PS5 Surround Sound Settings

[mcdado]

Hello there! I recently bought rear speakers for my LG SP8YA Sound bar (SPK8) making it effectively 5.1.2. The bar supports LPCM, all Dolby and DTS formats.

My PS5 is connected to an LG CX, which then connects to the bar via HDMI eARC. On the TV I had to change Digital Audio Out to Pass Through, because either Auto or PCM would downmix to stereo PCM.

Because of this setup, I can use Linear PCM from the PS5.

Is that the best option, since I can?

 

I hear people talking about Dolby being louder, but I sincerely hear no difference in volume. Also, there doesn't seem to be any noticeable lag or delay for me.

I saw in this YouTube video (4:17) that supposedly I should opt for Dolby or DTS rather than Linear PCM, because of vague reasons. Is this correct or is the presenter thinking PCM as stereo only?

The PS5 should output 5.1 sound anyway, be it uncompressed PCM or compressed Dolby. Is there any truth in thinking that the Dolby "experience" is better? Sounds like more work that both the PS5 and the sound bar have to do to encode and decode the audio stream.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Alex Atkin UK]

26 minutes ago, mcdado said:

Hello there! I recently bought rear speakers for my LG SP8YA Sound bar (SPK8) making it effectively 5.1.2. The bar supports LPCM, all Dolby and DTS formats.

My PS5 is connected to an LG CX, which then connects to the bar via HDMI eARC. On the TV I had to change Digital Audio Out to Pass Through, because either Auto or PCM would downmix to stereo PCM.

Because of this setup, I can use Linear PCM from the PS5.

Is that the best option, since I can?

For gaming, PCM is best unless you have Dolby Atmos (which I seem to recall the PS5 doesn't support natively anyway?), as it means no encoding has to take place so less latency.

 

Its video where it makes a difference as the console has to decompress the audio first so passing the stream across untouched tends to have better results, as the hardware decoders in your audio kit are usually better than the software in the consoles.  Even then, you might not be able to tell the difference with a sound bar setup, its more when you have a full surround receiver with much more expensive speakers.

[mcdado]

15 hours ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Its video where it makes a difference as the console has to decompress the audio first so passing the stream across untouched tends to have better results, as the hardware decoders in your audio kit are usually better than the software in the consoles.  Even then, you might not be able to tell the difference with a sound bar setup, it’s more when you have a full surround receiver with much more expensive speakers.

First of all thank you for your response. But this is only relevant for already encoded media, like Blu-ray or streaming apps? Because I imagine that no streaming service delivers uncompressed surround sound, in that sense it would be better to let the receiver / sound bar decode the signal, right?

 

Since I don't use the PS5 for that, I can simply ignore that recommendation. If I ever play a Bly-ray disc, in the player app it's possible to change to Bitstream and the PS5 won't decode it.

Edited July 13, 2023 by mcdado