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



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I saw just saw that the Sony site had the user manual available for the new UBP-X800 4K player. After looking at the audio output options, the only "downmix" option is to 2 channel, or the fake surround mode of Dolby Pro Logic or NEO:6. Bummer.

So, I either have to settle for the Samsung K8500 which is a mediocre player at best or maybe it's time to sell my Sonos system on ebay and get a "real" sourround system. Because DD5.1 is already old and it's just going to get harder and harder finding hardware that can interface with it.

Sony manual
https://esupport.sony.com/US/p/model-home.pl?mdl=UBPX800&template_id=1®ion_id=1&tab=manuals#/manualsTab
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I figured as much after reading the Sony manual online. Well, the new LG 4k player is supposed to be released on Monday the 6th. I'm going to wait and see if it has this feature. If it doesn't than I'll have to strongly consider selling my Sonos system, or maybe I'll try out the Samsung player.
Yeah, if Sonos or anyone could come up with a device to transcode to DD5.1 it would fix this issue. Otherwise I really like the Sonos sound.
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I'm going to have to try the LG player, as well. I've purchased and returned the Philips, Samsung (it converts but I hoping there was a better player), Oppo, and, now, the Sony.

If the LG doesn't do it...I'm beginning to feel the same way as you.

I have no engineering prowess but...are there any engineers on these boards who could create a breakout box or something to, as you stated, transcode to DD5.1? Sell it to Sonos users directly. Offer up as a proof of concept, reveal that there is a sizable community willing to buy it, and, ultimately, license it to Sonos? Anyone?
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I think I'm going to switch over to the Bose SoundTouch 300 system. It's obvious that Bose has made this system to be a direct competitor with the Sonos system. The price is the same. BUT - it has HDMI with DTS support. Glad I kept all of the Sonos boxes, because it looks like these are going up for sale on ebay real soon.
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no optical out on the upb x800 either which is strange..Sony removed the optical from the ps4 slim as well....is this the end of Sony and optical? do Sony TV's pass 5.1 over hdmi?
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Ugh. Confirming on my end, too - the Sony UPB x800 appears to have no setting/way to transcode DTS to Dolby 5.1 sound. I'm really bummed. I completely agree with everything Musica mentioned - it's truly painful because this is really one quality 4k bluray player. Far and away nicer quality than the Samsung. Absolutely better picture. Better remote. Better setting displays. Better everything. But now I refuse to buy back that Samsung player, which I already had and returned. So as of right now, I'm just giving up on watching 4K blurays. Just gonna wait it out until more choices that transcode hit the market. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of the LG soon and share our info.
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Hi Guys, i've been chatting on the Official X800 Owners Thread on AVS forums and have been told that it can:-
"The player will internally decode all flavors of DTS (HD Master Audio, etc) and Dolby to PCM...up to 7.1 channels as long as BD Mix audio is set to 'off'. There's no need to convert DD to DTS first". Have any of you tried this option?
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Hi Guys, i've been chatting on the Official X800 Owners Thread on AVS forums and have been told that it can:-
"The player will internally decode all flavors of DTS (HD Master Audio, etc) and Dolby to PCM...up to 7.1 channels as long as BD Mix audio is set to 'off'. There's no need to convert DD to DTS first". Have any of you tried this option?
I saw that discussion too - I honestly don't think they understood what the question was. All these bluray players have specs that state they can "decode" DTS, dolby, etc...but that just means they can play any type of audio format. The issue here is we need to "Trans-code" DTS to Dolby. And this player - unless I missed something (I tried every audio setting possible) seems that it will not.
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Hi. I, too, saw that discussion (since that's what we have to do - scour discussion boards to glean information for workarounds to try to make this aging technology work). Like Carson, I tried that - and every combination I could manage - and, sadly, nothing fed a DD 5.1 signal.
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Oh Bugger - I was hoping that the X800 would be the answer to all our prayers!! I thought we'd see a new Playbar out later this year with HDMI and DTS but with the release of the Playbase I think we're well and truly scuppered. Better start looking at alternatives for my Bar & Sub?
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Just to update you all, here is the reply from the AVS Forum:-
"The x800 doesn't not have the "Dolby D Compatible Output" option which is what you are looking for. This converts DTS to DD5.1 on the fly. (The Sony BDP-S6700 does for instance). The x800 is only able to converts DTS/Dolby Digital to multi channel PCM. So unless you're Sonos Soundbar can accept a multi channel PCM input, then you'll need to find alternative solutions".

Not what i wanted to hear - have to start looking at alternatives now as this is getting ridiculous and Sonos don't seem to listen to it's user base.
My Soundbar & Sub will be up for sale pretty soon i think !!!
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I can confirm that the Panasonic 900 doesn't work and I'm livid because my LG tv optical out port broke within seconds of trying to link it up, so I can only use a splitter and cable into the blu-ray and other devices. None of my 4K discs have any sound other than through the tv as they are all 7.1. I've only just finished the Sonos setup before the price hike - so 6 Play 1s throughout the house for wireless music and one Playbar, plus all the Flexson stands and extension cables. So I have brilliant Sonos sound, brilliant picture on Panasonic, but not sound on 4K movies. Gutted.

Yeah, I hear 'ya.
If the Sonos system sounded lousy, it would be an easy decision to scrap it for something else. But they got everything else so right - it makes this extremely frustrating.

In another thread here, Ryan from Sonos states that "Sonos is focused on modern listeners who predominantly steam". So you and I are apparently behind the times using our new-fangled UDH Blu-Ray players.


Atmos thread:
https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/dolby-atmos-6767029
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Yeah, I hear 'ya.
If the Sonos system sounded lousy, it would be an easy decision to scrap it for something else. But they got everything else so right - it makes this extremely frustrating.


Exactly
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Tried reaching out to LG with this question about the transcoding feature on their upcoming player. (Might as well try to find some info while waiting for the release right?) The discussion, as you might guess, wasn't especially helpful. ("No full specs available yet."). I did ask if LG bluray players historically have this feature, and the answer I got was no. So, I continue to have no expectations for this. What's our next possibility after LG? Isn't samsung supposed to be coming out with another 4K player or two? I'm not going to get my hopes up for the other Sony (crazy price aside), since this one doesn't have it. Likewise, the less expensive Panasonic coming (why would that have the feature if this one doesn't.) At this point, just looking to a higher quality Samsung as a last resort?

I also contacted LG by email about this. To no surprise they misunderstood my question entirely and gave me some gobbledy-goop about streaming music. Oh well.
I keep checking the LG website to see if the manual is available to download, but still no luck. Like you, I have little hope it'll be able to transcode, but I'm going to give it another week or two for the UP970 release.
I did some checking on the Xbox One S. It has been stated in this forum that it supports transcoding. But the Xbox One S doesn't have very good reviews about it's Blu-ray performance. If the LG doesn't come through, I guess I have to decide if I want to go with the Samsung K8500 or "cut-bait" and sell my Sonos system.
The other day I went down to my local Best Buy and listen to the Bose Soundtouch 300. It sounded fantastic! I would have no reservations switching to that system. It's just the hassle of re-selling the Sonos gear that has me hesitating at this point.
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It does look like Samsung has two more players coming - m9500 looks like a possible upgrade over than the K8500. Maybe that'll get the job done? Not sure when it's releasing - looks like sometime in May in Europe is all I can tell.
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opsman:
Thanks for that information. I was also considering the Yamaha's. What held me off was you really need a square or rectangular room for those to perform at their best.

I agree, I love the way the Sonos system handles both movies and music so well. Previously I had tried a Vizio and a Sony soundbar/sub/surround systems and neither could play music anywhere near as good as Sonos.

Have you had a chance to hear the Bose Soundtouch 300? I listened to the "canned" demo in a Best Buy. They didn't have any rear speakers connected, just the soundbar and sub. But I thought it sounded on par with Sonos with both movies and music reproduction.
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Hi Tom, No i haven't had chance to listen to the Bose Soundtouch system yet but am hoping to get proper demo in my local Bose store in the next week. After my Yamaha experience I wasn't intending any more demos but your response has got me intrigued, so i'll give it a go and see what i find? Just out of interest - what setting do you prefer for movies - Trueplay On or Off??
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Hi Tom, No i haven't had chance to listen to the Bose Soundtouch system yet but am hoping to get proper demo in my local Bose store in the next week. After my Yamaha experience I wasn't intending any more demos but your response has got me intrigued, so i'll give it a go and see what i find? Just out of interest - what setting do you prefer for movies - Trueplay On or Off??

I use Trueplay enabled. Though, since I'm an Android user I was disappointed that Sonos wasn't supporting that OS. In fact none of my friends or family use an apple device that I could borrow. So, I went on ebay and bought an old iPhone 4s for $25. After setting up Trueplay the sound was noticeably improved. It had a fuller and more balanced sound.
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I've all but given up hope on a DV HDR option for 2017, looks like the first 2017 HDR UHD Bluray player that transcodes DTS to DD on the fly will get my business and i'll have to live with no DV HDR on physical discs when they come out thanks to the dreaded Sonos limitation. But hey-- everyone streams anyway though right?
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There's still a small sliver of hope that the new Xbox (Project Scorpio) might double as a decent UHD blu-ray player that can handle HDR10 and DV through a firmware update. Considering all consoles in the past have been able to transcode DTS to DD 5.1 over optical via bitstream-- that could end up being a real option. All this assuming that the picture quality doesn't suck.

Sounds dumb but, I feel like there's an opportunity for Sonos to reach out to one of these suppliers (like Oppo) to see if they can include DTS to Dolby 5.1 transcoding in either their current models through firmware update or in a future step-up model.

I'm just so fed up with having to even deal with this for a $2000 surround system and being told its not a limitation because people don't buy blu-rays anymore... because they do, especially those who plunk down $2000 for a home theatre audio setup.
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There's still a small sliver of hope that the new Xbox (Project Scorpio) might double as a decent UHD blu-ray player that can handle HDR10 and DV through a firmware update. Considering all consoles in the past have been able to transcode DTS to DD 5.1 over optical via bitstream-- that could end up being a real option. All this assuming that the picture quality doesn't suck.

Sounds dumb but, I feel like there's an opportunity for Sonos to reach out to one of these suppliers (like Oppo) to see if they can include DTS to Dolby 5.1 transcoding in either their current models through firmware update or in a future step-up model.

I'm just so fed up with having to even deal with this for a $2000 surround system and being told its not a limitation because people don't buy blu-rays anymore... because they do, especially those who plunk down $2000 for a home theatre audio setup.


Any idea when the new XBox is projected to release? Love the idea of Sonos reaching out to a brand with that request. I'm just not sure that they would give Sonos the time of day. Would take big $? Or could the brand be convinced that enough of their audience are also Sonos - and potential Sonos - customers, such that it's also in the brand's best interest. I also have no idea how big of a deal it is to add this (seemingly simple) feature in audio settings.
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Yeah, I am also considering buying a Samsung K8500 to get by until a better model comes along - be it the M9500 or the LG UP970, or ??.
I don't know anything about a new Xbox coming out. I understood that the current Xbox One S did support transcoding to DD5.1. Granted it only supports HDR10 at this time. But, since Dolby Announced they would have a software only version of DV, I thought that it was conceivable that the current Xbox could get an upgrade for this. After all MS announced that Atmos was coming to the Xbox in a future upgrade. Am I missing something with the Xbox?
.... when i got the guy to play some music 'Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms' i was shocked. They have no real musicality and sound horrendously bright, especially the 2700, I was expecting so much more! Even playing around with the DSP controls didn't help.... the piece de resistance - played the same Dire Straits and it was on a different planet - superbly musical, great top end and mid range all underpinned by the Sub, just a fantastic sound.

My hat is off to you for choosing one of the most musical and expertly produced rock albums of the past 30 years to use as your test disc. I prefer to test with that one, Peter Gabriel's 'So', or Robert Plant's "Pictures at Eleven". All three are flawless and bound to expose cracks in any system. They are also albums I'll listen to all the way through and enjoy, unlike most of the jazz stuff I've used for location tests and demos.

With that out of the way, did you get a chance to play some music that wasn't as well done? I've found that certain music that sounded good on my very neutral two channel system sounded compressed and even lifeless on the Sonos. A large portion of my music is FLAC/ALAC originals and remasters of sixties and seventies music, and most of it sounds very dead through my Sonos system. The newer, the better. Have you experienced this?
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There's nothing mentioned in here about the Xbox One S which I can't seem to find a conclusive answer on. Some people seem to think it does. This would make it one of the least expensive ways to grab a UHD player which works with the Playbar.

Any advice?
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The Xbox One was an option so the One S might be. Only problem is that I don't think its HDR10 compatible so its only allowing you to watch 4k Blu-rays, which is fine except the whole reason we're jumping through hoops to find the right UHD players is that we're looking for an HDR10 and Dolby Vision compatible UHD player that transcodes DTS to DD 5.1 ... the holy grail for long suffering Sonos Home Theatre owners.