Filed under: Hardware, Video, Mac mini
Kanex brings digital audio into a Display Port to HDMI adapter
When we published our "Ultimate Mac mini Home Theater" guide in August, I drooled along with everyone else at the idea of supercharging my HDTV with a mini for movie and music playback. Something nagged at me, though, as I looked over the options for going from the mini's video-out ports (the current model sports both DVI and Display Port) to the HDMI standard connector that most TVs expect nowadays... how to get that digital audio signal onto the HDMI link, and avoid a second set of cables to handle sound? It seemed less than graceful.
If you want to skip over a clunky external converter box like this one, current minis and other Macs featuring the Mini Display Port connector now have a new option for HDMI; Kanex's two audio-included connectors can put the sound onto the HDMI link where it belongs.
Kanex is selling two models of the connector (both are on extremely limited availability right now, the company says). The $60 Digital Audio version includes a TOSLINK optical connector for premium quality sound, and the USB Audio version delivers analog audio for $50 [as of 10/20, the price has gone up on this unit to $60 as well]. Both let you put all your eggs in the HDMI basket and clear your cable clutter, while simplifying your TV remote input dance as you try to get the audio and video sorted.
We're hoping to get our hands on one of these units soon and we'll let you know how it performs.
Thanks to Michael W. for the tip.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
IvanP91 said 1:02PM on 10-03-2009
This is actually very cool. id buy one ASAP
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Sneakz said 1:07PM on 10-03-2009
Save yourself some money and get it from Monoprice when they get in later this week.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042802&p_id=5969&seq=1&format=2
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Mike said 1:18PM on 10-03-2009
I ordered the one that supports digital audio and is powered of the USB port - http://www.kanexlive.com/products/item.aspx?id=3495
It supports digital audio, including Dolby Digitla 5.1, DTS-MA, etc.
This is the one that Monoprice is getting - http://www.kanexlive.com/products/item.aspx?id=3323
It only supports the analog audio stream.
I was considering getting an Apple TV so I could watch my TV shows on my HDTV, but this allows me to turn my MBP into a mobile Apple TV. :)
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Matt said 3:51PM on 10-03-2009
Thats blatant false advertising on their part. SPDIF doesn't have the bandwidth to support Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master HD like their page claims it does. SPDIF only has the bandwidth to support Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, and both variations of standard DTS. It absolutely cannot support Dolby TrueHD, DTS Master HD, or 8 channel uncompressed LPCM found on blu-ray discs.
DisplayPort can pass audio, 8 channel LPCM (can't find if it supports Dolby True HD or DTS Master HD), but Apple chose to NOT implement audio support in their mini DisplayPort connector. Mini DisplayPort DOES support audio, but again, Apple has chosen to NOT support audio for some reason that defies logic.
rschoenburg said 2:44PM on 10-03-2009
I bought the conversion box you linked to, but at Monoprice it was $40.60. I added two cables to the order which was another $6. To complete the job, a third cable is needed and a display port to HDMI adapter and a mini DVI to HDMI adapter. Why?
I have a Mini. Using the cables, I connected the mini to the box, and the box to my TV via HDMI. Then I connected the external toslink to my receiver. With another adapter and HDMI to DVI cable to my projector, I have two video and digital audio displays.
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Yoshi1080 said 2:46PM on 10-03-2009
It should be noted though that this solution is limited to the bandwidth of SPDIF and therefore does not support HD audio from Blu-ray Disc or other HD media.
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jason said 7:14PM on 10-03-2009
tos-link does have the bandwidth to support DTS-HDMA etc, however it does not support HDCP which is needed to support it.
Ryan said 4:00PM on 10-03-2009
Does anyone know if there is a comparably-priced analog of this product for us poor souls on the last-gen, DVI mac mini?
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rschoenburg said 1:53AM on 10-04-2009
Go to monoprice.com and look at this item: 2080
HDMI female to DVI male
rschoenburg said 10:51AM on 10-04-2009
sorry I was wrong about the connector. This what you should get along with a dvi-dvi cable and mini to toslink cable
http://www.monoprice.com/products/search.asp?keyword=5369&x=0&y=0
Dan Woods said 4:21PM on 10-03-2009
Damnit.
I just bought the Mini-DisplayPort to HDMI cable last week.
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John.B said 10:53PM on 10-03-2009
I need the USB audio version so I can pipe sound from movies on my mini to the TV's HDMI connector while still playing other system, etc. sounds through my normal Altec Lansing 2+1 speakers.
The problem the mini has (and my MacBook is the same way) is that the digital and analog audio are shared in the same connector. This is the only way to easily get dual audio without repurposing one of my FireWire audio interfaces.
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Anon said 2:44AM on 10-04-2009
I don't understand why anyone would want to send high quality (or any) audio through HDMI. Why not send the video to the display, and the audio to your amplifier? There is no reason whatsoever to combine the two.
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Jason said 4:21AM on 10-04-2009
Because that is the only way of getting HD audio
John.B said 10:24PM on 10-04-2009
"I don't understand why anyone would want to send high quality (or any) audio through HDMI."
Because its easy, and because not everyone needs every movie or show to be piped through a home theatre-level system with a discrete 5.1 audio amplifier setup.
guest said 10:16AM on 10-05-2009
"I don't understand why anyone would want to send high quality (or any) audio through HDMI."
So they only have one cable to hook up to their TV or receiver, and they don't have to do any setup to associate an audio input with a video input.
milkmage said 11:19AM on 10-05-2009
my amp has 6 HDMI ports on the back, why should I use composite or HDMI and toslink, when I can use 1 HDMI? I use the HDMI out to feed the video to the display, the amp handles the audio.
I use 4 of those ports, 4 cables is better than 8.
fishbert said 3:01PM on 10-04-2009
Q: What's better than having a single hdmi-out connector?
A: Having adapters that accomplish the same thing, while occupying 3 ports!
Apple really should be commended for their elegant design...
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John.B said 10:26PM on 10-04-2009
"Q: What's better than having a single hdmi-out connector?
A: Having adapters that accomplish the same thing, while occupying 3 ports!"
Great point, though the USB audio version only needs two ports. Still, it would be nicer to have the mini-DP port to include at least 2-channel sound since the DP spec obviously supports it.
Better yet, I'd trade one USB port on my (Early 2009) mini for an HDMI output (with *supported* audio included).
Christopher S. Palian said 11:59PM on 10-04-2009
Its about time. I have been wanting to turn the mac Mini into an ultimate HTPC since a got my hands on it. Now once the mini gets blu-ray it would be fantastic.
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