really appreciate that thank you

Thanks @Corry P!

Why did you buy sonos knowing full well it doesn’t support these formats ? If you really wanted DTS-HD you could have got any number of sound bars or any number of receivers that do . The percentage of people still using physical disks or Plex is declining so why would a company spend millions implementing a format that a very small percentage use .  I know I’m harsh but here are some numbers I just looked up. 
Just in the US alone Netflix has almost 75 million subscribers . Units of UHD players sold last year is not even 500k . Then how many of those players will be used with a sonos arc or beam ? Very very small percentage . 

Not sure who you are referring to as “you” here. None of my posts indicate I was in any way misled or surprised to learn of the lack of DTS-HD and DTS:X support on my Arc after I bought it. In fact, for me, I only made the decision to buy the Arc once it was clear there was going to at least be support for LPCM.  As for UHD players sold last year, sure, it is a shrinking market.  But focusing only on last year sales fails to acknowledge the existing installed base of all the players still in use.  And maybe that is still a small portion of the Sonos customer base.  Got it.  But it certainly includes me.

Btw, your points, which are valid, were previously also raised by others, and yet Sonos reversed its decision to not provide any support for DTS by later adding support for basic DTS.  What changed?  Well, customers requested it.  Whether Sonos ever provides support for DTS-HD and DTS:X is obviously up to them.  Maybe it’s just not worth the cost to them.  Maybe they will add it.  But its hardly an unreasonable suggestion in terms of a feature request for a sound bar.

Hello,

I would assume if DTS-HD content is not interpreted by the Beam or the Arc, DTS core content should be played instead now that both are DTS compatible, shouldn’t it?

I think the codecs are backward compatible to DTS, but that’s also providing there’s nothing in between to stop the audio getting to the HT, like the TV for example, as some TV’s don’t allow pass-through of the DTS codec. I’m guessing this has ‘perhaps’ been done by TV manufacturers so that it encourages us to purchase their Blu-ray players to watch movies instead, but maybe I’m just being a little cynical.

HI Corry,

Thanks for raising this issue. Any updates from the teams?

Very interested in your views comparing between the ARC and the HT-A9, have you gone for the SA-SW5 as well?.

Would also love to know your experiences with the Sony system - looking for something that can handle DTS-HD/Master

There is a helpful comparison and review here of the Sonos Arc vs the Sony HT-A9:

https://www.rtings.com/soundbar/tools/compare/sonos-arc-vs-sony-ht-a9/13760/27047

I did think the HT-A9 was having audio dropout issues, so you may want to research that further too before making a purchase decision?

https://us.community.sony.com/s/question/0D54O00007AcFZJSA3/hta9-dropouts

Thanks for posting both of these, super helpful. The issue is that almost all of my Blu-Ray collection is DTS-HD or up, so even if Sonos rates slightly higher, I’m missing out on a whole realm by not putting everything up on Craigslist and moving on. 

If you’re luck is like mine, whats the betting that Sonos go onto support those codecs just after your decision to move on too.. ha ha

…but yes if your Blu-ray collection is the driving force right now, I guess there’s no point waiting and missing out on the way you prefer to watch/listen to your collection. Hope it all pans out for you. 

If you set your Blu-ray player to convert DTS to PCM, you can get Multichannel PCM audio from all of your DTS-HD Master Audio encoded discs which sounds just as good.

That only works if you’re using eARC right? I have an Arc but my current TV doesn’t have eARC

They likely added DTS support because the patent expired, so there were no licensing issues/costs involved.

https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=175103

Yes, eARC is required for Multichannel PCM audio. But eARC is also required for DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS:X too. Without eARC, you are limited to lossy DTS Digital Surround (which Sonos supports) or Stereo PCM from DTS-encoded discs.

I think I’m mentioned this to you a few times now. The very initial HT-A9 dropouts have long since been fixed by a Sony Firmware update. 

For me a very difficult decision deciding between these two systems based upon what I heard in my listening environment with my own content. Both systems sound great with very effective Dolby Atoms height speaker effects. Overall, the HT-A9 + Sony SW3 Sub sounds more airy and bright to my ears in my room than the ARC but not something I would call “sounds better” than the ARC--just different.

The HT-A9 phantom speaker is a marvel with very effective and clear dialog and you can move those two front speakers all over the place with some limitations and still retain very effective dialog. Uncanny really. 

**The Sony HT-A9 initially did have wireless disconnect problems for many when it was first released. This was fixed with an early Sony firmware update and I can confirm this was fixed when I used the system.** I did have one disconnect when I was running the HT-A9 right next to the active Sonos ARC--but The HT-A9 presented a wireless conflict message suggesting I run an automatic RF optimization process and with one click that was resolved and I was able to run the HT-A9 alongside the Sonos ARC without any further issues.

**I’ve never experienced wireless speaker disconnects with my Sonos system Ince I got it up and running, even when many others were complaining about Sonos speaker disconnects recently with one of the previous Sonos firmware updates, now apparently fixed.**

I have to admit is was a thrill to finally hear DTS:X from my UHD/4K blu-rays with the HT-A9. However, In the end I had a hard time distinguishing DTS:X from LPCM 5.1/7.1 from the same blu-ray through the Sonos Arc 5.1.2. But I do have to go through an extra  work-around to hear LPCM 5.1/7.1 on the ARC particularly since my LG TV blocks all forms of DTS codecs and I can't bypass the LG TV with the Sonos Arc’s single HDMI eARC port which is for me and my equipment frustrating. 

Finally, and again to my surprise the HT-A9’s four height speakers effect really didn’t win me over the Sonos’ two height speakers. At least not in my listening environment and acoustics. I was surprised at just how well the Sonos two-only height speaker effect compared to the HT-A9’s four and this was something I really concentrated on testing for many hours. The HT-A9 has the edge in this regard, but not enough to choose it IMO over the Sonos ARC 5.1.2 at least not in my listening enviroment.

In the end, I decided to stick with the Sonos Arc 5.1.2 even though there are a few things about the HT-A9 I prefer: two HDMI ports, the ability to process ALL forms of DTS from my 4K UHD Blu-rays and the many ways you can place the HT-A9 speakers all over the room without degrading sound and I do hope Sonos comes with an additional rear height speaker options some time soon.

The reasons I didn’t keep the HT-A9 include the most important ( in my house) 1. my wife preferred the Sonos Arc footprint and “the look”, black color with her decor over the four much larger HT-A9 light gray speakers. #2 I also experienced a heat problem with the HT-A9 controller box that Sony assured me was normal--that controller box became very hot to the touch quickly and that worried me--even though Sony assured me that was normal. 

Honestly both systems sound great in my environment. Different sound e.g., the HT-A9 sounds airy, bright compared to the Sonos 5.1.2, to my ears that doesn't mean better. 

I really enjoyed the opportunity to compare both side by side in my own environment and I think I could be very happy with both--but could only keep one. 

So many people arguing some dumb stuff.

To say Movie’s aren’t even coming out in DTS-HD / X anymore is ignorant.

You can pre-order movies now that only have a DTS track, because they are a re-release into 4k an they chose not to bring the audio to TrueHD.

So movies are coming out quite regularly in DTS HD and DTS X format.  Doesn’t matter if ‘new’ movies are TrueHD, how are people going to enjoy their Alien 4k movie that’s in DTS:X? Just going to skip the spatial audio and listen to LPCM?

In the case of DTS-HD converting to LPCM is fine because it’s 100% the same data (but decoded by the player), however DTS:X is still a spatial audio used (that won’t translate in LPCM) - and any 4k already re-released in DTS is unlikely to get another release in TrueHD… 

Are you referring to the original “Alien”, one of the sequels, or just any movie with aliens in them?   Perhaps you have different sources, but I can’t find Alien recorded in DTS X anywhere.  DTS and DTS HD, yes, but not DTS X.

Meant generally, I wish the Alien series would get a 4k conversion with TrueHD and an Atmos upgrade… I’d be in heaven, would hate to see if they got a DTS:X Upgrade, given Sonos as it is.

So is there any example of an old movie that was originally created before spatial audio existed that has been re-recorded in DTS:X?  I found this list and there does appear to be some older movies available. Although I’m not sure everything on the list is accurate.

During the DTS era, yes there were some movies converted from DTS-HD-MA to a DTS:X in like a re-release.  DTS is still present, and some movies are still dropping with it - so it’s not infeasible they could still make new DTS:X - but I would think they’ll just shift to TrueHD at that point.

Really the issue here is, not every movie we or anyone wants to see came out 2021 and newer only, some movies may not get a 4k re-release, or even a new blu-ray with TrueHD. - and Sonos continues to offer no DTS-HD or DTS:X licensing to watch some of our old favorites -- then we may never get to appreciate it… Harry Potter? Who knows if they’ll drop an Atmos version - but it’s in DTS:X and the last collection released was in 2021….

@MrZeDark just checked my Harry Potter steel book collection and it is hdr10 and dts-hd master 7.1 

The apple tv version I have is dolby vision and 5.1 dolby digital…

Just thought I'd offer that information

Harry Potter is in DTS-HD-MA & DTS:X on 4k UHD Disc. I wasn’t referring to streaming. 

I have streamed it, it’s fine - but I’ll never be able to buy and own this, and enjoy spatial audio in Harry Potter on my Sonos.