PS3 as an SACD player

[JonUrban]

When it was announced, folks around here were proclaiming that the PS3 would be a "saviour" of the SACD format.

Well, has anyone here got a PS3 and tried it out with SACD? It would be nice to hear how it works. Does the 5.1 work with the HDMI? Is there a 6 Channel out capability?

Sony put the capability in there, but they forgot to make discs for it it seems. Was it worth it.

Let us know..............................

 

[BARKSTAR]

Looking forward to finding this out. I have the PS3 and it detects the discs and the various layers quickly and it is also easy to switch between them which is always good.

Problem is I am waiting for an Amplifier that has an HDMI 1.3 input so that I can carry DSD natively to the surround sound system. I have heard though that if you have an Amp with the any HDMI input you can turn the DSD stream to Linear PCM and then it can carry the 5.1 signal from the PS3 to the Amp that way. I would also be interested if anyone has used the PS3 in any of these ways, and also how it sounds. I have been really impressed with the PS3 Blu-Ray player and capabilities so far so hope the SACD side of things is up to spec too!

Funny I have a small write up of the PS3 on the blog of my Bebo page. My friends have accused me of using my page as an SACD marketing tool but always willing to spread the word on the format when I can! Whether it generates any sales is doubtful but one of my friends now wants the PS3 over the XBOX 360 purely because it plays back the SACD format. If we all help spread the word you never can tell!

 

[Kazaam]

I was surprised to see that the PS3 actually has a SACD logo printed on it. (On the side.)

With the lack of new discs, I almost expected Sony to not even bother with printing the logo (or mentioning in manuals?). Even after it was confirmed that the PS3 could indeed play SACD I half-expected it to be sort of a "secret" feature. Well... I guess it still sorta is to most consumers despite the logo.

 

[KMO]

Problem is I am waiting for an Amplifier that has an HDMI 1.3 input so that I can carry DSD natively to the surround sound system.

You only need HDMI 1.2 for this; Pioneer, Marantz and Yamaha have receivers with this capability.

However, the PS3 does not support native DSD output. It only converts to PCM (176.4kHz 24-bit).

 

[Analogueghost]

Even though it is supposedly HDMI 1.2, the Yamaha HTR 5990 states in the manual that it does not support SACD via HDMI.

Of course, as soon as I get my grubby hands on a PS3 I'll go ahead and test it anyway.

 

[BARKSTAR]

Supposedly HDMI 1.3 is required to carry DSD natively to a compatible amplifier as opposed to 1.2. HDMI is obviously working as the PS3 can output the signal as Linear PCM through the 1.2 specification which should in theory work with all HDMI 1.2 spec amplifiers. There are rumours that DSD Direct is possible through a future update so the PS3 HDMI 1.3 spec may come in handy then. You never know with Sony though. There is so much push of the Blu-Ray format on the system that apart from the tiny SACD logo on the side of the console you would never have known that the unit can even play the discs! @:

 

[El Guapo]

Hi Barkstar,

you're wrong about the HDMI version, SACD support was introduced with HDMI 1.2! You can find a good overview over the HDMI versions and the supported features in the Wikipedia entry.

Best regards,
Oliver

 

[Ick]

I have the PS3 and the new Yamaha RXV-2700 receiver. The 5.1 SACD does work through HDMI interface and IMHO sounds better. However, I am not quite sure if it is converted to PCM or not before it gets to the amp. I will check tonight when I get home. The PS3 is cool in that it finds the album info and also will display any other layers of the CD (redbook, stereo SACD, etc). It also has a psychadelic visualizer to help those who like to have a little "smoke" while listening to the DSOTM SACD!

ICK

 

[BananaSlug]

It also has a psychadelic visualizer

I had thought of this several months ago. Something like Milkdrop for WinAmp that could be displayed by your universal player is what I was thinking. Should have thought of it faster and patented it.

 

[Kazaam]

Visualizer, eh? Seems to me that might could be just the thing that makes me finally buy a PS3.

Out of curiosity, how noisy is the fan? I don't game much, but I do have an Xbox (and also a Dreamcast) and must confess both are very loud. Would it be necessary to put a PS3 inside a cabinet to muffle the noise?

It's always nice to have a surplus of SACD players. Trying out BluRay movies would be nice, too. At least for a little while until the format war is settled and cheaper dedicated players arrive on shelves.

 

[BARKSTAR]

Hi Oliver.

I stand corrected. I had previously known that HDMI 1.2 could carry SACD but somehow this had slipped my mind completely! @:

Good to hear that the PS3 is performing well for some people as I can't wait to get it set up properly at home. In regard to the PS3 fan noise, I sold my XBOX 360 not really due to the fan noise but when a disc was accessed it was FAR TOO LOUD! The noise of the PS3 accessing a disc is a lot quieter than that of the 360 which really impressed me. The fan is not bad either but I have noticed while watching a Blu-Ray movie that it does seem to get louder about 20 minutes or so in. This must be to compensate for the machine getting hotter during operation.

All in all though it may not be a great purchase as a gaming machine yet but for an all round multimedia unit you can't seem to go wrong here. Great value for money and Blu-Ray is handled very well. Good to see Sony release an excellent Playstation this time round!

 

[mattB2]

Visualizer, eh? Seems to me that might could be just the thing that makes me finally buy a PS3.

Out of curiosity, how noisy is the fan? I don't game much, but I do have an Xbox (and also a Dreamcast) and must confess both are very loud. Would it be necessary to put a PS3 inside a cabinet to muffle the noise?

It's always nice to have a surplus of SACD players. Trying out BluRay movies would be nice, too. At least for a little while until the format war is settled and cheaper dedicated players arrive on shelves.

My PS3 is relatively quiet compared to my XBox 360 - I'm hoping the XBox Elite will solve a lot of the noise and connection problems associated with the current version of XBox - the fan noise is liveable with when playing games but very distracting during the quiet sections of HD-DVD movies. Having said that, from a quick glance at the Playstation forums some people have PS3s that are generating a bit of noise from the cooling system that may be due to the components that are used in particular batches:

http://community.eu.playstation.com/showthread.php?t=75005

 

[natiahs]

I have a PS3 connected via HDMI to an Onkyo 674. The 674 has a lowly 1.1 HDMI port. My understanding is the PS3 converts the audio to PCM and sends it along to the receiver. It sounds great, and I really like the SACD interface. When you pop in a disk, all the audio versions are displayed. For example, put in DSOTM and you'll see a SACD Multichannel version, a SACD stereo version, and a CD setero version. The visualizations play no matter which version you choose.

The downside to all this is that it only works over HDMI. There is currently no multichannel analog output cable for PS3 and SACD is not supported over optical. But if you have an HDMI receiver, the PS3 makes a dandy SACD player.

N

 

[leevitalone1]

PS 3 MAKES A GREAT CD PLAYER. AND IT WILL PLAY ALL YOUR SACDS- - - - IN PCM. Hook it up anlog stereo and I put in bloe x blow (single layer multi chn. sacd players only) and it played just fine. It did not matter what I chose on the menu. So did a bit of looking, and its true. another sony balony job. ( conv to 48 khz

 

[Beer Monkey]

The system I am using right now would be considered a 'downgrade' from my prior one, but I needed HDMI and I had to consolidate to fewer components. I think it sounds good but purists would shudder.

I'm feeding SACD into an Onkyo 604 (similar to the 674 but with a bit less amplification and no analog->HDMI conversion) from the PS3 and the Oppo 670. The PS3 converts the DSD to, I think, 176khz PCM since the Onkyo is HDMI 1.1 (no DSD). I've been sticking with the Oppo (converts to 88.2khz) though because of less power consumption and a lack of fan noise (the PS3 is fairly quiet when playing music but it is not silent...but in all honestly unless listening to classical I would probably not notice).

There is no way to get six-channel analog output from the PS3.

 

[Beer Monkey]

FYI the latest (1.8) firmware update adds SBM noise-shaping to the DSD->PCM conversion.

 

[Jens]

... and the currently latest firmware update (1.9) adds an alternative setting for the DSD-to-PCM conversion, plus upsampling of CDDA to 88.2 and 176.4 kHz.

There's a dedicated FAQ about PS3's SACD capabilities at http://www.ps3sacd.com/faq.html

 

[natiahs]

According to Kotaku, SACD functionality is being removed from PS3 when the new 40GB $399 model hits next month (tentatively 11/2). Grab a 20, 60, or 80GB model while you still can!

JET

 

[Kazaam]

Wow. That didn't take long, if true.

I bought one of the 60GB unites when they dropped to $500. I almost would've preferred to spend a hundred bucks less and get the 40GB unit if it comes to fruition. Oh, well... I guess it's kinda cool that mine can play SACDs, should I ever get a compatible receiver w/HDMI. And, I think, my 60GB should have the "Emotion Engine" for complete PS2 compatibility. Still... ask my on 11/2 if I'd trade mine for a 40GB and a hundred bucks and I might bite! (Hey, $100 bucks is almost enough to buy one of those overpriced 'collector' SACD or DVD-Audio discs on eBay or Amazon Marketplace.

 

[Jens]

... My understanding is the PS3 converts the audio to PCM and sends it along to the receiver. ...
The downside to all this is that it only works over HDMI. There is currently no multichannel analog output cable for PS3 and SACD is not supported over optical.

Not anymore -- apparently, firmware v2.00 adds optical audio output support with SACD. See the PS3 SACD FAQ