GUIDE: HDMI Audio

[STek ZeNIO]

Did you disable SIP?

For RX480, yes with SIP disabled all the way. Prob due to different audio codec in Polaris? No positive sign anyhwere thus far.

Update (3/30/2017): After updated to 10.12.4 and HDMI Audio kext installed, I can see DP and HDMI on sound panel! There is audio passing thru now but the audio is quite distorted as if cheap tape recorder is being slow-played. No audio at all on DP without HDMI plugged in.

 

[H2SO4]

For RX480, yes with SIP disabled all the way. Prob due to different audio codec in Polaris? No positive sign anyhwere thus far.

Update (3/30/2017): After updated to 10.12.4 and HDMI Audio kext installed, I can see DP and HDMI on sound panel! There is audio passing thru now but the audio is quite distorted as if cheap tape recorder is being slow-played. No audio at all on DP without HDMI plugged in.

How’d you mean, “”without HDMI plugged in”? An HDMI device plugged in and powered on?

 

[STek ZeNIO]

Plugging HDMI in activates the audio pass-thru on both DP and HDMI. No audio passing thru only with DP. Perhaps HDMIAudio.kext script creator could make it possible with a lil tweak. If audio can fully pass thru in cMP bootcamp, in Sierra I don't see why not. Play the audio test sample here - the message to Apple on behalf of cMP owners Can you tell what song is it? YouTube is the source, captured by smartphone.

 

[H2SO4]

Plugging HDMI in activates the audio pass-thru on both DP and HDMI. No audio passing thru only with DP. Perhaps HDMIAudio.kext script creator could make it possible with a lil tweak. If audio can fully pass thru in cMP bootcamp, in Sierra I don't see why not. Play the audio test sample here - the message to Apple on behalf of cMP owners. Can you tell what song is it? YouTube is the source, captured by smartphone.

Have heard it before but don't know what it is, sounds kind of Black Eye Peas like.

 

[STek ZeNIO]

Have heard it before but don't know what it is, sounds kind of Black Eye Peas like.

You are absolutely right Bud! In fact the name of the song is what matters. Nowadays Apple seems not to come up to par for the audio/video content creators (far from lowest expectation).

 

[wk390107]

Does anyone have an updated download link?

nevermind found it in an earlier post.

 

[anshar666]

I have a 2006 Mac Pro with a amd video card on OS X 10.11.6. I was getting no audio from hdmi. I installed the 1.1 kext. The sound is working now But no controls. I can turn the sound up and down with whatever app I'm using. Is there a way to get the control panel working right so I can use the normal keyboard up and down volumes. Thanks.

 

[DearthnVader]

I have a 2006 Mac Pro with a amd video card on OS X 10.11.6. I was getting no audio from hdmi. I installed the 1.1 kext. The sound is working now But no controls. I can turn the sound up and down with whatever app I'm using. Is there a way to get the control panel working right so I can use the normal keyboard up and down volumes. Thanks.

OS X does not support volume control of digital audio source, you must use the external device's volume control.

 

[anshar666]

OS X does not support volume control of digital audio source, you must use the external device's volume control.

Ok I didn't know this. There's no way to get around this?

Thanks for the info.

 

[DearthnVader]

Ok I didn't know this. There's no way to get around this?

Thanks for the info.

None that I know of, Windows supports Volume control over HDMI, but I think it's just adjusting the ?preamp?.

Maxing out the preamp, when your TV or Receiver is at full volume is a great way to blow your speakers or monitors, likely why OS X doesn't support it.

 

[jelockwood]

Ok I didn't know this. There's no way to get around this?

Thanks for the info.

Apple take the point of view that the digital audio signal should be passed unaltered to the output device e.g. TV and for the output device which does the final conversion to analogue i.e. actual sound waves to also handle altering the volume. This is because in order to alter the volume the analogue wave form has to be altered. If it was done at the computer end then first the original digital signal would have to be converted to analogue, then altered, then converted back to digital, then sent to the TV and then converted to analogue again.

There is a standard for allowing a device e.g. a Mac to tell the TV etc. to alter the volume by sending a signal down the HDMI cable, this is called CEC aka Consumer Electronics Control. This has to be implemented in hardware and unfortunately at the moment no Macs have built-in support for this. (The Apple TV4 does.)

There is however a gadget which plugs in to both the USB port and HDMI port and 'inserts' CEC commands. It is controlled via software commands sent via the USB. You need software that knows to talk to this device. I believe Plex and KodiTV have built-in support but general Mac use does not.

See https://www.pulse-eight.com/p/104/usb-hdmi-cec-adapter

I have however just discovered a new program for the Mac which appears to add general volume control support and does work with the above device.

See http://couch-slouch.com/compatibility/

In theory the above hardware and software should allow the standard volume control on the Mac to control the volume on a TV.

 

[owbp]

Just want to confirm that HDMIAudio with GTX980 (in my case MSI Gaming 4G) works only when using DP to HDMI adapter (cheap, generic one). With HDMI output it was no go - I've tested it in 10.11.6 and 10.12.4.

 

[jelockwood]

Just want to confirm that HDMIAudio with GTX980 (in my case MSI Gaming 4G) works only when using DP to HDMI adapter (cheap, generic one). With HDMI output it was no go - I've tested it in 10.11.6 and 10.12.4.

Yes I experienced this on my GTX-680 as well, it seems common that Nvidia cards still do not do audio in OS X even with the Audio Kext included in this thread.

Note: Audio does work in Windows via Boot Camp.

My AMD Radeon HD 7950 does do audio via HDMI in OS X with this Audio Kext.

 

[h9826790]

OS X does not support volume control of digital audio source, you must use the external device's volume control.

OSX doesn't support that natively, but can easily work around by installing sound flower.

That's a very dated apps, but still working on 10.12.4. It can even control the volume of the optical output in MacOS.

Just install sound flower, make it the default output. And inside sound flower, select the digital output you want.

You can even setup multi output, and control all volume output at the same time by a single input under MacOS (e.g. Via the stock keyboard volume control key).

 

[cdf]

I can confirm HDMI audio for a flashed GTX 750 Ti (on my cMP 5.1 with 10.12.5 and current web driver). Audio through DP is another story: the display is detected as an output device, but there is no sound. Has anybody every encountered a situation like this and managed to fix it?

 

[h9826790]

I can confirm HDMI audio for a flashed GTX 750 Ti (on my cMP 5.1 with 10.12.5 and current web driver). Audio through DP is another story: the display is detected as an output device, but there is no sound. Has anybody every encountered a situation like this and managed to fix it?

SIP disabled?

 

[cdf]

SIP disabled?

Enabled, but without kext. Same behavior if completely disabled.

 

[cdf]

Well, for some reason, after using the headphone jack of my cMP, and trying the audio through DP again, it starting working. I can now confirm both HDMI and DP audio on a flashed GTX 750 Ti!

Edit: Actually, what makes DP audio work is sleeping the machine at least once after booting up or rebooting. I've reproduced this several times now.

 

[Squuiid]

Has anyone spotted any changes in High Sierra which would impact audio over HDMI/DP?

 

[dschmittler]

Has anyone spotted any changes in High Sierra which would impact audio over HDMI/DP?

just installed high sierra and no dp audio on 4870

 

[Thecoretechreview]

I am on 10.12.6 and had lost audio over display port with a MVC gtx 980..... I had reset PRAM and needed to disable SIP again before it would work.

Worked perfect now, well that is with apples clunky lack of volume control....

 

[h9826790]

For anyone running the cMP like a half Hackintosh. I personally suggest leave SIP off. Which prevent lots of troubles.
[doublepost=1501315922][/doublepost]

just installed high sierra and no dp audio on 4870

The stock Apple 4870? And are you with the 5,1?

 

[rphljr]

Good news everyone!

Those of you running Mac OS 10.8 or later with non-Apple NVidia or AMD Graphics Cards can now take advantage of HDMI audio output.

You will need to install a supplemental HDMIAudio kernel extension I've put together. This does not require replacing any existing system components.

For those of you that have never installed a kernel extension before, I've bundled a simple install script. Download links are at the bottom of this post.

(ℹ) If you've previously installed the NVidia-only NVAudio extension, you can safely run the installation script for HDMIAudio and it will automatically remove the former.

To install HDMIAudio:

1. Double click on the DMG to mount it.
2. Open Terminal, located in the Utilities folder.
3. Enter this command, then press the Return or Enter key:
   

   cd /Volumes/HDMIAudio

4. Enter this command, then press the Return or Enter key:
   

   ./install.sh

5. When prompted, enter your administrator password, then press the Return or Enter key.
6. You may receive a warning about an Unidentified Developer on Mavericks. This is safe to ignore.
7. Reboot after installation.

To remove the extension:

1. Boot into Safe Mode, if necessary.
2. Open Terminal, located in the Utilities folder.
3. Enter this command, then press the Return or Enter key:
   

   sudo rm -fr /System/Library/Extensions/HDMIAudio.kext

4. When prompted, enter your administrator password, then press the Return or Enter key.
5. Enter this command, then press the Return or Enter key:
   

   sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel

6. Enter this command, then press the Return or Enter key:
   

   sudo kextcache -system-caches

7. Restart your machine.

Please post any suggestions, questions or issues here.
Sources are available upon request.

• Version 1.0: Download

Download link is broken

 

[BillyBobBongo]

Download link is broken

I believe there was a link shared in this thread with it on Dropbox, let me check...

Thread link: #363
Direct link: Dropbox

...there ya go!

 

[krakman]

just installed this audio Kext in my cMP running High Sierra Beta 7 with a Sapphire RX480 card.

I have audio over DP an I can adjust volume using the Background music plugin from Github:

https://github.com/kyleneideck/BackgroundMusic