The cherry on top is that in the four year limbo between this software's completion and release, Apple removed the optical audio port that it requires to function from all new Macs.
>AC-3, like the competing DTS standard, is a non-optional part of various other standards, including ATSC, ...<p>At this point it appears that Dolby has managed to worm its way into the new ATSC 3 broadcast TV standard as well in the form of something called AC-4.<p>Dolby started as a tape hiss reduction system that actually was useful. Since that time it has more and more become just a way to extract license fees from companies making electronics that involve audio.<p>For the TV standard they could of just used the open Opus codec, but since the people who are creating the standards are the ones getting the licensing revenue there is no real incentive to do something like that. These "industry standards" have become a kind of a scam.<p>So no, Dolby is not all that interested in licensing software implementations of their codecs for random programs. That is simply not where the big money is and it isn't really their business.
I thought this is a "shipping software". But it's a music related app for Mac (Which seems to be pretty cool).<p>So, I am thinking this post deserves a better title.
Does the optical input for the amplifier <i>only</i> suport AC-3? Why don't manufacturers use a more naive patent-free method that might be slower? Are they really starving for bandwidth enough to justify the cost of an AC-3 license? Even uncompressed PCM times 6 channels could easily be transmitted over USB 2.0, and I was under the impression that these optical formats were even faster.
What happens if you connect a Mac to a receiver using an HDMI cable? (And then chain your monitor to the receiver.)<p>HDMI can carry uncompressed 7.1 channel audio - will a Mac send that? If it does, does any playback software support that?
This deserves a better title. HN's title submission rules are going to hurt chances of it being up voted despite the good story. Something like:<p>Aura: delayed 4 years by "Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory” licensing<p>edit: Thank you both folks who replied. I posted this comment, emailed the mods, then saw your replies. :-)