Who actually uses the 'digital audio out' on their MBP? Is it any good?

[TheSVD]

Hello
Basically im turning my room into more of a home cinema, and was looking to use my laptop to play movies into a TV, and sound through a surround sound. I was simply going to use a mini toslink to optical adapter which would plug into an av reciever. I was just wondering who else does this, and what is it like? Is the audio quality okay? Can it sustain high volumes? had any troubles? what does it use, DTS or something?

Any answers would be greatly appreciated, thanks

Oh, and does it work in windows too?

 

[AppleNewton]

i use it and its fantastic; i mean there isnt a great deal of complexity to it, nor does apple have built in surround sound capabilities as far as i know, but it also depends on the speaker source too.
ive used it with home theatre surround sound and some typical z5500 desktop speakers.

i think it sounds great if you find the right settings; for example Dobly Digital PLII Music sounds awesome when watching high def movies with good audio mixes and play itunes as awell as lossless music, difference is night and day to me atleast.

I usually dont have it too loud since the speakers are loud enough...but it can definitely pump out some pretty good quality even at higher volume levels.

but your set up may differ, but overall i havent had any issues using the digital out.

edit;
windows? yeah absolutely, i think there are realtek driver settings you can adjust as well.
i believe theyre located in the control panel on windows end

 

[MrPeanut]

i use it with my surround sound and itunes, its fine, no complaints from me

 

[TheSVD]

cool, thanks guys
will be using it with a tasty AV receiver, so there should be no problem there and ahh of course, realtek, sweet 5.1 games too! Thanks guys, certainly answered my question quickly. And I do like the idea of HD movies + lossless music can't wait haha