[brj]

Hello!

Does anyone know of a utility or terminal command to display the data format coming in via the optical digital audio input of a Mac?  I'm running Yosemite on a Mac Mini, if it makes a difference.

While the Mini is primarily intended as an audio server, I do have my Panasonic Plasma hooked up to the digital input, and I suspect that the max-volume, high-speed buzzing that I get through the Mac when playing certain material might be Dolby Digital content instead of 2-channel PCM.  I'd like to confirm that.  (For the life of me, I can't find a setting that forces the Panasonic to down-mix to 2-channel.)

Thanks!

[JohnR]

So sometimes it plays audio from the TV and sometimes not? Your guess sounds about right to me. I don't think you'll be able to find out the format from within the Mac as it won't be decoding the bitstream at all. Plug it into an AVR should tell (if you have one).