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PS3 won't play Dolby 5.1 or DTS5.1 in surround sound thru Sony Home Cinema Receiver

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Old 02-11-2007, 1:09 PM   #1
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PS3 won't play Dolby 5.1 or DTS5.1 in surround sound thru Sony Home Cinema Receiver

Equipment: PS3, Bravia KDL40W2000U TV and Sony STR-DB930 Home Cinema Receiver (about 6 years old)

Problem. Playing Blue Ray discs into the Sony Home Cinema Receiver will not reproduce Dolby 5.1 and DTS5.1 home cinema surround sound. Instead it produces 2 channel stereo.

The PS3 is connected to the receiver via a Digital Optical cable. The receiver itself has virtually every type of input/output except HDMI.

Ordinary DVD's encoded with Dolby and DTS 5.1 play the surround sound as you would expect perfectly through the PS3 via the same Digital Optical cable no problem. So it suggests that the problem is Blue Ray related specifically.

I have checked the settings on the PS3 and tried different formulations to no avail. Logically I think the settings should be:

Settings/Sound Settings/Audio Output Settings/Digital Out Optical/Then tick marks against Dolby Digital 5.1 Ch, DTS 5.1 ch and the default ticked boxes of Linear PCM 2 ch 44.1khz and Linear PCM 2 ch 48khz. These latter 2 settings cannot be unticked.

Additionally within Settings/ BD DVD Settings/BD Audio Output Format (Optical Digital) is set to Linear.


I dropped into a Sony shop today and asked an assistant if he was aware of my problem and if he had any ideas. Accepting that his knowledge level might not be totally up to spec he said that perhaps the sound needs to be connected into the Receiver via an HDMI cable rather than Optical Cable, but that can't be done. The receiver doesn't have any HDMI inputs.

So basically that's the man problem. Can anyone help please?

When I bought the PS3 having read reviews it was because I was attracted to the features of being able to play Blue Ray and SACD discs as well as play games. But what the reviews do not tell you is that SACD sound can only be reproduced via HDMI connections and now if the problem that I've described above is also true, that you cannot get the benefits of the sound available with these formats through anything other than an HDMI cable into an HDMI capable receiver. And I haven't got the money to buy another receiver just to solve these issues.
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Old 02-11-2007, 1:32 PM   #2
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Re: PS3 won't play Dolby 5.1 or DTS5.1 in surround sound thru Sony Home Cinema Receiv

You need to set the BD/DVD Audio Output Format (Optical) to Bitstream to get 5.1 from Blu-Rays. You wont get Dolby HD or Dolby LPCM or DTS-HD sound with an optical cable but you will get the core 5.1 surround sound

To get the HD sound from Blu-Rays you will need a HDMI Receiver.

Last edited by stuart1976; 02-11-2007 at 1:38 PM.
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Old 02-11-2007, 1:37 PM   #3
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Re: PS3 won't play Dolby 5.1 or DTS5.1 in surround sound thru Sony Home Cinema Receiv

I don't know the answer to your problem, but I can tell you that my nephew brought his PS3 along with the Blu-Ray movie "300" to my house last weekend. We connected the PS3 to my Pioneer plasma via component and to my Denon 2805 via the digital optical cable. We then set up the sound output to Dolby Digital and listened to the movie in DD 5.1 (Dolby Digital was confirmed on my amp's display) - I can't remember exact settings, but rest assured that it is definitely possible to get Dolby Digital 5.1 from a PS3.

Hope that helps somewhat.

Cheers,

Martin.
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Old 02-11-2007, 2:42 PM   #4
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Re: PS3 won't play Dolby 5.1 or DTS5.1 in surround sound thru Sony Home Cinema Receiv

Thanks Stuart. Your suggestion has made the difference. Any ideas on the SACD aspect being overcome by any measure?

Paspathree.
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Old 02-11-2007, 2:45 PM   #5
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Re: PS3 won't play Dolby 5.1 or DTS5.1 in surround sound thru Sony Home Cinema Receiv

Quote:
Originally Posted by paspathree View Post
Thanks Stuart. Your suggestion has made the difference. Any ideas on the SACD aspect being overcome by any measure?

Paspathree.
You should get 5.1 from SACD still but to get the best out of it you will need to use a HDMI Receiver.

Not tested this yet mind, I'll try one of my SACD'd when I get home tonight, my PS3 is also connected by optical.
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Old 02-11-2007, 3:44 PM   #6
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Re: PS3 won't play Dolby 5.1 or DTS5.1 in surround sound thru Sony Home Cinema Receiv

I tried the SACD aspect having made the bitstream change for the 5.1 issue and the sacd shows on screen in two types, being audio cd and sacd. Selecting the songs as SACD brings up a warning that will only play via HDMI. If I change the sound setting to HDMI then sound comes out of TV in stereo but obviously the TV only has it's front speakers. Audio CD via optical is just the normal 2 channel stereo as you would expect. So I think it's a done no deal thing. However I did wonder if maybe there was some kind of converter or switching box that converts HDMI to optical or something like that. I realise that it's binary code through the inputs so there might be some kind of commonality, but I'm not a technician.

If it's a no no then it's not too much of a problem for me personally because I have another deck which plays SACD through the amp to 5.1 surround standard. But ultimately I'd initally hoped I could get rid of that deck and have the PS3 as the "do it all" drive.

It could be a factor if widely known that might put some people off from buying a PS3 .
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Old 07-11-2007, 8:28 PM   #7
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Re: PS3 won't play Dolby 5.1 or DTS5.1 in surround sound thru Sony Home Cinema Receiv

im struggling to figure out how to get my ps3 sound through my sony dav dvd/srround system. the dvd player has a hdmi port and dm port. am unsure as what do do.

it is dissapointing if i cannot watch bluray with surround sound.

any suggestions

?????


Gareth
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Old 16-11-2008, 8:09 PM   #8
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Re: PS3 won't play Dolby 5.1 or DTS5.1 in surround sound thru Sony Home Cinema Receiv

Hi,i know this is now a year after you posted your problem,but i have exactly the same equipment and i have exactly the same problem
Did you ever solve the problem or will it not work ?
Very annoying,hope you can help.
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Old 16-11-2008, 8:40 PM   #9
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Re: PS3 won't play Dolby 5.1 or DTS5.1 in surround sound thru Sony Home Cinema Receiv

Quote:
Originally Posted by fatboy4444 View Post
Hi,i know this is now a year after you posted your problem,but i have exactly the same equipment and i have exactly the same problem
Did you ever solve the problem or will it not work ?
Very annoying,hope you can help.
Exactly the same as who? The op paspathree (whose problem was solved within the thread (post#2)) or gj9358 gareth?
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Old 17-11-2008, 8:17 AM   #10
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Re: PS3 won't play Dolby 5.1 or DTS5.1 in surround sound thru Sony Home Cinema Receiv

The reply from stuart1976 answered my problem at least in part. The SACD aspect is a no no unless you have a HDMI input in your receiver. But the other thing works ok for blue ray.
Thanks
Paspathree
--------------------------------------------------------

On the PS3 You need to set the BD/DVD Audio Output Format (Optical) to Bitstream to get 5.1 from Blu-Rays. You wont get Dolby HD or Dolby LPCM or DTS-HD sound with an optical cable but you will get the core 5.1 surround sound

To get the HD sound from Blu-Rays you will need a HDMI Receiver.
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Old 06-12-2008, 9:12 PM   #11
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Re: PS3 won't play Dolby 5.1 or DTS5.1 in surround sound thru Sony Home Cinema Receiv

similar question on the same theme. Just about to get a ps3 and already have a sony dav s400 home theatre kit (about 7 years old). Will i be able to get dolby 5.1 when playing a blu-ray on the ps3 ? On the back of the dav s 400 there are the normal red & white audio in and out sockets and a 'digital in' socket. (no HDMI socket or anything else)
With this set-up, what will i / won't i be able to get in terms of 5.1 / suround side etc.
Cheers
Mike
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Old 06-01-2009, 2:48 PM   #12
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Re: PS3 won't play Dolby 5.1 or DTS5.1 in surround sound thru Sony Home Cinema Receiv

Hi guys/gals happy hew year to you all....Question i have a ps3 running through a LG home cinema system...dvd great , blue ray great, games NO surround sound although they say Dolby Digital on the cases ?

I have checked settings but like i said evrything else works ok? Im running PS3 HDMI direct to Tv and Audio Optical direct to home cinema.....

Any suggestions or is that the games are just digital audio and not 5:1 ?
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Old 06-01-2009, 4:17 PM   #13
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Re: PS3 won't play Dolby 5.1 or DTS5.1 in surround sound thru Sony Home Cinema Receiv

Quote:
Originally Posted by max1510 View Post
Hi guys/gals happy hew year to you all....Question i have a ps3 running through a LG home cinema system...dvd great , blue ray great, games NO surround sound although they say Dolby Digital on the cases ?

I have checked settings but like i said evrything else works ok? Im running PS3 HDMI direct to Tv and Audio Optical direct to home cinema.....

Any suggestions or is that the games are just digital audio and not 5:1 ?

check your PS3 is set to output Bitstream in BD/DVD audio settings..

Last edited by Uridium; 06-01-2009 at 4:21 PM.
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Old 06-01-2009, 4:20 PM   #14
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Re: PS3 won't play Dolby 5.1 or DTS5.1 in surround sound thru Sony Home Cinema Receiv

Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeriley View Post
similar question on the same theme. Just about to get a ps3 and already have a sony dav s400 home theatre kit (about 7 years old). Will i be able to get dolby 5.1 when playing a blu-ray on the ps3 ? On the back of the dav s 400 there are the normal red & white audio in and out sockets and a 'digital in' socket. (no HDMI socket or anything else)
With this set-up, what will i / won't i be able to get in terms of 5.1 / suround side etc.
Cheers
Mike
Connect PS3 via optical to your home theatre kit 'digital in'and in PS3 settings menu set PS3 BD/DVD out to bitstream and Optical out.

You will get Dolby digital 5.1 OK in games but not HD audio formats from bluray (DTS-MA and Dolby TrueHD)

Only HDMI can carry HD audio formats.

Last edited by Uridium; 06-01-2009 at 4:24 PM.
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