PS3 surround sound support...

It would appear that the surround sound is diabled in all of the O/B games.
Any others experienced this? No matter the settings, none of them will run in Dolby or DTS for me.
Thanks!

[Ch3rokee]

I haven't tried it yet, but I have seen some people complaining in the Gamespot forums that the sound on the Orange Box for PS3 it's only Dolby Prologic 2 (basicaly stereo, really disappointing after hearing the great surround available on PC).

[Jay Stelly]

The PS3 version has full surround sound but only over an HDMI connection.
We're working on getting the optical cable support into an update. I'll post when I have details.

[Ch3rokee]

Thank you for the clarification Jay Stelly, that makes sense because HDMI can carry uncompressed sound and to get 5.1 from an optical cable it has to be encoded in Dolby Digital or DTS. Anyway, I, as many, would really apreciate that update because we have old amplifiers without HDMI inputs.

Originally Posted by Jay Stelly

The PS3 version has full surround sound but only over an HDMI connection.
We're working on getting the optical cable support into an update. I'll post when I have details.

So what else would be included in this update? Maybe something to improve loading times? Something to stabilize TF2 gameplay? Maybe the new TF2 material that has yet to come to the 360 version? Something to stabilize the frame rate? Or is it just an update for this sound issue?

Originally Posted by Jay Stelly

The PS3 version has full surround sound but only over an HDMI connection.
We're working on getting the optical cable support into an update. I'll post when I have details.

I have my PS3 connected to my surround sound system via HDMI and I'm not getting surround sound with The Orange Box. My system is capable of receiving DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 over HDMI.

All of the games in The Orange Box are only outputting PCM 2.1 channel audio.

I double checked with my copy of Uncharted to make sure it's not just my system, and confirmed Uncharted is correctly outputting DTS audio over HDMI. This means The Orange Box is not outputting surround sound as it should.

I have the same issue with audio over HDMI. All my other games work fine except TOB. Basically if the person talking is outside of your field of view you can't hear them - I've had to enable subtiltles to make sure I don't miss anyhting and the ability position activity by sound is gone.

anybody know if this issue is also on the X-Box 360?

Surround sound works fine over HDMI. Problem is, the ones having this problem over HDMI need to set their audio output to Linear PCM. Because my assumption is that this game is outputting uncompressed PCM audio over 5.1 channels. And the PS3 is incapable of outputting this over bitstream HDMI.

Same goes with Tos link (aka optical). Optical is only able to output 2.1 channels of uncompressed audio(or 5.1 of bitstream non-uncompressed), it cannot send out anything more due to its lower bandwidth speed limits.

So with that said, if you have surround problems via HDMI, set your HDMI audio output to LPCM. As thats what mine is set to, and I get 5.1 of surround sound.

Hi Leukoplast. How do you set the game to output LPCM, the only place I can see those options are in the PS3 audio config which is set to HDMI/Auto - and all the 5.1 PCM options are already enabled. All other games, RFOM, TC4, etc.. are fine.

Originally Posted by RojBlake

Hi Leukoplast. How do you set the game to output LPCM, the only place I can see those options are in the PS3 audio config which is set to HDMI/Auto - and all the 5.1 PCM options are already enabled. All other games, RFOM, TC4, etc.. are fine.

Yeah, most other games (probably all except this one, lol) have other types of surround sound (IE bitstream compressed 5.1 and up) so you shouldn't have any problems with them.

To set for HDMI output to LPCM do this.

Settings > BD/DVD Settings > BD/DVD Audio Output Format (HDMI): Linear PCM

Then basically like what you did (which it may automatically do anyway once LPCM is selected) is go and check every single audio option box. When you do that, it tells the PS3 what to decode.

Thanks Leukoplast, I checked the BD/DVD Audio Output Format (HDMI) and it's already set to Linear PCM? The receiver displays that the incoming signal is PCM but only 2.1 PL. There are some background effects on the satellite speakers, but pretty quiet and no dialogue.

Originally Posted by RojBlake

Thanks Leukoplast, I checked the BD/DVD Audio Output Format (HDMI) and it's already set to Linear PCM? The receiver displays that the incoming signal is PCM but only 2.1 PL. There are some background effects on the satellite speakers, but pretty quiet and no dialogue.

Hmm. Well, lets start with the most obvious concern. Is your receiver capable of handling uncompressed 5.1 LPCM audio via HDMI?

If so, then go into the Audio options and make sure to check every single box you can. (should be able to check them all)

Also what receiver is it? Cause I have a Onkyo TX-SR605, and for me when I'm in LPCM it automatically goes into a 'Multi-channel' mode. Where I cannot change the sound fields on the receiver...its basically not modifying the signal at all coming from the PS3.

So get back to me with this info, and we'll go from there. Its possible you may have to do some modifying on the receivers end...but for now leave it be.

The receiver is a Yamaha HTR-5990 7.1 THX. The only 5.1 LPCM option not already set from auto setup was 176.4Khz which I enabled but still no dialogue on the satellites . No matter which program mode I tried to put the receiver into it only shows the PL & PCM signals. Like I said other games and BD movies play 5.1 fine, just seems to be an issue with TOB. To see the effect, try facing somebody that's talking, but standing a few feet away, then turn 180' around - the effect we're seeing is that you can't hear what they are saying.

Originally Posted by RojBlake

The receiver is a Yamaha HTR-5990 7.1 THX. The only 5.1 LPCM option not already set from auto setup was 176.4Khz which I enabled but still no dialogue on the satellites . No matter which program mode I tried to put the receiver into it only shows the PL & PCM signals. Like I said other games and BD movies play 5.1 fine, just seems to be an issue with TOB. To see the effect, try facing somebody that's talking, but standing a few feet away, then turn 180' around - the effect we're seeing is that you can't hear what they are saying.

So, you have heard actual 5.1 LPCM uncompressed audio from a Blu-Ray then?

Cause after doing a little research, all HDMI versions are capable of carrying a LPCM uncompressed signal of up to 8 channels. So thats not the issue. Maybe this is just a problem with your receiver.

Cause I know what your talking about with people talking in game, then going in a circle. It works flawlessly on my system. If they are talking, I turn around, and now the talking comes out of my back speakers in relation to their position.

Do you currently have a 5.1 setup rather than 7.1? Cause I am using 5.1 ATM, and I actually had to go in my receivers settings and specifically turn off the speakers I wasn't using(turned off back, and left the sides on). Cause for some reason, it was still sending a surround signal and taking away that sound from the speakers that were actually in use.

For instance. Lets say I still had them on, well if I turned around in game the sound/vocals wouldn't be coming from anywhere as the receiver is sending the signal to speakers that aren't even there. And the ones that should be doing the work weren't getting anything.