PCM vs RAW when using an optical cable

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joe7dust

Limp Gawd
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Jan 25, 2013
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My receiver does not have hdmi in only optical. I have read a lot of articles about this and most mention that PCM can only do 2 channels over optical, but it is confusing because I seem to actually be getting surround sound.

My TV has PCM or RAW options. On RAW setting the range feels more dynamic and there is a little more punch to the sound, but the delay is slightly worse. This ends up with a chorus effect most of the time time that is annoying so I just set it to PCM usually.

The last article I read on the subject says that there is no difference in quality between the two. I personally found RAW to sound better (not sure how), but I don't know how to avoid the delay while using it.
 
PCM over optical is limited to 2 channels however bitstream (with limitations) is also supported which means DTS and Dolby Digital will also work over optical however optical has a bandwidth limitation which means you won't get DTS-HD, Dolby Digital+ or Dolby Atmos. If you are passing DTV through optical to your receiver, DTV signal usually carries Dolby Digital/DTS and your TV will send that directly through optical so you will get 5.1 discrete channels from DTV unless the content is only 2 channel, then it will pass it as RAW/PCM afaik.

PCM over HDMI however has a massive amount of bandwidth available so for example, on my setup I can have 7.1 discrete channels PCM from my PC to my receiver which is useful for games that don't bitstream.
 
Deimos said:
PCM over optical is limited to 2 channels however bitstream (with limitations) is also supported which means DTS and Dolby Digital will also work over optical however optical has a bandwidth limitation which means you won't get DTS-HD, Dolby Digital+ or Dolby Atmos. If you are passing DTV through optical to your receiver, DTV signal usually carries Dolby Digital/DTS and your TV will send that directly through optical so you will get 5.1 discrete channels from DTV unless the content is only 2 channel, then it will pass it as RAW/PCM afaik.

PCM over HDMI however has a massive amount of bandwidth available so for example, on my setup I can have 7.1 discrete channels PCM from my PC to my receiver which is useful for games that don't bitstream.
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I only use DD. I still don't understand why RAW sounds better when it's supposedly the same quality. I would never use PCM if all my content came with adjustable audio delay/sync settings. I have it hooked up to a fire tv atm. Kodi is the only app that has this implemented, when viewing regular prime video or other apps it's like they don't even realize that sometimes it's nice to adjust such things.
 
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