No Dolby Digital 5.1 through optical cable via my PS3!

[admin_exported]

Can't get my amp to accept 5.1 from my PS3 via an optical cable(have tried 2 different ones). picture is thru HDMI and have set up the PS3 menu correctly(picture thru HDMI and sound thru OPTICAL) and my amp will output the sound in 2 channel, just not 5.1!

My amp's not the newest but it'll accept 5.1 thru coaxial via a DVD player with no worries.

Can optical accept 5.1 signals? pls help as after buying a PS3 and a 42" panasonic plamsa, don't really wanna fork out for a new amp unless i really need to!

 

[Anonymous]

im no expert but the ps3 can output uncompressed pcm which i think is 2 channel stereo.could be setting on ps3.not many experts on here want to give help and advice ,just brag about there systems,ps.irun my sound thru older sony amp from ps3 its fine,if it has digital in it should output 5.1,good luck

 

[Andrew Everard]

Hmmm odd...

The PS3 can output uncompressed linear PCM via HDMI right up to 7.1 channel, not just stereo, and you should be able to get straight Dolby Digital/DTS 5.1 down an optical link into your receiver no problem at all.

Can you let me know what the amp is, what the audio output setting is on the PS3, and what kind of discs you're playing on it, and we'll try to crack this one for you. It should just work, but something's clearly set wrong somewhere...

Can't promise an instant answer, as have to have some kind of a life and it is a Saturday night, after all, but will try to do some research and come back to you before the end of the weekend if I can

 

[Anonymous]

thanx for your support, after another stab at it i changed the bluray/DVD settings on my ps3 to bitstream and now works perfectly!!

feel a bit lame i couldn't sort this out earlier as i'm usually not bad at sorting AV stuff out, although in my defence why must i go into 2 or 3 sub-menus on my ps3 just to plug an optical lead into my amp?! the sub-menu i found within bluray/DVD settings shouldn't be separate to the system sound settings as it's sorted the sound situation out for me for the whole system including games and menus not just movie playback etc.

again, many thanx for your support and just wish the ps3 supplied user guide was as helpful!

 

[Andrew Everard]

With you on this one - wrote a column for Gramophone not long back about the fact that products are getting increasingly complex but manuals haven't kept up - either they're an inch thick and poorly laid-out and indexed, or they leave it to you to fathom out too much for yourself.

Manufacturers really should be providing walk-through set-up guides, either on disc or online, to help buyers sort all this out.

We're planning some more 'how to' content for the next stage of the development of this site, but the manufacturers really need to do more - i'll try and find that Gramophone piece, tinker with it and post it as a blog some time, just to get some more discussion going.

Anyway, glad you got it sorted - enjoy!