Thread: Anybody really serious about using PS3 for audio playback?

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Post by Possum Pete July 25, 2007 (81 of 243)
dobyblue said:

You should also check what kind of DAC's your receiver has. If it's 24/96 then you'll only be able to set it to 88.2, if it's 24/196 then you're good with 176.4
Yes bitstream is where it should be set to.
When you get stereo is it only the HDMI that's hooked up? There's no optical cable as well or RCA stereo jacks from the AV Out right?

Correct. I removed the optical cable and I never had any RCA jacks connected. I'll make sure it's on bitstream and double check the DAC. Thanks for your help!


I found out on another tech site (agora) that my Sony receiver (STR-DG710) will only do SACD in stereo. You'd think that's something they might have put in their manual or on the Sony site. Kind of stupid to only offer it in stereo. What's the point? And this is Sony doing it!! They want to keep SACD alive and they don't let you play the discs to their maximum capacity. Very dumb Sony!

Thanks to everyone on the forum that helped!

Post by azure July 26, 2007 (82 of 243)
The Seventh Taylor said:


The three settings are
- Off: Disable bitmapping.
- Type 1: Set to use a technique called “dithering” to reduce noise or distortion produced during audio output.
- Type 2: Set to use a technique called “noise shaping” to reduce noise in the audible range.

Note that v1.90 also adds upsampling of RBCD to 88.2 and 176.4 kHz and the above setting applies to this as well as to SACD.

Do these settings have any effect if you use the analog MultiAV outlet to source material or is this in relation to the PCM signal via HDMI?

Post by The Seventh Taylor July 26, 2007 (83 of 243)
azure said:

Do these settings have any effect if you use the analog MultiAV outlet to source material or is this in relation to the PCM signal via HDMI?

Fair question. I'm not sure but will look into this and let you know.

Post by setherington July 26, 2007 (84 of 243)
Hi Everyone,

I've really enjoyed reading this thread as I am using my PS3 for SACD playback. I actually didn't know that SACD exitsted before I got my PS3, but I am very happy to have discovered this wonderful format.

After reading through this thread I can see that quite a few of you have had alot of setup difficulties, so I though I'd summarise my experience of setting up and using SACD via the Playstation 3.

I had been planning to put my first high-end sound system together before I had my PS3 but I am very glad that I waited to find out what the PS3 could do before I went out & purchased an amp.

After finding out that the PS3 supports SACD playback, as well as LPCM upto 176.4 kHz etc etc, I went out and started researching amps. I ended up purchasing the Yamaha RX-V1700 7.1 channel with HDMI pass-through(video) & sound decoding via HDMI 1.2a.

Basically the setup for me was a breeze and I haven't had any glitches as yet. I will summarise my setup below:

*I now use my PS3 for basically everything, PS games, DVD, Blu ray, CD, SACD and also as the media terminal to stream files from my PS3.

*My current projector lacks HDMI so I use component cables instead. I then use the PS3's HDMI out for audio only.

*All I had to do was hookup the HDMI cable from PS3 to amp, turn on the amp and select the correct input, then turn on the PS3 and use the auto sound configuration in system settings and it selects the appropriate codecs & frequequencies that the amp can deal with. I also had to select 44.1/88.2/176.4kHz output for CDs once that had been added with firmware 1.90.


Now I can listen to my SACDs (I only have Pink Floyd: Dark Side of The Moon & The Police as yet) in all their glory. Never having heard a dedicated SACD setup I have nothing to compare it to but it sounds simply amazing. The same goes for upscaled CDs and DVDs & Blu ray movies.

Now, my Yamaha amp is cabable of decoding DSD via HDMI internally, that's one of the reasons I bought it, but like the rest of you I am still wondering whether or not Sony will be able to make the PS3 output a DSD signal without converting it to PCM.

I am hopeful this will be achieved with a future firmware update but I really have to commend Sony's engineers on all their work up until now anyway, they're a clever bunch.

Hopefully Sony's inclusion of SACD playback in the PS3 will make more people aware of the format like myself, and if they can sell another 100 million PS3's like they did with the PS2, then I think SACD could have a very bright future as at the moment I think it is viewed as a niche market.

Post by Julien July 26, 2007 (85 of 243)
setherington said:

I am still wondering whether or not Sony will be able to make the PS3 output a DSD signal without converting it to PCM.

I am hopeful this will be achieved with a future firmware update but I really have to commend Sony's engineers on all their work up until now anyway, they're a clever bunch.

They are a clever bunch!

Never do things too well, as soon as it doesn't influence sales too much... At least with a few obvious problems with this one they know what to do for a new version of the Playstation in a while... and are at least sure to sell it to the unsatisfied people.

Imagine a company that does only perfect products... It would stay a small company, and never would it develop into a big one like Sony.

Post by culabula@mac.com July 29, 2007 (86 of 243)
The Seventh Taylor said:

I think they meant that the receiver doesnt support DSD over HDMI. You can use it to play SA-CD but only in (high-res) PCM since that's the only way PS3 will output it thus far.

It's odd they added SA-CD to the 'CD/CD-R in' label.

No clue what is meant by the 'unlock' message. The troubleshooting guide doesn't mention anything about this. Do you only have this when playing DVD-Audio? Or with SA-CD from your Pioneer? Both?

Note: The Pioneer manual states: "It is not possible to output SACD source from the HDMI connection of this player."

Just to update: the HDMI cable arrived for my Pioneer 696; while SA-CD is not available over HDMI, th sound from DVD-A *is* and audio and video quality via the Sony 910 is quite stunning. The cable from play.com gives the impression of being of superior quality and so I have just ordered another for the PS3 to replace the 'freebie' that I got with delivery. Still do not 'get' the SA-CD coax input on the receiver though.

Post by swestbom July 29, 2007 (87 of 243)
Has anyone noticed that the new STR-DA5300ES receiver from Sony still has no native DSD support (just like the 5200). No DSD support in the US since the demise of the unlamented 7100. It seems like Sony has truly abandoned the format. I suspect that is why the PS-3 doesn't output DSD natively and probably won't despite the plethora of new receivers from other manufacturers that do support it via HDMI-1.2a or 1.3a.

Post by Possum Pete July 30, 2007 (88 of 243)
culabula@mac.com said:

Just to update: the HDMI cable arrived for my Pioneer 696; while SA-CD is not available over HDMI, th sound from DVD-A *is* and audio and video quality via the Sony 910 is quite stunning. The cable from play.com gives the impression of being of superior quality and so I have just ordered another for the PS3 to replace the 'freebie' that I got with delivery. Still do not 'get' the SA-CD coax input on the receiver though.

The coax is for a separate SACD/CD player that you might have purchased before a PS3. Since you can relabel anything on the receiver, it's really just another set of inputs.

Post by culabula@mac.com July 30, 2007 (89 of 243)
Possum Pete said:

The coax is for a separate SACD/CD player that you might have purchased before a PS3. Since you can relabel anything on the receiver, it's really just another set of inputs.

Yes, I know and I have one. The point is, it doesn't work. If you do hook up an SA-CD player to it (which I have never heard of being able to do via a singe coaxial or optical cable) you get an onscreen error message *unlock*! Why label it as SA-CD as it simply cannot be done?

Post by culabula@mac.com July 30, 2007 (90 of 243)
Possum Pete said:

The coax is for a separate SACD/CD player that you might have purchased before a PS3. Since you can relabel anything on the receiver, it's really just another set of inputs.

Or do they mean that you can hook up an SA-CD player to it but ONLY play a redbook CD back over it?? If so, they should explain this as such in plain and straightforward English.

To remain on topic, I do find the sound of SA-CD via the PS3's HDMI output much more pleasing and exciting than that from the old Pioneer's 6 x analogue jacks.

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