PS3 optical sound problem solved!

VictoryGin1984

Apologies if I'm a little slow.

PCM = PS3 does the decoding, right?

safcalibur

Yes thats right.  You can change this in the settings.  Bitstream sends the audio to an amp/receiver in its encoded form.  It is then decoded by the said amp/receiver.  PCM or LPCM means the PS3 decodes it onboard and sends the decoded sound to the amp.  Difference is is that if the amp does the decoding it will display what sound you are listening to e.g. DD, DTS.  If PS3 does this then the amp will not recognise what the sound format is, it will just direct the sound to the relevant speakers and display as Multi Ch IN or similar.

Cheers

Saf

Edit:  The old phat PS3's cannot bitstream HD audio, its a hardware issue which, despite what some may have thought, cannot be rectified with a firmware update.  This is why if you have an old style ps3 and want HD audio, you must set it to PCM.  The slim ones are able to output HD audio via bitstream so then its up to you which way you wanna go about it!

VictoryGin1984

So is it not possible to use Bitstream with HDMI sound so that the amp does the decoding (provided you have a receiver which can decode HD Audio)?

safcalibur

Sorry see edit on previous post.  Its not poss to do that if you have an old style ps3.

VictoryGin1984

Does that mean that even though I can set my phat PS3 to output bitstream via HDMI it will not actually work?

I do have a very late edition phat...

safcalibur

It will bitstream the lower sound formats like Dolby digital or DTS but will not bitstream the HD codecs.  In order to get HD sound from Blu ray's you would need to set the PS3 to PCM.  Tbh, I've set mine to PCM and left it like that no matter what I'm doing on it.  It sounds the same (whether ps3 decodes or amp) and is easier than having to keep changing the settings!

rocky01

Old topic. Solved my present day problem by removing toslink cable on both ends, re-attaching. Easy solve. LOL. 5.1 works now back to watching season two, Discovery on Amazon Prime.