help getting sound out of mac mini

[lou7]

i just picked up a late 2009 mac mini, have it hooked up with a mini dvi to hdmi adapter, and i didnt get any sound out of it..did a little looking online and saw that maybe a stero to rca might work so i went out and bought that hooked it up and still no audio out of the tv... what can i do to get audio out of the tv?? thanks for any help guys


i have a sylvania 26" tv if that matters.

[geeji]

The Mac Mini 2009 does not support sound on HDMI output (the 2011 does).
The stereo to RCA should work if (1) your TV can be programmed to get RCA sound simultaneously with HDMI video and (2) you select "system output" (not digital out) on the Mac sound control panel.
If you want 5.1 digital sound, you need a mini jack to Toslink optical adapter and a Toslink input on your TV.
Worst case, some adapters (search the net) would allow you to merge the 5.1 sound of the Mac Mini optical output with the DVI/HDMI video output. But they are expensive.

[Squid3660]

Lets see... I've got my 2009 mini connected to my 55" Samsung LED TV through mini displayport to HDMI cable to the TV's PC port. Since the audio can't travel from the 2009 Mac Mini to the TV through mini displayport, I'm using a 3.5 MM or 1/8" mini stereo cable (male on both ends) to deliver the audio from the Mac Mini's headphone jack to the TV. My Samsung TV has a mini stereo jack for the PC port... so it seems that this port was made for people who have no other option than to split their A/V signal from their old PC to the TV. Not sure what options your Sylvania TV has in this regard.

Since I'm basically using the headphone jack, I made sure that the output was set to "Headphones" under "Sounds" in the System Preferences.

Also, if your still not getting audio, check and make sure your system output volume setting isn't turned down too low or muted. Ive done that before by accident and spent a few minutes scratching my head wondering where my audio was.

Lastly, if you are not getting audio from one particular application, try using another one... for instance, if you are watching a video in Quicktime but you aren't getting audio, try playing the same video using VLC to see if you get better results. It could be a codec issue.

Also, what geeji was saying about the adapters to combine the digital audio onto the HDMI... I did a lot of research on this, but didn't find an adapter I liked. I read a lot of bad reviews on them... a few people have reported that they get extremely hot, and some have even caught fire. Lots of other reviews said that these adapters worked great for an hour then died. So, I didnt want to waste the time, money or risk my personal safety on them.

If digital audio is important to you, you might want to consider getting a toslink cable and a dedicated receiver.

Hope this helps, and please report back with your findings!

[lou7]

what do you mean by this... connected to my 55" Samsung LED TV through mini displayport to HDMI cable to the TV's PC port, i have a pc port but its one of those rgb inputs..i have my computer connected through mini displayport to hdmi cable to the hdmi input on the tv.

can you give me any more input on this please, and thank you for your help.

[philiparcario]

the exact model number of the samsung tv will help. I will read the manul and let you know.
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[lou7]

I dont have a samsung tv, thank you though.

[Smithcraft]

What he means is that we need the model number for your television so we can check the manual to see if there is anything special about your television.

SC
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Make sure it has pins!

[lou7]

I bought a male to male stereo cable, but the input says for pc only and I do get sound out of it but no sound...my only way of getting audio and video would be getting an rgb cable to hdmi and use the stereo cable, so is there such thing as an hdmi to rgb cable? Thanks

[swordsandtequila]

You're not listening. What is the make and model of your TV? Different connection options mean different answers.
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[lou7]

It's a sylvania lc260ss8, thanks

[tales]

There is a good chance the audio input will only work with the computer input VGA If you use HDMI you will have to connect speakers to the mini or connect the mini to a A/V receiver.
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[swordsandtequila]

Page 12 of your user manual:

http://www.managemylife.com/mmh/lis_pdf/OWNM/L0705171.pdf

Looks like you have to use the PC audio jack. Try connecting as shown in your manual. I use the vga connection on my LG to Mac Pro, no difference in picture quality.
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Mac Pro 4,1 12GB ram
Samsung SSD 120GB boot, Intel SSD 80GB scratch, 10TB internal ZFS
Sans Digital 6TB Raid5, 2TB Raid0
NT Guardian Maximus 1TB Raid1, 500GB Raid0
OWC external Superdrive
An iPod for every occasion
iPhone 3g

[tales]

I Agree with you & the poster above you

[lou7]

i ended up trying the mini stero to rca with the hdmi going in as well and this time ended up getting sound, idk what happened last time, but as i watch any movie on it, the sound is very static.. so much that i cant bear to watch the movie and idea if i can change any settings so that doesnt happen..

and is there a cable for vga for the mac mini, because theres no vga input on the mac mini

[Bandit Bill]

Did you use the HDMI 1 port like your manual suggested?
I changed the picture to a 3.5mm plug to represent the cables going to your mini.

If you did and you are still having audio issues. Then get a mini display port to VGA adapter from Monoprice along with a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable for the audio.

The only other option after that would be as previously mentioned a newer mini that allows audio to be carried through the mini display port. You would then get a mini display port to HDMI adapter (again from Monoprice). These cables are also available from Apple, but you will pay more.