Help with psvr audio

[mannjon]

Title.

I have my PS4 Pro plugged directly into my TV to get the best video quality when I don't play VR. The port it is plugged into is a 4k 60 hz. I use an ARC plugged into a 4k compatible receiver and I have my TV, PS4 and receiver all set to Bitstream. It sounds great on my Xbox One, and even on the Pro when I play movies and even some games with good sound encoding.

However, when I use the psvr, the sound mode automatically switches back to PCM. I suspect the psvr switch box is the problem. Is the psvr not able to send a Bitstream signal back through the box? I'd really prefer for my receiver to do the encoding.

Anyone have a good setup for a 5.1 setup with psvr? Should I not use the ARC for psvr and go directly from the PS4 to my receiver? I'd like to avoid it because that would be a pain to switch out from games to movies.

[blackwiggle]

I've had to get a multi port 4K HDMI switch unit to run my two 4K sources [PS4 Pro and Panasonic 4K disc player] into HDMI 1 on the TV, as only HDMI ports 1&2 accept 4K signals on the TV, but port 2 also happens to operate as the TV out port/ ARC....which is a PITA.

Anyway, what that has meant is that I run the PS4 PRO into the 4K HDMI switch unit then into the HDMI 1 port on the TV, and use a optical cable for the sound into the HT amp...[All this could be avoided if I updated the HT Amp to one that had 4K pass through ] The Panasonic disc player run HDMI out into the HDMI switch unit for visuals, and it has a second HDMI out for Audio that I run into the HT amp.

I've always found that there is numerous ways to achieve the switching you want, but it tends to be dependent on the features on your HT amp and PS4 and TV on how well it all works.

IMHO I'd be firstly looking at the audio settings on the PS4 Pro to see if it can switch automatically to Bitstream out when it detects the PSVR is in use.
Failing that, I'd next be looking at setting up a specific 'SCENE' preset on your HT amp you can switch to when the PSVR is in use.
I'll have a look at my rig to see if I can find a away to do what you need, but as I mentioned, I have mine wired up differently, even though our systems are pretty similar.

I know what a huge PITA trouble shooting these sort of things can be, and even worse when you do eventually get it working the a system update on something changes it, especially since just about everything nowadays asks for internet access....My HT Amp, TV, PS4 and Panasonic disc player, as well as the PS3, PSTV and a laptop are all wired up for internet in my lounge room.[I don't like using wireless for quality reasons]

EDIT: I just had a look at the PS4 PRO and there are NO options for switching audio output type in the PSVR settings section.
BUT, on the PS4 go to settings > Audio output selection > Audio Format [Priority]....you then are given three options...Liner PCM, Bitstream Dolby, Bitstream DTS.....see what you have it set at ATM, you obviously want it to Bitsream DTS if your HT amp can do it.
The fact that the wording [Priority] after Audio Format gives me the feeling that even if you do have Bitstream already selected, or do so shortly, that the settings might still be allowed to be over ridden in some situations [what those situations might actually be is the big question, sensing that a PSVR is connected might be one of them]:|
Worth a try at least.

[mannjon]

Yeah I've already set the ps4 out to Bitstream. I think the psvr switch box degrades the bandwidth of the signal and forces a PCM connection despite what you configure.

You can change the settings in vr, but they appear grayed out which leads me to believe that the second generation vr unit can only output to PCM and is incapable of sending a Bitstream signal.

[blackwiggle]

Have you got a optical cable you can run from the PS4 to HT amp?
You'll need to change it in settings so audio isn't sent via HDMI.
Just use the HDMI direct to the TV for the visuals.
The switching to PCM might only happen if audio is sent via HDMI, so using a optical cable shouldn't be effected....in theory at least.

My biggest PITA with having a PSVR hooked up if if I want to watch a 3D Bluray, the PS4 won't send the visuals to the TV, it will always detect that a 3D disc is being asked to be played and only give the PSVR as the only available option to watch it on.......as if.:--

EDIT: I just tested the sound format using optical out from the PS4 Pro, and Bitstream 5.1 selected, as that's the best option I'm given in Audio settings via optical, no DTS etc options via optical strangely [probably a DRM/copy protection thing], this is with the PSVR helmet active and the Omega pack running......I'm not getting the PCM audio override happening, so this seems to be the work around if that's what your after.

[mannjon]

I was hoping to avoid using an optical out if possible. Just tried again. The receiver switched from Bitstream to PCM the instant I turned on the vr. When I turned it off it switched back to Bitstream.

So it seems that optical only way to not force a PCM audio out when in vr.

[blackwiggle]

I'm just trying to re-think possible causes of your problem.

It's got me thinking that if you just tried swapping HDMI inputs from the PS4/HT amp to TV, and visa versa, to one that took 4K input into the TV, but wasn't also the ARC HDMI port, you might not be get the Audio switching happening.

It only seems logical that this is a HDMI 'Handshaking " problem between source and HT amp, as it doesn't happen if optical audio is used, well at least with my rig.

I'm using a Yamaha HT receiver, maybe your brand of HT receiver works/[software] differently, and is the cause.

[mannjon]

I've got a Yamaha Rx-V377. It has no trouble with the Xbone. It will output PCM or Bitstream based on what I tell it to do, which in most cases is Bitstream because I have faith that my reciever is better at decoding.

Mind you the audio is still sent via ARC, but it sounds much better. I've heard that in general for gaming, PCM is actually better because even though it is just a stereo signal, it is also lossless and uncompressed. Most games don't have dts or Dolby quality sound, so that makes sense. Maybe PCM and then let the receiver receive it and convert to pseudo surround sound is the way to go.

[blackwiggle]

My Yamaha HT amp is RX-V1071
I suppose it's both system dependent and just how you use your PS4 on the differences
I have a pretty big rig, which used to be 7.2, but when I bought a pair of Harbeth SHL5 speakers, I ditched the center channel and subs, and just run the Harbeths as mains, it was overkill and TBH sounded worse with them running [Plus I think the neighbors would of been pleased]
What were the main speakers prior to that are a pair of B&W tower speakers model CM something or other, which are now used as rears, and the B&W bookshelf speakers that were used as rears are now used as satellites.
Anyway my point is, if your rig can resolve it, PCM does tend to sound better, especially DTS over Dolby Digital, apart from movies, concerts on a Bluray disc can sound amazing.
The other benefit is that I can still get the clarity and effect at lower volumes by using the 'Late Night' setting, which I don't thinks available unless the signal is PCM, which has been great when watching live world cup matches in surround that have been starting at midnight and having been ending at Dawn here in OZ.

I think the original reason I got the optical cable for the PS4 was in an attempt to sort out the audio glitches/ some tracking lag and drop outs when using the Rocksmith Guitar interface cable when run through HDMI on the PS4 version [No Analog audio out on a PS4], the PS3 version also suffered this problem but was solved by running analog audio out the the HT amp.

[mannjon]

My model has the nighttime feature as well as an adaptive DSR mode which adds extra oomph to the center channel for voices in movies and stuff.

I got to thinking. Since the TV is outputting an ARC channel anyways which limits the bandwidth, it makes more sense to pass it through as a PCM signal for games, then only change to Bitstream for movies. Less hassle that way anyways. Then leave the receiver in Dolby to post process the signal later.

I don't know. This stuff is confusing.

[blackwiggle]

I agree, it can be confusing, especially when manufacturers put their own stupid names to a feature that they all basically have......we will be getting another one shortly with the implementation of what is commonly known as HDR-10+, which basically a codec that tells 4k TV's/Displays how bright each scene in a movies is supposed to be, and will change with each scene seen, sort of like a auto gamma processing.
Currently Blurays and other 4K material uses standard HDR-10 codec, this tells the TV what the brightest scene in the movie will be, but it only tells it once, at the beginning of the movie, so Dark scenes can be washed out and bright scenes can be searingly bright.
Samsung made it as a open source codec free for all manufacturers to use, but LG says it's building it own processing into it new TV's and Sony doing something similar, so there is a totally unnecessary and confusing format war going on, you would have thought they learned their lesson with all the previous ones, with Bluray V's HDDVD being the last major one 11 years ago.

Personally, even though the PS4 pro is a decent Bluray disc player, I much prefer the upscaled to 4k Bluray images produced by my Panasonic 4k disc player, but then again I'm a bit of a tech head and have my own equipment for calibration of the TV's and projector.
You would be amazed to see just how far out of whack every new TV is compared to a calibrated one, even the most expensive ones, well worth the outlay to buy a meter and the software to calibrate your own displays IMHO.

[mannjon]

No joke. I spent countless hours calibrating my TV with the advanced settings. I only knew what to do based on my professional background.

I gotta say though, the Xbone X did a really good job for 4k and blu ray movies. Much better than Sony any day