I have a PS3 feeding my Denon 3808 (a 7.1 system), but I have a 5.1 setup.

On High Def Digest, they said the following about the movie Disturbia:

"both this Blu-ray edition of 'Disturbia' and its HD DVD counterpart also get matching sound mixes, with each format receiving a DTS 6.1 Surround-ES Discrete track (both encoded at 1.5mbps) plus an optional Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX track (encoded at 640kbps on this Blu-ray, and 1.5mbps on the HD DVD)."

With a 5.1 system, which should I choose - the 6.1 DTS at 1.5mbps or the 5.1 EX at only 640 kbps?

Thanks.

Go for the 6.1 DTS track, 1.5mbps vs. 640kbps is a world of difference.

Okay, I just wasn't sure if I'd miss something that would be going to the rear speaker. Would I?

Your decoder should take care of mixing that rear channel into the two surround channels quite effectively, assuming the receiver has been configured to not use the surround-back channels. If anything, you'd still be gaining info from the 6.1 mix that may not exist in the 5.1 mix (though, more likely, is already mixed between the two rears in the 5.1).

Okay, great. So I guess I just need to choose the one with the most MBPS.

Always select the track with the highest bitrate. Unless there is a lossless track available.

I thought lossless would have the highest bitrate.

Uncompressed LPCM would be higher, but neither that nor lossless codecs (Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD MA) are of any use to you as those can only be output digitally via HDMI, or via analog 5.1; optical/coax S/PDIF cannot output those in anything but 2-channel LPCM.

I thought lossless would have the highest bitrate.

That's what I'm saying. Always choose the best soundtrack.

Uncompressed LPCM would be higher, but neither that nor lossless codecs (Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD MA) are of any use to you as those can only be output digitally via HDMI, or via analog 5.1; optical/coax S/PDIF cannot output those in anything but 2-channel LPCM.

I have HDMI. In fact, everything in the setup from PS3 to Denon 3808 to Sony A3000 is HDMI 1.3.

If a Blu-Ray is HD MA, I understand that the PS3 doesn't yet output it for the receiver to decode...but does the PS3 decode it itself? Or have I got that backwards?

I don't know how new the Denon unit you have is, if its one of the brand new ones I think it can handle HDMI 1.3 signals in BITSTREAM, but regardless no Blu-ray player can decode DTS:MA right now, not that I know of, but I know for sure the PS3 cannot.

The PS3 decodes most lossless signals if you set the HDMI output for audio to LinearPCM.

I have HDMI. In fact, everything in the setup from PS3 to Denon 3808 to Sony A3000 is HDMI 1.3.I'm sorry, I got this thread confused with another, where the OP was using optical.

If a Blu-Ray is HD MA, I understand that the PS3 doesn't yet output it for the receiver to decode...but does the PS3 decode it itself? Or have I got that backwards?The PS3 neither decodes nor passes-through DTS-HD MA, nor does any other player currently on the market, supposedly - thus the rub.

I'm a patient person… I'm glad the discs have lossless, but I'm in no hurry to upgrade my sound system to accomodate them; DD at 640kbps and DTS at 1.5mbps is plenty good to my ears. This whole DTS-HD MA nonsense is of no concern to me, and I'm glad for it. This too shall pass.