PS3 to DAC - Optimum audio connection?

[Charlie Jefferson]

I'm currently connecting my PS3 to my DAC with an optical cable. It sounds great but are there any better options?

I'm trying to maximize the audio potential of music Blu-Rays and the hi-rez audio available on some music DVDs.

(My DAC has optical/coaxial/analogue connections and passes on it's signal to my Arcam A85/P90)

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Charlie Jefferson:I'm currently connecting my PS3 to my DAC with an optical cable. It sounds great but are there any better options?

I'm trying to maximize the audio potential of music Blu-Rays and the hi-rez audio available on some music DVDs.

(My DAC has optical/coaxial/analogue connections and passes on it's signal to my Arcam A85/P90)

From what I can gather, the PS3 has only digital optical available and not coaxial, therefore I would say you have the best connection working already.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Agreed - unless you have a processor able to accept LPCM from the PS3, optical is as good as it's going to get.

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

Thanks guys.

So am I right in thinking that to access 24bit/92kHz or 24bit/192kHz audio from my PS3 I need an HDMI amp alongside my Arcam amps?

How would this connect to my Chord DAC? My current set up does a pretty good job with audio from the PS3 and I suspect the DAC is one of the reasons.

Would a budget of up to £1000 for a HDMI amp/processor get me something appreciably superior to my Arcam/PS3/DAC set up when playing hi-rez audio?

 

[Andrew Everard]

Yes you would, and its onboard DACs would mean you wouldn't need your offboard DAC for these hi-rez music formats.

But frankly I wouldn't bother at the moment: if and when more hi-rez music becomes available, I am sure more affordable hardware will become available aimed at the music listener, rather than you having to buy video and mutlichannel capability you presumably won't be using for the moment.

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

Thanks for that Andrew.

Yes, it's only 2 channel music I'm primarily interested in right now so I'll probably stick with my current set up.

Out of interest do you know what the PS3 outputs audiowise when I play hi-rez audio? Does it downsample it to 16bit/92kHz or some such?

Yesterday I was playing Neil Young's Archives (Blu Ray) and a couple of his music DVDs with a 24bit/92kHz track, then compared them with both streamed Lossless & CD versions of the same songs. The Blu Ray & DVD sounded best to me with Lossless next then CD.

 

[Andrew Everard]

AFAIK, the optical output is limited to 48kHz.

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:AFAIK, the optical output is limited to 48kHz.

Not in LPCM stereo it isn't... you can get up to 176.4kHz.

 

[Andrew Everard]

But not over optical, surely - only LPCM over HDMI.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes with optical... not bad eh! For example PS3 will output an upsampled CD at 176.4 via optical, not just HDMI.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Frankly I'd be surprised if what's being sent via optical is that hi-res, but if you say so... - not a PS3 aficionado, so unable to check

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

MilkyJoe:
Yes with optical... not bad eh! For example PS3 will output an upsampled CD at 176.4 via optical, not just HDMI.

Mmmm. . . so is this why my Blu Rays & Hi-rez DVDs sound good?

My audio settings on the PS3 are set at 2 channel PCM 192kHz but would it be better at the 176.4kHz setting? Or does the higher setting just get down sampled anyway?

 

[Anonymous]

No you misunderstand - PS3 doesn't upsample DVD-audio.

If it's set to 2ch, it just remuxes 5.1 audio into 2 channels. It will stay at 48,000Hz, which isn't bad.

It only has the option to upsample CDs (2 channel LPCM).

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

When I play Blu Ray discs the reading on screen says 192kHz but that's presumably just because of the audio setting I've clicked on, right?

When I play a DVD with Hi-Rez audio content the screen reads 96kHz, so what is actually passing from my PS3 via optical to my off board DAC?

 

[Anonymous]

Charlie Jefferson:When I play Blu Ray discs the reading on screen says 192kHz but that's presumably just because of the audio setting I've clicked on, right? When I play a DVD with Hi-Rez audio content the screen reads 96kHz, so what is actually passing from my PS3 via optical to my off board DAC?

The reading on the screen is the frequency on the disc.

The screen reads 96KHz on DVDs, but if you're connected via optical it will just be outputting at 48KHz because of the amount of channels (unless you're using bitstream). Don't worry about it; 44.1KHz and above sound great.

Only in 2 channel mode will it decide to output higher than 48KHz in LPCM.

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

It's two channel I'm using. My PS3's audio settings are all configured to PCM 2 channel.

Anyway, at the moment it seems, all things considered I've optimized my PS3's audio and it sounds great. So I'll ditch the number game and get back to the music.

Just had three hours or so on Neil Young's Archives, the early discs: was there ever a more perfectly presented melange of sound, images & text?

It surely sets a new benchmark for all retrospectives. I've read a few churlish reviews complaining about the number of previously available tracks included, but for me it provides a context for the unearthed gems. As for the video clips, they're just wonderful. Ranging from 60's TV appearances to Neil's home footage covering obscure incidents and homing in on particularly fascinating episodes in his musical life.

Current fave clips: Neil rehearsing with the LSO for A Man Needs A Maid. A mind-warping culture clash of hired classical players stopping for flasks of tea and a browse through the Daily Telegraph and Neil's Labbatt's drinking, hairy retinue. All took place at Barking Town Hall, in 1971.

Secondly, Neil's single-handed anti-piracy campaign, circa 1970. He walks into a Tornoto(?) record shop to find bootleg copies of his own concerts. Shop assistant feigns no knowledge of the provenance of the albums and clearly doesn't recognize Mr Young. Neil rings the store's owner, and politely prevails, walking out of the store with the offending items gratis.