Z-5500, PS3, and Blu-ray playback

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Rehevkor

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jan 2, 2003
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I just bought a PS3. Since I don't have a proper TV (using my monitor and HDMI-to-DVI) or a receiver + speakers surround setup, I have a bit of a hack-job in place for the PS3 audio: I run the stereo RCA jacks from the PS3's AV cable into a stereo 3.5mm Y-adapter, then I run that into the Line-In port on my Klipsch speaker control pod. The quality is pretty solid, but it's only 2.0 of course.

My Klipsch Promedia 5.1 set is pretty old (I bought it shortly after they came out) and the volume control is slowly dying (I can nudge it downward and it jumps up 20 notches; not fun when you're playing dance music late at night). This would be a good time to replace them, but I don't think I'm ready to shell out for a full-on home theater setup including a receiver just yet. My thinking is that this will get me better quality audio for its price than any receiver and HT speaker setup that could be had for the same price. This brings me to my question:

If I buy the z5500 speakers and connect my PS3 to them video the optical input, how well will Blu-ray movie playback work? To my understanding, the PS3 handles decoding the HD audio formats itself (however, can it decode ALL of the formats available?). I'm assuming it will send an uncompressed 5.1 bitstream along the optical input to the z5500 control pod. Will it handle playing that back properly?

Thanks in advance for any info.
 
Um, no. Optical only handles stereo uncompressed, it doesn't have the bandwidth spec for more than that. What you will get though is the reliable Dolby Digital track. No HD audio for you. It would work fine otherwise.
 
Really? I've been using optical for my blu-ray playback the whole time and didn't hear about that.
 
wildfire99 said:
Um, no. Optical only handles stereo uncompressed, it doesn't have the bandwidth spec for more than that. What you will get though is the reliable Dolby Digital track. No HD audio for you. It would work fine otherwise.
Click to expand...

"Optical only handles stereo uncompressed"

Well.... yes but it can also do 5.1 DD and DTS signals just fine too, not just stereo. The only thing it can't do is HD 5.1/7.1 signals. The issue for you though is Bluray audio is HD by nature so unless the PS3 can do non HD 5.1 from Bluray then it won't work.
 
The only way to get Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD MA to the Z5500 is through 5.1 analog, but of course the PS3 doesn't have that. So you are basically SOL.

Better off getting a receiver that can decode the newer formats and doing HDMI, then buying speakers. I think yamaha as one around 300-400 and another that is 600, the rest out there are 1,000-1,200 at a min.
 
Well, it's not a complete write-off. Most Blu-ray movies and PS3 games also come with higher bitrate DD or DTS soundtracks (in addition to the lossless codecs), so it will still be noticably better than plain old' DVD.

Edit: For reference.

DD goes to 640kbps max (compared to 448kbps max on DVD)
DTS goes to 1.5Mbps max (compared to usually 768kbps on DVD).

All the DTS:HD tracks have a regular 1.5Mbps DTS "core" version in them, which can then be sent out over the optical output as standard DTS.
 
Ok, thanks for the info guys. I'm betting that I would need to spend a substantial amount of money on speakers in order to tell the difference between standard DD5.1/DTS and the HD formats, so I may go ahead and get the z5500s anyway. I'll be able to enjoy 5.1 sound from my PS3 games and in Blu-ray movies (I can live without the HD audio for now).

There's one thing I'm a little unclear on... does the optical out only support DD5.1 and DTS? I ask because I'm pretty sure the PS3 will decode any such surround format before it sends the data out via the optical connection, so the device on the other end (in this case, the speakers) will receive a signal that has already been decoded from its original format.

I just want to be sure that the z5500s will be able to play back a surround signal that has already been decoded. I'm assuming it will, but I'm pretty new to this home theater audio stuff, and I want to be sure before I know how it's going to work before I go buy something. Thanks again!
 
Rehevkor said:
There's one thing I'm a little unclear on... does the optical out only support DD5.1 and DTS? I ask because I'm pretty sure the PS3 will decode any such surround format before it sends the data out via the optical connection, so the device on the other end (in this case, the speakers) will receive a signal that has already been decoded from its original format.
Click to expand...

You can set the PS3 to output bitstream for the optical output and it will simply pass over the original compressed data stream to your 5500's for them to deal with. By default that would allow anything on the disc to get passed out, including DD 5.1 and DTS. If you tell it to output PCM (uncompressed), it will only give you stereo unless you're using HDMI.

(Of course the PS3 has that whole "oopsie" HDMI 1.2 thing for bitstreaming the HD audio, but that doesn't apply here.)

I just want to be sure that the z5500s will be able to play back a surround signal that has already been decoded. I'm assuming it will, but I'm pretty new to this home theater audio stuff, and I want to be sure before I know how it's going to work before I go buy something.
Click to expand...

Well the PS3 can decode it for you, and send out stereo over analog or optical (max supported by the spec), or multichannel over HDMI. I think what you're wanting, and what it will do just fine, is demux the plain-jane DD or DTS signal off the disc and pass it, untainted, to the 5500's which will then decode it without incident. The HD audio on your blu-ray discs will remain untouched, but you get all the audio goodness that was present on regular DVD, since the HD discs include the old audio formats as a backup for just this kind of situation. You just want to make sure you tell the PS3 to output bitstream over optical.
 
wildfire99 said:
You just want to make sure you tell the PS3 to output bitstream over optical.
Click to expand...


Thanks! I'll order the z5500s soon and give that a try. Now I can finally retire my aging Klipsch set, after many years of good service.
 
PS3 Blu-ray playback sounds excellent on my z-5500's. They just cant handle the HD audio of course, as everyone already mentioned. Go into your PS3 audio settings and set blu-ray optical play back to bitstream and you should be golden. Good luck! I think you will be quite pleased.
 
Word of warning, I have Z-5500's and with PS3, some Blu Rays don't include backup non-HD DD or DTS tracks, so you won't get any audio at all.
 
Deviationer said:
The only way to get Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD MA to the Z5500 is through 5.1 analog, but of course the PS3 doesn't have that. So you are basically SOL.
Click to expand...

Nothing has that.

Rehevkor said:
Thanks! I'll order the z5500s soon and give that a try. Now I can finally retire my aging Klipsch set, after many years of good service.
Click to expand...

Why don't you, you know, buy a receiver with that money instead of buying Z-5500s? Run the Klipsch 5.1s through the receiver; your volume control problems are fixed.

You don't have to pay to reduce your sound quality and for a dead-end connection (optical with no HD on the Z-5500s).
 
Last edited:
astrallite said:
Nothing has that.
Click to expand...

why would you say nothing has multichannel analog outputs? here's the back of the oppo bdp-83
60165462.jpg
 
so wait, if i have a ps3 connected to an lcd hdtv and optical connected to the TV (not the ps3) and to my z-5500's, I am not getting HD audio?

Is the only way to get HD audio with a reciever?
 
With the Z5500 the only way to get HD Audio is through the analog inputs, thus requiring something that has multi channel analog out (aka receiver).

If you have modern tv, it is possible that it accepts the audio via HDMI and can pass it through via optical out to a set of speakers such as the Z5500. But rest assured, it is downsampled in some way, shape, or form and is not HD.
 
http://www.accessories4less.com/mak...tertainment-Package-includes-iPod-Dock/1.html

OR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4&cm_re=onkyo_receiver-_-82-120-164-_-Product $230

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...y?productId=8198552921665192798&storeId=10151 ( Buy 3 pairs for $120 shipped ( 5.1 + spare ) )

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=300-631 $95 subwoofer that will dig lower and have better sound quality than the logitechs.

100% agreed with astralite.

Does anybody really think even if you somehow got HD audio to work on the PS3 that you will even notice a difference with the 5 cent drivers the Logitechs are using? I mean a low-end Klipsch 2.1 system will outperform it handily whiling costing 1/4 the price.
 
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