2.00 extra! PS3 SACD 5.1 via OPTICAL, is it possible? ** 2.01 takes it away

[egon_spengler]

Until two days ago NO.

I bought 'The Dark Side of the Moon' by Pink Floyd on SACD (Super Audio CD) just to try it out.

It arrived and would not play in SA mode, only standard audio CD mode.

Gutted. A message appeared saying something along the lines of "SACD playback not available through optical, please use another method"

After a bit of research I found that SACD players can only send SACD audio via a standard AV cable, or for 5.1 it needs a HDMI connection to a compatible amp.

Bummer.

However, I tried again today (since installing 2.00 upgrade)

It plays in glorious 5.1 Surround Sound! My amp displays a DTS signal at 1.5mbps.

As far as I know I'm the first person to notice this , so if anyone else can confirm this works on their set-ups I'll feel really proud I discovered something!!!

[Musashi]

Now all we need is for the PS3 to decode DTA-HD MA.

[Galley]

I also get a DTS 5.1 signal, and the "multi-channel decoding" light is lit up, but I'm not getting anything from the surrounds. I tried Pink Floyd and Derek And The Dominos. Hmmm...

[egon_spengler]

Well I can only us DSOTM by Floyd as an example as it is the only disc I own, but on the track 'TIME' I'm definately getting different clock sounds through all channels.

DSOTM contains a 2.0 and 5.1 version of the audio and there is a noticable difference between them.

Even if I was only getting 2.0 its still great news because I don't have to switch my PS3 sound output to 'AV multi' to get any sound. But I'm satisfied.

For reference I'm using a Yamaha RX-V361 amp. Basic, but functional!

[WriteSimply]

Sounds like the PS3 is doing DSD-to-DTS transcoding on the fly. Not the same quality, I guarantee you. And basically defeats the whole point of buying SACDs.


fuad

[buckshot]

I had a similar question. my ps3 outputs the songs saved on it as pcm (at least that's what my receiver tells me). this means I can only choose between direct and mutlichannel as audio selections. this means I can only get 2 channel audio. is there a way to change how songs saved to the ps3 are output so I can change the receiver settings to output all channels?

and are sacds worth it? i'm a huge bob dylan fan, and have wanted to get some of his albums on it.

[Galley]

Holy Schnikes! I knew something was up, so I ran a test tone. Sure enough all three of my rear surround speaker wires had come loose the last time I moved my TV stand. I am now getting 5.1 surround sound from multi-channel SACDs via the optical output!

[lutefisk69]

So.. Is the PS3 doing still doing the DSD change and sending the signal for the receiver to decode or is it sending a PCM signal via the optical?

[egon_spengler]

Originally Posted by WriteSimply

Sounds like the PS3 is doing DSD-to-DTS transcoding on the fly. Not the same quality, I guarantee you. And basically defeats the whole point of buying SACDs.


fuad

Not really. Quality wise maybe, but when was the last time you heard a 5.1 encoded disc that wasn't SACD?

As it happens, this disc cost as much as a standard CD, but pro-logic II can only immerse immerse me in the music so far, I was impressed with the difference the 5.1 version made. My general listening includes the prodigy and chemical brothers at high volume, so chances are my hearing is severely damaged and DSD quality wouldn't be detected anyway. Saying that my bro has a Denon HDMI amp so I'm going to take my optical cable over at the weekend and do a comparision. (In a similar way that despite having ordered a HDMI cable with my PS3 on release day, I just had to connect it up by composite anyway... just for shits and giggles)

[egon_spengler]

Originally Posted by lutefisk69

So.. Is the PS3 doing still doing the DSD change and sending the signal for the receiver to decode or is it sending a PCM signal via the optical?

I guess it depends on your AVR, but all my flashing light things say DTS. If I'm correct, DTS is a compression format (in this case 1.5mbps) and PCM is uncompressed, which only runs in stereo through an optical cable.

Whatever is going on, the PS3 is doing the change/conversion/transcoding because I read that the AVR is incapable of receiving SACD audio (DSD) via an optical cable, though the reason why eludes me. PS3 is doing something, it may be a work around, but I'm glad they considered us old fashioned OPTICAL CABLE users.

[BTS]

Originally Posted by buckshot

and are sacds worth it? i'm a huge bob dylan fan, and have wanted to get some of his albums on it.

OH YEAH Have bought about 20 since my PS3 purchase.Blood On The Tracks will be my next.Even though I already own on vinyl,cassette,and cd

[bhampton]

Hmm,

I'll have to give this a try.

I bought the DSOM SACD when it came out and it remains my only SACD.

I have a 5 Disc DVD/CD/SACD player with 6 channel analog out that I normally use for SACD and CD. One reason I keep the CD player even though the PS3 can play CD's is my AVR is older and changing it from Dolby Surround to Stereo for CD's would be a hassle and if I didn't do that I would be listening to CD's in pro-logic (oy.)

Anyway,.. this sounds interesting.. I'll check it out.

Oh wait,.. nevermind, My AVR doesn't support DTS which sounds like it would be needed. ''

I would replace the AVR in an instant if it didn't sound great already and if it didn't cut into my Blu Ray buying money.

-Brian

[Clark Kent]

This is a real nice and frankly unexpected improvement for those people that don't have a receiver that accepts audio via HDMI. It's transcoding the 5.1 SACD to 5.1 DTS via optical/coax. It does lower the fidelity of the original SACD track obviously(DTS is a lossy format), but now many can hear the multi-channel track with the PS3 and many older receivers.

[buckshot]

Originally Posted by BTS

OH YEAH Have bought about 20 since my PS3 purchase.Blood On The Tracks will be my next.Even though I already own on vinyl,cassette,and cd

i have been eyeing blood on the tracks and Desire. i have both on vinyl and cd. i guess i'll have to pick them up now. do you have desire? how's it sound?

[soapdishbandit]

Originally Posted by buckshot

i have been eyeing blood on the tracks and Desire. i have both on vinyl and cd. i guess i'll have to pick them up now. do you have desire? how's it sound?

I actually own a PS3 and a Pioneer SACD/DVD-Audio player that is hooked into my Yamaha RX-V3300 receiver via 5.1 analog inputs. I also own Dark Side of The Moon and it sounds faboulous. The master quality audio is amazing. I wonder how this sounds in DTS 5.1? It won't be as nice as DTS is 16 bit (except for some DTS-HD Master Audio) and SACD is 24 bit, actually, its 1 bit, but I wont go into details. SACD is similiar to DVD-Audio and sounds like 24 bit 96Khz which makes a HUGE HUGE difference.

What Sony SHOULD do to top even that, is if you have a newer receiver that has DTS 96/24 (like mine) but no HDMI, allow it to transcode the Mult-Channel SACD to DTS 96/24 5.1, and that would make it sound even MORE like the original SACD quality sound.

[Clark Kent]

I strongly recommend all of the Dylan SACDs except the "John Wesley Harding" SACD. Many have found that particular title extremely bright compared to prior issues. "Desire" smokes the older cd but some might prefer the original vinyl depending on one's tastes.

[buckshot]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

I strongly recommend all of the Dylan SACDs except the "John Wesley Harding" SACD. Many have found that particular title extremely bright compared to prior issues. "Desire" smokes the older cd but some might prefer the original vinyl depending on one's tastes.

I just ordered desire, blood on the tracks, bringing it all back home, and highway 61 revisited. you guys are bad influences. $43 for the lot of them, shipped. used on amazon seemed the cheapest way I could get them.

[Galley]

YourMusic.com still carries 28 SACDs for $6.99 each with free shipping.

[ArneBjarne]

Originally Posted by bhampton

Hmm,

I'll have to give this a try.

I bought the DSOM SACD when it came out and it remains my only SACD.

I have a 5 Disc DVD/CD/SACD player with 6 channel analog out that I normally use for SACD and CD. One reason I keep the CD player even though the PS3 can play CD's is my AVR is older and changing it from Dolby Surround to Stereo for CD's would be a hassle and if I didn't do that I would be listening to CD's in pro-logic (oy.)

Anyway,.. this sounds interesting.. I'll check it out.

Oh wait,.. nevermind, My AVR doesn't support DTS which sounds like it would be needed. ''

I would replace the AVR in an instant if it didn't sound great already and if it didn't cut into my Blu Ray buying money.

-Brian

DTS is not necessarily needed, it probably just chooses the best possible option from the ones you checked in the audio setup checklist. If DTS is not checked but DD is, my guess is, it would just encode to DD instead of DTS.

[WriteSimply]

Originally Posted by egon_spengler

Not really. Quality wise maybe, but when was the last time you heard a 5.1 encoded disc that wasn't SACD?

A few months ago. DVD-A.

As it happens, this disc cost as much as a standard CD, but pro-logic II can only immerse immerse me in the music so far, I was impressed with the difference the 5.1 version made. My general listening includes the prodigy and chemical brothers at high volume, so chances are my hearing is severely damaged and DSD quality wouldn't be detected anyway.

Even with electronica, DSD can bring more to the recording than CD or lossy DTS/DD. But it all depends on the master and what's recorded and mixed there.

As far as your damaged hearing goes, you might wanna change your habit a bit and see a doctor about that. I can't imagine being deaf through habit is much fun.

Saying that my bro has a Denon HDMI amp so I'm going to take my optical cable over at the weekend and do a comparision. (In a similar way that despite having ordered a HDMI cable with my PS3 on release day, I just had to connect it up by composite anyway... just for shits and giggles)

Hopefully your brother has a Denon that accepts HDMI multichannel sound. Then your comparison will work. If you don't have SACDs, BDs with PCM/TrueHD will work against Dolby Digital.

Originally Posted by Galley

YourMusic.com still carries 28 SACDs for $6.99 each with free shipping.

Buckshot, what Galley said. Save some money and cancel your order. Then order the entire SACD box set.


fuad