[MC Mayank]

Hi guys

I bought a ps3 and a sony home theater (dav tz200) a couple of days back. I am really naive in the world of HT systems and all I really have is an ear for sound. So our idea was to really get a cheap setup that would do the job temporarily (I have a normal CRT TV)

My idea was to use the PS3 as the main player and get the 5.1 sound from the sony HT system, and this was my sisters question to the salesman.The DVD player does not have an optical input. The salesman's claim is that if I connect the PS3 to my TV with RCA cables and then connect the tv out to the HT in, I will get the 5.1 sound if I use the 'pro logic' mode on my sony player.

I tried this setup and was not convinced that I was getting true 5.1. On reading some posts online, I learnt that it is not really possible to get 5.1 this way. The only way to get true 5.1 would be to connect the ps3 through an optical/hdmi cable to the receiver.

Now I am really in a fix. I want to really fight this out with the salesman because my sister was ready to pay the extra 4k for the player with the optical in.

Please advise! Thanks much for your help in advance!

[Akshay1234]

honestly, you shouldnt have believed the salesman. you can get proper 5.1 only through the optical or hdmi cable. check if the salesman is willing to exchange it for the player with the optical in.

[jav]

How pro logic works is it takes a stereo source and processes it to five separate channels ( simulates 5 channel surround sound ), to get direct 5.1 output HDMI/OPTICAL/CO AXIAL or seperate rca cables for each channel is required. hope this helps

for more information check out this link Dolby Pro Logic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[bigman]

I think the salesman is going off on one and taking you for a ride.

You can get simulated 5.1 from a 2CH source if you set the amp to DPL2 mode but it is not that good.

[MC Mayank]

So if I were to connect the PS3 to the dvd player with an optical cable, I would get the full 5.1?

[MC Mayank]

Here is the quote from wikipedia:

"In 2000, Dolby introduced Dolby Pro Logic II (DPL II), an improved implementation of Dolby Pro Logic. DPL II processes any high quality stereo signal source into five separate full frequency channels (right front, center, left front, right rear and left rear). Dolby Pro Logic II also decodes 5 channels from stereo signals encoded in traditional four-channel Dolby Surround. DPL II implements greatly enhanced steering compared to DPL, and as a result, offers an exceptionally stable sound field that simulates 5 channel surround sound to a much more accurate degree than the original Pro Logic"

What does the word simulate mean?

Just want to get this clear?
1. Does a PS3 give 5.1 out from the RCA cable?
2. If so, then once the TV 'outs' it in stereo, are the original 5 discrete channels lost?
3. And if they are indeed lost, then how the hell can the pro logic II extract them thru whatever decoding it is doing?

I have read somewhere that only an optical/HDMI cable will take the 5 discrete channels out of the PS3 i.e. the RCA won't work.

Pleaes advise! I need to have my arguments ready for my buddy at sony world

[jav]

On the specifications page for dav tz 200 i can only see the audio in/out as analog, only output is digital, so what you need is a digital in for audio to connect the ps3 directly to the home theater such as optical/co axial to get actual 5.1 and not simulated


The digital audio in starts from the model DAV-DZ390K , it has both optical and co axial input.

ot from which sony world did you purchase your home theater?

[MC Mayank]

Jav, my sister purchased it from Indiranagar 100 ft road. I think the 390k is the one that was 4k more expensive. I have to confirm the price and then fight with the guy to give me that model I guess.. I have a feeling its not going to work though!

[surd_biker]

Originally Posted by MC Mayank

Hi guys

I bought a ps3 and a sony home theater (dav tz200) a couple of days back.

Congrats for the new PS3. Happy gaming!

Originally Posted by MC Mayank

The only way to get true 5.1 would be to connect the ps3 through an optical/hdmi cable to the receiver.

Yup thats true.

Originally Posted by MC Mayank

Now I am really in a fix. I want to really fight this out with the salesman because my sister was ready to pay the extra 4k for the player with the optical in.

Definitely fight it out with him and see if you can exchange it for a new one.

Originally Posted by MC Mayank

What does the word simulate mean?

Simulate means that you try to create 5.1 channel from 2channel sound.

Originally Posted by MC Mayank

Just want to get this clear?
1. Does a PS3 give 5.1 out from the RCA cable?

Nope.

Originally Posted by MC Mayank

2. If so, then once the TV 'outs' it in stereo, are the original 5 discrete channels lost?

Normally all TVs audio out is in stereo. One way to do a good setup is to get a HT receiver with HDMI pass through. So your HDMI goes from PS3 to HT Receiver and the another HDMI goes from HT receiver to TV. The HT receiver will only decode the 5.1 sound and pass on the video stream to the TV through the second HDMI.

Originally Posted by MC Mayank

3. And if they are indeed lost, then how the hell can the pro logic II extract them thru whatever decoding it is doing?

It cannot. All it can do is to try to simulate.

Originally Posted by MC Mayank

I have read somewhere that only an optical/HDMI cable will take the 5 discrete channels out of the PS3 i.e. the RCA won't work.

PS3 RCA has only two channel sound.

IMO if you bought a PS3 you didnt really need to buy a DVD player since the PS3 itself is a full fledged DVD/Blu Ray player. You only need a HT Component Receiver to complete your setup. (But that will be a little expensive (guess around 25-30K). Another option is to get a good set of 5.1 speakers with the required optical inputs.

[MC Mayank]

Originally Posted by surd_biker

IMO if you bought a PS3 you didnt really need to buy a DVD player since the PS3 itself is a full fledged DVD/Blu Ray player. You only need a HT Component Receiver to complete your setup. (But that will be a little expensive (guess around 25-30K). Another option is to get a good set of 5.1 speakers with the required optical inputs.

Thank you for breaking it down guys. Well I bought the sony HT in a box 'cause I din't want to invest in a big setup at this stage. The Sony HT will move to a bedroom when I do look to upgrade the PS3 setup.

Till then, I guess I need to somehow fight this out with the Sony guy. It really does suck, can't imagine playing the GT5 (when it does come out!) without discrete rear channel audio

[MC Mayank]

Originally Posted by jav

The digital audio in starts from the model DAV-DZ390K , it has both optical and co axial input.

Buddy you're right. The optical in starts from 390k which is like 20k man.. 7k more than the 200z.

Might head for a philips. Anyone wants to buy my sony HT?

[karthik247]

I had a somewhat similar problem when i got the PS3 last week. OK here's how it all went by..

First connected the PS3 to the TV via the normal RCA cables everything worked fine except that the graphics sucked big time.

So shelled out some 2k and got a HDMI cable and then connected the PS3 to the TV. Now the problem was that the video was awesome, but for some reason the audio was not there. No matter what all settings i tried on the TV and the PS3, it didn't work. Trying the route the audio through the RCA cables didn't help as well.

Finally figured the only way was to get the audio through the optical out. But since there are only a few systems which have optical in, searched around in the market and got myself a pretty decent 5.1 system which has optical in. After that it was pure gaming all the way.

Now the question is, why didn't the audio work with the HDMI cable?? I've read similiar issues on the net as well, but some of them managed to route the audio through the RCA cables. But it didn't work for me. Anyone knows what could have been wrong?

[MC Mayank]

That's interesting. Even if I manage to sort out this sound setup mess, I can't really enjoy the graphics without an LCD. Might as well suck up and stick with the 'simulated' sound experience for now :(

[Shan2nu]

I've connected my PS3 to the Yam amp via composite audio cable and selected Prologic II. The effect is fantastic.

I can clearly make out the position of the cars around me. So i would say PLII is very good in simulating surround sound.

Try connecting the PS3 audio cables directly to the Sony amp.

Shan2nu

[csentil]

Originally Posted by karthik247

I had a somewhat similar problem when i got the PS3 last week. OK here's how it all went by..

First connected the PS3 to the TV via the normal RCA cables everything worked fine except that the graphics sucked big time.

So shelled out some 2k and got a HDMI cable and then connected the PS3 to the TV. Now the problem was that the video was awesome, but for some reason the audio was not there. No matter what all settings i tried on the TV and the PS3, it didn't work. Trying the route the audio through the RCA cables didn't help as well.

Finally figured the only way was to get the audio through the optical out. But since there are only a few systems which have optical in, searched around in the market and got myself a pretty decent 5.1 system which has optical in. After that it was pure gaming all the way.

Now the question is, why didn't the audio work with the HDMI cable?? I've read similiar issues on the net as well, but some of them managed to route the audio through the RCA cables. But it didn't work for me. Anyone knows what could have been wrong?

That is because you have to go into the PS3 system settings for audio and change it to HDMI. I think it defaults to the RCA cable that is given with the PS3. You have to change it to either Optical or HDMI as the case may be.

Settings will be the first or second menu item from the left I think. Just scroll down to Audio settings. Its been a while since I used my PS3 after I got the Wii!!!

I route my Video to the TV using a HDMI cable and my audio to the Home theater system using an Optical cable. When I don't want to use them and just want to play games without too much of audio, I go to the settings, change the audio settings to RCA and use that to play.

Hope this clarifies.