Best Audio settings for Home Theater Setup? Linear PCM vs. Bitstream, etc.

Hello,

I have a fairly decent HDTV and 5.1 surround sound setup. It supports ARC, DD, DTS, etc. Everything is setup via HDMI.

One thing I'm confused about is whether I should be usingLinear PCMor usingBitstream.

I ask because - when playing PS3 games - if I use Linear PCM, my reciever shows the rather generic "Multichannel Output 5.1" but if I use Bitstream, I get either "Dolby Digital" or "DTS" on the reciever's screen.

Any tips or suggestions? Thanks!

From a Bluray forum, basically explains that if you use HDMI you should use Linear PCM for lossless audio.

If the PS3 setting is set to "Linear" it will decode the lossless audio (Hi-Def audio which is 6 times more detailed than ANY AUDIO TRACK on ANY DVD) and send it out as a PCM signal (Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD MA, everything!). Now, if you have an HDMI cable running that signal, all is good. You will get the lossless audio no porblems so long as your receiver can handle multichannel PCM. If you are using an optical cable, the cable can only handle the PCM signal as a 2.0 stereo signal. Therefore, since the PS3 is sending the lossless audio as PCM, the cable will downmix the signal to 2.0 stereo.

If the PS3 setting is set to "Bitstream" it will not decode anything. It will try to send the signal as is to the receiver so that the receiver can do the work. If an HDMI cable is used, there will be problems. The PS3 cannot bitstream LOSSLESS audio via HDMI cable. It will play the lossless core tracks as their lossy DVD counterparts (Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1). Likewise, an optical cable will do the same thing... UNLESS THE AUDIO TRACK SELECTED ON THE DISC IS A LINEAR PCM TRACK. Again, that PCM signal will be downmixed to a 2.0 stereo signal.

So, bottom line is, with the PS3 set the audio output to "Linear" when using an HDMI cable. Set it to "Bitstream" when using an optical cable.

Ok thanks. Just one more question: why does it not show up as using DTS or DD5.1 when using Linear PCM Multichannel?pg23

That's weird that it's showing that because mine never does but DTS HD MA and Dolby True High def is what you want to see.

Got it, thanks.

If you have a slim PS3 it makes no difference, it just decided where the decoding happens - PS3 or reciever.

If you have a fat pick PCM since it can't bitstream DTS master audio and Dolby TrueHD.