Linear PCM or Bitstream...

[Augustine864]

Ok, I know this has been discussed to death, (or at least I think it has), and everywhere I look the verdict tends to be PCM,(including AVS Forum), but....

I was watching Cloverfield earlier and felt like when i switched to bitstream it sounded much more realistic. I just hooked up my new receiver and was trying to listen to some HD audio for the first time but am unconvinced I'm hearing it. So anyway, I was watching the scene where the Statue of Liberty's head comes rolling down the street and then the tall building in the distance comes crashing down and the actors take cover in a small convenience stores before the windows are blown in. I played it through on PCM and it sounded loud and fine I guess, but when I played it through again on bitstream it sounded much more realistic to me. The crowd of people were talking at a realistic volume and weren't subdued when the actors began to speak like they seemed to be in the PCM run-through. Also, when the glass breaks it sounded much cleaner and just all-around real when I played it on Bitstream.

I probably just discredited myself completely but so be it. So do I really want it to be set on PCM? The reason that I read for having it on PCM was so that the PS3 would decode and pass to the receiver, but if my receiver decodes, is it just as well to leave at bitstream?

*EDIT* I just watched that scene again and I just can't deny that the bitstream sounds much more realistic to me and unprocessed.

[scweb13]

You are only getting Dolby Digital 5.1 (Dolby TrueHD core/ not lossless) when bitstreaming. When PCM is selected, the PS3 is decoding the Dolby TrueHD (lossless)and sending it to the receiver.
If you like the way one sounds better than the other, listen to that one.

[LastSonOfKrypton]

Originally Posted by scweb13

You are only getting Dolby Digital 5.1 (Dolby TrueHD core/ not lossless) when bitstreaming. When PCM is selected, the PS3 is decoding the Dolby TrueHD (lossless)and sending it to the receiver.
If you like the way one sounds better than the other, listen to that one.

Sorry but there is no such thing as a TrueHD core. If you select TrueHD and the player realizes you don't have the equipment to handle it, it reverts to a hidden DD 5.1 640kbps track.

[scweb13]

Originally Posted by LastSonOfKrypton

Sorry but there is no such thing as a TrueHD core. If you select TrueHD and the player realizes you don't have the equipment to handle it, it reverts to a hidden DD 5.1 640kbps track.

Sorry, I was thinking about DTS HDMA. My mistake.

[My_Two_Cents]

You didn't mention how you have your PS3 connected to your AVR. Assume HDMI? If optical, then with the PS3 set to PCM, you will only be getting 2.0 (stereo) lossless, which will not sound as good as lossy 5.1. You probably already know that, though.

[Roland1919]

Originally Posted by Ricshoe

You didn't mention how you have your PS3 connected to your AVR. Assume HDMI? If optical, then with the PS3 set to PCM, you will only be getting 2.0 (stereo) lossless, which will not sound as good as lossy 5.1. You probably already know that, though.

Do you know about the YAMAHA soundbar? I was getting a ton of crackle and a message pops up that said, "Unsupported audio" everytime I popped in a Blu but it still played. Now, its set to Linear should that correct my crackle problem or is there something more I should be doing??