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mckvakk

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 28, 2005
224
0
Oslo, Norway
i've noticed that on some of the latest shows i've purchased on iTunes there's an option to select surround sound, but when i select that, there's no sound. I've tried this on my macbook pro, and my mac mini, but with the same results..

Anyone have a fix for this?
 

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Why do they then offer it when played on a computer?

I've checked some older episodes, and they don't have it, so this is new..
 
Yeah, every HD TV show that I've purchased has this option. I'm actually using a Windows laptop and it doesn't work on the computer.

It's an exclusive thing for people who buy the Apple TV, just like how HD Movies are available for rent. Kinda tricks you into buying more stuff to get functionality which you've already paid for - classic Apple.
 
iTunes 8 functionality - no Apple TV required

It's an iTunes 8 feature which is not limited to owners of the Apple TV. I have the Apple TV and it's not making a difference. They wouldn't build a feature which only activated on detection of an Apple TV. (I do understand that you are associating this with the playback on an actual Apple TV which shouldn't have the same issue, but iTunes 8 is supposed to be capable of outputting this on any computer just like other third-party media software which has no issues on my system)

Please submit feedback to Apple on your problem at http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html

Engineering will get back to you if they require additional info about your particular setup.
 
Having the same issue here...

I'm having exactly the same problem and its driving me crazy. I've reported it to Apple as well. I've seen it reported on the net by quite a few people so hopefully it will be fixed.

Surround works fine with DVD player, VLC, etc - but when I select "surround" in iTunes I get no sound. I don't think this is because it is apple TV exclusive - it isn't like apple to give a menu selection and have it just not work. If it was apple tv exclusive I bet they'd not present the user with the option in iTunes at all. ...although I'm willing to accept the possibility that I'm wrong ;)

Anyway - if you find a solution please post back here and I'll do the same.

ps - totally off topic but I haven't posted in a while and wanted to express my joy that my powerbook is now over 4 years old and still works better than my brand new core2duo 2.8ghz dell work laptop :) It is like a pet - I'll be sad when I have to put it to sleep ;)
 
I think in order to get surround sound out of a Mac you have to have a digital speaker system with an optical connection, and have your audio device set to Digital Out. Even then it only works when the source has a native surround signal, which I imagine these shows do.
 
yeah - I know...

I know - its optical running into a sony DA5000ES. I put a dvd in the mac - boom - DD 5.1 surround, I select surround in iTunes - silence. I've tried all the AMS permutations so that's not the issue it seems.

I've tried it with my PB (with a mini toslink) into the sony and with my G5 (standard toslink) into a Denon - same deal, DVDs yield surround, iTunes silence in anything other than stereo. VLC works fine - if I could watch iTunes protected content in VLC I'd be good to go.

I have perian installed as well, although I haven't actually done the ac3 passthrough hack with it yet - maybe that will fix it. ...surely apple doesn't intend on that being the solution though. Probably just a bug - maybe the next version of iTunes will fix it.

I appreciate the help, but I'm past the needing to have optical to a 5.1 system :)
 
VLC works fine - if I could watch iTunes protected content in VLC I'd be good to go.

I was beginning to suspect that iTunes just can't support 5.1 - which wouldn't make sense if they're selling you 5.1 content - but then I ran across this. I know it sounds kinda last-ditch - but basically you have to have any settings in iTunes that might alter the sound turned completely off. Otherwise, I'm left scratching my head.

Damn Tomorrow - how did you join so recently and have so many posts? I bow to the vigilance :D
:apple:

Well, it's been about a year since I joined and I'm averaging about 1 post a day...but thanks for the kudos :)
 
Still an issue

That was a good lead - I had my eq on but for the rest of the page I'm the same. Turned the EQ off and still no good - but thanks for the info. Its funny that they even have that page, you'd think if ac3 info was detected it would automatically deal with the settings.

Meh, I'll deal for now, I'm sure it'll get fixed eventually. Honestly, as evil as it sounds, the xbox 360 movie rental service is pretty good - HD and the surround works. Feel bad renting from microsoft though ;) For no good reason really - let the better man win and all.
 
I can select it too, but no surround sounds that's working; I believe I need a DTS decoder for it to work.
 
you'd think if ac3 info was detected it would automatically deal with the settings.

I agree - in fact, since I use digital out on my iMac I can't adjust any of my sound settings on the system, like volume, balance, etc. I can make those adjustments in iTunes, however.
 
A few updates later, still a problem.

Just rented another surround movie from iTunes and the surround track still doesn't work. Sent an email to the iTunes store about this and received no response at all (weeks ago now).

So this is on yet a different configuration then the others I've posted (thought I'd try iTunes for Windows and see if it worked there - it doesn't).

Lame.
 
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