Connecting PS3 to surround sound Amp

waisal

Established Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2005
Messages
136
Reaction score
3
Points
54
Location
Bury
Hello All,

I have the PS3 connected via HDMI to my plasma, unfortunately my surround amp does not have an HDMI connection in the inc booklet it suggests connecting to your amp via HDMI also. Question is will i get suuround sound if i connect the PS3 directly to my amp via optical lead and to the plasma via HDMI as I know HDMI carries both the audio and visual signal.
 
Yes you can still get 5.1 surround from the optical even though you are connected by hdmi.
 
In short, yes.

I've got HDMI to my panel and an optical link to my amp. You can choose which sound output to use in the PS3 sound settings menu.

Edit: Damn, beaten by a minute!
 
just to clear up confusion - what setting do I need (Bitstream or PCM) to get 5.1 thru optical?

i'm running the optical through my X-Fi soundcard frontplate - to a 7.1 system. which settings will I need to choose in that as well?? does the PS3 do the decoding or the X-Fi?



(sorry for hi-jacking the thread :smashin: )
 
cheers. and let the x-fi do the work?
 
From what i understand, using Bitstream will let the PS3 do the work.

PCM will allow your Amp do the work, i might be wrong but putting it to Bitstream for me my Amp shows Dolby Digital and using PCM says Pro Logic II....

Sounds better on Bitstream to me :p
 
yeah i've just noticed that, with bitstream i get a a little pop up showing Dolby Digital, and it does sound better to me too


i'm learning. i've read that PCM output via the optical is compressed anyway, (defeating the purpose of PCM?? :confused: ), and bitstream should yield better results
 
From what i understand, using Bitstream will let the PS3 do the work.

PCM will allow your Amp do the work, i might be wrong but putting it to Bitstream for me my Amp shows Dolby Digital and using PCM says Pro Logic II....

Sounds better on Bitstream to me :p

Yeah i get the same, though when setting between uncompressed pcm and dolby digital on a bluray movie (guardian) the uncompressed pcm sounded better but my amp still showed Dolby PLII - confused :confused:
 
Yeah i get the same, though when setting between uncompressed pcm and dolby digital on a bluray movie (guardian) the uncompressed pcm sounded better but my amp still showed Dolby PLII - confused :confused:
I tried both using Casino Royal and Bitstream just sounded better over the PCM.

The most optical can output is 1.5mbps so i think that unless your Amp is super duper good at decoding then Bitstream would be the best option :)

I might test a few other movies to see if i can notice a difference, but so far Bitstream has been the winner.
 
How are you changing from pcm back to bitsream?
 
I to would lile to know how to change from PCm to Bitstream.


Ta
 
I have been changing it via the options on the Disc's.

Just press the Audio button on the PS3 remote to choose what Track you would like.

Mine is set to auto goto Bitstream/DD on a disc but you can change it via the disc, well thats what i have been testing it via...
 
I tried both using Casino Royal and Bitstream just sounded better over the PCM.

The most optical can output is 1.5mbps so i think that unless your Amp is super duper good at decoding then Bitstream would be the best option :)

I might test a few other movies to see if i can notice a difference, but so far Bitstream has been the winner.


Maybe you can help me. I've connected my PS3 to my amp using the optical connection, but don't get the surround sound from the BluRay Casino Royal. It works fine for DVDs though.
 
hi there,

new to all this! just got ps3 connected via hdmi to sony bravia kvd2000"32. I have a sony s-master amp but the only connection on back is scart or video in when i connect the av (scart) cable from ps3 to amp no sound comes out on either scart or av sockets on video (yellow/red/white)!! pissing me off as the picture is beautiful and i need to get the sound!!

please help !!
 
Hello,

I am having a similar problem in getting surround sound from my PS3. I have read most of the thread and see i need a fiber optic cable of some sort....so i got that. As of now i have an hdmi cord from my PS3 to my 47" Sony Bravia:) and a fiber optic monster cable from my PS3 to the receiver of my 5.1 sony surround sound....but still no surround sound:(...if there anything else i need to adjust?...settings perhaps?
 
Make sure you have set the audio settings on the PS3 to output sound via optical and not hdmi and make sure you have ticked the correct boxes for 5.1 in the sound settings also.
 
you can pick up a optical calbe for about £15 and you will need to set it up on the ps3 and set it to bitrate

i get dd and dts from games and bluray
 
From what i understand, using Bitstream will let the PS3 do the work.

PCM will allow your Amp do the work, i might be wrong but putting it to Bitstream for me my Amp shows Dolby Digital and using PCM says Pro Logic II....

Sounds better on Bitstream to me :p

It's the other way around. Bitstream allows the amp to do the work, and PCM lets the PS3 do the work.
 
Indeed- bitstream means compressed audio that the amp decodes. PCM means uncompressed audio that the ps3 has decoded.

For optical it has to be bitstream as pcm over optical is only 2ch stereo. For hdmi it can be either.

(although for the hd sound formats ps3 cannot send those as bitstream, it has to be decoded by the ps3 and sent as LPCM over hdmi, and optical doesn't have the bandwidth to carry them, so for ps3 and hdmi, linear pcm is best)
 
Last edited:
I'm running a 2.1 setup with the Denon 1906 and a PS3. Audio is via Optical. Should it still be Bitstream then? Or what is the best setting for this setup?
 
As above mate, bitstream for optical, pcm would only be 2ch stereo.
 
hi

i have a similar problem

i have the ps3 connected to my tv via hdmi, the ps3 connected to my dvd/surround sound by optical cable, and the dvd/surround sound connected to the tv via scart

the only options i have to choose from on the optical output are

Dolby Digital 5.1 Ch
DTS 5.1 Ch
AAC
Linear PCM 2 Ch 44.1 kHz (auto selected cant unselect)
Linear PCM 2 Ch 88.2 kHz
Linear PCM 2 Ch 176.4 kHz
Linear PCM 2 Ch 48 kHz (auto selected cant unselect)

how do i select bitstream over linear pcm??? if that was done through the video settings to choose on the optical out either bitstream or linear pcm....i have selected bitstream......and i still have the problem as below

i have tried to select the the two 5.1 options, but have had no success on blurays with dts hd master audio, with either an error message coming up on my surround sound system, or selecting one of the two (not sure which one) and sound coming from just the front two speakers

just to note that i have had surround sound work on blurays with the dolby true-hd sound, but i think that this is due to the fact that the blurays themselves according to the cover have options for normal 5.1 output.......whereas the ones with dts hd master audio do not mention any older, more standard 5.1 output

any help will be much appreciated!!!!!!!!!

im not even fussed if its hd sound.......as long as its 5.1 surround sound coming from all my blurays and not just some!!

thanks in advance to anyone that helps!
 
Last edited:
True hd sound is a lossless format that has to be decoded by your ps3 and transmitted to your amp via HDMI. If you have an optical connection the best you will get is 5.1 as optical has not got the band width to support lossless sound.

For optical you should set the sound output to bitstream. Most bluerays should have 5.1 as their default sound output, it might be possible that you have to select the sound output in the blueray menu if you are getting 5.1 for some disks and not for others.

Best thing to do is set output to bitstream and the settings to auto,this should automatically send the correct sound format for your amp.

I have an optical connection and the above settings, my amp displays dolby digital 5.1 when I play games/ bluerays :)
 
Indeed - all blu rays should have a standard dd / dts core track for backwards compatibility, so people with surround systems that do not take audio over hdmi can still get surround sound from their blu rays.

Have you tried the disc menu and selecting "english 5.1ch", it sounds like the film in question defaults to dts hd ma and you need to select the standard dts track from the disc menu.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom