PS3 and Denon 3802 audio question (1 Viewer)

[Prentice Cotham]

Alright I give up. I can't figure out why when I play certain blu-rays on my PS3 my receiver defaults to Neo or Pro Logic 2 and I can't get it to switch to digital audio no matter what I do. Other titles, they play digital audio fine and automatically. What am I missing here? I used to be able to figure this out or find the answers. Maybe I'm getting old...

 

[Josh Dial]

A few questions before I can suggest an answer (another forum member might be able to jump right to an answer, however):

1. Does your PS3 have the latest firmware upgrade?

2. Can you give a few examples of which discs are displaying what on your receiver?

3. Does your receiver support internal decoding of DTS-MA and Dolby TrueHD, or are you relying on the PS3 to decode the track (and do you have the latest firmware)?

4. How is your PS3's audio setup? Assuming you are using HDMI, do you have the audio option set to "bitstream" or "PCM?"

I know that if you are using your PS3 to decode the higher-quality audio tracks, such as DTS-MA or Dolby TrueHD or are passing an uncompressed PCM track through to your reciever, you need to have the "PCM" option selected under your audio option in the PS3 BD setup menu. The player will then decode the track, and pass along the info via PCM stream to the receiver.

The only "issue" will be that your receiver's display won't show the old "dolby digital" or "DTS" on the screen, but rather something like "multi chan in" or "multi channel audio." Rest assured that whatever track you have selected from the BD menu, be it good old dolby digital 5.1, or even DTS-MA, that it is indeed that track. Lacking the "words" on the display is just the price you pay for having the PS3 decode the track.

In a similar vein, if your receiver is new enough that it can decode DTS-MA and Dolby TrueHD, then set your PS3 to "bitsteam" (unless you want your player to decode), and you should see the proper "words" on the display of your receiver. Either way, it's playing the same track, it's just a different display, and a different device decoding it.

Of course, if your receiver can't decode the tracks, and you have the PS3 set to bistream anyway, your receiver will simply downmix the audio track to its "core" stream, which is the standard non-blu-ray audio. For example, if you try and play a DTS-MA track, and you have bitsream selected and a receiver that can't decode the track (or you havn't the latest firmware upgrade), you will in fact hear the goold old DTS track as if it were an SD DVD. However, your display will show the proper "words" on the screen, so in the above example, even though you have selected DTS-MA from the menu, and your player isn't really playing the track, your receiver will display "DTS" or whatever it shows when playing DTS track.

Ultimately, if your receiver cannot decode the newer audio tracks, as most cannot, the best way to ensure proper play-back is to set the PS3 to "PCM," select the track you want on your disc, and enjoy!

Other forum members, if I have messed up, please correct me. And I appologize Prentice, if you knew all this, and I have completely ignored your question

cheers!

Josh

 

[Prentice Cotham]

Josh,

Thanks for your help. I've tried all of those options and it never worked for me. I just ended up going out and buying a new Onkyo 606 which can do all of the new blu-ray audio. I'm trying not to get the upgrade bug but now I want new speakers.

 

[Ron Reda]

I'm certain we could have helped you out here as I too have a PS3 hooked up to my Denon 3802 and it plays great, but it sounds like your new purchase also fixed the issue, albeit at higher price than what I would have charged! Good luck!

 

[Prentice Cotham]

Yeah, I'm an impulsive buyer at times. I think Shoot Em Up was one of the discs I had issues and most recently To Live and Die in LA (from Japan). I had the audio selected as Bitstream and couldn't get it to work right.