Mac mini problems

Hi all,
First post here...

I am using a Mac mini as an entertainment centre. I have a number of issues which I would like some help with.

Firstly, hooked up my new teac a-h01 through the USB and when using ITunes, I get about five seconds of correct playback before the sound distorts and becomes unlistenable. I played the same tracks from my MacBook without any problem so it is definitely the mini

Secondly, movies played back as .avi in QuickTime are very jerky

Any comments or advice greatly appreciated.

The model is A1347

Thanks

System specs please. See signature below.

Also, QuickTime doesn't natively handle AVI files. Are you using the Perian plug-in? How are those AVI files encoded? You likely are better off just using VLC or MPlayerX instead. QuickTime just isn't very good at playing anything outside of .mov or .m4v/.mp4 even with plug-ins.

Mac mini

OSX 10.6.8

2.4ghz intel core duo
2 gb 1067 MHz DDR3

capohk said:

Firstly, hooked up my new teac a-h01 through the USB and when using ITunes, I get about five seconds of correct playback before the sound distorts and becomes unlistenable. I played the same tracks from my MacBook without any problem so it is definitely the mini

Click to expand...

I assume these are music files. Do they sound normal when your MacBook is hooked to the Teac, or do you mean they sound fine on your MacBook's internal speakers? Have you tried plugging in some other kind of speakers or headphones to the Mac mini to see if the problem persists that way? Is the USB cable you are using 2.0 compliant?

Yes to music files. Teac plays music from MacBook via USB lead in the way I would like mini to work.
Have downloaded VLC and is installed. Plays avi well and sound is output to tv via hdmi

Will not output sound to headphones or USB

If the headphones don't work, then chances are you have a hardware problem. But let's check your settings. Go to System Preferences, then Sound. Under Output, what options do you have? With the headphones plugged in, they should be listed as an option and even selected by default. Be sure they are plugged into the right port.

Tried all options in sound preferences. All the correct options appear but sound is still output to tv via hdmi, regardless of what is selected
I am now convinced its a hardware issue. New sound card?

capohk said:

Tried all options in sound preferences
I am now convinced its a hardware issue. New sound card?

Click to expand...

You can't really replace the sound card, but there are some that you can plug into the USB port. Here's one:
Amazon.com: Griffin Technology iMic USB Audio Device: Computers & Accessories

As a long shot, you can try reinstalling OS X just to rule out it being a problem with a missing kernel extension. Although... since the audio does work "briefly" out USB, I'm a bit skeptical on that.