5.1 Ch Surround Sound Issue with Yamaha Receiver on Mac mini

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Tim Dooley Author

Level 1

5 points

5.1 Ch Surround Sound Issue with Yamaha Receiver on Mac mini

I just noticed that I've got surround sound using the Apple TV app AND when logged in to Apple TV in Safari.

I immediately rechecked my other sites on Safari (Prime-Netflix-Max etc), but no surround.

I've tried setting up audio Midi but it doesn't see my new Yamaha receiver, it only sees my Sony TV.

One of the reasons I upgraded my Mac mini was for 5.1 surround, but no go.

Has anyone had any luck getting their receiver to show up In audio midi when it didn't at first? Or, had any luck getting other web site services to produce 5.1 surround?

Thank you,

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Jan 20, 2025 10:54 AM

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Answer 1

HWTech

Level 9

62,336 points

Jan 20, 2025 7:33 PM in response to Tim Dooley

Here is my other post when trying to assist another user with a similar request:

M1 2020 Macbook Air: Web browsers play 5.… -- HWTech - Apple Community

The second link in that post by @MartinR mentions that some apps & services may not support 5.1 surround, or may have their own additional audio settings.

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Answer 2

Jan 21, 2025 4:53 AM in response to Tim Dooley

If you are connected via HDMI, it is very possible that you see the TV and not the receiver.

I have an older Yamaha receiver that is connected to a Samsung TV and and when looking at the audio setup on the Mac, it shows connected to the Samsung but the passthrough audio to the receiver is working fine. The receiver is recognizing the passthrough and is decoding it.

What you need to do is fiddle around with the settings in Audio MIDI for multichannel. It seems that for what ever reason different versions of the Mini and macOS can require different settings for different receivers.

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Answer 3

Tim Dooley Author

Level 1

5 points

Jan 21, 2025 12:29 PM in response to woodmeister50

@woodmeister50, possibly, but apple doesn't list what the specific settings should be for each receiver. Unfortunately. I've fiddled around with audio midi set up for what seems like forever, and the settings on my Yamana receiver AND Sony TV. Did it with my older Mac mini as well to no avail. Like I said, Apple TV puts through surround from the app (not Apple TV device) and from my log in on the web in safari. Could be the web source, but surround works fine if I stream my other channels from my PS5/4. I prefer using my Mac mini to do this, but if I want surround, it looks like I'll need to use my PS5 instead.

Someone out there knows what the issue is and how to fix it, I'm sure of it.

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Answer 4

Tim Dooley Author

Level 1

5 points

Jan 20, 2025 10:39 PM in response to HWTech

Thanks, but no go in my situation.

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