Home Theater/Game Room Thread

forin_sl said:

Set PS4 to PCM (LPCM if the option is available). This sends the raw uncompressed digital data to the receiver and it can do the decoding.

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Setting it to PCM means the PS4 is decoding the audio and sending it to the receiver. Bitstream sends the dolby digital/dts file to the receiver for decoding.

Best explained here:

http://hometheater.about.com/od/blur...eam-Vs-Pcm.htm

Yah not sure what I was thinking, I totally screwed the pooch on my explanation. I guess that is what I get for working 24 hours and drinking a couple beers after getting home.

Ok you still want LPCM set in the PS4. Imagine that LPCM is kind like a .wav file, the highest uncompressed signal of the audio track, while bitstream is like a .zip file. All movies and games have the full uncompressed audio signal they can pull from which is what is sent by LPCM. Most receivers can recognize it, but to do so you need to set the audio mode to Multi channel. Generally the remotes for the receivers or pre amps have buttons labeled movies, music, game. Just cycle through those options until multi channel comes up, and you want to use that for everything.

Downsides are you only get what was recorded. So if you have a 7.1 system and the movie or game was mastered in 5.1 you only get 5.1. The other downside is you dont get the fancy Dobly/DTS decoding light to pop up on the receiver. Other than that LPCM is superior.

You can test it out if you like, fire up a game with a lot of ambient cues with bitstream set, then try it with LPCM. I am quite sure you will hear the difference.

Thanks for pointing out my mistake.

Utnayan_sl said:

Hey Forin one last question and thanks for all the help

I configured everything last night and the new sub sounds awesome. I did YPAO over again and it sounds better than ever before from the 5 speakers as well, and changed them all to small. One last quick question on Low Crossover on my sub. I have read that I should max this knob out as it allows the receiver to use the other high crossover setting. Thoughts?

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I looked up your sub on the internet and looked at the back panel. Set the phase to 0 ( most subs have this knob and it is similar to the distance function on your receiver). The crossover is a lowpass filter. Low pass filters attenuate signals that go above the number you set passing the lower frequencies to the device. Set it to 120hz. By setting it to 120Hz your sub will play up to 120hz and as low as it is able to.

The auto switch, I have no idea what that is for.

Chanur_sl said:

So I have the Andrew Jones FS52 Pioneers in the front , their center , and the bookshelf's for the surround. I have a BIC F12 for a sub. Set my speakers to small and set my crossover to 80hz on my Yamaha 475. Do you think I would have better results with a different cross over setting or some kind of other setting adjustment? It sounds pretty great for a budget set up I think. Always looking to get more out of it though of possible.

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I had a pair of the Andrew Jones FS52 towers and set them to 80-100hz, and it sounded fine. The center and bookshelves might need to be set to 100hz-120hz but the towers from my personal experience did ok at 80-120hz. Your mileage may vary due to the size and distance of your listening space. If you think the towers are straining or distorting or bottoming out on loud passages try setting it to 120hz.

forin_sl said:

Yah not sure what I was thinking, I totally screwed the pooch on my explanation. I guess that is what I get for working 24 hours and drinking a couple beers after getting home.

Ok you still want LPCM set in the PS4. LPCM is kind of like a .wav file, the highest uncompressed signal of the audio track, while bitstream is like a .zip file. All movies and games have the full uncompressed audio signal they can pull from which is what is sent by LPCM. Most receivers can recognize it, but to do so you need to set the audio mode to Multi channel. Generally the remotes for the receivers or pre amps have buttons labeled movies, music, game. Just cycle through those options until multi channel comes up, and you want to use that for everything.

Downsides are you only get what was recorded. So if you have a 7.1 system and the movie or game was mastered in 5.1 you only get 5.1. The other downside is you dont get the fancy Dobly/DTS decoding light to pop up on the receiver. Other than that LPCM is superior.

You can test it out if you like, fire up a game with a lot of ambient cues with bitstream set, then try it with LPCM. I am quite sure you will hear the difference.

Thanks for pointing out my mistake.

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I still think you're wrong on this topic.

Blurays aren't coming with both .wav file and a .zip file. They come with Dolby or DTS audio tracks - this is the .zip file. You can set your player to unzip this file and the player will then send the unzipped LPCM audio to the receiver which outputs it to each speaker. Or you can tell the player to send the .zip file straight to the receiver, which then unzips it and sends the audio to each speaker.

I have always bitstreamed my audio because I like seeing the Dolby and DTS icons light up on my receiver. Many of the .mkv movies I download come with multiple audio tracks and I want to know that I am listening to the right audio track for my set up. Plus when you spend more on your receiver than you do on your player then surely it makes sense to take advantage of the dedicated hardware and get it to the decoding

Here is a copy from the Blue Ray white paper describing the different audio streams encoded on a blue ray. Take a look at the bit rate of LPCM vs Dolby Lossless and DTS-HD. You can choose whichever you want but if you want the best, highest quality signal LPCM is that. My MS paint cropping skills suck, will try to adjust it. Well that made it worse, sorry.

forin_sl said:

Here is a copy from the Blue Ray white paper describing the different audio streams encoded on a blue ray. Take a look at the bit rate of LPCM vs Dolby Lossless and DTS-HD. You can choose whichever you want but if you want the best, highest quality signal LPCM is that. My MS paint cropping skills suck, will try to adjust it. Well that made it worse, sorry.

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You're still wrong on this topic.

LPCM is uncompressed lossless audio.
DTS HD-MD is compressed lossless audio.
Dolby TrueHD is compressed lossless audio.

The compression is irrelevant, what matters is the PCM that you get when you decompress the audio package. Lossless means the output is identical to the input. What's funny is that you used the correct analogy .wav vs .zip but forgot to mention or didn't know that the results are the same. Having the receiver unzip the .zip gives you the same lossless .wav quality.

If LPCM is so superior then why is it hardly ever seen on blu-rays any more?

The original question was should he use PCM or bitstream with his PS4. My original answer was that it's a choice between having the PS4 decode the audio or the receiver.

Coming back with "LPCM is a superior format" is incorrect (because DTS HD-MA and TrueHD are both lossless as well) and irrelevant (because no discs are getting released that offer LPCM).

Therefore, if you have a dedicated receiver then there is no reason to let a games console decode your audio when you have a piece of equipment that is dedicated and built exclusively for that task.

And if you still doubt me then I suggest going toBlu-ray Statistics Home Page - Blu-rayStats.comand having a look at the quantity of DTS HD-MA/TrueHD releases vs the LPCM ones.

Finally pulled the plug and decided to change the lame part of my current installation.

Two years ago I bought a Yamaha RX-V375 receiver for my setup and added a Yamaha YST-SW030 sub, but kept my lousy Logitech Z5500 satellites due to budget constraints at this point, and never went around to fixing that.

Anyway, just ordered a kit consisting of 4 Eltax Monitor I and an Eltax Monitor Centre. The Monitor I are about the same as Monitor III but a bit less wattage and a bit less range, but the room is small and couldn't justify adding 100$+ for power I didn't really need (and I'm still keeping it on a budget, otherwise I'd go bigger of course).

Should get it this week and set it up next week-end. Can't wait to see the difference with my current shitty setup.

Considering jumping on this tx-nr545 for 280 bucks at meh.com today. Prob be 5 months before i need it so I'm iffy

I think I'm going to dive into the home theater setups but I really don't want to go crazy with $$. I still need to buy a tv and want at least something over 70in. I'm completely redoing my basement from studs so now really is the time to get the wiring in for something like this. The room is 20x20. What's a good bang for your buck system? I guess I would be somewhere between $500 to $1000 for budget.

What do you guys think of these?Amazon.com: Orb Audio Mini 5.1 Home Theater Speaker System: Electronics

Just sawAmazon.com: Klipsch Quintet 5.0 Home Theater Speaker System (Black): Electronics

At my local HG Craig for $220 open box. Anyone have them?

Room is 20x20 so not sure how they'll do

Thinking of buying a pair of Yamaha HS7 (or HS8) monitors for my desktop for music listening. I listed to a lot of electronic music but I dabble in other genres as well. They're gonna be driven for now by an Asus Xonar U7 with plans to upgrade to a pre-amp / headphone amp in the future (~200$ budget for that). I have no plans to upgrade to 5.1 (maybe add a sub if I need more oomph).

Is there anything that would offer better value ? Considering this is a long term purchase I want to be sure I'm doing it right.