Surround sound from PS3/Xbox 360

[Kilroyquasar]

Hello everyone!

first of all i would like to tell you that i have a very basic idea about audio-technicalities. still, i would like to put forth a doubt of mine to invite your much-needed suggestion(s).

A] i have two 5.1 systems (speaker-systems, not HTiBs) at my home, but none of those have digital ports (neither optical nor coaxial), only analog RCA ports. till this time i have been connecting my consoles through RCA (red & white or L/R) which means i have been connecting them for stereo sound, even though i have been getting surround sound from my 5.1s (due to internal decoder? perhaps its pro-logic II?), and very good at that (esp. in games like the 'uncharted' series). however, i wish to now have an external decoder, using which, i could connect an optical cable to my PS3's optical port, and on the other end of the decoder, use RCA cables to be connected to my 5.1's aux. inputs. i believe this is the right way? would i then get DD 5.1 or DTS 5.1 that way? ofcourse that would depend on the quality of decoder, but still, would that be equivalent to what i could have got had my 5.1s had digital ports on them?

B] also, using RCA connections, am i getting lossles HD audio? am confused, as some say that through RCA you are just getting 2ch sound, whereas some others say using good RCA connectors and with the consoles' own internal decoders, you get lossless HD audio (probably pro-logic II) instead of the lossy DD or DTS. but this is a fact that i do get surround sound through my 5.1s, & quite detailed at that. but what kind is it & how is it getting decoded (& where) is regarding what am confused.

i saw some decoders listed on indian portals, like this one. though its costly, but i suppose it would be of a good quality. however, is there any workaround to this issue? or any cheaper alternative?

please suggest. thanks in advance!

 

[msankadi]

nice questions am also interested in the answers... posting as a bump and to subscribe

 

[hector19]

Following ...

 

[Kilroyquasar]

ok, i have managed to get a bit more info (which, hopefully, should be correct). it seems surely what surround sound am hearing is what i had thought - dolby pro logic II, which is a stereo to 5.1 decoder. some console games have the option to change the sound to/enable DLP II. however, most of this work of decoding is handled/done by the receiver (the sub in my case).

also, there's a marked difference in the sound-quality i get to hear from the very same 5.1s of the HD channels i view on my STB, which are encoded in DTS-HD/DTS-HD-MA and/or DD-HD, than with the games i play (DLP II). but even the STB is connected to the 5.1 through aux. input. so that means the sub's receiver is doing a good job at decoding, and decoding stereo signals (through aux. RCA input) from HD channels' DD-HD/DTS-HD/DTS-HD-MA sound, back to 5.1, brings out livelier & crisper results! how marvellous it could have been had i been able to listen to uninterrupted true HD audio

 

[Gannu]

Hello everyone!

first of all i would like to tell you that i have a very basic idea about audio-technicalities. still, i would like to put forth a doubt of mine to invite your much-needed suggestion(s).

A] i have two 5.1 systems (speaker-systems, not HTiBs) at my home, but none of those have digital ports (neither optical nor coaxial), only analog RCA ports. till this time i have been connecting my consoles through RCA (red & white or L/R) which means i have been connecting them for stereo sound, even though i have been getting surround sound from my 5.1s (due to internal decoder? perhaps its pro-logic II?), and very good at that (esp. in games like the 'uncharted' series). however, i wish to now have an external decoder, using which, i could connect an optical cable to my PS3's optical port, and on the other end of the decoder, use RCA cables to be connected to my 5.1's aux. inputs. i believe this is the right way? would i then get DD 5.1 or DTS 5.1 that way? ofcourse that would depend on the quality of decoder, but still, would that be equivalent to what i could have got had my 5.1s had digital ports on them?

B] also, using RCA connections, am i getting lossles HD audio? am confused, as some say that through RCA you are just getting 2ch sound, whereas some others say using good RCA connectors and with the consoles' own internal decoders, you get lossless HD audio (probably pro-logic II) instead of the lossy DD or DTS. but this is a fact that i do get surround sound through my 5.1s, & quite detailed at that. but what kind is it & how is it getting decoded (& where) is regarding what am confused.

i saw some decoders listed on indian portals, like this one. though its costly, but i suppose it would be of a good quality. however, is there any workaround to this issue? or any cheaper alternative?

please suggest. thanks in advance!

A] Yes, that's the way to go about doing it. Either that or even those that decode HDMI signals for a separate 7.1/5.1 ch. digital audio and a regular video stream. There are several cheap digital decoders available on eBay which purely does this. How well it does it do depends on the DAC and the innards.

B] The surround sound you are getting at the moment is purely pseudo-surround. I bet you can hear the same set of sounds from all the channels. On a dedicated decoder, you will hear the vocals only from the center channel and the remaining channels have the other sound effects such as the sound tracks and explosions. In short, the audio signals being sent to your current HTIB is already analog and processed by the internal DAC of the console. To get the digital audio out, you have two options - HDMI (processed by a capable AVR) or optical out (processed by a decoder, AVR).

 

[ramdante]

ok, i have managed to get a bit more info (which, hopefully, should be correct). it seems surely what surround sound am hearing is what i had thought - dolby pro logic II, which is a stereo to 5.1 decoder. some console games have the option to change the sound to/enable DLP II. however, most of this work of decoding is handled/done by the receiver (the sub in my case).

also, there's a marked difference in the sound-quality i get to hear from the very same 5.1s of the HD channels i view on my STB, which are encoded in DTS-HD/DTS-HD-MA and/or DD-HD, than with the games i play (DLP II). but even the STB is connected to the 5.1 through aux. input. so that means the sub's receiver is doing a good job at decoding, and decoding stereo signals (through aux. RCA input) from HD channels' DD-HD/DTS-HD/DTS-HD-MA sound, back to 5.1, brings out livelier & crisper results! how marvellous it could have been had i been able to listen to uninterrupted true HD audio

What Gannu said and afaik the DTH providers only provide Dolby Stereo 2.0(which can be upmixed to a PL 5.1 on the receiver) via STBS for the HD channel and not the lossless DTSHD/DD Tru HD(these formats are only currently used on Bluray Movies).

.

 

[Kilroyquasar]

A] Yes, that's the way to go about doing it. Either that or even those that decode HDMI signals for a separate 7.1/5.1 ch. digital audio and a regular video stream. There are several cheap digital decoders available on eBay which purely does this. How well it does it do depends on the DAC and the innards.

alright. but it seems to me that using a coaxial/optical decoder could be better.

B] The surround sound you are getting at the moment is purely pseudo-surround. I bet you can hear the same set of sounds from all the channels. On a dedicated decoder, you will hear the vocals only from the center channel and the remaining channels have the other sound effects such as the sound tracks and explosions. In short, the audio signals being sent to your current HTIB is already analog and processed by the internal DAC of the console. To get the digital audio out, you have two options - HDMI (processed by a capable AVR) or optical out (processed by a decoder, AVR).

i understand that its pseudo-surround sound. i get to hear almost the same thing from my center & front speakers, albeit more clearly on the center one. however, the rear speakers only output the ambient sounds meant for engulfing a viewer (when watching HD movies encoded in HD audio or blu-rays). also, i have noticed that when playing a blu-ray, the overall sound/volume is quite lower. i have read this on some other forums, but am afraid i haven't yet understood the reason for it (some say that sound through optical cable too is lower in volume in reality, ie, DTS-HD/DD-HD. is this why these are called 'lossy' tracks?)

What Gannu said and afaik the DTH providers only provide Dolby Stereo 2.0(which can be upmixed to a PL 5.1 on the receiver) via STBS for the HD channel and not the lossless DTSHD/DD Tru HD(these formats are only currently used on Bluray Movies).

but DTH service-providers like tata sky, videocon, etc. claim DDP 5.1/7.1?!

 

[ramdante]

May be they ve updated now, not sure.

- - - Updated - - -

alright. but it seems to me that using a coaxial/optical decoder could be better.
i understand that its pseudo-surround sound. i get to hear almost the same thing from my center & front speakers, albeit more clearly on the center one. however, the rear speakers only output the ambient sounds meant for engulfing a viewer (when watching HD movies encoded in HD audio or blu-rays). also, i have noticed that when playing a blu-ray, the overall sound/volume is quite lower. i have read this on some other forums, but am afraid i haven't yet understood the reason for it (some say that sound through optical cable too is lower in volume in reality, ie, DTS-HD/DD-HD. is this why these are called 'lossy' tracks?)

but DTH service-providers like tata sky, videocon, etc. claim DDP 5.1/7.1?!

May be they ve updated now, not sure.


There won't be any volume difference, unless the source has been recorded with low volume level.

And Optic/Coaxial can only do DTS/DD and no the HD version of them. DTS/DD are lossy surround sound formats inferior even when compared with that of an uncompressed analog sound signal, but still its almost negligible and non-audiophiles won't hear much of a difference.

whereas DTSHD/DD THD are lossless formats.

 

[onlystruggler]

@topic This post has given me one wierd idea. I will connect my DSS2 to speakers and see the resut. Eagerly waiting for some solutions.

 

[Kilroyquasar]

May be they ve updated now, not sure.

- - - Updated - - -



May be they ve updated now, not sure.


There won't be any volume difference, unless the source has been recorded with low volume level.

And Optic/Coaxial can only do DTS/DD and no the HD version of them. DTS/DD are lossy surround sound formats inferior even when compared with that of an uncompressed analog sound signal, but still its almost negligible and non-audiophiles won't hear much of a difference.

whereas DTSHD/DD THD are lossless formats.

alright. i get it. thanks! that cleared it up.

@topic This post has given me one wierd idea. I will connect my DSS2 to speakers and see the resut. Eagerly waiting for some solutions.

DSS2? turtle beach? is it like sharkoon x-tatic sound control unit? now you also have given me idea!