How to do Surrond sound on PS3

[bulldog1965]

Hi guys its my first post and i hope this is the right forum! i have bought a PS3 for my children and its going through a 52" Samsung Series 6 TV at the moment. (will be a 42" LG later), with a HDMi cable. I would like to ask you if you could tell me how i can get it set up to do digital surround sound 5-1 if possible and not through the TV speakers as it is now. I would love to here the different sounds crisp and coming from all around the room. Do i need a reciever or what and if i do what kind and also a walk through on how to set it up!.
A bit of a newbie so i appoligise before hand.

A DAD.

[JLF65]

The HDMI cable carries the channels separately. Decent HDTVs will have an optical output to send the sound to a good receiver. That's how mine is hooked up: the PS3 hooks to the HDTV via HDMI - the HDTV hooks to the digital receiver via TOSLINK (optical) cable - the receiver hooks to the speakers via 16 gauge speaker wire (good quality, not that crappy Radio Shack speaker wire).

Now this is where it gets fun - there's only two ways TOSLINK can carry surround sound: analog encoded Dolby Surround on stereo PCM (down-mixed audio); AC3 encoded surround on binary raw stream. My HDTV takes the surround from the HDMI and AC3 encodes it, then dumps the AC3 over the TOSLINK to the digital receiver. Supposedly, really high-end equipment can do the same thing with DTS encoding, but I've not seen this (way out of my price range).

So it really goes like this: PS3 sends 8.1 surround to HDTV via HDMI. HDTV encodes the 8.1 into 5.1 AC3 and dumps that out the TOSLINK to the receiver. The receiver decodes the AC3 into 5.1 which goes out the five speaker and subwoofer. Let me tell you - it sounds FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!!!

Note, when I say the PS3 sends 8.1, I mean it sends UP TO 8.1. What it really is will be up to the movie. An old DVD will be plain linear PCM stereo. A new DVD will be 5.1. A BD may be 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, or 8.1. HDMI will handle all those.

[bulldog1965]

The HDMI cable carries the channels separately. Decent HDTVs will have an optical output to send the sound to a good receiver. That's how mine is hooked up: the PS3 hooks to the HDTV via HDMI - the HDTV hooks to the digital receiver via TOSLINK (optical) cable - the receiver hooks to the speakers via 16 gauge speaker wire (good quality, not that crappy Radio Shack speaker wire).

Now this is where it gets fun - there's only two ways TOSLINK can carry surround sound: analog encoded Dolby Surround on stereo PCM (down-mixed audio); AC3 encoded surround on binary raw stream. My HDTV takes the surround from the HDMI and AC3 encodes it, then dumps the AC3 over the TOSLINK to the digital receiver. Supposedly, really high-end equipment can do the same thing with DTS encoding, but I've not seen this (way out of my price range).

So it really goes like this: PS3 sends 8.1 surround to HDTV via HDMI. HDTV encodes the 8.1 into 5.1 AC3 and dumps that out the TOSLINK to the receiver. The receiver decodes the AC3 into 5.1 which goes out the five speaker and subwoofer. Let me tell you - it sounds FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!!!

Note, when I say the PS3 sends 8.1, I mean it sends UP TO 8.1. What it really is will be up to the movie. An old DVD will be plain linear PCM stereo. A new DVD will be 5.1. A BD may be 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, or 8.1. HDMI will handle all those.


Hi
Thanks for your reply!
So if i`m right in saying this but all i need is to link by HDMi cable from the PS3 to the HDTV then optical cable from the Reciever output to the TV? Then get some speakers to connect straight to the Reciever.
Ok could you recommend what type of speakers r needed and (subwoofer ) Ive heard of a passive subwoofer and an active type - whats the difference.
I have Cambridge works 4-1 surround speaker system with a subwoofer but i couldnt connect that to the ps3 (no connection type the same as the system lead that connects) So i need suggestions on which set up to buy including reciever.
Any help would be appreciated and remember i`m a uk guy so we dont have radioshack!
cheers :thumbup:

[pibs]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-DAV-DZ260-Cinema-System-Black/dp/B0015S394U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1230858401&sr=8-1

or

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-DAV-DZ660-Tallboy-Cinema-Surround/dp/B0018PS1JS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1230858401&sr=8-3

Depending on how much you want to spend.
I always go with the sony brand because I know its reliable. I tend to find electronics cheaper online and I feel its more convenient since I get to read the reviews from the people.

[JLF65]

If you have nothing yet, get an all-in-one system. That's normally the cheapest way to go. I already had a digital receiver, so I had to get speakers separately. The type of sub-woofer is determined by the receiver. Mine uses a powered sub-woofer, but others won't. If you're buying speakers separately, the front speakers need to be stronger. I put 8" speakers in the front, and 5" in the rear.

If you don't want to use the TV at all for sound (not using the tuner for example), you could always go straight from the PS3 optical output to the receiver. That would work as well. In my case, I have a computer going to the TV, the satellite going to the TV, and the PS3 going to the TV, so I need to take the audio from the TV as it's acting as the audio switch box.