Re: [Bino-list] Multichannel output on Mac OS

[Martin Lambers]

On Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:29:54 +0100, address@hidden wrote:
> According to Frédéric Devernay, Multichannel output with Bino for Mac
> is currently not possible.
> 
> Frédéric was so kind and compiled a version with Apple's OpenAL and
> sent me the following message:
> 
> "you'll notice that bino compiled with Apple's OpenAL cannot play
> multichannel files (trie with big buck bunny). I can play it on
> OpenAL-soft Bino with audio output to HDMI (using system
> preferences), but I don't know if it's multichannel or a stereo
> downmix (I only have 2 speakers). The other applications you're
> citing probably employ some other API to play sound (maybe coreaudio
> directly, or another API)."
> 
> 
> So does the massive restructuring of Bino include a fix for this too?

No, it does not, since the problem here is not within Bino.

The problem is the state of OpenAL support on Mac OS X:
- Apple's own OpenAL implementation can output surround sound(?),
  but cannot handle multichannel audio streams.
- The free OpenAL Soft implementation handles multichannel audio
  streams, but cannot output surround sound on Mac OS X (at least not
  on your system).

This issue needs to be addressed either by Apple or by OpenAL Soft.

Regards,
Martin