Really Surrounded By Sound
I’ve just checked the new CoreAudio-based audio system into Plex’s unstable 0.7 branch. Elan’s going to roll a new build very shortly, so you should all be able to take it for a spin very soon.
There are two major benefits to the code: the first is better detection of audio hardware, so you shouldn’t have to muck around in the audio settings as much trying to get 5.1 sound to work. If you have a digital output built into your mac, plug it in, select the digital device, and play movies in surround!
The second of course is native AC3 output using CoreAudio. If you have a receiver which hasn’t previously been able to play surround sound from Plex, it almost certainly will now. If you’ve been using a USB or Firewire audio device, you may need to use the old system, which is available using the override switch in the audio settings page. Lip sync is also better because we can now accurately check the hardware latency of different devices.
The AC3 encoder is still present, and will work as previously.
This is the product of many late nights and weekends, and gracious help from Elan, and the PortAudio team, Phil Burke in particular. Thanks also to all the users on the forum who helped with testing and insight.
Enjoy!
Screenshot of the new audio settings showing the CoreAudio autodetection
Howdy!
I’m Ryan, one of the Plex Developers. This is a part time project for me (My day job is a junior doctor in NZ’s public health system) but I usually manage to find time to add a feature or fix a bug here and there.
Currently I’m working on improving our digital audio support, but am planning on integrating EyeTV support, better DVD playback, and giving Elan a hand on a couple of other projects which we think you’ll like…
In the meantime, I’ll post updates on audio support and other things I’m working on here.
Finally, in the spirit of Plex, here’s my personal Plex mascot (Plexscot?) Ted.
-Ryan
