[Airsculpture]

Funnily enough my Samsung is starting to mess about and I was looking to replace it. It is in the same room as my PS3 and I wondered whether I should actually bother at all, or just use the PS3.

I think originally I was using it as the PS3 only pumped out PCM but actually, I can't tell the difference between the formats in sound quality.

The alternatives I was looking at was actually the Sony BDP S570.

 

[csks]

I think originally I was using it as the PS3 only pumped out PCM but actually, I can't tell the difference between the formats in sound quality.

As long as it's lossless audio, whether the decoding is done at the source (PS3 in this case, thus PCM) or the receiver, should not matter.

 

[Airsculpture]

So there is no difference between the 1st gen PS3 pumping out PCM or a BD PLayer pumping over True HD and DTS to the receiver ?

 

[57]

Essentially no, providing the AVR is of "equivalent" quality. If the BD player can send bitstream uncompressed to the AVR and the AVR can decode bitstream uncompressed HDMI, then there may be a minor benefit of doing so in the last link of the chain, but it really depends on the quality of the devices involved, so one cannot generalize.

Either way, having the PS3 decode the uncompressed stream and sending LPCM to the AVR is superior to sending (compressed) DD5.1 or DTS5.1 to the AVR.

 

[Airsculpture]

What do you mean by that 57 ? The AVR is Pioneer 9140TXH by the way.

Also with the scenario of the PCM coming from the 1st gen PS3, would I still be able to have 7.1 coming from the AVR ?

 

[Airsculpture]

The downside I have discovered after moving the BRP out of the room leaving the PS3 is that I am only getting 5.1 from my original PS3 as opposed to the 7.1 I was getting previously with the BRP.

I might need to invest in a another player.

Another option would be to replace my PS3 with the 2nd gen version as I believe these will do Tru HD and DTS Mast, am I right in this ?

 

[scampbell]

Also with the scenario of the PCM coming from the 1st gen PS3, would I still be able to have 7.1 coming from the AVR ?

Make sure that you have set the PS3 to output 7.1 in the output settings. I have a fat PS3 (but new enough that it doesn't support SACDs) and it sends 7.1 signals just fine to my Pioneer 9140 (all 7.1 channel lights light up, even though I only have 5.1 speakers).

Make sure that it is a 7.1 source. If I play a 5.1 source on my PS3, it will send 5.1, while a 7.1 source will be 7.1.

Also, when playing HD sources (including PS3 games) make sure the PS3 is set to output PCM. If you set it to Bitstream, it will only send lossy DD/DTS (except for the slim PS3s).

 

[Airsculpture]

Yes they are my settings too. I think I may have hit on my confusion ( then again I might be wrong ).

My Pioneer 9140TXH will, one particular mode I use ( THX Select 2 CIN ), alter a 5.1 channel source to allow you to hear 7.1. I am wondering whether it only does this if it receives the DD or DTA pre unencoded signal i.e. it receives the DTA MA or True HD DD signal, then will split it to the 7.1 channels ?

My reasoning is that when I was using the BRP, it was sending the receiver these signals. Now with the fat PS3 it is sending the raw PCM 5.1 channels instead of the encoded signals. Therefore the receiver can't do its trickery and merely puts out the original 5.1.

If either the receiver received the encoded True etc etc or actual 7.1 PCM source, then it would do the 7.1 channels, much like it did when the BRP was pushing it the encoded material ?

 

[57]

Some AVRs can "add" the "trickery" to certain signals, some cannot. For example, my Denon was changing DD2.0 signals to a 6.1 output (I have a single center rear), but leaving DD5.1 as DD5.1 until I made a change in the setup of the AVR to change DD5.1 to DD-EX.

When I watch BDs (not very often), I simply let the AVR put out what comes in, but I believe it can add the "EX" if I want, but I know that some AVRs cannot - some signals (like Multi-channel PCM, or Multi-channel analogue inputs) cannot be so manipulated by the AVR. Totally make/model specific.

 

[scampbell]

My reasoning is that when I was using the BRP, it was sending the receiver these signals. Now with the fat PS3 it is sending the raw PCM 5.1 channels instead of the encoded signals. Therefore the receiver can't do its trickery and merely puts out the original 5.1.

The receiver should be able to matrix 5.1 into 7.1. On the front of the receiver, do the lights (the ones that show how many channels the receiver is receiving) show 7.1 or 5.1 ?

I wonder if the PS3 is sending 7.1 channels, but only filling 5.1 of them -- if the PS3 is sending blank rear surrounds, there would be nothing the receiver could do about it. Do you have 5.1 output enabled on the PS3? If not, enabling it may help (so that 5.1 signals are sent as 5.1 rather than embedded in 7.1).

 

[Airsculpture]

Thanks for the reply scampbell.

When playing the True HD 5.1 discs the two rear speaker lights are not lit - only L, C, R, Sl and SR - the Xl and XR being the true rears are not lit. They were when using the BRP.

All audio options on the PS3 are ticked ( all 5.1 and 7.1 ) and output is via the HDMI.

Edit : Does the latest slim PS3 output DTS MA and True HD as bitstream or does it just do it as PCM output ?

 

[scampbell]

The Slim PS3 will output bitstream HD audio.

 

[Airsculpture]

By way of update, I now have the slim PS3 set to bitstream out and the receiver is displaying ( on Avatar ) DTS HD audio being received. However, whatever I select ( one of the settings which flips 5.1 to 7.1 ) just displays the same 5 speakers.

Mystery to me.

 

[scampbell]

The lights on the front of the receiver show which channels you are receiving, not those that you are outputting. If you have a 5.1 signal, it will show 5.1 lights, even if you are outputting to 7.1 speakers.

 

[Airsculpture]

I will check things out tomorrow after work. However, the only point of reference is the previous situation described above with the BRP, and then the lights for all 7 channels were lit with exactly the same source BR discs, none of which have a 7.1 track on them, only 5.1 Tru or DTS MA, which is what is confusing me.

So I can fairly confidently say that when I was getting 7.1 output, all 7 lights were lit for the channels/speakers.

 

[Airsculpture]

Update :

Played BRD last night. When inserted and going through loading prior to playing movie, all 7 lights are lit. Once movie starts playing in any of the available THX etc modes, only the 5.1 lights are lit ( actually 5 as I don't have a sub ).

SB Channel is set to on and I do get sound from the two back speakers, despite the 2 additional lights not being lit. Will try it again tonight with PCM feed as apposed to bitstream but I suspect the same result. This is certainly a plus.

Still don't get how all were lit previously but the main thing is sound and it appears I'm getting that.

 

[57]

prior to playing movie, all 7 lights are lit

You are probably receiving a two channel (DD2.0) signal at that time - typical for before the movie starts and the AVR is converting it to DPLIIx - 7 channels. When you receive a DD5.1 or HD audio (TrueHD, DTS-MA signal), the AVR may not currently be set to convert that (5.1 channel) signal to 7.1. Not sure if your AVR can do that, as I mentioned in my previous post on the topic (post 9) - you may wish to reread my previous post.

Also, most AVRs show the incoming signal on the display - this may be a scrolling note as you change to that input/signal, or it could be a static display, usually the static just states something like Dolby Digital, or True-HD, while the scrolling display shows the channels in that signal - the scrolling starts whenever the signal is changed - you can see that when it goes from 2.0 to 5.1 for example.

Also, most AVRs have an "info/display/menu" button which allows you to go into the user menu and see the actual signal - whether it's DD2.0, DTS, DD5.1, how many channels, etc. The PS3 also has a display or similar button to show what it's sending.

 

[Airsculpture]

As scampbell has already confirmed the 9140 Pioneer has this facility in abundance to convert the signal to 7.1.

Just a bit mystified that when it is so obviously doing so, it does not indicate those channels in use on the display.

 

[j0dest3r]

PS3 Slim Bitstream DD+ Re: Netflix

Can anyone confirm that the PS3 can stream DD+ ? My receiver does not light up DD+ when it is all set in the PS3 options. I'm trying this via Netflix. The Dolby Digital lights up however. I don't think there is one Blu-ray that supports DD+ that I could test with. Or at least none I can think of.

 

[jean373]

ps3 manette blu ray

je ne sais pas comment faire fonctionner cette manette: