i have the ps3 hooked up to my 970 via optical, and my ps3 audio set up to putput bitstream. i was thinking of connecting my ps3 to the 970 via the 5.1 multichannel analog input on my 970 and swithing my ps3 to output in pcm audio which i believe would give me dolby digital 5.1 in a uncompressed format, rather then the compressed version i'm getting on the ps3 bitstream setting. if this is true is the difference going to me worth it? is it that noticable of an upgrade to get uncompressed PCM? and also does anyone know which cable to get to hook up the ps3 to the 970's 5.1. multichannel analog input? thanks. angelo

The PS3 doesn't have a multichannel analog output - it has stereo analog and optical digital only. Setting it to PCM would just cause it to downmix Dolby Digital ad DTS to stereo. Also, the optical output and bitstream is the preferred output for Dolby Digital and DTS - it's only the Dolby Digital Plus and TrueHD (and maybe eventually DTS-HD Master Audio) that can't be carried by the optical.

gonk, is there a noticable difference in sound quality between uncompressed 5.1 pcm (like through hdmi) and 5.1 compressed pcm( like 5.1 through optical)? i know the 970/990 don't have them but if they did, would it be worth it to buy new cables and use an hdmi output to receive uncompressed 5.1. pcm?

5.1 compressed PCM is not really an accurate name - PCM is inherently uncompressed, and if it's compressed it's no longer PCM.

I haven't heard the new formats (DD Plus, TrueHD, and DTS HD MA) yet to know how they compare to DD and DTS, but there's certainly potential there and reports have been good. My HDMI FAQ goes into some detail on these formats. Keep in mind that this HDMI audio (multichannel PCM or bitstreams of the new formats) is only different from the optical connection for Blu-ray discs. CD's, DVD's, and games will sound exactly the same over HDMI or optical.

gonk do you think its worth it to switch blu ray player to one with 5.1 analog output so i could enjoy watching blu ray movies in pcm 5.1 uncompressed audio? the outlaw 970 only has the dvi input to i can only watch blu-ray movies in dolby digital. is there giong to be big difference between dolby digital and pcm 5.1? a difference worth changing blu-ray players? also do all blr-ray movies have the pcm 5.1 track, or is that like an optional track like a DTS track?

Early Blu-ray discs included PCM 5.1 only because the first generation of players lacked any sort of decoding for the new formats (Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD). PCM 5.1 should start to fade away as newer players reach the market and be replaced by these formats because of the opportunity for saving disc space (even TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio are much more compact than PCM, while also providing a lossless compression format that should some comparable).

Personally, I'm not ready to invest the kind of cash required to get multichannel analog output on a Blu-ray player. Presently, the cheapest standalone Blu-ray player is $1000, with offerings ranging from there up to around $1500 (my HD player chart is relatively up-to-date and can offer some specifics). By this summer some time, we should see a couple less expensive players. Sony has announced a player due around mid-summer for around $600, and Philips has their first player on the way for around $800. These newer players will also likely offer more features (the interactive content planned for Blu-ray is still being refined and current players have no support for it, for example).

It's a personal choice, but as tempting as HD content is I'm still sitting on the sidelines and waiting for things to get a bit better sorted out. The PS3 is an excellent way to get started with one of the HD formats without much risk of getting stuck on the losing team and without investing too much into a player that could almost be considered "beta testing" for future, full-featured players.

but gonk, is there a huge difference in sound quality for movies between dolby digital and pcm 5.1? is there that much of realized quality with pcm 5.1 when you put them both side to side because i don't think DD sounds bad at all. what do you guys think? anyone heard pcm 5.1 firsthand?

In theory, yes - PCM (and TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio) will be clearly better than Dolby Digital. Dolby Digital and DTS are lossy compression algorithms (think MP3, WMA, or AAC on steroids), while PCM is completely uncompressed (think CD or WAV file) and TrueHD and DTS-HD MA are compressed losslessly (think FLAC or DVD-Audio). A good way to understand the benefits would be to look at how DVD-Audio compares to DTS with a DVD-Audio disc that offers both (like Blue Man Group's Audio album). DVD-Audio uses MLP (Meridian Lossless Packeting), which is exactly what Dolby TrueHD uses for its lossless compression. The benefits should be pretty immediately audible with movies, although music (like Nine Inch Nails' recent concert release) may actually yield the greatest benefit. It's all a matter of how willing you are to invest financially in the formats. Personally, I'm starting to think about waiting until late this year or early next year before trying to find a sub-$500 Blu-ray player or sub-$800 combo player with a better feature set (at which point I'll probably still leave my Oppo 981HD on the 7.1 Direct input for DVD-A and SACD until HDMI finds its way into my processor in the next few years) - but that's just me and a bit of a stubborn streak regarding the format war. After all, my 7.1 Direct input is presently occupied by an analog connection for two competing audio formats that pretty much killed each other with their recent format war.