4K/UHD bluray players that decode DTS to Dolby?

I assume the only way to get DD 5.1 though the K8500 is to use the digital/optical port, and you can't send DD 5.1 through the HDMI port (at least that's what I've found)? Bit of a pain as it now means I need to buy an optical switch to easily change the Playbar input to come from either the K8500 or the TV's digital/optical output.

My K8500 sends DD through HDMI, and my TV passes it through. The TV is another variable though... some pass DD 5.1 through, some convert it to PCM... some have a setting to allow it to pass one format through, and will convert anything else to PCM (i.e. select DD to pass through, but if DTS is received, it gets converted to PCM).

I had the Samsung K8500 and it did do dts to dd conversion. However, as a player it was decent, not great. I returned it and decided to upgrade to the OPPO 203.

The OPPO is, unquestionably, better than the Samsung in every way...except it doesn't convert dts to dd. Oppos have been touted as handling every format so I just assumed the 203 would do the conversion.

Well, I've emailed with OPPO and stressed that this is essential for Sonos owners. This is the reply I received....

John,

Unfortunately the player will not be able to convert Dolby Digital to DTS or DTS to Dolby Digital. This is something that we have asked the engineers to look into supporting, but at this time the player does not support his kind of conversion.

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.

It sounds promising but, please, I encourage the Sonos community to reach out and encourage this capability. Give them a call or email - please.

I would love for Sonos to offer some viable solution to the crippling dts and, even, the hi res audio format limitations. However, it is far more likely that this upgrade will be implemented by OPPO much sooner. A firmware upgrade is coming for Dolby Vision support. Please reach out so we can empower a Sonos-friendly dts to dd firmware upgrade capability.

Thanks.

Yes, I also emailed OPPO about this. I got a similar reply, but without the mention of them having their engineers looking into it. Maybe, just maybe these DD5.1 requests are adding up?

I had the Samsung K8500 and it did do dts to dd conversion. However, as a player it was decent, not great. I returned it and decided to upgrade to the OPPO 203.

The OPPO is, unquestionably, better than the Samsung in every way...except it doesn't convert dts to dd. Oppos have been touted as handling every format so I just assumed the 203 would do the conversion.

Well, I've emailed with OPPO and stressed that this is essential for Sonos owners. This is the reply I received....

John,

Unfortunately the player will not be able to convert Dolby Digital to DTS or DTS to Dolby Digital. This is something that we have asked the engineers to look into supporting, but at this time the player does not support his kind of conversion.

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.

It sounds promising but, please, I encourage the Sonos community to reach out and encourage this capability. Give them a call or email - please.

I would love for Sonos to offer some viable solution to the crippling dts and, even, the hi res audio format limitations. However, it is far more likely that this upgrade will be implemented by OPPO much sooner. A firmware upgrade is coming for Dolby Vision support. Please reach out so we can empower a Sonos-friendly dts to dd firmware upgrade capability.

Thanks.

Same situation - I bought the Samsung, was very disappointed in the performance/picture. Though it nicely converted DTS. My eye is on the new Sony X800. My non-4K bluray player is a Sony and it converts DTS to Dolby, so fingers crossed on this new one. As someone else mentioned, LG has a 4K bluray player coming out too, so another option. The bind we Sonos owners are in is picture vs. sound. If it were about picture, I'd go with the Panasonic (though pricey) or Oppo. For sound, literally Samsung is our only current option. Why can't we have both?

[quote= If it were about picture, I'd go with the Panasonic (though pricey) or Oppo. For sound, literally Samsung is our only current option. Why can't we have both?[/quote]

Exactly. Sonos prices it's products at a premium level. But, for the expensive Playbar they are seriously crippling it. We owners shouldn't have to be scrambling around trying to find a Blu-ray player that will successfully communicate with the Playbar. All the other soundbars on the market (including ones for $100) support the common audio streams (DTS, Dolby TrueHD, etc).

Yes, the Sony UPB-X800 is one to keep an eye on and see if it will do DD5.1. But, Sony only supports HDR10. While the LG UP970 does both HDR10 & Dolby Vision (like the Oppo 203). So, I'm hoping when the full specs are released it will downmix to DD5.1.

I assume the only way to get DD 5.1 though the K8500 is to use the digital/optical port, and you can't send DD 5.1 through the HDMI port (at least that's what I've found)? Bit of a pain as it now means I need to buy an optical switch to easily change the Playbar input to come from either the K8500 or the TV's digital/optical output.

My K8500 sends DD through HDMI, and my TV passes it through. The TV is another variable though... some pass DD 5.1 through, some convert it to PCM... some have a setting to allow it to pass one format through, and will convert anything else to PCM (i.e. select DD to pass through, but if DTS is received, it gets converted to PCM).

Thanks MikeV. Weird, I'll have another play as the TV passes Sky's DD 5.1 sound thought the HDMI cable to the Playbar, yet the K8500 connected to the MHL HDMI port (for HDCP2.2 support for UHD Blu ray) doesn't seem to get passed through??? Could be that it's the K8500 is not transmitting it through HDMI (but yours does), or my TV (Samsung UE55HU7500) treats this port differently somehow. I'll let everyone here know if I fix it, but for now I have an optical switch box with remote to switch the optical input into the Playbar (between TV and K8500).

I've found this list of TV's and their pass-through capabilities handy.
http://www.rtings.com/tv/tests/inputs/5-1-surround-audio-passthrough

Though I didn't see your particular model on this list

Interesting, thanks for the link. It's weird, as DD5.1 is definitely being passed through the Sky TV box which is plugged into the first HDMI port on that TV (labelled "HDMI STB"). I need the K8500 to be plugged into the HDMI MHL port for the UHD support annoyingly. At least it all works now via the optical cable, and I have a cool remote control to swap the Sonos optical input between the TV and K8500 so it instantly switches between stereo and DD5.1 (good for demos)! 🙂

Yes, the Sony UPB-X800 is one to keep an eye on and see if it will do DD5.1. But, Sony only supports HDR10. While the LG UP970 does both HDR10 & Dolby Vision (like the Oppo 203). So, I'm hoping when the full specs are released it will downmix to DD5.1.

I have a funny feeling the LG won't do it - but just a gut. Seems that only Sony and Samsung recognize this feature. We'll see though - sounds as though LG will be released sooner than the Sony. The thing about this feature is, it's so obscure and almost hidden, may not even be noticeable reading the specs/manual. Someone will have to buy the player and try it to see if we get the conversion to 5.1.

Well, here we go - Sony is taking pre-orders for the UPB-X800. Can't wait to determine if it will transcode DTS to Dolby...