I have an HD-DVD player that I use for all my HD viewing. It's connected to my reciever by 5.1 anolog outputs allowing me to get TrueHD sound.
I recently purchased a PS3 and figured that I'd just sell the HD-DVD player.
What I wasn't considering is that my my reciever does not have HDMI inputs so the only way I can connect the PS3 to my reciver is by an optical cable.
Is there a noticable difference in sound in listening to a movie in TrueHD versus whatever format my reciever will accept from the Optical Cable? (It's an older Onkyo, mid priced reciever, about 5 years old) I'm assuming it supports dolby digital, DTS, etc, and it's 5.1. If there is a difference in the sound, is it enough to justify having an HD-DVD player for movies and just using my PS3 for gaming? I guess my other option is to sell the HD-DVD player and use that money to buy a new reciever that accepts HDMI...
Yes Kevin, as long as the receiver takes audio with HDMI 1.1. This is because the PS3 will convert the DD Tru-HD and DD+ into PCM and send that over HDMI. As an analogy, think of the sound formats like DD+, as .zip files of .wav files.
As an aside, wav files are actually lossless PCM data, except they're 2 channel and usually 16-bit and 44.1 Khz. This means the file is literally sending the processor a new frequency value for each channel (right and left) 44,000 times per second, and that the value is one in a 16-bit (65536 value) range. 0 to 65535 are mapped to actual frequencies from 0 or 20 Hz up to about 20 Khz, and the PCM values are used by the DAC's (digital to analog converters) to recreate the original analog sound created by the speakers. Perhaps knowing this you can see how 96Khz and 24bit (about 16.7 million values vs. 65,000) sound can permit a much more accurate analog signal to be recreated.
Getting back to the analogy, the zipped file is like DD Tru-HD, (DD+ is lossless but not as much as normal DD). For DD Tru-HD the zip file contains the whole entire wav file but just in a different format (it has been losslessly compressed). If you could, whether you get a special media player on your computer that could play the zip files directly (akin to decoding in the receiver), or whether you'd have to extract the wav files before playing them (conversion to PCM in the PS3) makes no difference at all. The same data is there in both cases.
But you answered my question and made me feel better about buying my new receiver. The last thing I want is to buy a new one now and find in December that it can't play DD+ and/or DTS-HD audio. I am getting a Denon 2807 which passes PCM over HDMI.
Ok, I'm a little lost with all the new HDMI stuff (at least it's new to me). I've got a PS3 hooked up to a Pioneer 5070 plasma via HDMI and I currently run all my audio via optical to my kind of dated RCA theater in a box system. If I want to upgrade, what should I be looking for? I want to go to 7.1, but I'm confused about using multiple HDMI connections. How would I get audio to the receiver and video to the display via HDMI if there's only one HDMI out on the PS3?
Forgive me if this is a basic question, but like I said, I'm new
That is what I can't wait to experience, the difference in audio quality between the best sounding SD DVD's and lossless audio, to go along with the wonderful picture of course
Instantpop, to elaborate a bit on your question, something like the Denon 2807 would work well, or the Yamaha 2707. The receiver extracts the sound and sends the video on to the TV. A major advantage of this is that you can use multiple HDMI sources with only 1 HDMI input on your TV, because the receiver does the both the audio and video selection for you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin12586 /forum/post/0
That is what I can't wait to experience, the difference in audio quality between the best sounding SD DVD's and lossless audio, to go along with the wonderful picture of course
There is so much more depth to the audio than before. Things that might have been muffled are now clear and distinct. Things that you never even heard before are not audible. Best examples of this are Tears of the Sun, BHD bullets have a lot more zing than before. In Silent Hill, there are ambient voices that I never heard before with the DD track. Things like this make the experience that much better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by instantpop /forum/post/0
Ok, I'm a little lost with all the new HDMI stuff (at least it's new to me). I've got a PS3 hooked up to a Pioneer 5070 plasma via HDMI and I currently run all my audio via optical to my kind of dated RCA theater in a box system. If I want to upgrade, what should I be looking for? I want to go to 7.1, but I'm confused about using multiple HDMI connections. How would I get audio to the receiver and video to the display via HDMI if there's only one HDMI out on the PS3?
Forgive me if this is a basic question, but like I said, I'm new
The PS3 HDMI goes into the receiver does the spilt and encoding etc..and sends the video signal back to the HDTV. Make sure you get a receiver that is capable of doing this.
Well it is well documented that the PS3 will convert high def audio formats (except dtshd) into PCM for use with some receivers right now. But in the future when we see fully hdmi 1.3 capable receivers that can decode the new formats themselves, will the PS3 pass out the un-decoded signal so that the receiver can? I would assume in the future the decoders would be higher quality in the receiver than ps3? or is that a wrong assumption
Well it is well documented that the PS3 will convert high def audio formats (except dtshd) into PCM for use with some receivers right now. But in the future when we see fully hdmi 1.3 capable receivers that can decode the new formats themselves, will the PS3 pass out the un-decoded signal so that the receiver can? I would assume in the future the decoders would be higher quality in the receiver than ps3? or is that a wrong assumption
Quote:
Originally Posted by instantpop /forum/post/0
Ok, I'm a little lost with all the new HDMI stuff (at least it's new to me). I've got a PS3 hooked up to a Pioneer 5070 plasma via HDMI and I currently run all my audio via optical to my kind of dated RCA theater in a box system. If I want to upgrade, what should I be looking for? I want to go to 7.1, but I'm confused about using multiple HDMI connections. How would I get audio to the receiver and video to the display via HDMI if there's only one HDMI out on the PS3?
Forgive me if this is a basic question, but like I said, I'm new
But in the future when we see fully hdmi 1.3 capable receivers that can decode the new formats themselves, will the PS3 pass out the un-decoded signal so that the receiver can? I would assume in the future the decoders would be higher quality in the receiver than ps3? or is that a wrong assumption
Why would you assume that? TrueHD and DTS-MA are lossless it should not make any difference where they are decoded. In theory there shouldn't be any difference in quality. I also wouldn't assume the present blu-ray discs will allow the raw TrueHD or DTS-MA bitstream to be passed, but I guess time will tell on that.
the sound from blu-ray pcm audio compared to dd/dts is like night and day. the sound to me (pcm 5.1) is so clear and great (you will here sounds on blu-ray pcm you never heard before with dd/dts) it puts dd/dts to shame and i guess it should. i am so glad i upgraded my a/v receiver to get pcm audio from blu-ray. i ended up purchasing the onkyo 604 for $360 online. i then turned around and sold my old panasonic receiver that was 5+ years old on ebay for over $100 so i ended up upgrading my receier for just over $250 not bad in my book.
Why would you assume that? TrueHD and DTS-MA are lossless it should not make any difference where they are decoded. In theory there shouldn't be any difference in quality. I also wouldn't assume the present blu-ray discs will allow the raw TrueHD or DTS-MA bitstream to be passed, but I guess time will tell on that.
The only reason I would think possibly that a receiver would decode a signal better than the player, would be similar in how having a dvd player upconvert a dvd to 1080i vs. letting your tv's scaler do it. When I bought my tv (720p dlp) I thought, why buy a upconverter dvd player if my tv will take 480p and make in 720p anyway? but from reading on this forum I learned that the upscaler chips are higher quality in the dvd player itself. I thought something similar might hold true if you have a high end audio receiver would possibly do a better job with decoding than the player itsel. I know it is lossless either way, but someone earlier in this thread commented on the inconsistancy of Toshiba hd-dvd players at decoding high rez sound formats to pass out as pcm.
But regardless, I think my question was answered. I just wanted to make sure that every blu-ray I buy now and in the future will be able to get high rez audio by passing pcm to a receiver.
Brian - Big difference between processing video and decoding (unpackiing) audio really no comparison. Video processing is very complicated where as lossless audio just needs to be unpacked with little or no other processing. Not sure about the Toshiba comment unless he was saying you can't pass the native bitstream to an external audio decoder which is true for HD DVD due to the way they are authored. Like I said earlier I'm not convinced the present Blu-ray discs can do this either.
I think your conclusion is valid as I believe all players (Blu-ray & HD DVD) moving forward will decode audio internally, thus as long as you have an HDMI 1.1 or higher processor that does PCM you should be good to go.
Some really good information in this forum. I'm still having trouble finding the answer to my question after having waded through all the info.
So... I have an HD DVD player connected to a Pioneer Elite VSX-80TXV receiver. The HD DVD player connects via component and optical for video and audio respectively.
My question is... what is the difference between connecting audio via
1. optical
vs 2. HDMI to receiver with no TrueHD support
vs 3. HDMI to receiver with TrueHD support
Should I keep what I have? upgrade to the 81TXV? or should I go with VSX-91TXH?
You would run HDMI from the PS3 to the receiver. Then, you will run HDMI from the receiver to your display device, which in your case, is your TV.
On a receiver, you will usually have multiple HDMI inputs, which will be used for any devices, such as a PS3, Cable or Satellite STB, Upconverting DVD player, etc.
You of course, need only ONE HDMI output, as the receiver is essentially an HDMI switching device, and you only need that one output for the TV connection.
no.i have a new onkyo and the PS3 cannot deliver the native bitstream my amp requires in order to play the new codecs.the TRUE HD comes over PCM and it is not nearly as crisp or clear as the actual pcm track.
may be a bit off topic, but it may help you decide whather or not to upgrade; i think the PS3 does ~NOT~ down-convert TrueHD tracks into 1.5 mbps DTS, it just does regular DD 5.1; whereas the 360 ~WILL~ down-convert TrueHD into 1.5 mbps DTS. this is all over optical of course.
My question is a lot like some of the others: I too have a PS3 and i wanna to be able to enjoy it to the maximum of its abilties - therefore im planing to buy Denons AVR-2808CI which supports Tru HD and DTS Master.. As you lot know, the PS3 only has one hdmi output - which currently is connected to my phillips ambilight tv - 720p-1080i... Should i connect the ps3 to the receiver and connect the receiver with the tv? or how would this work..
Yep. It's as simple as that. Your receiver doesn't need extra decoding capabilities if the PS3 already does it BTW. That's a lot of $$$ for a receiver.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
AVS Forum
34M posts
1.5M members
Since 1999
A forum community dedicated to home theater owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about home audio/video, TVs, projectors, screens, receivers, speakers, projects, DIY’s, product reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!