Why is 5.1 audio not working on my Mac mini M1

I don’t have a ton of experience but i’ll do what I can…,some say yes, but only thru HDMI, and audio midi setup.. see link

Dolby Digital Output from M1 Mac Mini - Apple Community

some say “no” , it’s stereo only… because Apple might not have wanted to pay extra to Dolby Labs for 5.1 and up sound eg the ability to decode and/or do pass thru to, say, a receiver /soundbar… here’s something about HDMI pass through : About HDMI Passthrough - Apple Support (CA)

Yup, it mentions the Apple TV app, Apple Music and QuickTime Player only ..it doesn’t say anything about any other apps, eg Netflix, Max or Amazon prime… that’s for Mac OS 15 ( Sequoia) which is what you have… Netflix sez 5.1 audio not supported while watching downloaded titles… it does mention streaming in UHD or HDR… doesn’t have much else tO say about that for Mac’s and your Mac mini M1 in particular… Amazon prime video says “stereo supported on Mac’s” for the app. Doesn’t say squat about 5.1 audio or pass through..:Max? No app, says you can use your web browser and login… go to help.max.com… I’ve done all

I can for you, Morp6697, I’m just one Mac user, no expert or genius at all… maybe your best bet might be to contact Netflix, Amazon prime and Max ( support) and see what they have to say… they could probably help you better than I could..

John B

Viewing those services via web browser due to DRM (Digital Rights management) get limited feature sets since a web browser has no access to the hardware to determine if there is, for the lack of a better term, a legal verification video channel (which includes audio).