optical delay with GT4

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SirWaWa

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anyone here use optical out with GT4?
i get sound delay in the main menu (the real main menu, not the gran turismo mode menu the one with the ford GT in the background)
when i scroll up and down slowly i get no sound effects (well not exactly no but its really delayed i can hear the last .01 second of it) but i if i do it rapidly i do
also during scene/menu transitions the music seems to be delayed by .05-1 seconds
the signal seems to be delayed, its not a sync error, everything plays on cue when it does work
using a sony receiver stre698 with monster optical cable
the situation is easily re-creatable, anything that has sound effects but no music playing i will get a sound delay (ie: GT4 main menu, sound effects yes, music in the main menu no = sound delay)
other than that i don't experience any loss in quality, noise, droppage, breakage, signal loss or anything
with analog i don't get any of these problems

i tried various amounts of different games, different sound settings, even DVD's
works fine other than the above situation (situation isn't limited to GT4)
any game that doesn't have music but has sound effects i will get a delay
 
SirWaWa
anyone here use optical out with GT4?
i get sound delay in the main menu (the real main menu, not the gran turismo mode menu the one with the ford GT in the background)
when i scroll up and down slowly i get no sound effects (well not exactly no but its really delayed i can hear the last .01 second of it) but i if i do it rapidly i do
also during scene/menu transitions the music seems to be delayed by .05-1 seconds
the signal seems to be delayed, its not a sync error, everything plays on cue when it does work
using a sony receiver stre698 with monster optical cable
the situation is easily re-creatable, anything that has sound effects but no music playing i will get a sound delay (ie: GT4 main menu, sound effects yes, music in the main menu no = sound delay)
other than that i don't experience any loss in quality, noise, droppage, breakage, signal loss or anything
with analog i don't get any of these problems

i tried various amounts of different games, different sound settings, even DVD's
works fine other than the above situation (situation isn't limited to GT4)
any game that doesn't have music but has sound effects i will get a delay
Click to expand...

I use optical out and have to say I have never experienced this problem.

Also using a Sony de-coder, but as I am at work have no idea what model it is.

Not a lot of help in solving your problem I know.

Regards

Scaff
 
I have a Sony recevier (I forget the model, but it's a fairly inexpensive one) and I use the optical out for PS2 sound.

I believe the delay has to do with the switching of sound format. I notice on the front panel of the receiver that it is switching from the 5.1 sound contour to one of the 2-channel formats every time you go from game sound to menus with music/sfx.

Actually, if I listen carefully, I hear a very quiet "pre-echo" of some confirmation/menu sounds before I hear the main sound, rather than having the main sound delayed noticeably.

Since it doesn't seem to affect the game sound, I never really worry about it.
 
I sometimes get optical and sound delays sometimes when I am watching a replay, when i press the X button loads of times close together. but then I just dont press X. so I guess U never get it. But i can hear a "pre-echo" also. I have a bass box and 4 speakers connected to my ps2, so I love it when my parents go out. lol
 
my other theory is that the optical port is dusty
i read somewhere dust can cause jitters
(if that doesn't fix it i dunno what well)
the model is a sony STRE698, 2005 model for canada
right now i have the sound field set to Pro Logic II Game
(i noticed some people only have movie and music and not game but i do)
currently i have a 5.1 setup
thanks guys for the replies
kinda nice to know i'm not the only with sound delays
i've read from numerous video/audio forums with optical cables it either works or doesn't
no real middle ground
like i said before i don't get signal loss, noise, distortion, quality loss etc.
just delayage from the above mentioned situation
 
Duke
I have a Sony recevier (I forget the model, but it's a fairly inexpensive one) and I use the optical out for PS2 sound.

I believe the delay has to do with the switching of sound format. I notice on the front panel of the receiver that it is switching from the 5.1 sound contour to one of the 2-channel formats every time you go from game sound to menus with music/sfx.

Actually, if I listen carefully, I hear a very quiet "pre-echo" of some confirmation/menu sounds before I hear the main sound, rather than having the main sound delayed noticeably.

Since it doesn't seem to affect the game sound, I never really worry about it.
Click to expand...
even if i force 2-channel i still get a delay
i may sound picky but i don't like spending money on equipment that doesn't work the way its suppose to
like come on...
i except these problems with analog but not digital
 
i was reading this on audioholics

An often-overlooked cause of jitter is bandwidth limiting of the digital signal. Quoting from the Rémy Fourré Stereophile article “Jitter and the Digital Interface” published in the October, 1993 issue; “A word about optical links. Still using the example above with digital signals A and B, a low-pass filter at 5MHz—typical of TosLink—causes a time difference of 121ps. A 6MHz low-pass filter causes a time difference of 33ps. For adequate performance, optical links must have a bandwidth of 9MHz minimum. To operate at 48kHz and have a 15% margin for speed adjustments, the interface bandwidth must be at least 11MHz.”

The optical fiber material itself must be transparent. The quest for this quality is what drove the audio industry to experiment with the AT&T ST connection in the first place. When constructed from very high purity quartz, TOSLINK interconnects can exhibit a very wide bandwidth - 10MHz is not uncommon in practice. Compare this with the performance of a typical plastic conductor fiber optic cable that reaches its limitations at a mere 5MHz to 6MHz. When the signal is multi-channel audio with advanced word-lengths of 24 bits and/or sampling rates over 100KHz, this bandwidth is especially critical. Essentially, any DVD DTS or Dolby EX soundtrack is best served by a wide bandwidth optical digital audio connection

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/audioprinciples/interconnects/toslink.php
 
I have the same "problem", and it's not a problem at all, actually.

Optical cables can carry any type of signal.. from 2-channel PCM up to DTS 7.1, and everything in between. Trouble is, your reciever doesn't know what it is ahead of time. So, when the PS2 is sending no sound at all, the reciever just sits there waiting for an incoming signal. When it gets one, it briefly analyzes it to determine what it is, then it begins to play it. This causes a brief silence before the sound begins to play, so you often hear only the tail-end of the sound.

You'll notice it doesn't happen in the GT Mode menus, because there's already a sound signal being sent, and it's already been decoded (the music).

Basically, it's just a side-effect of the optical digital signal being analyzed by the reciever. My DVD player does the same thing, through the coaxial cable, because the reciever has to determine what it is before it can play it. The only time it doesn't happen is when you're using straight-up RCA analog cables.. the reciever already knows that it's 2-channel PCM, so it doesn't have to decipher anything.

Is there a way around it? Probably not.. just because of the "universal" nature of the digital signals. But I've never found it to be a problem. Most of the time there's music, or engine noise, or something, to keep the signal alive.
 
Jedi2016
Is there a way around it?
Click to expand...

That will depend on your amp. i am not at home, and to be honest haven't done much arcade mode, so can't tell you what my experience with this is, but i am fairly sure my amp (onkyo) lets me tell it what type of signal is going to be coming in each of its optical ins (as well as an 'auto-detect' setting and hence will avoid the delay mentioned when i specify the input signal). So it would be worth going into your amps config and seeing if you can tell it what to expect.


SiwWaWa
right now i have the sound field set to Pro Logic II Game
Click to expand...

this is only the output 'mode' of your amp. the input config is what matters. my amp has 'just' the two output options - and to be honest in GT4 i can't tell the difference.
 
Jedi2016
I have the same "problem", and it's not a problem at all, actually.

Optical cables can carry any type of signal.. from 2-channel PCM up to DTS 7.1, and everything in between. Trouble is, your reciever doesn't know what it is ahead of time. So, when the PS2 is sending no sound at all, the reciever just sits there waiting for an incoming signal. When it gets one, it briefly analyzes it to determine what it is, then it begins to play it. This causes a brief silence before the sound begins to play, so you often hear only the tail-end of the sound.

You'll notice it doesn't happen in the GT Mode menus, because there's already a sound signal being sent, and it's already been decoded (the music).

Basically, it's just a side-effect of the optical digital signal being analyzed by the reciever. My DVD player does the same thing, through the coaxial cable, because the reciever has to determine what it is before it can play it. The only time it doesn't happen is when you're using straight-up RCA analog cables.. the reciever already knows that it's 2-channel PCM, so it doesn't have to decipher anything.

Is there a way around it? Probably not.. just because of the "universal" nature of the digital signals. But I've never found it to be a problem. Most of the time there's music, or engine noise, or something, to keep the signal alive.
Click to expand...
thank you very much
thats the best answer i have ever heard and probably the most correct one
i don't get this "anomaly" with coaxial with my dvd player
your right, unless the signal is kept alive i get these so called "jitters"
my speakers on the LED receiver display light up when there's sound and light down (lol) when there's no signal
well if its 2-channel PCM and i force 2-channel mode i still get delay's
anyone explain that?
 
Ezz777
this is only the output 'mode' of your amp. the input config is what matters. my amp has 'just' the two output options - and to be honest in GT4 i can't tell the difference.
Click to expand...

elaborate more on input config?
i set the a/v sync to N (means no delay), i set the speaker distance close enough so there shouldn't be a delay either
so far games are the only thing that act up, dvd's are fine, dolby digital and dts all work
 
input config will depend on your amp. my amp allows a manual selection of input signal or an automatic option (what seems to cause the delays). i am guessing that most amps would allow some sort of config for their optical inputs. get out your amps manual and have a look...

the a/v sync is something different - and i don't believe will have any effect on an optical input.. neither should the speaker distance have any major effect on the jitters. again best bet, give your manual a good read and i am sure something will turn up. otherwise, just don't use arcade mode...
 
i can set analog, digital or auto (auto gives priority to digital signals)
digital or auto doesn't help eliminate delays
its sony...
they don't write good manuals and there config system isn't exactly deep or detailed
 
onkyo's config and manual are both pretty in depth. i don't use much in the way of sony stuff (except of course for my 'GT4 player'...) as i reckon you are generally paying more for the brand name.
 
Ezz777
onkyo's config and manual are both pretty in depth. i don't use much in the way of sony stuff (except of course for my 'GT4 player'...) as i reckon you are generally paying more for the brand name.
Click to expand...
very true but i'm really satisfied with it so far
7.1 channel receiver with a ton of inputs 2 component, 3 s-video, 4 composite, 3 digital, 2 coaxial
i'm quite pleased with its performance (other than the ps/ps2 related issue)
supports a wide range of decoding methods dolby digital, pro logic II, dts, neo, etc.
has progessive support, upconverts composite signals to s-video
 
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