supports 5.1 output via 6 individual outputs, you need SPEAKERS that have +built in amplifiers+ (called a Studio Monitor). Not just one amplifier- all the speakers have it built in and take a balanced stereo input.
You're looking at $1300 for the Fireface 800, and another $200 per speaker. This is not cheap, is not meant for gaming, and is not consumer grade equipment. It's pro audio, designed for Logic 8 and similar.
Even if you did spend the money, trust me, I'd know... I have a 5.1 setup running through an Apogee Ensemble (a $2000 "soundcard"), and I do not get 5.1 support from Quake 4, C&C 3, or any other game. I only get 5.1 surround from my audio production in Logic 8.
To recap, since this has been asked many times- and I don't want you wasting your money here (just trying to be helpful!)...
*There is no simple or cost-efficient way to get 5.1 from your Mac, other then while playing a DVD movie.*
I would highly recommend that you buy a very good pair of 2.1 speakers with a Sub woofer. Maybe even a pair that takes an optical input for audio. If you really want to spend the money to *watch a DVD in surround sound,* then you can... And it'll work wonderfully, but gaming will not give you surround sound at all.
*Again- There are no games out that support 5.1. Just because you technically support Dolby 5.1, doesn't mean the applications are aware of it and can utilize the 5.1 surround.*
Edit: I may have neglected to also mention that the Firewave unit will support 5.1 properly through 3 separate plugs (much like a PC soundcard does), however the only game I am aware of that supports this is Unreal Tournament 2003 for Mac (or was it 04?), with an experimental patch for 5.1 via OpenAL. Last I heard, it worked okay, but crashed occasionally.
Most of the other games out there just don't support 5.1, period (probably due to the lack of hardware on the Mac computers from the factory).
-SC
Message was edited by: ScottishCaptain

Optical audio out from Mac Pro to preamp

I want to use the optical audio out to a preamp. I am finding only very high end components. Is there anything affordable?

Do you already own the Mac Pro and preamp? All you need is an S/PDIF cable. Easily attainable for ~$20 or so. If it's not that simple, what are you referring to as "very high end components" being all you can find?

Need to generate a continuous sine signal to sound card output with volume control

I need to create a vi to generate a sine wave signal to sound card with Labview 8.5.
there is an example written with lvsound2.llb for it. but the volume control sucks. it has only 0~100 integer control and is not accurate enough for my application.
some one mentioned Contineous Sound Output.vi in Example search. But I could not find it any more in Labview 8.5.
Anyone could help? Appreciate it.

Dumbhead wrote:
there is an example written with lvsound2.llb for it. but the volume control sucks. it has only 0~100 integer control and is not accurate enough for my application.
Could you please explain in greater detail what you mean by "the volume control sucks"? The volume control is a Double Precision Float data type not an Integer. By accuracy, do you mean that you are trying to get greater precision? If you mean that the example simply is not loud enough at the maximum volume, you can increase the amplitude of the sine wave. I hope that helps!
Mike Lyons
National Instruments
http://www.ni.com/devzone

The sound on my iphone no longer works, nor do the buttons at the side that turn sound on and off/volume control. But weirdly, you can play music without headphones. Tried restore and jack in and out. No luck... any ideas?

The sound on/off button onthe side of my iPhone no longer works, nor do the volume buttons. All sound has disappeared from the phone apart from the Music which still plays. Have tried th Restore and restart phone plus have plugged and unplugged phone jack. No luck - any idea anyone?

One thing that helped was getting a toothbrush and scrubbing the dock connector on the phone. I scrubbed the connector and used compressed air for about 1/2 hour till the connector looked much cleaner. An Apple employee told me that the pins on the phone had a little corrosion and sand. The problem hasn't gone away completely, but has been significantly reduced. I'm going to hold out until my contract expires after which time I'll switch to an iPhone5 (or newer) or Android phone.

Optical Sound out port won't turn off... No more sound...

My MBP has an optical out port (sound). I plugged in standard analog speakers a lot and all worked fine. Now I once plugged in a mono(!) analog cable and since that time the optical connection stays open (red light in the port), I can't connect standard stereo speakers any more and also the intermal speakers stay off even when nothing is plugged in.
In the system settings nothing can be done, all entries are grey. Rebooting doesn't help either.
What can I do?? ANy help?

I had this problem with my Intel MacBook Pro. It was only an issue when I used Boot Camp to boot into the Windows partition. Apple updated drivers for teh audio card, and once I updated Boot Camp and re-installed the new drivers that fixed the issue.
Note that this issue DID NOT occur on the Mac side for me -- it was only when I booted into Windows.
--Brandon

Motu PCIe 424, Mac volume control gone.

well, since I installed the pci 424 and the 24 I/O I can´t control system volume and mac output anymore. cuemix diesn´t show the mac input, and in the mac system everything is grayed out.
anybody solved that before?

Is there anyone with a Mac Pro, NVIDIA GeForce 7300, MOTU PCIe-424 and no problems?
Thanks...
Volker

Optical sound out

Hi
What is the best way to connect the new mac mini to get high quality audio ?

Logitech Z680 offers optical audio input. A mini-Toslink to SPDIF connector can connect between the two. Any speaker system that doesn't offer SPDIF or Toslink input will require the no longer produced Griffin Firewave to get better than stereo sound. And that may not work with Lion. You can plug a standard heaphone minijack into the headphone port on back of the Mac Mini, but it is only line level, and not amplified sound. Several USB speaker systems exist that are stereo and are amplified audio as well, but not all work without drivers. Check which ones do, and those are most likely to work with your Mac.

XtremeGamer optical sound out prob

Xtremegamer logitech Z5500 with the optical connection to a audio system a bunch the audio was cut suddenly the card's optical exit does not work what wonderfully your question she started?

Hi. See
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=6407379#6407379
Good Luck.

No sound out of my MAC PRO Optical Digital audio port

I own a Mac Pro early 2007, running MAC OS X Ver 10.6.7
I also have a set of Logitech Speakers Z5500 connected to the Optical digital port
No problem ever until now
Suddenly I am not getting any sound out my Mac Pro.
The speaker are testing fine, the volume is set correctly and in the system preferences, in the Sound function the device is selected for Digital Out.
I am at my rope's end.
Any help will be appreciated
Thanks
Carlos

sircolio:
I took my apple to teh Apple Store and one of the geniuses analyzed to be a hardware problem.
It will cost me $500.00 to have fixed. Thanks but not thanks

My iPhone won't power off and I have no sound and my volume controls disappeared

My iPhonw won't power off and I have no sound and all my volume controls disappear. Can anybody help me?

i mean that after i use my phone it won't go to a black screen after a few minutes...i guess maybe its called to 'sleep' but the screen stays bright...the light doesnt dim.

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

My mac volume level won't change after sleep

My "Line Out" (2.1 Speaker System) does not seem to accept volume changing commands either by the Apple Wireless Keyboard, or System Preferences > Sound. This happens all the time after I put the computer to sleep. Before when I switched to Internal Speakers then back it would "unlock" and let me adjust the volume, but that is no longer the case (I should point out that the volume controls are not disabled, it's just that changing the level does not do anything). I can however adjust and use Internal Speakers just fine. This forces me to restart my computer in order to adjust the volume again.

Resetting the SMC and PRAM did not solve my problem, however this did manage to solve my problem across reboots and sleep:
1. Command + Space / Open Spotlight.
2. Search for "Audio MIDI Setup".
3. Select your sound system.
4. Change the format to something else, then change it back.
At this point it should fix the volume level and allow you to change it. I have only done this once, and it has worked since I made this topic.
Let me know if it helps.

Titanium Dolby Digital - Windows Volume Controls Not Function

I am extremely happy with the Titanium because it finally elminated the 4GB Snap-Crackle-Pop issues I've been having since I owned this motherboard.
However, I've noticed that when I enabled Dolby Digital encoding over an optical output the master windows volume controls and muting do not affect the audio output at all.
Using the master windows volume controls with the analog or unencoded digital optical outputs work fine. It is only when using Dolby Digital encoding that I see this strange behavior. In-game and application-level volume controls & muting work fine; it is only the master windows volume controls that are 'ignored' when using Dolby Digital.
I'm still happy to see Dolby Digital encoding on this card, and very pleased that I'm using 4GB now without crackling in games or during music, but hopefully this Dolby Digital issue can be fixed.
Have any other users observed this odd Dolby Digital behavior?

Unfortunately (for me) the two of you are correct and windows volume controls have no effect in Vista.
Auzentech has this on their FAQ:
Q : After installing the sound card and connecting it to my surround sound system using S/PDIF output, keyboard and Control Panel adjustments to Volume and Balance either do not work or have minimal affect. Is that normal
A : With Digital Audio output, output levels are controlled by the wave volume settings. Multimedia keyboards and remote controls only adjust the master volume. The third-party application "Volume Tracker" corrects the situation by linking wave volume and master volume. Volume Tracker is compatible with Windows 2000, XP and Windows Media Center.
I also found this article:
"Another direct consequence of transmitting a compressed audio signal instead of an uncompressed audio signal (more commonly known as PCM) is that the volume of that signal cannot be modified once it has been encoded. Because the bits in an encoded signal no longer directly correspond to the volume of that signal, it is impossible to increase the volume until it is decoded. This explains why your PC cannot control the volume of your sound when you are using Dolby Digital or DTS as the output. The connected device will be the only place where the volume can be changed."
http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archi've/2008/03/04/using-s-pdif-to-send-audio-from-your-pc.aspx
So it would seem that this behavior is not only intended, but apparently unchangeable in Vista. In XP there is a utility (Volume Tracker) that can fix this, reportedly. This utility has no effect in Vista.

Optical sound out kills mac volume control

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