help with Sony amp display

[Petruchio]

Hi Folks

Small issue but one that has been nagging me for ages! I hope one of you can help me out. I have a PS3 (60gb "first gen") hooked up to a Sony STR-DA5200ES receiver by an HDMI (set on the PS3 to bitstream to allow my amp to do the decoding).

When I play a BD or DVD (or game for that matter) the HDMI sends the multichannel signal to my amp. The blue light is on (so far so good). I also have the amp set to AFD Auto as I understand that is the way to recieve the "pure signal" (DTS, DD, PCM etc).

However, although the display says "DTS" or "Dolby Digital EX" or whatever the output is etc for a few seconds, it then goes back to the rather boring "AFD Auto". I can't seem to get the amp to stay on the more interesting display of what surround sound I have going! Is there any way I can correct this or am I stuck with it?

Is this the same for the STR-DA5400 or 6400? I'm thinking of upgrading although this might make it a deal breaker!

 

[Oldboy]

Hi,

I had a similar issue with my Sony strdg820 amp, have you tried the setting in your amp menu (i think it is in the HDMI menu but not sure) that lets you select how the audio is sent? you should have 2 options, Amp & TV or Amp. You need to have the setting set to Amp only as the Amp & Tv setting will mess up the sound sent from the ps3...thats what solved my issue but may different for you just thought it may be worth a look if you haven't already!

 

[Petruchio]

Hi

Thanks for your reply.

I have set the HDMI output to "Amp" but it has made no difference. In fact I should've mentioned that it says "AFD Auto" when watching DD 5.1 via an optical cable from my Sky HD. I know it is receiving the Dolby Digital 5.1 signal, and indeed it does say so for about 3 seconds, but then reverts to this "AFD Auto" display which doesn't look half as nice!

Yes I'm picky, but it's an expensive amp (or was!) so I kind of expect it display what digital surround it is receiving!

 

[Dan Turner]

Hi Petruchio - I have an STR-DA3300ES, and I had a similar issue - I had renamed some of the inputs in the menu, but couldn't get my designated names to appear on the front-panel display. I finally realised that you have to use the 'display' button on the amp itself (not the remote!), and that cycles through various display modes. It does include the surround mode, so hopefully that should enable you to get what you want as well - assuming yours works the same as mine.

Hope that helps.

Incidentally, I don't think that the '5200 can decode the HD sound formats, so if you're playing a blu-ray and you want to get the best possible sound, then you want to set the PS3 to 'PCM' so that it decodes the soundtrack itself and sends to the amp as a basic PCM digital signal. If not playing discs with HD soundtracks then best to have it as you currently do - not sure if you can make different settings for different types of soundtrack (e.g. set DD to bitstream and Dolby TrueHD to PCM etc) or if you have to change it each time, which would be a pain. My Sony Blu-ray has an 'auto' mode, not sure if the PS3 does.

 

[Petruchio]

Hi Dan

Thanks for this. I have tried using the display button on the amp itself but it still says AFD Auto when on the surround mode (incidentally, the display button on the remote also works, as long as you press "receiver" button first!).

I get a little confused about the PCM/Bitstream thing. As my PS3 cannot send HD audio through bitstream (and my amp wouldn't be able to decode it anyway) is it best then to set it to PCM? Would this mean that my amp would then essentailly be able to play the HD audio? If so that sounds the best way to have it!

The reason I put it on bitstream as I figured that as my amp couldn't handle to HD audio I might as well send it the non-HD signals in bitstream format to decode (I don't believe there is an "auto" mode like your BD player)....

 

[Dan Turner]

Hi Petruchio - I believe that the PS3 can decode all the HD formats. As you say if you set bitstream that is sending the undecoded data to your amp and letting it do the decoding. If you have bitstream set and an HD soundtrack is playing you PS3 may still recognise this and send only DD or DTS - either way, your amp certainly can't decode the HD soundtracks itself. PCM is the format of uncompressed digital data (same as you get on a CD) that your amp should be able to recognise - e.g. it doesn't have to decode, only convert to analogue. Therefore if you can make settings for individual types of soundtracks then set the HD ones to PCM, otherwise it sounds like it's a case of changing the setting depending on the soundtrack you're playing.

You're definitely right that it's best to let the amp decode whatever it can. But i really suggest trying an HD soundtrack with the player set to PCM, for me the sound on blu-ray is as much of an improvement as the picture!

Sorry I couldn't help on the display thing.

 

[Petruchio]

Hi Dan

Thanks so much for your advice - I changed the setting from Bitstream to Linear PCM on the PS3 and the difference is amazing (I have an american bluray of Rambo 2008 with a 7.1 DTS-HD soundtrack and it now sounds awesome!!).

So on this basis I don't actually need an HD amp in order to listen to HD audio (as long as my PS3 does the decoding)... that is a brilliant bit of news - I feel very stupid and at the same time very pleased that you sorted this out for me!

Thanks again.

PS I presume there is no point now in me upgrading my amp (unless I also upgrade my ps3 to the new slim model which does bitstream HD audio)? I wonder how much difference bitstream HD is to Linear PCM with HD? Not worth spending £1000 on, I guess!!

 

[Dan Turner]

I'm glad my advice helped! Basically it probably is better to send the undecoded bitstream and let the amp do the decoding if it can, but whereas the difference in decoding within the player and decoding within the amp on a 'lossy' codec like DD or DTS sound track is probably significant, the HD formats are 'lossless', therefore 'decoding' is just really like un-zipping a zip file (WHF's analogy not mine!), so the difference between doing this within the player and doing it in the amp is probably much less significant. That's the impression I have anyway - others will no doubt interject here if they disagree!

In any case you've got a very decent amp - is it really worth spending £1k (or whatever) to get on-board HD decoding? If the bug has bitten and refuses to go away, at least make sure you get a demo of the difference!

If your current PS3 can send the raw bitstream or decode and send LPCM for all the HD formats, then the new PS3 won't give you anything additional.

EDIT - I've just seen the review of the new PS3 and now i realise that the new one can output the HD sound formats as bitstream whereas the old one can't. But in any case I still reckon stick with what you got - don't reckon getting a new PS3 and amp is going to be worth the improvement.

 

[professorhat]

Dan Turner:I've just seen the review of the new PS3 and now i realise that the new one can output the HD sound formats as bitstream whereas the old one can't. But in any case I still reckon stick with what you got - don't reckon getting a new PS3 and amp is going to be worth the improvement.

 

[Petruchio]

That's exactly what I'll do. I'm more than hapy with how it sounds now. It's just a shame that it now says "Linear PCM" for everything and not DD, DTS, DTS-HD etc etc....I guess I'll just have to live with it!

It would be great if there was a function on the PS3 that would automatically send HD audio as PCM and non-HD signals as bitstream.....hey ho.

 

[Dan Turner]

Petruchio:

It's just a shame that it now says "Linear PCM" for everything and not DD, DTS, DTS-HD etc etc....I guess I'll just have to live with it!

Ah, but you see, Linear PCM is superior to DTS-HD and DD-TrueHD - some blu-rays have a PCM soundtrack, which is completely uncompressed and sounds even better than DTS-HD/DD-TrueHD. Your PS3 is uncompressing the DTS-HD/DD-TrueHD soundtrack and sending it to the amp, and the amp doesn't know the difference, and neither would anyone who comes to your house and sees L-PCM displayed on your amp!

So now that you know that, you needn't fret - it looks even better than it actually is!