Who Does The Decoding? (1 Viewer)

[Shadow277]

Hello everyone. I apologize if this is in the wrong forum. If so, someone please move it to the appropriate forum.

Now, I am unsure if people are aware of the PS3, PS4, and gaming computers having various sound settings such as DTS and Dolby formats. Does this mean that when the avr reads "PCM" on its LCD the console or PC is decoding the DTS codec from the movie/game?
I ask because rarely my AVR will read DTS or Dolby Digital while watcing movies so I assume it is playing some sort of multichannel? It does not give me the option to set it to Dolby Digital or DTS.

Can someone explain this to me and provide a solution?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Yes, if your AVR displays "PCM" when receiving a signal, the DTS or Dolby Digital decoding is taking place on the source component -- the gaming console in your case. If you wish to change things so the AVR is performing the decoding, somewhere in the audio configuration for the device there should be a setting -- it is usually called "bitstream", which should be set to ON. For Blu-ray discs, you also need to make sure that secondary audio is turned off.

 

[Shadow277]

The quality of the audio is not dependant on which device decodes, correct?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

It normally shouldn't matter, unless your receiver has restrictions on which types of signals to which it will apply any room-improvement processing such as Audyssey. Most receivers should apply processing to multi-channel PCM signals coming through the HDMI inputs, though. These restrictions have only applied to the analog inputs on receivers I have direct experience with, but it's something to be aware of and you may want to verify with your particular receiver.

I usually let the AVR handle the processing because it is easier to verify whether I am playing the desired soundtrack by checking the AVR display info. I did once own a Pioneer Elite receiver, though, which had a bug in its DTS HD Master processing that caused a loud popping sound when playing that soundtrack type. The receiver required a firmware upgrade that was supposed to be done by an authorized service center only, so I used my BD player to process DTS HD Master soundtracks for a few years until I found a method online for doing it myself via a WAV file played through a digital optical input on the receiver. It was a weird way to upgrade firmware, but it worked.

 

[Shadow277]

I am still reading PCM and DIG on my display.
I have a Denon AVR-S510BT have the option to use the DTS 6 Cinema on my PS3, but the content I am watching currently only streams Dolby Digital. I am extremely confused.

 

[Sam Posten]

Just tell your PS or Xbox to let the receiver do the decoding via HDMI bitstreaming. You'll always get great audio that way, no confusion necessary.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

DTS Neo Cinema 6 is a surround sound processing format that is intended to turn a two channel signal into 6.1 sound. If you are using this on a soundtrack that originates ats Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby TrueHD, DTS 5.1 or DTS HD Master you are doing a lot of unnecessary processing and probably messing up the original soundtrack. As Sam suggests, just set your game console to bitstreaming and let your Denon receiver handle the processing. It's much simpler.

 

[Shadow277]

So I guess that would be the "direct" option on my receiver. So I did that for my PS3 and PS4.

What about for a PC? I have never seen that type of audio option before. My mobo is a Z170 and I am pretty sure it can do Dolby Digital and DTS.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Keep in mind you can't get Atmos or DTS:X from a PCM output. My Oppo players can at least accomodate certain discs that tell it whether to output as bitstream or PCM when the output is set to "Auto", but it still doesn't always get it right- some discs with Atmos still output as PCM, even when they don't include any type of secondary audio that would be lost with a bitstream output. Warner discs tend to always output as bitstream unless they DO have secondary audio, such as a picture-in-picture commentary.