PS3 HDMI audio out question

[mephistophelean]

I was given a PS3 (by a stupidly generous friend).

My current set up is to have the HDMI cable to my projector and Digital Optical cable to carry the sound out to my Audiolab pre-amp.

The Audiolab doesn't support HDMI so I was wondering whether there was any kind of HDMI splitter available that splits into HDMI (video) and five analogue outs to take advantage of the various HDMI audio formats?

Also, can the PS3 output (presumably via future upgrades) the various HDMI audio formats?

[Dave W]

Hi there, the PS3 can output the new sound formats now but only via HDMI.

Analogue audio output is not supported and is highly unlikely to be in the future.

You can get 2 channel LCPM via toslink which sounds pretty good or normal DD DTS.

[Pecker]

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

Lots of people investing in high def already have very good A/V amps with 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 inputs.

A stand-alone off-board audio decoder with HDMI ins and 7.1 outs would be a great idea.

If the amp manufacturers can make A/V amps which decode this stuff and amplify it for £800, then surely the amplifiction costs maybe £400 of this.

I'd rather pay £400 for on off-board decoder to add to me perfectly good Denon then replace the whole thing.

Steve W

[mephistophelean]

Steve, the other alternative is that we wait awhile until they produce better, cheaper Hi-Def players with analogue out leads that we can continue to connect to our 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 amps. I have bought my pre and power amp because the hifi and movie sound is (in my opinion) fantastic. We can wait for the Hi-Def war to play out and for better players and discs to be produced.

[mephistophelean]

I had another thought. Would I actually be able to hear the difference between the different audio formats?

If I have an amplifier that maximises the audio experience from an older format, will it sound that much worse than a new format that hasn't really been fully developed and taken advantage of?

I am not clear it will but open to suggestions/experiences.

[Ned Senior]

Originally Posted by mephistophelean

I had another thought. Would I actually be able to hear the difference between the different audio formats?

If I have an amplifier that maximises the audio experience from an older format, will it sound that much worse than a new format that hasn't really been fully developed and taken advantage of?

I am not clear it will but open to suggestions/experiences.

I wondered this myself and have thus far held off buying a new amp, also due to the old finances atm; However at the back of my mind is a niggling voice saying "are you missing out on something here" same voice got me to sell my 360+addon and get an HD-E1..
'Maybe I should take one of my pills!!'

[Dave W]

To be honest, the lossless audio formats are good but not like the step up from stereo to 5.1.

If you already have a half decent 5.1 system there isn't much point in upgrading unless you're feeling flush or were planning to upgrade soon anyway.

[richard plumb]

I agree with you Pecker. Such a preprocessor was my first foray into DTS. Technics decoder, bought back from the US in a suitcase. Fabulous.

[Pecker]

And all it would have to do is decode PCM.

Recent discussion has flagged up that 'advanced' audio (currently on all HD DVDs) has to be decoded in the player, then output as PCM.

Surely a PCM decoder can't be expensive. And I bet most of us have amps with analogue ins.

Steve W

[Ronan Morgan]

I have been sitting on the fence for a while regarding the purchase of a HD player and could be swung by the PS3 if I were sure that by teaming it with an Onkyo 605 which is one of the new amps which handles the new HD sound formats I will be able to enjoy full HD sound. Can someone please advise me on this. This will mean that it has the ability to output HDMI 1.3? I am a little lost on this front. I need clarification by one of you patient people who has probably explained this till you are blue in the face!

[Phill1978]

Originally Posted by Ronan Morgan

I have been sitting on the fence for a while regarding the purchase of a HD player and could be swung by the PS3 if I were sure that by teaming it with an Onkyo 605 which is one of the new amps which handles the new HD sound formats I will be able to enjoy full HD sound. Can someone please advise me on this. This will mean that it has the ability to output HDMI 1.3? I am a little lost on this front. I need clarification by one of you patient people who has probably explained this till you are blue in the face!

TBH so do i.

in clear txt, what does the PS3 output TrueHD ? and is it at a good bitrate ?

whats the diffo between bitstream and PCM ? are you losing anythign with either

[Dave W]

The PS3 outputs LPCM which is a lossless sound format found on many BR discs.

The bitrate is about 4.5mbps.

Bitstream is used to max out the bandwidth of optical cables and though not as good as HDMI, you still get dolby digital, dts and 2 channel LPCM.

[mephistophelean]

My understanding, though, was that current Blu-Ray discs don't currently have the new formats e.g. TrueHD on them? Is that right?

[Ronan Morgan]

Thanks Dave,

I have 2 more questions. Is it a huge improvement over DVD sound? Do I need to ditch my Yamaha 757 amp for something new in order to hear it? Sorry to ask what probably seem such dumb questions but I am lost when it comes to the jargon being used on some of the threads and need it all explained in simpler terms. I understand there are 3 new sound formats with HD but no one seems to be able to hear them because of this reason or that, either the player or the amp or the disk itself not having all sound options on it. Which is the best? Which is available? How long do we have to wait to be able to benefit from them all? Sorry, ended up being much more than 2 questions! Confused but still enthusiastic about the format and awaiting enlightenment! Ronan

[Dave W]

Ronan, please bear in mind that my understanding is rather limited but I will endeavour to explain it as best as I can.

As far as I know the 3 sound formats available are, LPCM, TrueHD and super dts (or something like that).

LPCM is uncompressed and therefore lossless so theoretically should sound better than the other 2. However TrueHD though compressed is a very good codec so aurally sounds the same as LPCM. I don't think super dts is yet available but may be wrong.

The only way to get the new sound formats to an amp is either via HDMI or 5/7.1 analogue connections. Optical and coaxial digital don't have the necessary bandwidth to handle it.

Your amp does not need to be HDMI 1.3 to accept LPCM. My Onkyo 604 (HDMI 1.1)will accept LPCM over HDMI as long as the player (PS3) does the audio decoding on board.

However if the player is not capable of doing the audio decoding then you would need an amp capable of doing it instead.

The Yammy 757 is an excellent amp but unfortunately has no HDMI connections so the only way to get the next gen sound formats is through analogue connections. There aren't that many players about that will output via analogue. I think the Tosh XA1 will but it's cheaper brothers will not. The PS3 will only output HD sound formats via HDMI period and there are currently no plans to include an analogue output option.

My advice would be to keep the yammy for a year or so then upgrade. LPCM is good but not good enough to warrant shelling out 400 quid for a capable amp. Bitstream over optical is still very good indeed.

The tech is still rather young and in a year or so the dust should have settled so upgrading will be clearer and probably a lot cheaper.

mephistophelean, all the BR discs I have are either DD, DTS or LPCM. I'd say around 70%- 80% of them have LPCM soundtracks so yes, BR discs do have the next gen sound formats and arguably the best version at that.