Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

how to connect 5.1 system and Ps4 to imac/imac pro

G

gerrard0804

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 12, 2010
176
23
Hi all,

I'm about to join Mac family from PC. I have now a PS4(not pro one, connected to my sound system by HDMI) and 5.1 sound system with optical in from PC's sound card.

I wonder how these consoles can be connected to my coming imac pro as I know the optical out has been removed by Apple since the late 2017 imac models. As for PS4, is there any way to have the 1080p 60fps connection? I know it could be done in PS4 Pro only with remote play.

Thanks all
 
Last edited:
gerrard0804 said:
Hi all,

I'm about to join Mac family from PC. I have now a PS4(not pro one, connected to my sound system by HDMI) and 5.1 sound system with optical in from PC's sound card.

I wonder how these consoles can be connected to my coming imac pro as I know the optical out has been removed by Apple since the late 2017 imac models. As for PS4, is there any way to have the 1080p 60fps connection? I know it could be done in PS4 Pro only with remote play.

Thanks all
Click to expand...
You'd need a third party USB input for audio. Creative Soundblaster used to make good ones...they probably still do.
 
The Elgato HD60s is undoubtedly the best real time capture device for PS4 for now. It is lag free, supports up to the exact output specs of the (fat/slim) PS4, has Mac software with interface that works well. However, with PS4 PRO, that Elgato is still limited to 1080p60 despite the console capable of 4K30-60. To do lag free 4K capture it takes a PCI card and mac drivers that support the card, as of now this is marginally doable only with top end professional video hardware.

Also I believe the Elgato HDMI passthrough can only do 2.0 stereo. If you want 5.1 you need to use one of the USB audio interfaces with TOSLINK in suggested above, route it inside macOS, then pass that through to your surround system that way.
 
You don't need audio interfaces which are geared towards actual music production. The difference is that the TOSLINK/optical port on those units typically support a much higher (full) spec of S/PDIF, multi-channel/tracks for professional usage. The one you linked is even Thunderbolt equipped, which is only needed for high resolution (bitrate) production which demands low to no latency.

You only need a simple piggy-back 5.1 input which does a bare intake without any conversion, which are often cheap, like 20 bucks.
 
Chancha said:
You don't need audio interfaces which are geared towards actual music production. The difference is that the TOSLINK/optical port on those units typically support a much higher (full) spec of S/PDIF, multi-channel/tracks for professional usage. The one you linked is even Thunderbolt equipped, which is only needed for high resolution (bitrate) production which demands low to no latency.

You only need a simple piggy-back 5.1 input which does a bare intake without any conversion, which are often cheap, like 20 bucks.
Click to expand...
thanks for advice. Is The Elgato HD60s also able to transfer 2.1 stereo from iMac Pro to my sound system by HDMI for playing music and PS4 gaming?
[doublepost=1514530678][/doublepost]
Chancha said:
The Elgato HD60s is undoubtedly the best real time capture device for PS4 for now. It is lag free, supports up to the exact output specs of the (fat/slim) PS4, has Mac software with interface that works well. However, with PS4 PRO, that Elgato is still limited to 1080p60 despite the console capable of 4K30-60. To do lag free 4K capture it takes a PCI card and mac drivers that support the card, as of now this is marginally doable only with top end professional video hardware.

Also I believe the Elgato HDMI passthrough can only do 2.0 stereo. If you want 5.1 you need to use one of the USB audio interfaces with TOSLINK in suggested above, route it inside macOS, then pass that through to your surround system that way.
Click to expand...
One thing still gets me confused. My PS4 should be connected to my sound system via HDMI in > system to my iMac Pro via HDMI out. So, the sound is not passed through to iMac and played directly by the system itself. If that's the case, the 5.1 should be fine?

By the way, I check that there is a 4k60Pro by the Elgato, but it's PCIe. Should there be one for USB-C soon too ?
 
Last edited:
I was slightly misleading since I didn't read your setup accurately. So it turns out you actually have a sound system, presumably a modern surround receiver with HDMI sound output?

So your problem now is that the iMac Pro being an AIO, is now doubling as the PC with sound output, and also a monitor that you want to output the PS4 to? This replaces the previously separated PC and monitor, and now you are down to having no monitor at all just the iMac screen?

The surround receiver should be able to get both the visual and audio signal from PS4 via HDMI. Leave the 5.1 being amplified by this machine and no need to bother about sound going into the Mac.

Then with the Mac, assuming you want surround (5.1) sound out of it to the receiver, you then need a DAC which is typically USB, with optical TOSLINK output that goes to the receiver. If all you want is stereo then you can just take the iMac 3.5mm jack and use a really cheap analog cable that goes to the receiver's RCA input.

Finally with the PS4 visual signal. Use a HDMI cable to go from the receiver output, into an Elgato HD60s. I am unsure if extra lag would be introduced this way since an extra pass-through the receiver is added. Also with HDMI, you may be getting handshake issues where sometimes this chain just don't work that reliably. But in theory this should work, probably only troublesome to setup every time, but it will stay connected as long as some video is being fed. You also get the benefit that whatever video signals that also go into this receiver (including analog video) can also be seen on the iMac screen this way.
 
Last edited:
Chancha said:
I was slightly misleading since I didn't read your setup accurately. So it turns out you actually have a sound system, presumably a modern surround receiver with HDMI sound output?

So your problem now is that the iMac Pro being an AIO, is now doubling as the PC with sound output, and also a monitor that you want to output the PS4 to? This replaces the previously separated PC and monitor, and now you are down to having no monitor at all just the iMac screen?

The surround receiver should be able to get both the visual and audio signal from PS4 via HDMI. Leave the 5.1 being amplified by this machine and no need to bother about sound going into the Mac.

Then with the Mac, assuming you want surround (5.1) sound out of it to the receiver, you then need a DAC which is typically USB, with optical TOSLINK output that goes to the receiver. If all you want is stereo then you can just take the iMac 3.5mm jack and use a really cheap analog cable that goes to the receiver's RCA input.

Finally with the PS4 visual signal. Use a HDMI cable to go from the receiver output, into an Elgato HD60s. I am unsure if extra lag would be introduced this way since an extra pass-through the receiver is added. Also with HDMI, you may be getting handshake issues where sometimes this chain just don't work that reliably. But in theory this should work, probably only troublesome to setup every time, but it will stay connected as long as some video is being fed. You also get the benefit that whatever video signals that also go into this receiver (including analog video) can also be seen on the iMac screen this way.
Click to expand...
yea, you are telling my exact situation......thanks.......

Does it make any difference for a better DAC and a cheap one as they both just do the passthrough from iMac to my receiver via TOSLINK which is basically just a digital format? I am checking these two:

1) http://hk.creative.com/p/sound-cards/sound-blaster-omni-surround-5-1

2) http://hk.creative.com/p/sound-cards/sound-blasterx-g5
 
My bad, I was mistaken again... My perception is still stuck in the past when the lack of digital output on modern Macs didn't happen yet.

From your Mac to the receiver you are not looking at a digital-to-analog-convertor (DAC), because the signal remains digital. The "bottleneck" is the iMac without built-in TOSLINK output, you need a 3rd party D-to-D dongle of some sort to bridge macOS's CoreAudio to the receiver. Some newer AV receiver / HiFI centric pre-amps have USB-audio ready, which I doubt yours is but you should check, in which case a USB printer cable is enough. If it doesn't have that, then the simplest solution is a USB-to-TOSLINK adaptor. In the odd chance that your receiver has AirPlay, then you can do it over the network also, but it probably has noticeable delay.

However, some DACs have the same functionality included. Those 2 you linked are more than adequate since they both can piggy-back the digital signal, on top of being analog convertors and headphone amplifiers. You don't really need the full functions of these products, but they are useful for other purposes / setups.

DAC is a pretty established ballpark among HiFi audiences, ranging from very basic to extravagant quality (and price). Some of the same market is also serving actual audio professionals so it is a really muddy area to look at.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back