Question:
Dear Expert,
I have a Surround Sound system that is about 7 years old. It is a Sony AV System (Sony HT-DDW660). We have a 50" Plasma TV (Panasonic Model# TC-P42U1). We recently purchased a PS3. I can't get the surround sound to connect to it. Do you have any suggestions for me as to what cables we might need and how to connect it all together? Please let me know.
-T. Bryan Wilson
Inman, SC
Answer:
Hello, Mr. Wilson,
For these particular components, you should probably use the PS3's optical digital output connected to the surround sound system's fiberoptic digital input so you can get full 5.1 channel surround sound from DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. All you need for this is a fiberoptic digital audio cable such as this one on Amazon. Once you have the right cable, you might need to adjust some settings in the PS3's Settings menu.
I believe the PS3 still does not support simultaneous analog and digital audio output. You have to select one or the other in order for it to work. The specific setting you need is in "Settings... Sound Settings... Audio Output Settings" - select Digital Out (optical).
Also, under "BD/DVD Settings" in the PS3 settings menu make sure the Optical Digital Output is set to "bitstream" not to "PCM." This will pass the Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks to your receiver for true multi-channel sound decoding. If set to "PCM" then you will only get two-channel PCM sound over the optical connection.
I assume you are already getting sound from the TV through your surround system, but if not then you should also connect the TV's analog or digital outputs to an unused analog or digital input on the surround sound unit as well so you can use the system's speakers instead of the TV speakers for TV programs.
Hope that helps and let us know if you have any other problems.
Regards,
-Chris
