Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler multi port audio in new PS3 patch

I think somebody was struggling with this inability a while back, but it might have been on another forum to be honest.

Quote from Engadget.com
"We're running the update now and the changelog that shows up on the PS3 has two new features we hadn't heard about: simultaneous audio output across connectors and control of video playback (slow motion, fast forward and rewind) using the right stick."

Enabling the multi-port audio limits the HDMI out to 96kHz, and 5.1 (i.e. no 192kHz or 7.1 audio). It also seems that the optical out will only be doing 2.0 PCM, not bitstreaming the core format.

Also bitstreaming of HD audio is now supported ( Blu-ray.com link )

Maybe a dumb question - what is the purpose of multi-port audio?

The HD audio bitsteaming is only for the new 120GB, Slim model. It has a newer HDMI chip, and also supports CEC.

I don't know what the purpose would be other than being able to connect both the optical and HDMI interfaces to different pieces of equipment and have audio from both at the same time.

This firmware update was probably the most lacking in terms of functionality. The only thing which really changed is now my XMB sparkles like a vampire in sunlight.

Another thing I've noticed about the 3.00 firmware: Sony changed the start-up sound. No big deal, but it previously had some LFE, and would also "start-up" my sub from stand-by. The new sound just doesn't have enough bass, even crossed-over, that my sub doesn't click on until I play some actual content.

Somebody on a forum somewhere, probably the PS3 forum, was desperate to have audio pumped to his TV as well as his receiver. I don't remember why he reasoned he needed that, just that somebody asked.

They also added more codecs. Most of my videos were not playing on the PS3. Now they are, which may avoid me to buy another media tank when I get a TV for my bedroom.

Ooo, I've not seen any documentation on this. Do you know specifically what wasn't playing before, but is now?

VOB:MPEG1/2 files.
Unfortunately, stream HD videos is still not viable (sluggish).

The MPEG4 ASP support has been improved somewhere between 2.60 (the last time I tried) and now. I had a handful of fan-subbed Anime which was encoded using some advanced options of Xvid which the PS3 didn't like. They all play now!

Any chance lossless WMA files play now?

Am I understanding this correctly? The new slim PS3 can decode HD audio so I don't need a receiver that can handle this when playing Blu Ray disks on it?

Just another reason to get a PS3 if that is the case.

It is the other way around. The PS3 has always been able to decode the new lossless formats, but it wasn't able to send them raw to be decoded in the receiver.

I think I'm a little confused. My receiver (Onkyo SR600) can't do the new audio formats, but that doesn't matter, since the PS3 can do the decoding. I can just hook up the PS3 to my receiver and still get the new audio formats. This patch just allows the PS3 to send the new formats to the receiver so it can decode instead, if you have a receiver capable of this?

I always thought that if I used a PS3 for Blu Ray I would not get the new formats without a receiver that can handle them.

Do I have this right? If I can get the new audio formats it may be time for a PS3 slim with the better form factor and lower price.

You still need a receiver that can do 5.1/7.1 over HDMI. But you don't need one that decodes DolbyTrueHD or DTS-HS:MA on its own.
There are three ways to get the new audio formats between a BD-Player and a receiver:

1) Analog (player decode + bass mgmt, receiver receives in passthrough)
2) HDMI-LPCM (player decode, receiver PCM-5.1/7.1 and does bass mgmt)
3) HDMI-Bitstram (player dumps, receiver decodes DolbyTrueHD or DTS-HD:MA and does bass mgmt)

Standard PS3 can do 2) only.
Slim PS3 can do 2) or 3)

Also, it NOT a patch for standard PS3 (physical chip needs replacement). It is a feature of the new PS3 slim.
The new "patch" simply allows simultanous output and has nothing to do with decoding new formats or sending undecoded audio to a receiver.

So I'm stuck with my SR600 which doesn't have HDMI. The only thing I can do is option 1 with analog cables, correct? And for this option, I need to player to do TrueHD or DTS-HS:MA and the player needs to have the analog connections to connect it to the receiver. Since the PS3 and the PS3 slim don't have analog, I'm stuck. I either need a Blu Ray that has these or a new receiver.

Do I have this straight now?

The only advantage to 3 over 2 is the receiver is decoding instead of the player, correct? It's preferable to have the receiver do this if you can choose between the two I assume.

The Oppo BDP-83 is such a player that has the 7.1 analog outs (the PS3 only has analog stereo). But with the price reduction of the PS3 the Oppo is now a more expensive option.

While "1" is a way to do it, is really is much preferred to use HDMI to provide a digital connection to a receiver which will have much more flexible processing options than any player.

I don't find it preferable to have the receiver do the decoding, as there's no way to mix in secondary audio which may be present on the Blu-ray. It is mostly for menu sound effects, which isn't a big deal to lose, but some pic-in-pic commentaries, and other special features require secondary audio mixing to be performed by the player. This can only work if the player decodes the audio to LPCM, then does the mixing before sending the result onto the receiver. But that is personal opinion. Some people want to see the TrueHD and Master Audio lights shining from the front panel.

As you stand right now, one option you have is to connect a Blu-ray player to your receiver by optical or digital coax, and send the core bitstream. While you won't get the secondary audio mixing, or the high definition codecs, you'll have a nice staring point with a Blu-ray player. I assume you have an HDTV at this point. The biggest jump in Blu-ray is the picture quality. Audio is only slightly improved, and even the "core" lossy sound is better than the DVD mixes because they can be run at the full bitrate (1.5 Mbps for DTS), which is almost never done on DVDs because it cuts in to the video quality.

I'd still say get the PS3 Slim, and use it with what you have. That was the route I took: DVD player hooked to a CRT with an older receiver, upgraded the CRT to LCD, upgraded the DVD to a PS3, upgraded the receiver to a new 7.1 unit, upgraded the LCD to a plasma.