I've got my PS3 hooked up through my Onkyo TX-SR605 via HDMI, and all my PS2 games come out in stereo. Is there a way to fix this? If I go back to the optical connection, I have no such issue.

Also seems odd that all DVDs are reported as PCM 5.1, and I can't get 6.1 tracks (either DTS-ES or DD 5.1 EX) tracks to play in 6.1.

Any advice appreciated.

I can tell by the number of post you have you are no amature. With my HDMI receiver I found that I was unable to get Dolby Digital EX in anyting other than 2 ch on my PS2 game Resident Evil 4 untill I disabled PCM decoding. Try goint into the audio options and disable every LPCM output listed (two LPCM's may remain grayed out but that is ok). Save the settings then run the game again. I have to do this on my SONY STR-DG810 (HDMI) everytime I want to play a PS2 game in 5.1. Good luck

Interesting. Thanks for the info, though I hope Sony releases a firmware to sort this out as it's fairly inconvenient every time to do this!

I have the same receiver. There is a way; I haven't figured it out yet. I can use all DSP and Dolby 5.1 effects for some games but not all. Tekken 5: DR and the Japanese download of Hot Shots Golf 5 demo are examples after I tweaked the settings, but I can't always do it for others.

I found that if you switch the HDMI output to bitstream instead of pcm, it will dump the 6.1 ex tracks etc to the receiver. Only wank is, that you lose lossless to gain a surround back. I wish my 3200es could matrix channels under pcm, or that the ps3 had an audio option to add a matrixed rear surround into the pcm 5.1 stream.

I found that if you switch the HDMI output to bitstream instead of pcm, it will dump the 6.1 ex tracks etc to the receiver. Only wank is, that you lose lossless to gain a surround back. I wish my 3200es could matrix channels under pcm, or that the ps3 had an audio option to add a matrixed rear surround into the pcm 5.1 stream.

Yes, this is true. Hopefully a firmware update will sort this!

A PS3 firmware update isn't going to fix this. It actually works as expected. It sounds like more of receiver limitation then anything with the PS3. DVDs and Blu-ray should be PCM 5.1 that is correct if you want to hear the lossless tracks on Blu-ray. Better receivers will allow DPIIx processing to derive the rear 6&7 channels from 5.1 PCM. I don't play many games on mine but I'm pretty sure several of them output 5.1PCM on mine. I'd double check all your settings on both the receiver and the PS3.

A PS3 firmware update isn't going to fix this. It actually works as expected. It sounds like more of receiver limitation then anything with the PS3. DVDs and Blu-ray should be PCM 5.1 that is correct if you want to hear the lossless tracks on Blu-ray. Better receivers will allow DPIIx processing to derive the rear 6&7 channels from 5.1 PCM. I don't play many games on mine but I'm pretty sure several of them output 5.1PCM on mine. I'd double check all your settings on both the receiver and the PS3.


I completely disagree. The PS3 should correctly bit-stream everything, which it doesn't. It should send the raw signal to the receiver, where it should be decoded as DD5.1 or DD 5.1 EX or DTS 5.1 or DTS-ES. My XBOX 360 Elite does this perfectly for games and movies connected to my Onkyo 605. If the PS3 doesn't send the correct signal, no receiver will be able to do anything about it. Correct, "better" receivers will allow you to matrix the rear channels, but that's the only difference. That still won't give you a pure DTS-ES signal or a DD 5.1 EX signal. It's 100% a limitation (currently) of the PS3. DVDs should NOT be in PCM 5.1. They should be correctly flagged. I have no problems with 5.1 DVDs since PCM 5.1 from the PS3 really does just mean DD 5.1. However, you just can't get 6.1 from regular DVDs anymore unless you tinker with settings which means you lose the lossless sound from Blu-ray discs. I have no problems getting PCM 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 from Blu-ray movies.

So again, it's a PS3 limitation 100%. On a side-note, it completely stinks that I have a receiver that can decode TrueHD and DTS:HD MA, but no players can pass the signals bitstream! Crazy! I wonder how Onkyo even tested this feature. :p

Not sure what you mean by bitstreaming everything. When I think of "raw" signal I'm thinking uncompressed PCM not a compressed (Dolby or DTS) bitstream. Are you saying the only thing that doesn't work automatically is Dolby EX or DTS-ES on the PS3 when LPCM is selected? I don't understand if you have LPCM selected why you would expect to get the DTS or Dolby bitstreams. Not saying your wrong I'm just trying to figure out the perceived problem here. To me what scarycall described is exactly how it should work. Standard DVD players usually have a way of selecting bitstream or PCM how is the PS3 any different?

Not sure what you mean by bitstreaming everything. When I think of "raw" signal I'm thinking uncompressed PCM not a compressed (Dolby or DTS) bitstream. Are you saying the only thing that doesn't work automatically is Dolby EX or DTS-ES on the PS3 when LPCM is selected? I don't understand if you have LPCM selected why you would expect to get the DTS or Dolby bitstreams. Not saying your wrong I'm just trying to figure out the perceived problem here. To me what scarycall described is exactly how it should work. Standard DVD players usually have a way of selecting bitstream or PCM how is the PS3 any different?

By raw, I don't mean uncompressed. I mean just the data in bitstream form (i.e. passed to the receiver to do the decoding). So, in theory, this is how it should work (but it doesn't). The PS3 should send the raw data to the receiver for DVDs, so you should get 5.1 DD or DTS 5.1 (or 6.1 of either format) displayed on the receiver. Then, for Blu-ray movies, the PS3 should send the raw data so that the receiver says PCM 5.1 (or 6.1/7.1) for the movies that support it. Then for Blu-ray movies that support TrueHD (a few), it should say TrueHD on the display for receivers that support this (like my Onkyo 605). However, for EVERYTHING (DD, DTS, PCM and TrueHD), the receiver ALWAYS says PCM. This is frustrating, and not the fault of the receiver, since no Blu-ray player is capable of passing TrueHD (or DTS HD: MA) bistream, at this point.

I see you are locked into the old concept where everything is decoded in the receiver. Very few receivers at this point decode the newer codecs, even if they did what about the intermixing of sound onto Dolby or DTS that Blu-ray allows, it almost has to be sent out as PCM. Why do you feel DolbyHD and DTS HD: MA have to be decoded in the receiver? I view this as a limitation personally, and all of us HDMI1.1 owners have to do it this way. Do you think your receiver does a better job of decoding then the PS3? The new codecs are lossless it shouldn't make any difference where they are decoded, personally I think it is just a scam to sell new receivers. :D

EDIT: I do agree that the PS3 should provide an option to transmit the Dolby THD and DTS-MA bitstreams but I don't see it as something I would use even if I had a 1.3 receiver with those codecs. This may be more a function of the blu-ray spec then HDMI 1.3 or the PS3 itself.

The PS3 has a problem where if you have, say, 7.1 LPCM enabled, it will always make the receiver think that it is supposed to be receiving 7.1 channels of audio, even though it may be only receiving stereo (ps2 games).

All I do is de-select every 5.1 and 7.1 LPCM setting when I want to play a stereo game in DPLIIx (leaving only the 2 channel LPCM options).

They may be able to fix the PS2 stereo problem with a firmware update though - the new demo for that protein blasting game (forgot what it is called) reverts to 5.1 LPCM even if you have 7.1 enabled in the XMB - so it is possible for the PS3 to change its output mode without you telling it to.

I see you are locked into the old concept where everything is decoded in the receiver. Very few receivers at this point decode the newer codecs, even if they did what about the intermixing of sound onto Dolby or DTS that Blu-ray allows, it almost has to be sent out as PCM. Why do you feel DolbyHD and DTS HD: MA have to be decoded in the receiver? I view this as a limitation personally, and all of us HDMI1.1 owners have to do it this way. Do you think your receiver does a better job of decoding then the PS3? The new codecs are lossless it shouldn't make any difference where they are decoded, personally I think it is just a scam to sell new receivers. :D

EDIT: I do agree that the PS3 should provide an option to transmit the Dolby THD and DTS-MA bitstreams but I don't see it as something I would use even if I had a 1.3 receiver with those codecs. This may be more a function of the blu-ray spec then HDMI 1.3 or the PS3 itself.


Scam or not, I have an HDMI 1.3 PS3, an HDMI 1.3 receiver, and an HDMI 1.3 TV, so where's my DTS:MA? And I'd rather my receiver do the decoding since it's a frickin' receiver! The PS3 runs warm enough without it doing extra work. Sure, at the end of the day it doesn't matter, I suppose, which does the decoding, but currently neither do! In a perfect world, the PS3 would do it all so that HDMI 1.1 owners can get the other codecs decoded without the need for a newer receiver, and also the option for the receiver to do it for us 1.3 owners.

The PS3 has a problem where if you have, say, 7.1 LPCM enabled, it will always make the receiver think that it is supposed to be receiving 7.1 channels of audio, even though it may be only receiving stereo (ps2 games).

All I do is de-select every 5.1 and 7.1 LPCM setting when I want to play a stereo game in DPLIIx (leaving only the 2 channel LPCM options).

They may be able to fix the PS2 stereo problem with a firmware update though - the new demo for that protein blasting game (forgot what it is called) reverts to 5.1 LPCM even if you have 7.1 enabled in the XMB - so it is possible for the PS3 to change its output mode without you telling it to.

Yes, this is the way to do it, though it's frustrating when you swap back and forth between PS2 games and Blu-ray movies as often as I do, to have to keep checking and unchecking those boxes.