Fixing the audio problem with PS3

[cacihome]

Hi all,

Yesterday, I did some tests in some friend's house and we found out something that will make very happy most of the guys that have a PS3...

Long story short... Here it comes...

Maybe some of you already know this, but this post goes to the ones that does not.

In the Playstation sub menu, while playing a movie, press (triangle button), then go to the internal volume(speaker icon) of the Playstation3, and raise it to its max volume...All compression audio issues will be long gone...Apparently it was compressing the audio a lot and this internal gain fixes the issue.

By making this change the PS3 will offer, subjectively, the same SQ as any other BD player I have heard.

Take care and hope it serves the community,

[mmarki]

Thanks, my brother-in-law has a PS3 and I will tell him about that. He hasn't complained about sound quality yet, but I want him to have the best sound quality he can have.

[cacihome]

Sure.

[lradden]

Raising the PS3 internal volume to +1 for internally decoded material will allow the PS3 internal volume to equal the same level as when a receiver is doing the decoding. Going past +1 has been tested to show distortion in the signal and also sets the internal volume louder than that of an externally decoded receiver. +1 is the apples to apples volume setting.

[wuzzzer]

Originally Posted by lradden

Raising the PS3 internal volume to +1 for internally decoded material will allow the PS3 internal volume to equal the same level as when a receiver is doing the decoding. Going past +1 has been tested to show distortion in the signal and also sets the internal volume louder than that of an externally decoded receiver. +1 is the apples to apples volume setting.

Cool, good to know. I usually kept mine at normal. I think now there's 8 or 9 different volume levels available where previous firmware versions only allowed 5. I'll try the +1 and see how it works.
I have heard others say that having the volume level increased too high does cause signal distortion like you mentioned.

[cacihome]

Originally Posted by lradden

Raising the PS3 internal volume to +1 for internally decoded material will allow the PS3 internal volume to equal the same level as when a receiver is doing the decoding. Going past +1 has been tested to show distortion in the signal and also sets the internal volume louder than that of an externally decoded receiver. +1 is the apples to apples volume setting.

Nice. Thanks Iradden.
Will try that!

[lradden]

Guys don't thank me too quick. I typed +1 as being the apples to apples setting it's actually +2. A while back I did an SPL comparison with an SPL meter of the settings and +2 came out to the exact SPL on the PS3 as the receiver.

Sorry for typing +1 guys. To test it play a movie and hit triangle and toggle over to the video settings. At the bottom is Bitstream and LPCM. Switch between the two and you'll notice they sound exactly the same.

[cacihome]

Ok. Cool.
I was starting to wonder.Because I tried +1 and didn't improve as much.
Will try the +2..

[wuzzzer]

There's a FAQ thread over on AVSForum about the PS3. Setting the audio to +1 was their recommendation and they had several good recommendations as to the various video settings that are adjustable as well.

[a3plew]

The ps3 now can go passed +2. so you would recommended +2. What about the volume setting for listening to music. Are there any settings you guys can recommend for the xbox 360 audio settings ?

[lradden]

Even though can go higher anything past +2 will cause distortion and not be an SPL match for the internal volume of a receiver or pre amp. It's basically a digital gain control and the PS3 default gain of 0 is too low so +2 is all that is needed to equal the receiver or pre amps gain. All you're trying to do is make sure the PS3's internal decoding SPL is the same as the receivers internal decoding. Once you do this decoding ni the PS3 will sound exactly the same as decoding in the receiver. Most people think the receiver sounds better doing the decoding, but it's really just because it's louder. Level match them and they both sound the same no matter which one is doing the decoding. We tend to perceive louder as better.

[cacihome]

Originally Posted by lradden

Even though can go higher anything past +2 will cause distortion and not be an SPL match for the internal volume of a receiver or pre amp. It's basically a digital gain control and the PS3 default gain of 0 is too low so +2 is all that is needed to equal the receiver or pre amps gain. All you're trying to do is make sure the PS3's internal decoding SPL is the same as the receivers internal decoding. Once to do this decoding ini the PS3 will sound exactly the same as decoding in the receiver. Most people think the receiver sounds better doing the decoding, but it's really just because it's louder. Level match them and they both sound the same no matter which one is doing the decoding. We tend to perceive louder as better.

Yep.

[FrostyMelon]

Is this for bitstream, PCM, or both?

[lradden]

The PS3 volume/gain setting only applies to LPCM. Bitstream uses the receiver or pre-amps gain. If your using bitstream and letting the receiver decode the HD audio you don't have to worry about this.

[nottaway]

Thats good info.......wish I were home to try it.

[cacihome]

The ps3 won't bitstream the HD audio...Only the old DD and DTS formats...

[lradden]

Thanks cacihome, I forgot to mention that. I always forget there's still alot of people who don't know that the PS3 cannot bitstream HD audio.

[mrcoop]

I noticed that when I first started using the ps3. I thought there was something wrong, but found the correction that you discovered. Good info to post...thanks