Best quality audio question! HELP.

LiuJian07

So I recently bought a home theater system and I was wondering which would provide the best quality of sound via my Xbxo 360. I currently am using a digital optical cable from my HDTV to my home theater system. My question is, would the provided sound quality be better if I ran the cable from my Xbox 360 to my home theater system or is there no difference in that and the way that I have it set up already? Any answers and advice would be very much appreciated. I'm a noob when it comes to this stuff and all I want to do is get the best experience I can out of what I have. Thanks in advance!

quad4.0

Everything should be routed through the avr first, then to the TV.

BIslander

If you want discrete 5.1 from sources that offer it on your Xbox, you need to run the audio directly to the AVR instead of routing it through the TV. The TV output will likely to limited to stereo.

hotrod351

ive tried it both ways, though to then optical from tv to reciever, then direct optical from ps3 / xbox to receiver, both sound pretty close to the same to me. i do know that my ps3 wont produce surround sound without using the digital optical connection but it sounds good enough. i havent messed with my wifes xbox to see the difference but it must be the same. depending on your reciever youll get great sound but not true 5.1 without using the optical.

quad4.0

The ps3 is a very complex machine. You must enable it to produce surround. It will decode DTS-MA and DD HD, along with standard DTS/DD. Some will play sacd also.

BIslander

Yes, no surround without a digital connection. But, it's more than that. If you run sound through the TV, it's almost certain to be stereo, even when using digital connections. If you want DD 5.1or DTS, you need to attach the player to the receiver instead of routing audio through the TV.

hotrod351

i know about the no surround sound without using the digital cable from my ps3. my yamaha does a good job is simulating surround without it. like i said i cant tell a difference enough to switch it to digital input, which i do have connected, so i just listen to it though the tvs hdmi output to my receiver. besides i have to go into the ops3 settings to change it to digital output and them every time i want to play a game the only sound is going to be though my receiver, if it not on then no sound, its not worth it.

hotrod351

the only bad to using the digital optical out on the ps3 for true surround sound is then thats the only sound your going to get. you have to choose between hdmi or optical for sound, cant have both. so if set up for true surround using the optical youll have no sound unless the receiver is on, ive tried it.. dont know why sony did this. all my other eqiptment has both, sound from the hdmi and sound form the digital, i can switch between both on my receiver by simply switching inputs, but thee ps3 is a pain so i just leave it on hdmi.

BIslander

If it works for you and you are satisfied with ProLogic instead of discrete 5.1, that's great. I suspect there's a way to get proper audio to both devices without needing to change setups for gaming. Can you not run HDMI through your sound system?

hotrod351

my receiver is to old. and ps3 only carries true surround over optical. there is a way of using both. has to do with turning the ps3 on first then turn the tv on, at the right time. the way its setup works for me. if i was in a large room then id just use the digital optical always. it is screwy that ps3 did that, none of my other equipment has that problem. im thinking the newer ps3,s or even the new ps4 probably fixed that issue. if my old yamaha receiver gives up then i can get a newer one that will fix the problem. but it may work forever.

BIslander

If your receiver lacks HDMI, I am sure there's still a way for you to get genuine surround sound through your AVR while still getting stereo audio to the TV without needing to keep changing setups on the PS3. I am not familiar with the PS3 and maybe there's a simple way to do this. But, here a few thoughts.

Turn on the PS3 first, since that seems to work. You could even program a remote with the proper startup sequence, building in whatever delays are needed.

Move the analog audio connection to the TV. There should be a stereo audio input associated with the HDMI input. With that setup, you can connect optical to the receiver and use the same PS3 settings no matter what you are watching.

Set the PS3 audio output to optical. Leave the HDMI connection in place. Run a second component video and stereo audio connection to the TV, which you'll only use with PS3 sources that don't output audio over optical. You could even dispense with HDMI altogether and run component video through your receiver for all PS3 sources.

As I say, there may be other, easier ways to improve your PS3 audio setups. You are hardly the only person who has a PS3 and a non-HDMI receiver. Despite all the PS3s in use, I don't recall seeing posts about this particular issue, where you have to accept analog stereo audio instead of discrete 5.1. So, others must have figured out good solutions. The AVS forum has a very active PS3 section where you may find the help you need.