Airplay Device can cause HDMI Audio dropouts (eyetv/VLC etc)

[minihack]

This is mainly a post for information for anyone thinking they have faulty HDMI connections or that something is wrong with their audio configuration

It seems to be a feature of Airplay that some applications scan for the presence of devices and while that is happening HDMI audio drops out.

For instance, I use EYETV to watch and record TV on my hack. Unfortunately I noticed it had become absolutely unusable as my HDMI audio connection to my TV was dropping out for a couple of seconds each minute or so. It was driving me crazy.

I have an AppleTV and this gives an "Airplay" sound output option in the System Preferences panel.

Unplugging the Apple TV (removing the power lead), removed the "Airplay" sound option in system preferences and restored normality to my EyeTV enjoyment.

I have heard there can be a similar issue with VLC.

So I just thought it might be worth mentioning here in case this is useful to anyone else experiencing audio dropouts over HDMI.

Please note this problem is NOT a fault with your hack……it is a problem with your applications not playing nice with an Airplay device. And it happens to real Macs too.

Instead of unplugging the airplay device though the better way is to change the audio preference within the application - i.e. see the good/bad options in the attachments. In the "good" option I have changed the audio output channel to be my TV instead of being the "system sound output". So that now instead of EYETV checking every minute or so to make sure my System Sound Output device has not changed (and causing the dropout) it now just goes with my choice of the Sony TV connection.

 

[markehh]

I'm experiencing a pretty similar problem with my setup at the moment

Chrome/Safari both flash and other video/audio will drop the sound for a second every so often, VLC does the same but can be cured as shown by changing the audio device from system sound output device to HDMI. The volume icon in the taskbar which is greyed out during HDMI usage also flashes black from in sync with the audio drop outs. 3.5mm audio is fine it's only HDMI.

I don't think I have any airplay devices, if that is the cause is there any way to disable this altogether and get working sound without having to mess with individual applications?