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irrational exhuberance
Authored by: CarlosD on Mar 20, '06 06:14:34PM

Quick audio update:

I just tried the Turtle Beach adapter to see if it would give me 5.1 out and it will not. Oh well. At least it will give me digital (optical) stereo out until the last mile and will not require me to change cables when I swap the iBook for the MacBook Pro.

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Carlos D
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my music
http://music.altamar.dynalias.org/



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irrational exhuberance
Authored by: daran on Mar 21, '06 03:22:57AM

AFAIK 5.1 digital audio uses a compression scheme. Even most audio cards for the PC can not drive 5.1 over a digital link, unless it is supplied in compressed form, as it is coming from (eg) DVDs. Since macosx doesn't feed audio in compressed form directly, this can not work. Nor would it on most PCs.

PS: correct me if I'm wrong;-)



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irrational exuberance
Authored by: CarlosD on Mar 21, '06 09:02:21AM

You are right, in part and you are wrong, in part. ;)

5.1 digital audio (aka Dolby Digital, AC3, a52, et al.) is compressed. However, Mac OS X can deliver the stream straight from the DVD out to the digital optical output. If your machine has optical out (PowerMac G5s or Intels), you will see an Audio Output option in the DVD Player's Disc Setup preference. Select "Digital Output - Built-in Audio" and the 5.1 stream is sent unmodified.

The Windows drivers for the USB card I have allows the digital stream to be fed from DVD -> USB -> Optical Out (for XP and 2000). Unfortunately Mac OS X's DVD Player only does the direct digital out trick with Built-in Optical out, not USB.

I am now looking into whether VLC will allow me to route the 5.1 stream through USB. Wish me luck!

p.s. Yes, I can spell exuberance! :D

---

Carlos D
===
my music
http://music.altamar.dynalias.org/



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