PS3 - HD Audio Upgrade

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Anonymous

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[quote user="professorhat"]

PS3 already plays HD sound through the HDMI socket. You need to have a compatible amp / receiver.

[/quote]

Err, unless i missed somthing, the PS3 doesn't currently output anything other than bog standard Dolby Digital, DTS and uncompressed PCM. No support for DD+, DTS HD, DD HD or DTS MA.

I own a PS3 and Onkyo 875 and still waiting for the firmware update, so as per the OP, any dates yet?
 

professorhat

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Dec 28, 2007
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My understanding was it decodes Dolby True HD onboard then passes this through as Linear PCM through the HDMI cable, thus "plays HD sound". If the question was about sending bitstream HD sound formats through HDMI, then my apologies.
 
A

Anonymous

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[quote user="Bullseye"]
PCM is HD sound.
[/quote]
So is DTS hd but it doesnt support it! i think the question should read when will the ps3 support ALL hd sound formats
 

FuzzyinLondon

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This has been done to death a number of times so I'll attempt to provide a simple and straightforward an answer as possible. The hardware of the PS3 does not currently support HD audio bitstream over HDMI. HD audio (DD+, DDTrueHD, DTSHDcore) are decoded by the PS3 and sent over HDMI as PCM 5.1 if you specify Linear PCM in your sound settings for HDMI in the PS3 menu. At the moment, the only HD format the PS3 cannot decode is DTS HD Master Audio. At the moment, no player on the market can decode this but some of the more EXPENSIVE TOP-OF-THE-LINE players can send the information as bitstream to a receiver that is capable of decoding it. There have been rumours about the PS3 getting an update in the future to allow it to decode DTS HD MA, but they are ONLY RUMOURS and NOBODY knows for sure if and when it will happen. The only other possibility is that Sony may change the hardware spec of the PS3 in the future to allow it to output bitstream HD audio formats. This is unlikely as Sony have been trying to bring down the production costs for the machine. This is why they released the 'stripped down' 40gb version of the machine before Xmas. The components for backward compatibility were costing them too much so they got rid of it along with the media card slots. Sony will continue to try and make the PS3 as attractive a prospect as possible for people hunting around for a Blu-Ray player but only up to a point. They still want to sell standalone decks as well and will have to delineate them in some way in order to make them worth buying. This means that features such as bitstream will only be available in the flagship standalone players in the near future.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
[quote user="Dragoh"]

Err, unless i missed somthing, the PS3 doesn't currently output anything other than bog standard Dolby Digital, DTS and uncompressed PCM. No support for DD+, DTS HD, DD HD or DTS MA.

I own a PS3 and Onkyo 875 and still waiting for the firmware update, so as per the OP, any dates yet?

[/quote]

Your amp will happily accept multi-channel PCM over HDMI. Simply set your PS3 to output PCM rather than bitstream in the BD-audio menu and it will decode Dolby TrueHD and dts HD HRA tracks and pass the HD audio to your amp just fine. As mentioned above it won't currently cope with dts Master Audio - but that is pretty rarely used at the moment anyway and generally only found on Fox discs. It is arguable as to whether it should make any difference the PS3 doing the decoding or your amp - so it is only the MA aspect that is of real concern.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
PCM is pretty awesome IMO. I know alot of FOX titles are DTS HD MA but I think its alittle unfair to expect the PS3 to do everything. If it can be upgraded I am sure it will happen. Its up to the other CE companies to come up with a standalone player to achieve the audio standards.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
[quote user="simon_soton"][quote user="Dragoh"]

Err, unless i missed somthing, the PS3 doesn't currently output anything other than bog standard Dolby Digital, DTS and uncompressed PCM. No support for DD+, DTS HD, DD HD or DTS MA.

I own a PS3 and Onkyo 875 and still waiting for the firmware update, so as per the OP, any dates yet?

[/quote]

Your amp will happily accept multi-channel PCM over HDMI. Simply set your PS3 to output PCM rather than bitstream in the BD-audio menu and it will decode Dolby TrueHD and dts HD HRA tracks and pass the HD audio to your amp just fine. As mentioned above it won't currently cope with dts Master Audio - but that is pretty rarely used at the moment anyway and generally only found on Fox discs. It is arguable as to whether it should make any difference the PS3 doing the decoding or your amp - so it is only the MA aspect that is of real concern.

[/quote]

Thankyou for the reply, but i know. I have been listening to PCM sound since i bought the items last September. Perhaps i should have said...."The PS3 does not output any HD sound via bitstream"

Anyways, i am still hoping a firmware update will sort this out as it was speculatively mentioned in WhatHiFI.
 

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