ouch

[higgins79]

my hk avr635 just took a dump:eek: I really loved that unit. I also have an avr135 powering my bedroom set up which i also love. I ended up replacing it today with a denon avr988. I have never owned a denon but i have heard good things bout them so i figured i would give it a try. I gained hdmi pass through so i picked up some new cables too :) now i can utilized the dts hd feature that some of my blurays support. I have off tomorrow so i'll be spending the day tooling around with it.:D

[obieone]

"Honey, I SWEAR....it was an accident":D

[Monster Jam]

I would LOVE to have this kind of accident, but my wallet would NOT!

[wingnut4772]

That's my idea of a good day off!

[higgins79]

i couldnt wait till tomorrow so i started hooking it up alrdy but i ahve run into a problem and here it is. I have everything set just but i am having trouble with the true hd and dts hd settings. The ps3 decodes them internally and as such needs to be output through pcm however the avr says it can only recieve them via bitstream. If I set the ps3 to pcm the reciever will only read and display "multi" so i am kinda stuck here. any help would be appreciated

[VXR8]

i couldnt wait till tomorrow so i started hooking it up alrdy but i ahve run into a problem and here it is. I have everything set just but i am having trouble with the true hd and dts hd settings. The ps3 decodes them internally and as such needs to be output through pcm however the avr says it can only recieve them via bitstream. If I set the ps3 to pcm the reciever will only read and display "multi" so i am kinda stuck here. any help would be appreciated

Set the PS3 to bitstream instead. You may get a warning that if you set it to bitstream, it may not decode 7.1, but that is only for anything without the latest codecs. Let us know how you go, as I too will be probably getting a Denon 3808.

[higgins79]

instead of dts hd (i was using the "hitman" as a reference) it defaults to dts after picking dts hd in the disc menu. Appearently the ps3 will only output dts hd via pcm due to internal decoding but again the reciever wont read it accourding to the display plus the manual states it outputs dts hd via a bitstream input. the two are saying the complete opposite:confused:

[VXR8]

I previously set my PS3 to bitstream for a DTS only disc of The Eagles, Hell Freezes Over. When set at PCM, I could not get my 5.1 Marantz receiver to light up the DTS indicator. When I changed the PS3 to bitstream instead of PCM, the receiver was receiving the DTS signal and being processed at the AVR end, and DTS lit up.

Not sure if it is the same with DTS HD, but worth a try. Go into your audio settings on the PS3 and change to bitstream and see if that works. I would test it for you but haven't received my Denon 3808 as yet. Good luck and let us know how you go.

[higgins79]

i am gonna drop kick this stupid ps3. the pcm/bitstream issues are just driving me up a wall. at any rate i got bored and removed the brass jumpers on my rtis and replaced them with some short custom cables. Not sure if it sounds better but it sounds different. I think i am gonna sit back and listen to some dean martin and put the jumpers back on one of the towers to compair the two. anyway thats about it so far.

[higgins79]

i just cannot get this denon and my ps3 to handshake with dts hd and dd hd becaus of how the player only pcms these formats and how the denon only recieves them with pcm. i am thinking about returning the denon and getting a onkyo 805 anythoughts?

[John K.]

Higgins, you haven't given full details, but it appears that what you consider to be an "issue" may simply be normal operation. You say that the PS3 has decoded, for example, Dolby True HD audio data into PCM form and sent it to your 988(2808). Then, you're unhappy that "Multi" is the type of indication on the 988's display. If you mean that the display should show the original format from the disc, such as Dolby True HD, this can't happen, since it's been decoded into the basic Pulse Code Modulation form(equal in quality)and a receiver has no way of knowing how it started out before the player decoded it. The multichannel PCM data is then displayed as "Multi", as you say, because that's what it is.

[higgins79]

ok now i am learning. so what is better then? lets just take dts for example. with the ps3 on bitstream the reciever is states dts on pcm setting it says multi so is the only difference that the ps3 is doin the decoding vs the reciever?

[doggie750]

HIGGINS,
What's your status on this? Might pull a trigger on Denon AVR-988 but have concerns similar to yours due to my pS3. Please advice.

[mrbigbluelight]

Doing a search on the Denon AVR988, and came upon this slightly older thread.

A customer review on Amazon deals pretty well with this issue:

Also, I connected all devices through Fiber Optic Cables except for PS3 HDMI. Two things I noticed:



1- To get the True HD sound set up your PS3 to Linear PCM and NOT Bit Stream. This is because the PS3 decodes the raw HD Sound internally `using complicated mathematical equation' and then sends it to the Denon receiver in Linear Code Pulses (Linear PCM stand for Linear Pulse Code Modulation) so you end up with True Uncompressed sound but with no little light indicator on the front display of your Denon Reciever . So go to set up on PS3 (I think BD AUDIO) and set it up to PCM Linear; and then set the Denon to either Direct or Pure Direct (Pure Direct since you are using HDMI). Of course nothing will show on the Denon front Display but you are getting HD Sounds and to prove it PRESS DISPLAY on the PS3 remote and it will show Dolby Digital HD or DTS HD or Multi Channel PCM. Now to get the Denon Front display show HD SOUNDS you need a Blu-ray player and does bit streaming which means the raw material/sound is sent purely to the receiver so it can decode it internally (of course using a complicated mathematic equation) and then output as Dolby True HD or DTS-HD and that's when the Light Indicator will light up. Which one is better Linear PCM from PS3 or Bit Streaming to the receiver? Not sure, but it all depends on the system that does the decoding. I mean we don't have super ears to distinguish the difference (maybe there is/maybe there isn't) but the point is you are GETTING Dolby True HD/DTS HD sound. Maybe once Blu-ray players get cheaper, then you upgrade or at least try it yourself and see if it makes a world of difference or not.



One thing I remember reading through online forums (don't remember which one it was) that someone has the PS3, which sends Linear PCM, and his friend got the Panasonic Blu-ray Player DMP-BD30K, which Bit Streams, and they both have the Denon AVR-2808, which an equivalent same exact model as Denon AVR-988 except of the extra remote for the 2nd zone and three sources/zones instead of two for the AVR-988, the person was asking how in the world the sound coming from the PS3 (Linear PCM) to the Denon is the same to the sound from the Bit Streaming player. Therefore, in the end I do believe that it really doesn't matter if you are using a Bit Streaming Player or Linear PCM as the bottom line this Denon AVR-988 receiver handles the HD Sound beautifully.



Now let's get to the second thing that I noticed:



2- For the XBOX 360 (connected through Fiber Optic Cable) when I press Direct (note: pure direct won't work as it is connected through Component and have it upconverted to 1080P which means the Video Processor needs to be working and what Pure Direct does is Turns off all video AND audio circuits for optimum pure signal from the source - HDMI just passes from source to the projector) the Denon front display is off (Typical) and I get 2-CH Clear totally Uncompressed sound that is coming from the Front L/R speakers. No surprise for two reasons:



A) Xbox 360 is connected to the receiver via Fiber Optic Cable which doesn't have enough Bandwidth to carry up to 7.1 of uncompressed audio in forms of either bits or codes.

B) DIRECT mode is ON, which means no audio processing is working in the receiver.



Now you are probably wondering what if I get an Xbox 360 with HDMI output, will I get Linear PCM sent to the receiver or will it Bit Stream?



The answer is NEITHER. Why? Because the Xbox 360 or "Microsoft" doesn't have a built-in decoder and it just doesn't have the firmware or update to make it produce Dolby-HD or DTS-HD. Note: Sony didn't have it few months ago; but they added a firmware which updated the PS3. So, indeed the PS3 is the ultimate in Home Theatre as it makes a great Blu-ray Player and a Game/Entertainment system. Note: there is no benefit of getting HDMI converter for 360 as you will not get HD-Sound.



You can of course get Dolby Digital/DTS through Fiber Optic Cable and that is when the Audio Processing needs to be on in the receiver (i.e don't use Direct mode). When you switch between DIRECT on and off, you will 100% notice the compression difference (DIRECT ON: PURE CLEAR UNCOMPRESSED SOUND) (DIRECT OFF: Compressed Dolby Digital/DTS) now, the original Dolby Digital/DTS isn't the worst thing you hear, but you just need to increase the volume to compensate for the compressing. Also, DTS or always less compressed that Dolby Digital, so choose DTS when you go the DVD menu set-up option. But the thing is, Denon AVR-988 is very close in performance to any High Current Amplifier (when you don't take advantage of the HD Audio and of course 1080P Up-Conversion) like the Harman Kardon Receivers.



The bottom line is:



If you need simplified connection between the receiver and the TV get the Denon AVR-988 as one single HDMI cable from the receiver to the TV will do the job



ALSO



If you have PS3 or any Blu-Ray player and you are into Blu-ray movies, then you owe it to yourself to own a receiver that processes HD Sound with the most updated version of HDMI 1.3. DENON IS A GREAT CHOICE AND WELL KNOWS IN HOME THEATRE WORLD.



http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B000UPA4O2/ref=cm_cr_pr_redirect?%5Fencoding=UTF8&showViewpoints=0