With 4K bluray players starting to emerge now, seems we really need to start keeping straight which ones will allow those of us with Sonos Playbars enjoy some semblance of Dolby sound when certain 4K blurays only offer DTS. (Note, I haven't yet purchased a 4K bluray, so am unaware of the typical sound offerings.)
But we went through this once already, for regular bluray players, with many threads devoted to outlining the multiple Samsung models of bluray that decode DTS to Dolby 5.1 (I ended up buying a Sony that also does so). Now let's do the same for 4K players.
So far we have the Samsung UBD K8500 (which seems to clearly decode DTS to dolby.) Now what about the Philips? The Panasonic? The Xbox One S?
Anyone have any idea?
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That has been ordered although i do'nt have a 4k hdmi source to check it with just a Wii U (which has dubious 5.12 support) and a basic panasonic blu-ray
That has been ordered although i do'nt have a 4k hdmi source to check it with just a Wii U (which has dubious 5.12 support) and a basic panasonic blu-ray
That has been ordered although i do'nt have a 4k hdmi source to check it with just a Wii U (which has dubious 5.12 support) and a basic panasonic blu-ray
So that bit of kit didnt really work, the ARC feed from the TV did return a 5.1 signal however there was no conversion of a DTS signal from Blu-ray or LPCM (from the Wii U) to 5.1. Sending it back then.
Samsung UBD - M9500
Any of you lucky guys in the US managed to get hold of the Sammy M9500 yet? I finally took the plunge and bought myself an Oppo 203 - only to find it wouldn't fit in my cabinet (not even with some modification to back of cabinet) so my last resort is get the K8500 now or wait (end of May UK) for the new M9500.
Any of you lucky guys in the US managed to get hold of the Sammy M9500 yet? I finally took the plunge and bought myself an Oppo 203 - only to find it wouldn't fit in my cabinet (not even with some modification to back of cabinet) so my last resort is get the K8500 now or wait (end of May UK) for the new M9500.
'last resort' lol. It has a stunning picture and sound output that I would bet pretty much nobody could ever differentiate between.
I have one connected to my 4K tv and have never seen a picture so good.
I have one connected to my 4K tv and have never seen a picture so good.
Hey SJW, So is it worth me waiting for the M9500 then?
Not for what is added no way.
Would still love to get a report from someone using the Samsung M9500 with the playbar! DTS to Dolby decoding working smoothly? Picture quality?
I'd imagine it's every bit as good as pretty much every other 4K UHD player out there and indistinguishable to 99%+ of users.
Samsung M9500
Great News - Got my new Sammy M9500 today and the re-encoding to DD 5.1 works a treat via HDMI, sounds brilliant !!!!! (Soundbar, Sub, 2 x Play 1's)
Picture quality is pretty stunning so far, but haven't had time to test it fully yet.
Great News - Got my new Sammy M9500 today and the re-encoding to DD 5.1 works a treat via HDMI, sounds brilliant !!!!! (Soundbar, Sub, 2 x Play 1's)
Picture quality is pretty stunning so far, but haven't had time to test it fully yet.
Great News - Got my new Sammy M9500 today and the re-encoding to DD 5.1 works a treat via HDMI, sounds brilliant !!!!! (Soundbar, Sub, 2 x Play 1's)
Picture quality is pretty stunning so far, but haven't had time to test it fully yet.
Samsung M9500 - Update
Have found small problem with new Sammy - Re-encoding via bitstream works great when playing discs but problem if playing mkv files from USB - the audio only works if changed to PCM. This is a known problem and has been logged by other users with Samsung who are working on a firmware fix, to be released shortly. Picture quality is still amazing and makes it bearable listening to soundtrack in stereo. Will let you know of anything else I encounter.
Have found small problem with new Sammy - Re-encoding via bitstream works great when playing discs but problem if playing mkv files from USB - the audio only works if changed to PCM. This is a known problem and has been logged by other users with Samsung who are working on a firmware fix, to be released shortly. Picture quality is still amazing and makes it bearable listening to soundtrack in stereo. Will let you know of anything else I encounter.
Just going to wait it out for the right 4K bluray player that transcodes - and problem will be solved. I did the same thing back with regular blurays. I now have a Sony player that transcodes, so there's no issue at all there. It's really just a need for the right player (elusive right now!)
Which normal Sony Blu Ray player are you using that transcodes DTS to 5.1?
I'm still considering which route to go and would really like an xbox one S anyway, I've been reading all the posts mainly the one below that says these settings work to get dd 5.1 from DTS thats all I'm concerned about on all blu rays including 4k to get 5.1 to passthrough to my playbase since my tv is capable of this on all other devices and inputs. Has anyone been able to confirm for sure 100% that this is the case with the xbox one S on the latest software update? I'm thinking this is a good option now since it will also support Dolby Atmos and DTS as well if in the future I decide to get a full fledged home theatres setup with a receiver, but want to make sure it will play nice with the playbase.
Alright Tom. I can't find the feed for the Xbox setup. Want to make sure before I take the plunge. It's really complicated isn't it haha. Do you know where the link is mate. Still pondering which one to get. Obviously I don't need the Dolby vision but obviously DD5.1 and HDR is a must. What's the quality like on the picture does anyone know?
I can't find the link. But I did do a cut & paste of his instructions in case I ever needed them. Here is what he posted:
Xbox One DD5.1 setting:
All Settings > Display & Sound > Audio Output
Set to:
HDMI audio: Bitstream out
Optical audio: Bitstream out
Bitstream format: Dolby Digital (other option is DTS Digital Surround)
I can't find the link. But I did do a cut & paste of his instructions in case I ever needed them. Here is what he posted:
Xbox One DD5.1 setting:
All Settings > Display & Sound > Audio Output
Set to:
HDMI audio: Bitstream out
Optical audio: Bitstream out
Bitstream format: Dolby Digital (other option is DTS Digital Surround)
Just going to wait it out for the right 4K bluray player that transcodes - and problem will be solved. I did the same thing back with regular blurays. I now have a Sony player that transcodes, so there's no issue at all there. It's really just a need for the right player (elusive right now!)
Which normal Sony Blu Ray player are you using that transcodes DTS to 5.1?
I'm positive this has been confirmed in this thread but was unable to find a definite answer that under the correct settings the XBOX One S can convert DTS to DD 5.1 and thus passthrough to the Playable connected via HDMI to my TV. I should note my Sony Tv does support 5.1 passthrough for all other sources. I'm getting close to taking the plunge on UHD player and thinking given the price and added advantage of a game system the XBOX one S might best fit my needs over the Samsung's. The OPPO is out of my budget and I would have prefered the Sony UBP-x800 but looks like from this thread its been confirmed it does not transcode DTS to 5.1 and can only pass PCM. Appreciate if anyone can verify the XBOX One S and offer any last minute advice before I pull the trigger on the Xbox. Thanks, this forum and users on here have been extremely helpful.
I can confirm that it does work. Well, at least I can confirm it works over the Xbox One's optical output. I have it hooked to an older surround receiver which has an HDMI switch feature, but it's just passthrough and doesn't support HDMI audio in, hence the optical connection. Under settings -> display and sound -> audio output are the settings for sound output. Playing a Blu-Ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio track, when the optical bitstream format is set to Dolby on the Xbox, the Dolby Digital LED lights up on my receiver. Setting the bitstream output to DTS lights up the DTS LED on the receiver. (And surround sound plays in both cases.)
It should work over HDMI the same way, though in your case you'd set the HDMI output to bitstream.
Samsung M9500 Update
I've now had a couple of weeks with this player and have now got the audio issues sorted out.
As stated before - the 're-encoding to Dolby Digital' when playing disc is fine and sounds superb. It's when playing movies via USB that there were issues. Not anymore!
When playing movies via USB (MKV) the following settings seem to resolve all Audio issues:-
In 'Sound' settings:
Set the Audio Output to 'Auto' instead of 'Re-encode DD',
In 'Picture' settings:
Set HDMI Deep Colour to 'OFF'
Because of the limitations of the Sonos system I always convert the Audio on all my MKV's to Dolby Digital 5.1.
All my MKV movies that i've tried so far (H264 - 1080p & H265 - 2160p) all have a couple of little (seconds) pauses when starting (must be some sort of handshake going on) but all fine after in glorious DD 5.1 and with no lip sync issues - all via HDMI.
I tried turning OFF the Deep Colour as I've read elsewhere in other forums about this sometimes having a detrimental effect on Audio over HDMI for several manufacturers players, not just Samsung .
As also stated before the picture quality of this player is fantastic, and now with DD 5.1 for all my movies (disc & USB) it's the total package i was hoping for.
Samsung are still looking at the whole HDMI Audio performance of this player and may be releasing another firmware update in the near future.
But for now i'm one very happy bunny.
I've now had a couple of weeks with this player and have now got the audio issues sorted out.
As stated before - the 're-encoding to Dolby Digital' when playing disc is fine and sounds superb. It's when playing movies via USB that there were issues. Not anymore!
When playing movies via USB (MKV) the following settings seem to resolve all Audio issues:-
In 'Sound' settings:
Set the Audio Output to 'Auto' instead of 'Re-encode DD',
In 'Picture' settings:
Set HDMI Deep Colour to 'OFF'
Because of the limitations of the Sonos system I always convert the Audio on all my MKV's to Dolby Digital 5.1.
All my MKV movies that i've tried so far (H264 - 1080p & H265 - 2160p) all have a couple of little (seconds) pauses when starting (must be some sort of handshake going on) but all fine after in glorious DD 5.1 and with no lip sync issues - all via HDMI.
I tried turning OFF the Deep Colour as I've read elsewhere in other forums about this sometimes having a detrimental effect on Audio over HDMI for several manufacturers players, not just Samsung .
As also stated before the picture quality of this player is fantastic, and now with DD 5.1 for all my movies (disc & USB) it's the total package i was hoping for.
Samsung are still looking at the whole HDMI Audio performance of this player and may be releasing another firmware update in the near future.
But for now i'm one very happy bunny.
Samsung M9500 Update 2
Great news - Samsung have just released a new firmware update for the M9500 and it solves all the Audio issues i've encountered.
It now plays re-encoded DD 5.1 for all formats (Disc & USB) and sounds as good as it looks without me having to change the output format. Just set it to 'Re-encode Dolby Digital 5.1' for all sources (Disc & USB) and it works brilliantly!
It looks absolutely fabulous on my Sony, even my wife has sat open mouthed at the picture quality. Planet Earth II looks bloody amazing!!!!
Definitely one for the Sonos user to consider as it's way better than the K8500 for picture quality. I believe it's also had a recent price drop in the US.
Great news - Samsung have just released a new firmware update for the M9500 and it solves all the Audio issues i've encountered.
It now plays re-encoded DD 5.1 for all formats (Disc & USB) and sounds as good as it looks without me having to change the output format. Just set it to 'Re-encode Dolby Digital 5.1' for all sources (Disc & USB) and it works brilliantly!
It looks absolutely fabulous on my Sony, even my wife has sat open mouthed at the picture quality. Planet Earth II looks bloody amazing!!!!
Definitely one for the Sonos user to consider as it's way better than the K8500 for picture quality. I believe it's also had a recent price drop in the US.
A question for the Samsung owners:
The manuals for the K8500 and M9500 both have a table of which audio format they'll output depending on the disk's audio format and the re-encode setting. (In the English M9500 manual it's on page 51.) That table says that for Blu-ray discs, it will always output "Re-encoded Dolby Digital", but for DVD discs it will still output DTS unchanged if the disc has DTS. Can someone confirm or deny that? Or is it simply not a problem in practice because practically all DVDs have a Dolby Digital version of the sound track on the disc?
The manuals for the K8500 and M9500 both have a table of which audio format they'll output depending on the disk's audio format and the re-encode setting. (In the English M9500 manual it's on page 51.) That table says that for Blu-ray discs, it will always output "Re-encoded Dolby Digital", but for DVD discs it will still output DTS unchanged if the disc has DTS. Can someone confirm or deny that? Or is it simply not a problem in practice because practically all DVDs have a Dolby Digital version of the sound track on the disc?
Hi, I own the k9500 as well, but today I tested the amazon prime app and I got no sound. Netflix works. In the settings for the app I can't find anything to change the sound format. Seems like the transcoding is not working for the app. Any solutions for that?
And another thing: has anybody tried to play movies with ac3 by dlna? No matter, if I use the Synology Video Station or the normal dlna via source, only stereo ... I tried the settings opsman did, no success
I don't wish to hijack this thread but wondered if anyone could help.
It's great that there seems to be solutions to get the Playbar to recognise Blu Ray DTS re-encoded to DD5:1 but I have had my Playbar for 2 weeks now and can not even get it to recognise DD5:1 from DVD players. It's fine with Sky Q and Apple TV but not with Blu Ray players. I have tried 3 different players now, and the Sonos app reports it is receiving a stereo signal.
My TV (Samsung F800) passes 5:1 but again not from Blu Ray player. It's driving me nuts, so if anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate it. Both Sonos and Samsung haven't been any help.
I have been thinking of returning the Sonos gear and getting the Heos,
It's great that there seems to be solutions to get the Playbar to recognise Blu Ray DTS re-encoded to DD5:1 but I have had my Playbar for 2 weeks now and can not even get it to recognise DD5:1 from DVD players. It's fine with Sky Q and Apple TV but not with Blu Ray players. I have tried 3 different players now, and the Sonos app reports it is receiving a stereo signal.
My TV (Samsung F800) passes 5:1 but again not from Blu Ray player. It's driving me nuts, so if anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate it. Both Sonos and Samsung haven't been any help.
I have been thinking of returning the Sonos gear and getting the Heos,
Out of interest what Blu Ray players have you tried, because only some older Sony's and most of the Samsung range have the ability to transcode to Dolby Digital 5.1 on the fly?
I can't readily remember the model numbers, but they were Samsung Blu Ray players. They were at the lower end of the price scale (under £100) but the specs said they output DD5:1 via their HDMI connector.
As an aside, all this messing with optical connectors has backfired now. The connector on my Samsung TV is now knackered. Can't get the optical plug in now. Need to get it repaired.
As an aside, all this messing with optical connectors has backfired now. The connector on my Samsung TV is now knackered. Can't get the optical plug in now. Need to get it repaired.
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