PCM Only When Playing Blu Ray

[32cjones]

I just hooked up a new Sony BDP-S350 Blu Ray to a Pioneer VSX-1018 via HDMI. I noticed while playing a Blu Ray Disc with Dolby Tru HD my receiver is displaying "PCM" and not the symbol it should for Dolby Tru HD. I set the disc under audio options to Dolby Tru HD 5.1. but still only got "PCM" to display.
Shouldn't my reveiver be displaying the Dobly HD symbol instead of PCM? I played a standard DVD which was set to Dolby Digital 5.1 and the 1018 receive did display Dolby Digital. I have reviewed my audio settings for the Blu Ray and everything appears to be ok.
Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Adam]

I believe that the 1018 will display "PCM" if the Blu-ray player is doing the audio decoding, whereas it will display the format (such as "Dolby Digital") if the 1018 is doing the decoding itself.

 

[32cjones]

That was my original thought but I think I have the Blu Ray set not to decode. Also, if the receiver is displaying "Dolby Digital" when playing a standard DVD that would indicate the Blu Ray is NOT decoding. Maybe it's something in the receiver??

 

[Adam]

Let me take a look at the owners manual (downloading now), and I'll get right back to you.

 

[Adam]

Okay, I didn't see anything in the 1018 manual that was obvious to me, so I downloaded the BDP-S350 manual.

Are you outputting the video signal over HDMI at 480i or 480p? There's a note on page 62 of the BDP-S350 manual that states that Dolby TrueHD will be output as LPCM even if you've selected direct output if you are using one of those resolutions over HDMI.

Sorry that I haven't been of more help on this. I suppose one question is - how does it sound, display aside? Hopefully it sounds great!

 

[Seth=L]

Try setting the Blu-ray player to "bitstream" for all audio formats over HDMI. There shouldn't be an audible difference between PCM or the HD audio formats because they are exactly the same. The only advantage to bitstreaming the HD audio to the receiver is the little light indicating it's receiving HD audio, otherwise bitstreaming does have a dissadvantage that outweighs the "ooh" factor. When you bitstream you will lose any secondary audio tracks that may be present (specifically menu sounds or commentaries you may select).

 

[Adam]

When you bitstream you will lose any secondary audio tracks that may be present (specifically menu sounds or commentaries you may select).

Thanks, Seth. When I was reading through the manual, I wondered what the "secondary audio tracks" were that got mentioned. I have yet to enter the world of Blu-ray...

 

[Bobster]

On the S350, make sure your "BD Audio Setting" is set to "Direct" and that each mode is set to the correct mode. This is on page 44 of the manual.

I can personally attest that if the BD Audio Setting isn't Direct, you'll get PCM to the receiver.

Bob

 

[32cjones]

Thanks, that did the trick. The manual is not very clear on how to setup when your receiver is doing the decoding.
The sound and picture are great. Best Buy had a deal when you buy a Sony Blu Ray you get a John Mayer live disc. Sound is terrific!!

Thanks for your advice.

 

[shrktank]

Question for you who have the 1018 and the 350:

I have the VSX-1018. I also have a Samsung 2550. I set the 2550 on bitstream.

THe movie starts and the Pioneer displays Dolby True HD. However if I do a Chapter Skip function, the sound goes away and the Pioneer display shows "stereo" with no sound being produced. This occurs on various disc that I have tried

I am on my second Samsung 2550, so starting to think it might be the 1018 having a hard time with the bitstream data. However, I have heard the Sammys are known to be quirky.

Can someone with the 1018 and the 350 test thsi and let me know if this is an issue? I am thinking of returning the 2550 and going with the 350.

Thanks

 

[jostenmeat]

There shouldn't be an audible difference between PCM or the HD audio formats because they are exactly the same.

Operative word being "shouldn't". A couple of persons that I respect a lot say that bitstreaming will help with digital clocking and jitter management. I curiously brought that up at AVS, and the one interesting reply I received was that (as you say) this shouldn't happen, but it sometimes does due to less-than-perfect HDCP/HDMI implementation in the receiver. Or something like that. Who knows.

I don't care, I don't know, and I don't have any choice in the matter.

You're right about the secondary tracks. I still have yet to watch one though. Friends tell me I should really check out the doc on Surf's Up, a movie I've seen twice now, but I just get so bored by the extras and still can't be bothered.