Ok, in order to take (almost) full advantage of what Blu-ray has to offer (I must admit it's been growing on me ), I retired my old B&K Ref 10 pre/pro and got myself a brand new Integra DTC 9.8, which I now refer to as "The Beast" since it won't fit in my component rack.

I'm up to page 50 of the 300+ pages thread on the Integra on the AVS forum... ...and I'll keep reading but I don't understand half of what these guys are talking/arguing about.

So I have a few basic questions for starters. For reference, my Panasonic 50" DLP (720p/1080i) is connected via HDMI and so are my Oppo and PS3.

1. I set my PS3 and my Oppo to "bitstream". I gather that's the correct setting. Any other PS3/Oppo settings I need to worry about?

2. I have the Integra set to pass 720p to my tv, which is my tv's native resolution. I've never noticed any difference between 720p and 1080i, so I haven't tried the later, nor have I tried the "Auto" setting which strangely states: "Select this to have the A/V controller automatically convert video at resolutions not supported by your tv" Huh? What's the point if the resolutions aren't supported by my tv? Or I guess that if the A/V passes 1080p, my tv will convert/scale (whatever the correct term is) that down to 1080i or 720p.
I guess I just have to experiment with this but any comments are appreciated.

3. Those audio formats: "lossless", "PCM uncompressed", Dolby True HD, DTS HDMA, do they pass 7.1? I have a 5.1 setup (for now) so what happens if no surround back speakers are detected? Any clarifications on this please.

4. There's a zillion "listening modes" available. I messed around with this but "Direct" seems to sound better. The manual states: "In this mode, audio from the input source is output directly with minimal processing, providing high fidelity reproduction. All of the source's audio channels are output as they are". Those with an Onkyo receiver might have this as well. So what worked best for you?

Thanks.

The only question I can answer for you is that the PS3 cannot bitstream the new HD audio. The PS3 decodes and then sends via PCM. So you'd want to set the PS3 to PCM to take advantage of the newer HD audio.

1. As noted you should use "LPCM" as the audio output setting on the PS3. The PS3 will send uncompressed multichannel LPCM audio via HDMI to your Onkyo. This is the *only* way to get uncompressed multichannel audio from a PS3 to the Onkyo.

2. The Onkyo knows what resolutions the TV supports; this is part of the HDMI handshake process. So it knows when it can pass the video untouched, and when it *has* to convert it to something the TV can handle.

3. Uncheck the 7.1 settings on the PS3. The PS3 will combine the surround and rear surround channels.

4. Do the Audyssey room setup, using all 8 positions. Then when you set up the PS3's input on the Onkyo, make "multichannel" the default for multichannel PCM signals.

You can certainly use "direct" instead, but it will bypass the Audyssey room EQ which, IMO, can often dramatically improve a system's sound. (You should at least try it; it's a major feature of your Onkyo.)

Thanks for te replies. Just a few more comments:

1. After further reading, it seems that "bitstream" is best for SD DVD's so I'll keep that setting on my Oppo. As for BR on the PS3, there seems to be varying opinions. This post on the blu-ray forum for example:


So it seems that the LPCM setting is required only for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HDMA tracks. So some leave the setting on "bitstream" and change it when one of these tracks is present.

2. Thanks, I'll change that setting to 'AUTO'.

3. Thanks, I'll uncheck the 7.1 setting on the PS3.

4. I still have to experiment with the Audyssey setup. First time I did it (for 3 positions), it set all my speakers to "full band" and the sub distance/level setups were screwed up. And yes, "multichannel" is currently the default for PCM sources.

As for "direct" it just seems to sound better to me. But I still have to experiment with the Audyssey setup. Also, if I look at the "listening modes" tables in the manual for the Blu-ray multichannel sources (DD+, TrueHD, DTS-HD, DTS-HDMA), there's always this caveat that: *2. If there are no surround back speakers, DTS is used or Dolby Pro Logic II is used. This is rather confusing...

1. Sure, you can do that if you want, but what a pain, and for what? If you can hear a difference between the PS3's decoding of legacy codecs and the Onkyo's, you're a better man than most. Since you don't have 7.1, the one instance where it would matter (DTS 6.1,, which apparently the PS3 reduces to 5.1) doesn't apply anyway.

I'm sure I can't hear any difference whatsoever (Onkyo TX-SR705 and a PS3 with 5.1 speakers), so I just leave the PS3 on PCM all the time. The statement you quoted from the BR forum is a point of much contention (and is also apparently somewhat dated).

But if it makes a difference to you then, sure, switch as needed. How often you play BD's and what HD audio they use will also affect how much switching back and forth you want to put up with.

4. There are some peculiarities in Onkyo's implementation of Audyssey. It will set any speaker that can respond below 80HZ to "Full Band" (Onkyonian for "Large") so you must go back in and set the crossovers yourself. And the subwoofer distance will almost always be off by a large margin, but this is a way of correcting for phase, or so I understand).

It also appears to make a big difference when you calibrate using all 8 mic positions. And be sure to use a tripod with the mic leveled so that the mic can hear 360 degrees around itself.

That said, it's still entirely possible you will not like the results. But give it a fair shake.

I also think that with good speakers, properly positioned in an acoustically simple room, the benefits of Audyssey may be subtle at best and may, indeed, be inferior to simply letting the unprocessed audio play. YMMV, always.

1. Knowing how lazy I am, I'm probably better off leaving it on PCM. Seriously I see your point. My guess was that my Integra would do a better job at decoding the codecs than the PS3. I'll keep experimenting (after I've done the Audyssey setup properly!) and see what happens.

4. My room is anything but acoustically simple. My place is all open space so it's probably an acoustic nightmare. Since I live alone, I didn't originally see the point of calibrating all 8 mic positions. I figured, well I sit here so I'll just do it 3 times at my sitting position so it has enough data to calculate. But now I think I understand the purpose of doing all 8 mic positions. I.E. It provides Audyssey more data from different positions to figure out the best settings for the room's acoustics. Correct?

The tripod is a good idea. Probably much better than me sitting in my chair and holding the mic over my nose.

Thanks.