Almost all Macs output a digital audio signal that can produce everything from high-quality stereo to 5.1* surround sound. With the right cable… any audio on your Mac can be broadcast through your primary sound system.
How Digital Audio Works On The Mac
You can skip this if you aren’t interested 🙂
You Play Music Or A Movie On Your Mac
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An Encoded Digital Audio Signal Is Sent To Your Mac’s Headphone Port
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Encoded Signal Flows Through A Mini Adaptor And Down A Length Of Fibre-Optic Toslink Cable
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Encoded Signal Enters Home Theater Receiver Through Toslink Port
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Home Theater Receiver Decodes Digital Audio Signal
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Home Theater Reciever Plays The Decoded Signal Through 2 To 5.1 Speakers
What You Need And Where To Get It
- An iMac, Macbook Pro, Macbook Air, Macbook, Mac Mini or Mac Pro.
- A Home Theater Receiver or Amp/Pre-Amp combo.
- A Toslink Cable long enough to reach from your Mac to your Receiver.
- A Toslink to 3.5mm Mini Adaptor.
Let’s assume you have the Mac and concentrate on the others:
Home Theater Receiver or Amp/Pre-Amp – Your Receiver or Pre-Amp must have an available Toslink/Optical Audio in port.
Toslink Cable – Toslink or Optical Audio cables can be purchased cheaply online. Monoprice produce great quality cables at rock-bottom prices.
Toslink To 3.5mm Mini Adaptor – This tiny adapter lets you
plug a Toslink cable into the headphone/audio optical port on your Mac. You can find them on Amazon. I use the Recoton Fiber Optic Toslink to 3.5mm Mini Adapter. At $2.49 it can’t be beat.
Putting It Together
It’s a simple 3 step process:
- Plug the Toslink To 3.5mm Mini Adaptor into the headphone port on your Mac. It will click into place.
- Plug one end of the Toslink cable into the Mini Adapter.
- Plug the other end of the Toslink cable into a Toslink/Optical Audio in port on your receiver or pre-amp.
Making It Work
If you get no sound… don’t panic. There are a few things to check:
Is the receiver set to the correct output? It’s very easy to get this wrong. Take a minute to ensure your receiver is on the right output. And make sure that mute isn’t on or that you have the volume turned down.
Are the Mac’s Sound settings correct?
Go to the black Apple in the top left-hand corner of the screen and select System Preferences.
- Click on Sound.
- Select the Output tab.
- When you play sound through your Mac’s built-in speakers the output is set to Internal Speakers – Built In.
When you play digital audio the output should be set to Digital Out – Optical Digital-Out Port.
If the wrong output type is selected, click to change it. - Close System Preferences.
Are the Mac’s Audio Midi settings correct?
- Go to the Finder.
- Open the Applications folder and locate the Utilities folder.
- Open the application Audio Midi Setup.
- On the left-hand sidebar click on Built-In Output.
- On the right-hand side, select the Output tab.
- Source should say Digital Out
- Format should be set at a sample rate of 44,100.0 Hz and the bit-depth at 2ch-24 bit integer.
- The above settings are normal for iTunes playback. If you own music that’s encoded at a higher bit rate, you should play with these settings to get the best sound possible.
- When you play a movie with encoded surround sound like Dolby Digital the Format should be set to Encoded Digital Audio. If it isn’t, then go ahead and change it.
- You may have to experiment here. Don’t worry, you won’t break anything 🙂
Reccomended Media Player Apps
VLC Media Player – This movie player will play almost any format you throw at it. It has extensive menus for adjusting audio and video output. We took a look at it in this post – Cool Apps – VLC Media Player… What Are You Watching? Download it here – VLC Media Player.
Vox – A stylish replacement for iTunes that lets you play more lossless audio formats. Hard to believe it’s free. Download it here – Vox.
Audacity – An open-source music editor that lets you digitize audio from analog sources, cut and mix multiple tracks, and much more. Take a little time to read the instructions and get the plug-ins you need. Google to download it free here.
*5.1 Surround Sound refers to 5 speakers: Left, Center, Right, Surround Left and Surround Right. The .1 indicates a subwoofer.
Have a fantastic weekend.
If you select “Optical Digital Out Port” why can’t you plug the Toslink cable right into the optical out port?
Is there no bit stream there, and if you ate patching into the headphone out jack, don’t you need to select “Headphone Out” as the pref for audio out on the Mac?
Thanks,
John
Hi John – No Mac will work directly with an Optical Digital cable. You need a 3.5mm Mini Adaptor on the end of the cable. It’s just the way Apple designed it. You won’t have access to the options you need until after this cable and adapter are plugged in. – John
Thanks John,
So the Toslink i/o is for data only, not audio, and when “Optical Audio Out” is selected, it is sent as a bit stream from either the rear line output, or the front headphone output (the 1/8″ TRS mini jacks) ?
I have put together a lot of Pro Tools rigs over the years, but the systems always use the Digi/Avid converters, so there was never a need to delve into this.
Was gifted an old A/V receiver that has Toslink, and it would be neat to implement the optical if possible.
One thing seems apparent, is Apple’s digital optical out seems to max out at 48/24.
I would not expect commercial products to be offered at higher resolutions en masse, but am hoping for a future filled with 96/24 audio as rich and beautiful as the visual is getting.
Sincerely,
John Chase
Hey John – Your analysis sounds correct. I wouldn’t expect to see high end Audio from Apple anytime soon. They don’t even support a lot of the codecs– John
Wish it wasn’t such a process. I always find that even though Mac makes simple things VERY easy, it makes advance things VERY complicated. I only mean to say they add steps if you want a more advanced experience, either way thanks for the article!
Agreed. It’s unnecessarily complex. It should be plug and play with options on one panel.
All steps seem fine until setting “Encoded Digital Audio”; I get silence through my Toslink cable after doing that. One immediate hint about problems setting up “Encoded Digital Audio” is that I cannot configure speakers for 5.1, only stereo, no matter what I do. Once I restart the Audo MIDI Setup my iMac has reset the audio back to 2-channel 24-bit. BTW, the iMac is a mid 2011 model running the latest version of El Capitan 10.11.1 as follows:
Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac12,2
Processor Name: Intel Core i7
Processor Speed: 3.4 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 8 MB
Memory: 12 GB
Boot ROM Version: IM121.0047.B21
FYI: My Sony STR-DA2ES surround sound receiver says that I’m getting a linear PCM signal, not 5.1 through the optical cable, even with a 5.1 source. Everything gets mixed down to stereo. Just as a point of reference, when I plug a SPDIF connector from an HDTV into the back of the same receiver I get the Blue Multi-Channel Decoding light as expected from a major network or PBS station. I never see the blue decoding light come on with optical input from my iMac.
What did I miss here?
Thanks.
Some people have problems with this and others don’t. It’s extremely difficult to troubleshoot via email/comments.
I just read a post, that I think will help answer your question, though it depends on your Amp’s capabilities – It’s a different tactic, but it looks like a lot of people have had success with it.
If you are looking at ways of streaming movies from a hard drive, check out the Oppo BDP-103 – After this, I’d never go back to using my Mac as a HTPC.
Good luck – John
John, Is it possible to play videos stored in an apple airport time capsule through OPPO BDP-103 on a HDTV?
Unfortunately not a Time Capsule is formatted for Mac OS Extended (Journaled). You need a drive formatted fir NTFS. The Mac Plug-in called NTSf for Msc OX works really well.
John
I have a digital cable connected to the audio out port of an iMac (mid 2011, El Capitan 10.11.1). For iTunes I easily control volume by holding down the command key and using the up or down arrow keys, but this doesn’t work for online audio. The audio control of online video (the small speaker symbol below the video) can only be clicked on or off. The keyboard’s top row volume controls do not function when a digital cable is connected to the audio out port. How can online audio be adjusted when a digital cable is plugged into the audio out port?
I also have the other end of the digital cable connected to the SPDIF input of an Orei DA21 digital to analog audio converter. My Sony MDR-V6 headphone is connected to the Orei DA21 phone output.
To the best of my knowledge, it can’t. Once you plug in an optical digital cable the signal is a digital bitstream and volume control has to be modulated by an external amplifier/decoder. – John
Thank you very much. You made my day.
Glad to help – John
Hello,
I have creative 5.1 speakers with AUX IN port. When I connect it with Jack cable to Mac mini, only 2 front speakers and subwoofer works.
My question is:
Can I connect these speakers with Mac mini using Toslink Cable and two Toslink to 3.5mm Mini Adaptors? One adaptor connected to Mac mini and second to AUX In in speakers (in subwoofer)? Will it work?
No idea. But the cosy of a Toslink splitter can’t be that expensive. This is something you’d just have to try out. My guess is no… and that you are using a stereo source or your Mac Mini is not decoding the signal properly, but I’m not there so it’s hard to tell. – John
AJ…You will need a sound card to plug the 5.1 speakers into. There are 3 output plugs in back of the sound card that you plug your speakers/subwoofer into. Then use a Toslink cable to connect your Mac Mini to the soundcard. I use a Creative Extigy, But I’m not sure they make those anymore.
This doesn’t work for me. I have an early 2011 17″ Macbook Pro running Mountain Lion. When I use the native program DVD Player to play a DVD with Dolby 5.1, select that in the DVD setup, and then select Encoded Digital Audio in the Audio MIDI Setup, the optical signal stops. (I can see it stops coming out the end of the cable.) When I select 2ch-24bit Integer after that, nothing happens, not even the internal speakers work. Everything looks right, the volume is shown as expected, but no sound. I have to restart the computer to get any sound.
2-channel digital works fine via an optical cable, but I haven’t been able to get any more channels out of my optical port.
To be honest, there’s absolutely no way to know until it’s hooked up. As it’s less than $30, I would say it’s worth buying if you’re willing to plat around with it to see if you can get it to work. – John C
Okay, I decided to just go for it. I’ll report back in case there are others in the future going through the same issue I am. Thanks for your help though!
Please do report back I’m currently trying to find this out myself…
After years of running my Audioengine D1 via USB I just got a Mini-Toslink-to-Toslink cable and tried it with my Late-2011 MacBook Pro and I have to say, it does make a noticeable difference to me. Setup was painless. Since the D1 is bus powered you still have to plug the USB in but you select the optical output. Of course I suppose you could power it via discrete USB power supply. I’m playing lossless sources up to 24/192 via Audirvana Plus with all the settings pegged and it sounds better than ever, especially through my Grados and Senn HD650s+Cardas. Kudos for the checklist here.
I had an 07 macbook and the Toslink cable worked great on it. We then upgraded to an early 2014 macbook air and it turns out it’s the only mac that doesn’t have a digital out in the headphone jack. Would never have bought it had I known. The 3.5mm end is too long to fit into the jack. What do you think is the best option for high quality audio? Will be hooking up to my receiver.
Thanks!
Mike
Hi Mike – Sad, but they are abandoning the Toslink option. I run a good quality USB cable from my iMac into the back of my Emotiva XMC 1 surround processor. Check out the Emotiva site. Wonderful affordable audio separate that are upgradeable. Call them and they will be happy to discuss your setup. There may be an intermediary USB sound card processor. Anyway, failing the USB out, you could talk to them about ways to maximize the sound quality of what you ca get out of the headphone output.All is not lost. Let me know if you come by a good resolution. All the best – John
I am running MAC desktop with Yosemite and I’m connecting my mac to my H/K receiver model AVR 146, via the optical cable and into the SAT input on the HK unit. When listening to iTunes I get a slight popping or quarter second drop out. Like a digital processing issue. I’ve a 5 speaker setup and with any dolby processing turned off I still get these sounds, or lack of sound. Does these HK’s not process from the optical???
If there is an optical in on the HK, then it will process the signal. The problem may be that the adaptor between the optical cable and the headphone port on the back of the Mac is loose or dirty. Another possibility is that in the Audio Midi setup utility, the sound format is at the wrong kHz level. You could try playing around with those. Another option is a PRAM or SMC reset (Google for instructions on these). This is one of those problems that if you keep hammering Google with queries, you’ll eventually find the answer you need. – John
Hi John, your post is pretty much useful and thanks a lot! Here I have to ask do I have to set the format at a sample rate of 44,100.0 Hz and the bit-depth at 2ch-24 bit integer?
Hi Terry – Yes, that’s what I use. – John
Hi !
I’m using a Mac mini for Kodi, connected via HDMI to a Pioneer VSX 922 to a Sony TV.
In the past the pioneer showed me DTS or DD but now ( Not sure since Kodi 17 or macOS Sierra) the Pioneer Shows only PCM. In Audio Midi Setup it is Not possible to select digital audio.
But when i play a Movie with the app Blueray player the Receiver Shows DTS again.
Any idea ?
Apollogies, but this description is of a setup too complex to diagnose via a comments section. I would have a Home Theater specialist look at this. – John
Hi John, thank you for clarifying this for us all – extremely useful to know!
Re John Chase’s commentary that ‘One thing seems apparent, is Apple’s digital optical out seems to max out at 48/24’, would a better quality sound be achieved through avoiding the 3.5mm jack altogether and using a usb output – DAC – amplifier analog input?
Or is apple’ss digital output maxed out at 48/24 regardless of whether optical / USB outputs are used?
Many thanks indeed!!!!!!
Guy
I use a USB output and I’m happy with the sound. – John
According to this support article some Macs go up to 192k.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202730
Greetings!
My 2017, 5k iMac has only an unbalanced eighth-inch stereo jack with no TOSlink. It does have Thunderbolt 3/ USB-C jacks and I have purchased one of those hubs with ten different connections, one being a 4K-capable HDMI jack. Is there a way to get DD or DTS down that hose? AFAIK it seems to come down to software (Perian was helpful in the past, but they’re pushing up daisies today).
Many thanks for reading and your consideration!
—RC
Apologies. I don’t have the answer. I would go straight to the Apple forums to get an answer. You could try calling, but I doubt they know much about audio codecs. If you get an answer and have the time, folks would appreciate it if you would post it back here.
A fibre cable with reversible, double-ended tips at each end, Toslink and 3.5 mm., is also available. Pull the tip assembly to the out position, rotate it to the desired position and push the tip assembly back into position. I’ve had mine so long I forget where I got it.
Great write up and thank you! One question, If I use a 3.5 audio to RCA (headphone jack to receiver), and I am playing high res (some master file from tidal.com for example) will the audio cable I use still transfer the high sample rates, even though I am not using a toslink cable mini from the headphone jack… (Using early 2015 MBP) Thank you!
Hi David
Thanks for reading the blog.
I currently use a USB from the Mac direct to my Sound Processor. I can set it to 192/24, but personally I can’t tell the difference and I don’t have a way to verify the Mac it outputting what it says it’s outputting.
It will obviously never output better than the best quality it was recorded at.
There are Toslink to RCA adaptors – https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=8127&gclid=CjwKCAiAmNbwBRBOEiwAqcwwpd70-o9JaQ1rYUBbK8iJJDn6jcUreS9UEmpXoUhH5eKZ2PSNSjW0XRoCel8QAvD_BwE
Monoprice, you can call and they will be happy to help you with queries. They make good equipment at great prices.
In answer to the question about the Mac DAC:
You are correct that digital audio from the Mac comes out the headphone after DAC inside the Mac. Obviously, the Toslink feeds a digital signal… which hopefully they don’t screw with.
I hope this helps.
John
Hi john Is Macbook A1181 compatible with the toslink cable? I just need either optical or electrical digital output. I cannot find this information anywhere. Thankyou.
Hi Tom
Based on Mactracker, the audio out on your Mac has optical out. You need to use the adaptor listed above ‘Toslink To 3.5mm Mini Adaptor’ in order to plug a standard toslink cable into the Mac. Just check out the instructions above. Best of luck – John
Hi! I just got new iMac nad Marantz PM7000N. I bought toslink cable and toslink to 3,5mm jack reduction. O pít it together, jusit as it is written here. But mac do not say anything about digital audio is connected… I don’t know where else is my problem…
Hi Arny
Go to the Finder>Utilities and open Audio MIDI setup. Make sure your Marantz is listed there and that it shows as an output device (under the output tab). When playing music, check the sound icon in the Menu Bar and make sure it is set to the Marantz. Good luck. – John
Hi,
I have an iMac with optical digital output(Toslink) I would like to use my Sonos Playbar as its external speakers. The Sonos has optical digital input, however I don’t receive any sound from the soundbar! yet the soundbar works when connected to my TV’s optical port. I know the optical digital output works on the Mac because I have used it via my old home theatre receiver, the only way I could transmit 5.1 DD to the old receiver was to “prefer AC3 passthrough in the Apple tv speech bubble menu when playing a movie.
Is there some sort of decoding that the iMac is not performing that a TV output is?
Hi Mark – I would have a look at the Audio MIDI setup. Check the output settings. These are sometimes set to the wrong device. Check the format as well.I’m sure you have, but check the Sound output in system preferences. I don’t own Sonos speakers, but as a last resort you may be able to connect to them via your home network or using bluetooth. If any other reader have Sonos experience, please give us your opinion. Good luck.
John, i just want to point out that you’re one of the most helpful people I’ve ever seen and if I ever met you I’d buy you a beer. You’re professionalism over the course of years of comments is unreal. The world needs more of you.
Thanks Charlie 🙂
Charlie is right! Recently found article about audio midi settings. Adjusted this, first time MBP through Cyrus 8 Qxr has shown 192khz , although iPad Pro has no problem. Only thing is; it is showing 192khz even when lower rates are played. I want to use the MBP because I can use iPhone 13 Pro Max as remote with remote app. Can control music from anywhere in the house
I think this info is out of date. I have a 2017 iMac Pro and Apple seems to have removed digital audio support from the headphone jack.
Maybe I should just ask: What is the solution for editing surround sound in Final Cut Pro on a 2017 iMac Pro? Is it just HDMI or is Toslink better for Dolby Atmos? (I assume both require a dongle.)
I would call Apple and ask for a supervisor with Final Cut Pro experience. As they make this product they should be able to answer your question.
I haven’t had a chance to update this post. Currently I use USB-C to USB in on my Emotiva Surround Processor. I haven’t tested it with Atmos, but I am fairly certain the headphone out will not work for the latest Dolby formats.
Hi John, on my 2020 Macbook Pro with 4 USB-C outputs and a mini headphone jack, I want to stream to a PS Audio Preamp with internal DAC utilizing it’s optical input jack. Should I use the aforementioned headphone jack adapter to optical cable or go with a USB-C to optical cable adapter? Thanks
Hi Bob – I use USB-C to my Emotiva XMC-2 because it has a USB in. I’m not sure what input options you have with the PS Audio Preamp. I would contact them directly and ask what they believe the best path is for the cleanest signal. – All the best. – John
Thanks, will do. FYI the digital inputs on the PS device (a Stellar Gain Cell DAC) are USB-B, Toslink optical, RCA coaxial and I2S (mini hdmi?).
I would bet it’s USB-C to USB-B. That’s what I’m using. Good luck.