Woe is me and my PS3

[Spiralout]

Gah...I'm tired of messing with my PS3 audio settings. Something's wrong, and I'm not sure what.

First, I enjoy playing MP3s from my PS3, going via HDMI to my Denon 2308CI. The manual claims it can handle up to 192KHz, from what I understand.

If I go into the Sound Output Options on the PS3, I have a wide variety of formats to choose from. If I pick any of the PCM 5.1 options as "available", MP3s fail to be seen as stereo tracks by the receiver, and I lose my sub's bass.
If I remove all 5.1 PCM options and leave it to 2 channel PCM, I get my stereo signal back and my bass, but I lose a lot of dB unless I strip PCM down to 44.1 and 48KHz.

Can anyone clue me into the proper output settings for this !!@#$ thing? I have very little understanding for how PCM works.

Edit/update:
I changed the DVD output settings to bitstream, and now the receiver shows the signal as DD. I get a much better sound out of the unit, but the volume is significantly less. (It takes around 0 db to keep me happy, where I had it at 10-15 dB before.)
I'm still mulling over the mp3 setting.

[Spiralout]

Bump....nudge...anyone?

[obie_fl]

The PS3 has a bad habit of wrapping everything except real stereo CDs into 5.1 wrappers thus you receiver is getting a 5.1 channel signal with only L&R content. Is your PS3 firmware up to date? I thought someone said Sony addressed this but I haven't checked.

Also sounds like you may be confusing MP3 bit rate with PCM sampling rate,the two are totally unrelated. By switching to bitstream you are having your receiver doing the Dolby decoding. Be aware you will not get lossless sound off of Blu-rays with that settings. If your Denon can handle 7 channels of 24/192 that is what your PS3 should be set at, actually this should be automatically detected,

[Ray3]

Setting the PS3 for LPCM is necessary to get the ausio from BD movies.

Having said that, you should have a setting on your 2309 menu (for the HDMI connection) for audio of "Auto".

I have my PS3 set as above and my 3808 HDMI on auto. I get the BluRay audio and streaming mp3s gives me stereo. If worst comes to worst, your 2309 remote will allow you to choose stereo manually for your mp3s (or Pure Direct).

[Spiralout]

AHA! The problem was actually the denon.

I did a microprocessor reset on it and the LFE channel came back. I'm a bit disappointed though: it's only a year old and it's the 2nd time I had to do this. (The first was because I was getting radio stations bleeding through on my other inputs.)

[Mep]

It sounded like a receiver issue to me but I was thinking the speakers were set to large or something was miss configured with the LFE channel on the receiver. The PS3 outputting 5 channels while only 2 exist shouldn't knock out the receiver's internal crossover. If sub 80Hz signal is coming out of the PS3 then the receiver should be playing it.

[Spiralout]

It sounded like a receiver issue to me but I was thinking the speakers were set to large or something was miss configured with the LFE channel on the receiver. The PS3 outputting 5 channels while only 2 exist shouldn't knock out the receiver's internal crossover. If sub 80Hz signal is coming out of the PS3 then the receiver should be playing it.

Yeah, the truth is the Denon wasn't picking up that the signal switched from 5.1 to stereo. (which is why 5.1 sounded fine)

stupid me. I'm supposed to troubleshoot for a living... tsk tsk

[Ray3]

Another thought.

Not sure if you are using the Denon's Audessey feature (auto calibration). I used it once for the 3808 and was very disappointed. A little research indicated I was not alone.

It seems to do some wonky things with settings. I have used my RS SPL meter with Avia ever since and the audio improved drastically.