Idiots guide to how to get the best surround sound

[admin_exported]

Hi, I'd be grateful for an explanation in the most basic terms of how to get the best sound out of my system. I have the blu-ray disc of 3:10 to Yuma. It says in the box the audio is 7.1 PCM or 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX. I have 7.1 connected to an Onkyo 905 and am playing the disc through a PS3.

What settings should I have in the PS3 (bitstream or LPCM) and what should the Onkyo be displaying.

I set the PS3 as LPCM - the Onkyo displayed Multich... - and there was no sound out of the rears. If I changed the PS3 to bitstream, the Onkyo displayed Dolby D EX - and there was sound out of all 7 speakers - but this isn't true 7.1 surround sound is it?

Could anyone please explain what I should be doing here in as simple language as possible for a novice

Many thanks

 

[Anonymous]

If the PS3 is set to LPCM, and the soundtrack on the disc is set to PCM - the amp will display multichannel PCM and you should get sound on all channels.

If the PS3 is set to LPCM and a DDEX soundtrack is selected on the disc, the PS3 will decode and output the DDEX soundtrack in 5.1 only as it is unable to matrix the rear channels, hence why you hear nothing. However if the DDEX is bitstreamed from the PS3 and decoded by your Onkyo the rear channels are matrixed correctly.

Essentially the best options to go for on disc (if available) is first uncompressed PCM, second DTS HD etc. However, when watching a standard DVD set the PS3 to bitstream and let the Onkyo do the decoding - then your guarenteed to get your rear channels.

Hope this helps

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, this helps - thanks. Could you expand on what 'matrixed correctly' involves please?

 

[Anonymous]

yep, matrix is when the standard 5.1 channels are extended to include the extra rear channels however if the decoder does not support this standard (eg PS3) the sound is output as 5.1. Thats why its best to use bitsteam in these situations. I think DTS-ES has the same issue aswell.