nmalinoski wrote:Have you tried having the PS4 redetect the video and audio settings?
The PS4 doesn't have settings like that unlike the PS3 and even if it did, an automatic setup will just detect that my receiver support up to 7.1 and automatically set everything for 7.1, that's what PS3 does.
nmalinoski wrote:If that doesn't get you the option, then you may have a PS4 that can't force 5.1 like the documentation you found says.
The Sony documentation only talks about an option ("HDMI Audio Output") that's not available on my PS4 model for some reason, but I found this here:
My receiver supports 7.1, but my configuration is 5.1, so I have been using my PS4 all these years with 7.1, damn.
Anyway glad that at least Sony is offering the option! Just wished it wasn't all obscure and hidden within settings.
I don't think that Nintendo even has settings like these for their Wii U and Switch.
nmalinoski wrote:Separately, what's wrong with allowing your PS4 to output 7.1 and letting your AVR deal with converting it to 5.1?
https://feedback.naughtydog.com/knowled ... figuration
https://www.facebook.com/notes/supermas ... 538836760/
Unfortunately, some HDMI equipment deliberately misrepresents its native channel configuration, and then intentionally downmixes or discards the extra channels.
While this isn't always an issue when watching movies, it's a very big problem for games. Movies typically only use the surround channels for ambience or an occasional front-to-back effect. Games are different: they render positional audio to all channels, all the time.
If the channel configuration is incorrect, game sounds can attenuate or drop out completely. Some example setups that might cause this:
- TV sets with 2 speakers that misrepresent as 5.1 or 7.1 channel devices over HDMI
- Receivers that are configured for 2.0 or 5.1 but misrepresent as 7.1 channel devices over HDMI
- HDMI switchers and splitters that hide or misrepresent the actual channel configuration
- PS4 System optical output not configured to match target equipment
Symptoms of incorrect channel configuration are:
- Missing or heavily attenuated dialog
- Sounds not panning around the player with even volume levels
- Sounds heavily attenuated or missing when directly behind the player
- All sounds playing from the front in a surround 5.1/7.1 setup
- No audio
It's critical to make sure that the PS4 System knows exactly which primary output port to use, and how many channels it needs to output on that port to match your equipment setup.
Although some equipment can automatically downmix multichannel audio, this is never going to sound as good as having the correct channel setup identified in the PS4 System's settings. Positional audio for games is rendered completely differently depending on the channel configuration, so for this reason any downmix done by the output device will always be inferior.