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PS3 Audio Output

#1
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10/6/08 at 9:59pm
  • Joined: October 2008
  • Location: La Jolla, CA
  • Post Count: 35
Hi,

I have a PS3 that I use not only for games but for Blu-Ray as well. I am a little confused on how the PS3 handles Dolby Digital HD and DTS HD signals. Does it actually decode the signal before sending it to the receiver?

I am asking because I am looking into getting a new receiver... probably the Onkyo 606. But, if the ps3 does the decoding, I don't need the DD HD and DTS HD decoding from the 606 and I may consider just getting the 506 for less money.

Thanks for your time,

Matt
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#2
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10/7/08 at 3:09am
  • Joined: November 2002
  • Post Count: 1,196

Re: PS3 Audio Output

Quote:
Originally Posted by mcthings
Hi,

I have a PS3 that I use not only for games but for Blu-Ray as well. I am a little confused on how the PS3 handles Dolby Digital HD and DTS HD signals. Does it actually decode the signal before sending it to the receiver?

I am asking because I am looking into getting a new receiver... probably the Onkyo 606. But, if the ps3 does the decoding, I don't need the DD HD and DTS HD decoding from the 606 and I may consider just getting the 506 for less money.

Thanks for your time,

Matt

The PS3 does decode both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA and all of the other various forms of Dolby Digital and DTS for output over HDMI to an HDMI 1.1 or above audio processor that handles PCM over HDMI. It works with stereo, 5.1 and 7.1 audio. I would only buy a receiver today that did handle PCM and did decode the various audio codecs, unless you are certain you are only going to ever own the PS3. I also have Blu-ray players that output bitstream over HDMI 1.3a for decoding by the attached audio processor, in my case, the Yamaha RX-V663.

Chris
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#3
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10/7/08 at 9:49am
  • Joined: October 2008
  • Location: La Jolla, CA
  • Post Count: 35

Re: PS3 Audio Output

Thanks for your response, Chris.

Without high end gear (I plan on having an Elemental Designs 5t5 system and the Onkyo 606/506), is the difference between Dolby Digital and Dolby HD going to be noticeable?

As you can probably tell (and like most people) I am really trying to feed my new hobby while spending the least amount of money necessary to build a satisfactory system.

As far as the 506 limiting my expansion, I'm not sure I would be buying anything that played Dolby HD, even in the near future. The PS3 will hold as a BluRay player forever, my Apple TV is lucky to find content on iTunes that even has Dolby Digital, and with cable tv still not in 1080P, I would think Dolby HD is even more far off.

Thanks,

Matt
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#4
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10/8/08 at 9:44am
  • Joined: January 2007
  • Post Count: 181

Re: PS3 Audio Output

The 506 is "HDMI pass through" which means that it doesn't play audio received over an HDMI cable - a separate digital audio cable (optical or coax) is required from each HDMI source to the receiver. Because of this, you can't play lossless HD audio (TrueHD or DTS-MA decoded to PCM by the PS3) using a 506 - digital audio cables lack the necessary bandwidth.

As for getting a stand-alone Blu-ray player in the future, the 2.0 versions seem to have the ability to both decode TrueHD/DTS-MA internally or send the undecoded bitstreams to a receiver. This makes the receiver-decodes-lossless-audio feature much less of a decision driver...but, hey, that's JMO.
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#5
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10/8/08 at 10:12am
  • Joined: October 2008
  • Location: La Jolla, CA
  • Post Count: 35

Re: PS3 Audio Output

Wow, good thing you mentioned the hdmi passthrough. Somehow I missed that.

Looks like the 606 is the one, after all.

Thanks for your input
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