Can people stop complaining about DTS?

No hateful comments from me, but I suspect it will be like asking the wind to stop blowing, or the sun to stop shining.

But I admire your viewpoint 🙂

It is a bit no research for sure. Actually I would be in the camp it should have been included for simplicity sake. Sonos wanted the playbar to be a plug and go so tried to make everything as simple as possible. But the DTS issue probably should have been thought out more. Is it a flaw? No Is it something that would have been preferred? Yes. But definitely fact is it works as designed and if you didn't like that design or were misinformed then hey maybe it wasn't for them.

I used to see a lot more complaining.. Don't notice it much anymore. Nothing like the new interface haters ... I never found the why No DTS crowd to actually be hateful about it.... just a little whiney.

And actually for the first time about a week ago I set my Playbar to a permanent 5.1 group (before I had only done on a few occasions for a movie just to try it out). I got a Sonos One for my bathroom which meant I really had 2 extra Play:1s then to go full 5.1 (I have always had Playbar and Sub grouped).

I have to say after a week of having and playing not only TV but Music. The setup is pretty amazing when it comes to sound quality. It really fills a room and with great lows and clarity. Not sure why we get complaints here on not hearing voices very well as I think the overall tone of it is terrific. Also nice you can trueplay the whole thing where the 2 Play:1s aren't exactly at same height and angle in room but with trueplay the sound is well balanced between them.

I will say the audio bug bit me at a young age. I heard my first car audio demo vehicle when I was 13. I am now 40. I worked for one of the biggest audio manufacturers and I was even an IASCA judge for 3 years. I am not saying I am a guru but I feel I have an advantage over your average joe. I have literally owned dozens and dozens of home theater setups starting with $50 “home theater in a box” to a full blown Snell Acoustics 5.1 set up and everything in between. My last set up before this was a Samsung HWK950 wireless atmos system. I had nothing but issues with the Samsung and replaced it with Sonos. I will say the Sonos is my favorite set up ever. In this price range you will not find any component system that sounds nice or is easier to set up. I have had the Sonos gear for a short time and I have had ZERO issues. Not even a hiccup. I do not watch dvds I only stream content and the experience with movies is more than enjoyable. Maybe all the people wishing for dts support should spend $50-100 dollars on a streaming stick or device and see what they are missing. I am sure any movie you have in your collection will be available to you and if you do not agree that the sound is outstanding then frankly, there might be something wrong with you! Buy the gear directly from Sonos and a stick from amazon and you’ll have plenty of time to try it and return it.

Thank for the story Janna.

I was really into 5.1 and home theater about 10 years ago and had the full hard wired 5.1 system ... top of the line speakers etc.

It was fun at first but lost the novelity. When I went Sonos when I moved to my new house I never setup the whole 5.1 system again. I did use the 2 rears B&Ws for a system in my bedroom (with a Sonos Connect attached). And my old system with the 2 B&W fronts and Sub attached. My B&W Center Channel speaker sits in a closet.

And I really barely use those. Sonos is just so much more convienient and the old 5.1 systems and amps just don't give me much use.

Now .... over Christmas I got a good deal on a new Sonos One and another Play:5. I had a Playbar/Sub on my TV on my third floor loft (that didn't get a lot of use either). I put the new Play:5 up there and a Sonos One replaced the Play:1 in my bathroom. So that freed up a playbar, Sub and a Play:1 .... yes for reason my sunroom with my 65" TV just so happens to have a Play:1 already in there.

Now back enjoying 5.1 sound for the first time in about 7 years at home. Sounds terrific without the wires and hassle of my old system. No I'm not to watching movies yet - I think if I use my son's PlayStation 4 attached to that TV I can watch bluerays (will it convert to DD5.1 I have no idea). Key thing is I'm actually enjoying 5.1 again which other solutions just weren't giving the ease of setup and quality that Sonos gives.

Is the compatibility still in the back of my mind. yes - for one I don't know what I will be able to play via the playstation movie wise (but I dont' really watch blurays anymore). Does it hinder my purchase decisions - yes I would probably replace the B&W/amp system in my living room with a Playbase if I knew it was more future proof.

What I really want is a SuperConnect Box that sends out signals to all Sonos speakers to create 5.1 (like using 3 Play:5s for front, center, right). And Dolby Atmos compatibility - that would be incredible.

So I guess my point is I really like the current Sonos solution. It is easy and high quality. But I can also see people still shying away from the Sonos solution because it does have its limitations. I still right now for a lot of people recommend getting a wired 7.1 system if they want surround sound/atmos/DTS/higher end codecs with a Sonos Connect attached to make it Sonos.... if that is what they are in to they won't be satisfied with the current playbar/playbase solution.

Not sure where to post but I need to chime in. I love this forum, but a question for all the complainers of DTS not being supported. Did you actually research before you purchased this very expensive equipment? I have read so many people whining “I’m going to return my Sonos” or I’m selling my gear” or “wahhhhhh I’m not buying Sonos unless they give me DTS”. I spent hours researching before I even went to the store to give it a listen. It very clear and in no way hidden that this equipment is geared towards streaming media and music. It clearly states that DTS is not supported. To be honest, I didn’t even know people still watch DVDs! Wait....are VCRs still around too?? People think that Sonos is not listening. I believe they are listening and their answer is NO. They have a very specific brand with one goal in mind. Add music easily throughout your whole home. I think the 5.1 is a bonus but it’s not their claim to fame. I have the 5.1 set up and a couple Play 5s and could not be happier with them. Movies AND Music sound great.
Please stop complaining. If the equipment is not exactly what you want, don’t buy it and please don’t whine that you would buy it “if”. Should I call Apple and tell them I’ll buy thousands of dollars of their brand if they “would simply integrate windows 10” to their interface? Ok, enough venting for 1 day. Phew, that felt good! Bring on the hateful comments, I can handle it.


In my own experience, I had no idea what DTS was when I got into Sonos. I was in hifi audio in the previous century, and I got out when Dolby Digital was still called AC-3. At the time, I could get a perfect soundstage out of a pair of high quality B&W speakers and an excellent amp; with a DVD player source I had a home theater that my audiophile friends agreed was worth more than any multi-channel system they'd heard.

Years later that system was damaged, and as my priorities had changed I replaced it with a multi-channel Sony AVR and a bunch of polk speakers. The system was bland, to say the least. When Blu-ray players became affordable I got on that train. Sometimes I'd play with the various sound settings and experiment with different processing, picking out halls and such. Once in a while the DTS light would engage on the front panel, and I'd notice... nothing. It wasn't appreciably different from regular Dolby Digital. It just seemed like typical multi-channel audio. I remember reading that DTS vs DD5.1 was somewhat of a format war, and that Dolby was entrenched and would likely win. Most discs had both, it was a non-issue. So I forgot about it. I never liked the Sony system I had, not a bit, but I figured I was done with hifi so I just lived with it.

Years later, a customer demo'd his new Play:1 for me. I was astounded by how the thing sounded, especially the mids. Vocals just shimmered. I shopped around and found that there was a "complete" home theater setup offered by Sonos. The price was ok so I decided to go for it. Once I got the bugs out and went through half a dozen updates, I'm pretty well satisfied.

Except for one small thing: at some point, many studios switched from DD5.1 to DTS on their Blu-rays. I was pretty surprised to find that movies I had listened to in multi-channel on the Sony system were now playing in stereo on the Sonos. Watching the insanely well-produced Skyfall, particularly the battle at the end, I should have been hearing explosions and glass-breakage all around me, but instead it was crammed into the soundbar along with the voices. The exquisite soundtrack was being crushed.

So in response to your question "did you actually research before you purchased this very expensive equipment?", I had no idea that DTS was still around, much less that it had very nearly taken over the Blu-ray software market. I had no idea Sonos didn't handle DTS. I never thought about it.

Now personally, its not going to get me to throw the system away, or sell it. Its fine when I'm on my Apple TV4K, and the audio comes in from Netflix as DD5.1. It just sucks that I have to shop for an overpriced player now that converts DD to DTS. It also sucks that Netflix is moving towards DD+, which Sonos doesn't support - but could. While a case has been made that its a bandwidth constraint that keeps DTS off Sonos (which could be solved by using HDMI input), it doesn't appear likely that same restriction is what keeps us from getting DD+ 7.1 audio. Will it ever happen?

What I really want is a SuperConnect Box that sends out signals to all Sonos speakers to create 5.1 (like using 3 Play:5s for front, center, right). And Dolby Atmos compatibility - that would be incredible.

Yep. You and I have been in agreement on that for some time. The logic for the system needs to be offloaded to a SuperConnect as you said, and it needs multiple HDMI inputs along with a complete decoder suite. Make an entry level SuperConnect that gets us up to DTS/DD+ which would preserve everyone's investment in the various Play speakers. Make a hifi SuperConnectHT that gets us Dolby True HD/Atmos/DTS:X, with software upgrades available for the inevitable new standard that will emerge just after these go to market.

Ultimately, Sonos could offer height speakers that add on to the Plays, and perhaps a new Playbar that offers the same.

I could certainly see a newer device that could do that, so that they could include all of the necessary license fees for all the speakers needed in the one device's price point. But I have to wonder at what price point that device would end up being at. There's an odd connection often between perceived size and functionality and the associated cost. It's not a hard and fast rule, mind you, at least in my mind, but it's there.

I could certainly see a newer device that could do that, so that they could include all of the necessary license fees for all the speakers needed in the one device's price point. But I have to wonder at what price point that device would end up being at. There's an odd connection often between perceived size and functionality and the associated cost. It's not a hard and fast rule, mind you, at least in my mind, but it's there.


You're correct. We do in fact see that same argument when it comes to the price point on existing Sonos components. I'm pretty sure its human nature. I'd still like very much to see the market response to such a device though.

Rendering someone's entire BluRay collection useless is borderline class action lawsuit for an audio system that is sold as a home audio entertainment system. Picture the scene: everyone sits down to watch a BluRay and there's no audio once the movie starts. Wow...what a great sound system. (And for some reason my Sony BluRay player is not successfully converting the DTS to PCM so I'm truly stuck.)