PCM vs Dolby on PS3?

[jimbojet]

Hello,

I have a question about the best sound setting for my PS3 playing modern warfare 2. My setup is: -

• an Onkyo Amp TX-SR577
• Keff egg surround speakers
• plus an additional 2 large floorstanding front speakers
• (and a TV, obviously! A Samsung 37" LCD)

The options my PS3 allow are either

• Dolby Digital 5.1
• DTS 5.1
• and a whole load of linear PCM right up to 7.1 Ch 196 Khz

I've tried both Dolby and PCM, and they both sound great, but is there one in particular which is suited? Or is it purely down to choice? If I set the PS3 to 'automatic', it always selects PCM and if I want Dolby I have to do it manually - which makes me think PCM is the best???

Many thanks

Jimbo

 

[custard10]

when linear pcm is selected the decoding is done by the ps3. when selecting dolby digital the decoding is done via the amp.

pick whichever you are happy with.

i think i'd prefer to leave the settings on ps3 to automatic so then it picks what the amp is capable of decoding and sends down the appropriate signal.

 

[BradleyLove]

Hello,

I have a question about the best sound setting for my PS3 playing modern warfare 2. My setup is: -

• an Onkyo Amp TX-SR577
• Keff egg surround speakers
• plus an additional 2 large floorstanding front speakers
• (and a TV, obviously! A Samsung 37" LCD)

The options my PS3 allow are either

• Dolby Digital 5.1
• DTS 5.1
• and a whole load of linear PCM right up to 7.1 Ch 196 Khz

I've tried both Dolby and PCM, and they both sound great, but is there one in particular which is suited? Or is it purely down to choice? If I set the PS3 to 'automatic', it always selects PCM and if I want Dolby I have to do it manually - which makes me think PCM is the best???

Many thanks

Jimbo

When talking about PCM and PS3 games, we have to consider there are different types of soundtracks on games.

LPCM - Some PS3 games (usually first party) have true uncompressed 7.1/5.1 PCM soundtracks. Games like Warhawk, Uncharted, Killzone 2, Wipeout HD. This is as good as PS3 sound gets.

Dolby Digital/DTS - Some PS3 games only provide DD5.1/DTS soundtracks. Titles such as Rock Band and Res Evil 5.

"PCM" - Finally we have some titles that are output as PCM but are not LPCM soundtracks (i.e. the source is still compressed). MW2, GH and Dead Space are examples of this. What happens here is rather than the sound being passed through the DD5.1 encoder (thus compressing the sound even more), the PS3 can bypass the DD5.1 encoder and simply output in PCM. For the likes of Guitar Hero, this is a godsend as it helps eliminate the lag that DD5.1 can introduce. Plus it helps overall sound quality as DD5.1 is lossy, PCM is not. Of course, the PCM output is only as good as the original sound files.

So to summarise, leave your PS3 on auto. Each game will pick the best soundtrack available (there are some games however that default to DD5.1 even if DTS is an option).

 

[WarPig843]

BradleyLove, a very useful post.

Thanks

 

[Apnomis]

If you are connected to your Amp via HDMI then you're best allowing it to output as PCM which is the best quality you can get. If you have a 'fat' PS3 this is the only way you can use the HD soundtracks of Blu-ray, your Amp wouldn't say it's a TrueHD/Master Audio signal but rather a PCM conversion of the HD signal (which to all intents and purposes is more or less the same).

The only thing I find suffers using PCM is a DVD, which I prefer to bitstream the Dolby or DTS track to my Amp rather than let my PS3 process it, but you can alternate between PCM and Bitstream from the Playback (triangle button) menu without going to XMB Settings - just make sure to change it back to PCM for Blu-ray! If you have a PS3 Slim it supports HD bitstreaming, so in that case you can just leave your DVD/Blu-ray to Bitstream for both (probably the only feature that tempts me to trade my fat for a slim!).

Edit: Just to clarify, in case the above doesn't make sense, you can leave the audio settings to Auto which will take care of the sound for games (some games have additional audio settings in the game menus - like Uncharted 2's stunning uncompressed 7.1 option). However there are separate audio options in the Blu-ray/DVD playback settings - if you don't have a PS3 Slim you will need to set this from Bitstream to PCM if you want to get the benefit of HD Blu-ray audio (using HDMI sound, not optical sound), if you have a Slim you can just leave it as Bitstream.

 

[stormy]

The only thing I find suffers using PCM is a DVD, which I prefer to bitstream the Dolby or DTS track to my Amp rather than let my PS3 process it, but you can alternate between PCM and Bitstream from the Playback (triangle button) menu without going to XMB Settings - just make sure to change it back to PCM for Blu-ray! If you have a PS3 Slim it supports HD bitstreaming, so in that case you can just leave your DVD/Blu-ray to Bitstream for both (probably the only feature that tempts me to trade my fat for a slim!).

I am thinking of upgrading my surround sound system to one which accepts PCM over HDMI but I have an 80Gb PS3 not a Slim.

Is what you are saying that DD/DTS 5.1 will work as bitstream via HDMI even on an 80Gb PS3? So I can then get the decoder to decode the 5.1 soundtracks as I presently get with my Optical connection and then use PCM for blu-ray to get HD Audio?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[feaviolp]

Is what you are saying that DD/DTS 5.1 will work as bitstream via HDMI even on an 80Gb PS3? So I can then get the decoder to decode the 5.1 soundtracks as I presently get with my Optical connection and then use PCM for blu-ray to get HD Audio?

Yep

The slim allows you to bitstream HD audio but the Phat has always been able to bitstream DD and DTS. Only over HDMI though, not optical.

Why do you want to though? Unless you have some real high-end kit I doubt you'd notice the difference between bitstream and LPCM. It's just more manual switching for you to worry about, and getting those all important (to some) lights on the amp lit.

Don't get me wrong - if I had a Slim I'd definitly swap from LPCM to bitstream just so I could convince myself that the amp is now doing what I bought it for, but as it is with a Phat I'm more than happy leaving everything set to LPCM. The decode is the same - the only difference is whether the PS3 does it or the amp

 

[Apnomis]

Yep

The slim allows you to bitstream HD audio but the Phat has always been able to bitstream DD and DTS. Only over HDMI though, not optical.

Why do you want to though? Unless you have some real high-end kit I doubt you'd notice the difference between bitstream and LPCM. It's just more manual switching for you to worry about, and getting those all important (to some) lights on the amp lit.

Don't get me wrong - if I had a Slim I'd definitly swap from LPCM to bitstream just so I could convince myself that the amp is now doing what I bought it for, but as it is with a Phat I'm more than happy leaving everything set to LPCM. The decode is the same - the only difference is whether the PS3 does it or the amp

If you don't notice then fair enough send everything over HDMI as PCM, but personally on my setup I don't think the PS3 'Fat' does as good of a job with Dolby and DTS DVD soundtracks as my Yamaha RX-V3800 does - if I don't notice I don't switch but normally on a DVD I think to myself 'this doesn't sound right' and change it to Bitstream. You just press Triangle during movie playback to access the setting so it's not too much of a chore.

I've tried a Slim using Bitstreaming HD sound and I do notice a small improvement between Fat PCM and Slim HD Bitstream (seems a bit smoother), but nothing you would particularly notice unless you were specifically studying it for differences. But as I say I do often notice something being off on the DVD sound when played through PCM.

@ stormy, what you say is correct - there is no need to have a dual output of HDMI and Optical (which limits your sound options), just switch the PCM/Bitstream options over HDMI.