help with mac mini toslink/digital optical connection

[tidytrev]

hi ppl, iv recently decided to move my intel 1.83 to under the hdtv and want to connect it to my amp for dd 5.1, is this the cable i need to connect the two?
http://www.tvcables.co.uk/cgi-bin/tvcables/108-100.html

 

[Cave Man]

Yes, the mini jack will fit your Mini and the other end should fit your receiver. Check to make sure your receiver takes a standard Toslink connector.

Next, you need to set DVD Player app preference to set digital out. You must do this before you open a DVD or VIDEO_TS folder for the passthrough to take effect.

 

[tidytrev]

am i right in thinking that i can only make use of the 5.1 via dvd player or will vlc work aswell?

 

[Cave Man]

You don't need VLC (which is buggy as hell). Here's what you do:

1. Use Handbrake to encode your DVD as an AVI (MPEG-4 with AC-3 passthrough) file. You then open the file with QuickTime Pro and then save as a self-contained movie. This movie can then be dropped into iTunes, making it available to the Mac through Leopard's Front Row. I did this with the first Spiderman movie and it was compressed at 2500 bit rate with AC-3 5.1 DD to a final size of 2.5 gb.

2. Follow the directions here to install Perian, configure Audio Midi Setup to digital output, then a modification of the com.cod3r.a52codec.plist file using Property List Editor (part of Apple's XCode development package and a free download).

Playback in Quicktime or Front Row will give you Dolby Digital 5.1 (provided the original DVD was encoded in DD 5.1).