Playstation 3 and Audio...lost...what do I choose?

[ridergroov1]

Alright so I just bought a new receiver. Yamaha RX-V465. It's a great receiver and I really like it but I don't get what to do for the audio settings on my PS3. My Blu Rays show as PCM 5.1. What is PCM? Can I get TrueHD or DTSMA from my PS3? What should I set the PS3 for? I'm using HDMI for audio and video through the receiver. Pretty lost in how all these audio codecs work. Explanation and help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[BStecke]

Set the PS3 to output LPCM, not bitstream. The PS3 will decode TrueHD and DTS-HDMA and send them to the receiver as PCM. Basically, the PS3 is doing the decoding and not the receiver.

[ridergroov1]

Where do I set that? There are tons and tons of Linear PCM options available. Where do I change the setting?

[ridergroov1]

Also...how does "bitstreaming" work?

[BStecke]

I'm pretty sure it's just under the audio output option. It's either bitstream or LPCM, should be LPCM. Bitstream just means it sends the undecoded signal from the PS3 for the receiver for the receiver to decode it.

[ridergroov1]

Okay I found that setting. I noticed that either True HD or DTSMA always show as PCM on my receiver. I'm realizing that will never change on the receiver since the PS3 is doing the encoding. I also notice that when I play a Blu with DTSMA the display on the PS3 shows me i'm using DTSMA and roughly 4.3Gbps and the True HD only comes up as Dolby Digital 5.1 and at 640k. Needless to say, the DTSMA sounds waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy better. Can I only get Dolby 5.1 out of Blus with True HD cause they don't sound too amazing. Thanks in advance for your help.

[BStecke]

If the PS3 is set to LPCM, make sure you actually have the TrueHD track selected. A lot of discs do not default to TrueHD.

[ridergroov1]

You my friend, are totally correct. I changed the setting to the next audio and my bitrate went up. Yay. Thanks very much for that info. I thought I had read the PS3 couldn't decode truehd and dtsma. I'm guessing this is bad info? Much happier. So which is the better format? Thank you!

[BStecke]

The PS3 can decode them just fine, it just can't send them as bitstream.

TrueHD, DTS HDMA, PCM are all the same. PCM is a true uncompressed audio track, where TrueHD and DTS HDMA are losslessly compressed. Smaller file size, but the same info. Kind of like a zip file.

[ridergroov1]

Alright I guess that makes sense. Let me ask this then, if it can decode them, why would you ever want to send them as a bitstream which to what I understand is passing them on to be decoded elsewhere. Also, where doese a PCM track come from? I don't see on any of the Blus that they offer a PCM. They seem to be either TrueHD or DTSMA. Can I use a PCM track somehow? Thanks for all your time and info. It's just starting to make sense to me now.

[BPHusker]

A lot of the earlier Sony and Disney releases up to last year or so had PCM, but they have switched to TrueHD. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to hear any of the high def codecs as I still don't have a capable receiver.

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by ridergroov1

Alright I guess that makes sense. Let me ask this then, if it can decode them, why would you ever want to send them as a bitstream which to what I understand is passing them on to be decoded elsewhere. Also, where doese a PCM track come from? I don't see on any of the Blus that they offer a PCM. They seem to be either TrueHD or DTSMA. Can I use a PCM track somehow? Thanks for all your time and info. It's just starting to make sense to me now.

A lot of people claim that the bitstreamed audio, which gets decoded by the receiver, sounds better than the player doing the decoding. That's why people would want to bitstream. If they think their receiver does a better job of handling the audio, why shouldn't they be able to set their equipment to what sounds best to their ears?

There are tons of Blu-rays with PCM tracks. There are fewer being released recently though as studios seem to be favouring the two codecs that can be stored in a compressed size in order to save space on the disc.

Also, since you are using a PS3. Make certain to locate the DNR (Digital Noise Reduction) setting and TURN IT OFF! It severely hinders the quality of the HD audio streams.

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by ridergroov1

Alright so I just bought a new receiver. Yamaha RX-V465. It's a great receiver and I really like it but I don't get what to do for the audio settings on my PS3. My Blu Rays show as PCM 5.1. What is PCM? Can I get TrueHD or DTSMA from my PS3? What should I set the PS3 for? I'm using HDMI for audio and video through the receiver. Pretty lost in how all these audio codecs work. Explanation and help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Oh... and one more VERY important question...

Are you connected via HDMI???

[209Mason]

I actually had this exact same question last night and posted it here:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...92#post1827292

But I have yet to get an answer, so I'll add it here as well... never quoted myself before... but here goes:

Originally Posted by 209Mason

I've got a question about the audio settings between the PS3 and the SR706. I have HDMI between PS3 and SR706 (DVD input).

I put in Tropic Thunder, which is Dolby True HD 5.1. When I hit the Receiver > Display buttons on the remote, if I have it on Linear PCM, it shows Multichannel PCM 5.1 48khz

Then I wanted to try something with DTS-HD Master 7.1, so I put in Rambo. Again, I hit Receiver > Display... if I have it on Linear PCM, it shows Multchannel PCM 7.1 48khz

I guess my question is... does that sound right? Is there some setting I'm missing completely? How can I tell if I'm getting True Dolby HD or DTS Master Audio, and even so... is the 48khz thing correct?? If I'm completely off here, can anyone with the SR706 share what settings (listening mode) I should be using?

[saprano]

Yes those are correct, remember, the ps3 is decoding dtsma and dolbyTrueHD to PCM.

If you press select on the ps3 remote it will tell you what codec it is.

[209Mason]

Originally Posted by saprano

Yes those correct, remember, the ps3 is decoding dtsma and dolbyTrueHD to PCM.

Thanks for the info. I wasn't sure what the 48hkz was about... the SR706 manual shows DTS-HD and TrueHD options of 196khz, I guess that's why I wasn't sure... I guess I need to do some more reading.

[saprano]

You do have the right settings checked off in the audio options right?

Movies are only recorded at 48khz, only music blurays have a sample rate of 96khz, or higher.

[209Mason]

Originally Posted by saprano

You do have the right settings checked off in the audio options right?

Movies are only recorded at 48khz, only music blurays have a sample rate of 96khz, or higher.

Awesome. That's exactly the info I was looking for! Learned something new today! Thanks very much.

[ridergroov1]

Originally Posted by Petra_Kalbrain

A lot of people claim that the bitstreamed audio, which gets decoded by the receiver, sounds better than the player doing the decoding. That's why people would want to bitstream. If they think their receiver does a better job of handling the audio, why shouldn't they be able to set their equipment to what sounds best to their ears?

There are tons of Blu-rays with PCM tracks. There are fewer being released recently though as studios seem to be favouring the two codecs that can be stored in a compressed size in order to save space on the disc.

Also, since you are using a PS3. Make certain to locate the DNR (Digital Noise Reduction) setting and TURN IT OFF! It severely hinders the quality of the HD audio streams.

Hi Peter,

You are right. I went back through my limited Blu Ray library and a few were indeed PCM. Never remember seeing that. Also, yes, definitely using HDMI now. Just bought my new receiver for these features and to get rid of all my other audio cables. HDMI all the way from now on. I do like the PS3 because it does tell you what it is decoding at. Fantastic. Going to hunt down that DNR setting.....thank you!

[ridergroov1]

Hey Peter. I can't find that Digital Noise REduction. Do you know where that setting is? I found something called Digital Range Control however. Thanks.