onkyo 606 and ps3 audio question

[devils3023]

Yes, you are hearing the lossless audio from the blu-ray. The reason the 606 only shows pcm when watching a bd is because the ps3 is decoding the lossless audio of either dolby true-hd or dts-ma and sending it to receiver as linear pcm. The 606 identifies it as pcm decoded audio and simply amplifies it, thus only showing the pcm icon on 606. The only time you would see dts-ma or dolby true-hd on the receiver is if you had a player capable of bitstreaming the lossless audio and having the receiver do the decoding. Bitstreaming just means that the player simply sends the audio track to the receiver untouched, without processing it or decoding it. Hardcore audiophiles will argue that it is better to have the receiver decode the audio but there is no audible difference whether the player does the decoding vs. the receiver. Hope this clears things up for you.