My lame iMac setup (1 Viewer)

I recently downloaded a very very old TV show (Key West) off the net and wanted to view it last night on my projector. So I connect the video out on my iMac to the projector and the picture comes up just fine with only a little tweaking in the display settings.


Then I plug the mini-jack for digital audio into the headphone jack on the iMac and.... nothing... I check the settings and it seems fine. I check the cable with my laptop and it is working fine. I try the other jack and still nothing.

So I launch AirFoil - haha! The audio starts working just fine once I point Airfoil to the video player... It works fine with about a 1.5 second audio delay desync'd to the picture. So I try the airfoil player and it chokes on the video. I google and find Audio lag is a common problem with Airfoil (because of Apple, not Airfoil) and that I must 'shift' the video and audio to match. They recommend downloading yet another video player that can do this...



WTF???



So I connect my Windows 7 laptop to the projector, plug in the mini jack digital, and then stream the video from the iMac to Windows 7. It worked flawlessly.


Windows7 PWNS iMac. Again.


'It just works' my arse. I have found the Mac OS to be no less user friendly than the PC and on many occasions I have found it to be inferior in capability, such as this one. My iMac is now essentially reduced to the internet surfing machine for my kids. Maybe if I invest time into it I'll figure it out.... but I thought that the whole point of mac vs Win was that it is so intuitive that you don't have to..

I truly regret buying my iMac.

What program are you using to watch this downloaded clip? I use VLC and it plays just about everything flawlessly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd H

What program are you using to watch this downloaded clip? I use VLC and it plays just about everything flawlessly.

Click to expand...

Heck, Quicktime with the help of Perian and Flip4Mac plays practically everything I care to try playing -- usually VLC is just there as the player of last resort. But yes, VLC does work fine with digital audio out, as does EyeTV, as does every competently written third party video player on the Mac.

Originally Posted by Ted Todorov

Quote:

Heck, Quicktime with the help of Perian and Flip4Mac plays practically everything I care to try playing -- usually VLC is just there as the player of last resort. But yes, VLC does work fine with digital audio out, as does EyeTV, as does every competently written third party video player on the Mac.

Click to expand...

Yep, Quicktime+Perian+Flip4Mac works just about as well too. I wonder if the original poster will revisit this thread and let us know what he's using. I'm kind of curious as I've never experienced the problem he talks about.

Originally Posted by Eric_L
Maybe if I invest time into it I'll figure it out..

I truly regret buying my iMac.

Click to expand...

Why bother trying to figure it out? Macs tend to have a pretty good resale value. I would just sell it ASAP to get as much of your money back as possible. It sounds like you would be much happier that way. You could also try selling it to a place like this, http://www.gazelle.com/?no_cookies=true although you will get less for it this way.


-Keith

I tried quick-time and got no audio. I tried DivX and it played fine with audio, but Airfoil lagged by about 1.5 seconds. (apparently Airfoil lags everything by about that speed) I tried the airfoil movie player and it choked on the video - couldn't play. Then I gave up, got my Win7 and it worked without flaw. The digital out didn't work with anything - still doesn't.

Originally Posted by Eric_L

I tried quick-time and got no audio. I tried DivX and it played fine with audio, but Airfoil lagged by about 1.5 seconds. (apparently Airfoil lags everything by about that speed) I tried the airfoil movie player and it choked on the video - couldn't play. Then I gave up, got my Win7 and it worked without flaw. The digital out didn't work with anything - still doesn't.

Click to expand...

OK, Eric, if the digital out isn't working with anything, you need to take a step back and fix that. The obvious application to try with first is Apple DVD Player. (Just stick in a DVD) There are two settings to worry about: make sure that in System Preferences: Sound: Digital Out == Built In Digital Output;
In the Apple DVD Player: Preferences: Disc Setup: Digital Out == Built In Digital Output;

Once you know that is working:

Forget about Airfoil -- make sure you have the latest Perian installed in Quicktime use that, and if still no joy, get VLC (current version is 1.1.3) and try that. Here too you have an audio preference setting, make sure Use S/PDIF When AVailable is checked, and there is also a "Force Detection of Dolby Surround" parameter.


Good luck!

bah - after I watch my show I'll see if I feel like bothering. It sounds as complicated as it was getting the hang of my Win7. Not easier, not harder, just different. I don't have time to learn two different OS - especially when both update about as often with entirely new procedures. I'm just disappointed because Apple makes such a fuss about being more user friendly. It really does not seem to be the case.

Sorry to hear about the problems, but I don't understand what you're experiencing. I plug my MacBook Pro into the TV with a DVI-to-HDMI cable for video; and to the receiver mini-SPDIF-to-TOSLink cable for audio. And it all works like you'd expect. Before that, I used a mini-jack-to-RCA cable for audio and that worked fine. If it's not outputting audio over a digital connection something's physically broken or you've got a serious software configuration problem.



You're not experiencing a normal Apple behavior. Have you called AppleCare or taken it in for warranty service?