Another confused PS3 owner

[stued]

Basically i just wanted to check if I had my amp and ps3 setup correctly: from what i gather the ps3 can only output Dolby True HD as Multi channel pcm- i find this a tad annoying because when i bought my ps3 i was rather hoping it would output it undecoded. Is it a hardware thing or a software thing (is it fixable via a firmware update?) and does anyone know about the rumoured DTS HD master audio firmware upgrade for PS3.
My main query though is that last night i got my hands on a copy of 300 and spent the following hours trying to get the most from it. What confused me is that when i set it to linear PCM (on the PS3) and then to Dolby True HD (on the disc) I get 48Khz (on both the amp and PS3) and a data transfer of 4.6mbps (ish). If i change from True HD to pcm (on the film) I get 48kHz and about 3mbps. Neither sounded particularly impressive over Dolby Digital (which tends to run at 640kbps).
I was under the impression that HD sound ran at frequencies like 96, 176, 192 kHz etc etc, someone educate me!
Incidentally DVD-A and SACD through my Pioneer 668AV-s sounds amazing yet the PS3 seems rubbish with SACD through it's HDMI??

Any thoughts?

[chic]

Originally Posted by stued

Basically i just wanted to check if I had my amp and ps3 setup correctly: from what i gather the ps3 can only output Dolby True HD as Multi channel pcm- i find this a tad annoying because when i bought my ps3 i was rather hoping it would output it undecoded. Is it a hardware thing or a software thing (is it fixable via a firmware update?) and does anyone know about the rumoured DTS HD master audio firmware upgrade for PS3.
My main query though is that last night i got my hands on a copy of 300 and spent the following hours trying to get the most from it. What confused me is that when i set it to linear PCM (on the PS3) and then to Dolby True HD (on the disc) I get 48Khz (on both the amp and PS3) and a data transfer of 4.6mbps (ish). If i change from True HD to pcm (on the film) I get 48kHz and about 3mbps. Neither sounded particularly impressive over Dolby Digital (which tends to run at 640kbps).
I was under the impression that HD sound ran at frequencies like 96, 176, 192 kHz etc etc, someone educate me!
Incidentally DVD-A and SACD through my Pioneer 668AV-s sounds amazing yet the PS3 seems rubbish with SACD through it's HDMI??

Any thoughts?

you are correct that the ps3 does the decoding and outputs as pcm, it is rumoured that the ps3 will never output the HD audio in bitstream format as some of the inards of the ps3 dont have the required chips to do so. Not a 100% sure on that though. Most soundtracks are 48khz and uncompressed pcm should give you a bitrate of 4.6mb up to 6.4mb depending on bit depth. Dolby true hd is avariable bit rate and will move between 0 and 3mb. What i have noticed with hd audio tracks is they are a bit quieter than standard dolby digital, but when you bump the volume up a bit they sound so much better that standard dolby digital. They have more dynamic range, more surround action and better surround placement. You should get a hold of casino royal the uncompressed audio on that will blow your socks off. I only have 300 on hddvd and i think the dolby true hd track on that souinds amazing. As fotr the rumoured dtsma update it was runoured to be before christmass. Heres hoping.

[stued]

Nice one. I'll give that a try. Still a little confused about the whole sample rate thing though. I was expecting HD sound to be similar to SACD/ DVD-A (i.e between 96 and 192kHz) but i guess that is irrelevant. I assume it is just the amount of data being transferred over a given time (bit rate) which is most important??

[chic]

Originally Posted by stued

Nice one. I'll give that a try. Still a little confused about the whole sample rate thing though. I was expecting HD sound to be similar to SACD/ DVD-A (i.e between 96 and 192kHz) but i guess that is irrelevant. I assume it is just the amount of data being transferred over a given time (bit rate) which is most important??

the hd audio tracks sound so much better than standard digital audio due to the extra bandwith, the dynamic range is better, there is better surround placement and there is so much more detal in all 5 channels.