4 replies to this topic

[-^Cro§Bow^-]

So I just got a new 6.1 surround setup for the house and the recievier I have has not one, but 3 optical inputs and 1 optical out. anyway, I have the DVD plugged into one and my PS2 plugged into another. With my DVD and my Coax from my Digital Cable box. Anyway, the problem is that my receiver is set in Auto Input mode in that it will detect and switch over to whatever mode automatically depending on the signals it gets. On most of my DVDs and digital cable channels that have Dolby Digital on them, the reciever will switch over accordinly. However, on my PS2 with anything I have put into it, (Haven't triede a DVD yet..but will). The receiver never switches over to Dolby Digital or Dolby Prologic II as some of my games support (Jax 2 for instance). Instead the reciever detects the optical in, and then all I get is the left, Right, and Sub channels. And it displays PCM 44.1khz the entire time. But non of the Dolby Indicators come on, nor does my Decoding signal light on the front of my reciever ever seem to detect Dolby coming in from my PS2?

Any ideas?

My reciever is a Sony as well, so I figured the two would be a perfect match for each other. At least my Pioneer DV-440 seems to really like the reciever.

One thing I do want to mention is that while I don't have the rear speakers physically connected yet, My reciever does try and use them on the DVDs and such. It also shows me which channels are actually active when decoding. However all I see on the PS2 games is left, right, and sub.

Update: Just tried a DVD, and the decoding is working fine there, however, I did notice I had to access the DVD audio menus and turn on the Optical there also, plus enable the Dolby Digital, and DTS modes. Now the DVDs sound almost as good as when played on my Pioneer. At least I know the decoding is working properly. However, Jak II still only shows the same left, right, and sub modes. I would think that a game that clearly displays the Dobly Digital Prologic II logo at the beginning would actually output those signals? I don't expect the full game to play this way, but I do expect the cutscenes to be that way. Oh well, perhaps I can figure this out...

Any ideas?

[Starscream]

AFAIK, most PS2 games aren't encoded in 5:1. I do know a few cutscenes in some games are but that's about all I do know. If ya want full sound, just run the PS2 thru the receiver in 5 channel stereo.

[-^Cro§Bow^-]

Thanks for the reply. Here is what I am basically trying to figure out.

I know that most PS2 games aren't encoded with anything other than straight stereo. However a few of the more recent titles. Like Jak II and even my LOTR:Two Towers sport not only the Dolby Digital Logo on the back, but also the Dolby Surround and in the case of Jak II it actually sports the Prologic II logo on the back, and also displays it during the boot up before game during the various publishers info screens.

However, if I just leave my receiver to auto mode which does pick up Dolby 5.1 and all that good ness from DVD movies. it just shows the Left/Right+Sub options on my receiver. In Jak II I have enabled the sound to Surround but the receiver still doesn't see anything different. What I have been doing to get full sound is just as you suggested. Basically I force the receiver into Prologic II Movie mode. But I am not getting the discreet channels for surround this way.

The only game I have for my PS2 that in theory should be able to do this is Jak II. But like all the others, Jak II just displays PCM 44khz in the display while the audio is playing.

I wonder if only the very newer models of the PS2 can do the decoding signals for the games that support it? I don't know how old my PS2 actually is. I bought it just a year ago, but since it came from Wal-Mart it could have been much older.

anyone else able to shed some light? At this point I feel that the PS2 simply cannot decode surround properly or that mine isn't decoding them properly and sending them to the reciever to process. Just dissappointing to get a receiver with 3 optical Inputs on it so that I could hook up the DVD and PS2 into it. Oh well,

Thanks again for the response.

[-^Cro§Bow^-]

Update, just after your post I did some more digging on the web. And wouldn't you know it?! I got my answer from the creators themselves! Yeap, a little browsing over at Dolby labs website has a wonderful writeup on the various capabilities of today's modern consoles and Dolby. Basically the case of the PS2, the PS2 can encode DTS, and Dolby Digital 5.1. However, the PS2 cannot do this while playing games, because of the processing power required to encode the Dolby Digital. Therefore, the Dolby Prologic II encoding is used. This essentially creates the 5.1 surrond effect using only the left/right channels from the PS2. So, my receiver is actually detecting the PS2 sound correctly. I shows me a PCM 44khz sound which is what the PS2 is sending. But since it can't encode anything on it's own, it won't send the signals my receiver is looking for to switch modes automatically. Therefore the solution is to setup your Receiver to simply play using the Dolby ProLogic II Movie setting. And wouldn't you know? That is what I have been doing this whole time. I already had my solution, I just didn't know it yet.

For those that might even remotely care. Dolby labs basically goes on to state that the best ProLogic II decoding is to be found on the GameCube console. Strangely however, you connect the Cube to your ProLogic II receiver by using just the left/right analog plugs?

The best Dolby Digital solution for gaming today, is found on the Xbox. When the Xbox's built in nForce audio subsystem, the Xbox has the power to encode the Dolby Digital even while playing games. So only the Xbox truely has discreet 5.1 surround and even 6.1 surround in games and movies among today's modern consoles.

Well I learned a lot at least...

[Starscream]

Yes, I think every XB game is in 5:1. which I guess is trivial if you don't have it hooked up to use that feature. For the GC, I think the prologic encodeing is unique to the GC in some sort of simulated or compressed signal. I could be wrong, but I do remember reading about it somewhere.