I'm using a PS3 for my HD player right now and it's capable of decoding all the HD sound formats as far as I know. My question is do I need to find all these same formats on the amplifier I buy to hear them or do I just need the hdmi inputs on the amp. There seems to be a large price difference on amps based on this?
My current amp has only optical inputs, can someone tell me which HD sound formats this will support and is is it worth it to upgrade the amp at this time?
Thanks

If you are using Optical for Audio, you can only take advantage of DD 5.1 (640 Kbps) and DTS (1.5 Mbps). To take advantage of TrueHD, DTS HD, DD Plus (and other HD audio formats - Multichannel audio) you will need to use HDMI as optical has a limit of 1.5 Mbps.

Receivers with HDMI are down in price quite a bit. You can grab one for between 250 and 500 bones easy.

L8

__________________
Editor - www.hidef.com

"True adaptability involves changing ones self to meet ones environment, not changing ones environment to meet ones needs" - Species8472

Here's another dumb question. Are HDMI connections all I need on the amp? Is all the decoding done by the PS3? Also what version of HDMI do I need ? Does it have to be 1.3?

One single HDMI cable from PS3 to Reciever is all you need. As for HDMI spec, 1.1 or 1.2 is fine (use Onkyo Receiver with HDMI and it is 1.1). 1.3 only adds deep color for 1080p and bandwidth for future stuff such as 2k and 4k (far away).

L8

__________________
Editor - www.hidef.com

"True adaptability involves changing ones self to meet ones environment, not changing ones environment to meet ones needs" - Species8472