You're limited in your options. The passthrough is what you've found out, the receiver doesn't process the signal from HDMI at all so no audio out of your receiver. The optical cable is really your only other option for multi-channel sound as the PS3 does not support more than 2-channel analogue out. As you've correctly surmised, you're limited to DD or DTS over optical. If the PS3 gives you the option pick DTS as it supports up to 1.5mbs which should give you the best quality (equivalent to DD+) but obviously less than the lossless codecs or LPCM. However, through the system you're talking about that won't make a difference as it's not resolving enough to show any benefit over DTS.
True HD without HDMI?
I recently acquired an Onkyo HTIB in the hopes of having a cheap 7.1 system to use with Blu-ray in Hi-Def. So you can imagine how disgruntled I became when I was connecting my PS3 to the HDMI ports, only to find that THE #$%@ THING HAS AUDIO PASS THROUGH ONLY!!!
...I'm not going to bother asking why anyone in their right minds would include HDMI in a 7.1 HTIB only to have it be made completely useless by passing it through to the TV speakers.
I will ask if there is an alternative to returning the HTIB, which is now spidered into my room and would be a pain in the butt to remove, and still be able to reap the benefits of Dobly TrueHD and the lossless encoding of the Blu-ray discs. I'm currently running Optical into the receiver, but I have a feeling that this isn't any better than having DVD audio.
Sigh..... Anyway..
My main question is a two parter:
1) Can the Multichannel input I see on most receivers be used to get the uncompressed 7.1 signal into the receiver? and...
2)Does a multichannel output cable even EXIST for a PS3? I'm a college student, so I can't pay an arm and a leg for an exotic cable, but I still want to get the sound I payed for out of a Blu-ray.
Any and all input (or criticism) will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
...I'm not going to bother asking why anyone in their right minds would include HDMI in a 7.1 HTIB only to have it be made completely useless by passing it through to the TV speakers.
I will ask if there is an alternative to returning the HTIB, which is now spidered into my room and would be a pain in the butt to remove, and still be able to reap the benefits of Dobly TrueHD and the lossless encoding of the Blu-ray discs. I'm currently running Optical into the receiver, but I have a feeling that this isn't any better than having DVD audio.
Sigh..... Anyway..
My main question is a two parter:
1) Can the Multichannel input I see on most receivers be used to get the uncompressed 7.1 signal into the receiver? and...
2)Does a multichannel output cable even EXIST for a PS3? I'm a college student, so I can't pay an arm and a leg for an exotic cable, but I still want to get the sound I payed for out of a Blu-ray.
Any and all input (or criticism) will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.