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.
Hi @mikeh97
Which playback app are you using? I happen to have a Shield too, and I normally use Emby to play movies, which will transcode DTS-HD to Dolby Digital 5.1 as I play. I have noticed, however, that if I play the same movie with the same audio track via Plex instead of Emby, Plex will in fact do the sensible thing and pull the DTS core from the DTS-HD stream and pass that through to my Sonos Amp. In the Sonos app, I now see DTS playing instead of Dolby Digital. This is because DTS-HD contains a standard DTS track which is then fleshed out with additional data to increase the quality, and this standard DTS core is therefore available - with the correct handling - to be played on Sonos devices.
I did have to manually set my output formats in the Android settings for the Shield to include DTS, and also set the Plex playback app to Passthrough audio. Please note that it also relies on the TV supporting DTS passthrough - not all TVs will, and I bought my specific TV because I knew it would support DTS.
I don’t quite understand why you are getting Multichannel PCM though - if I play an unsupported format, the Shield transcodes it to Dolby Digital and I have no relative volume issues (except with True-HD, but I expect that).
Of course, if you have movie files and a computer, you could manually re-encode your unsupported formats into supported formats and include these in a remuxing of the MKV or MP4 file, including volume boosts if needed. It’s more work, certainly, but I have done it myself on occasion. Multiple free software tools are available.
I hope this helps.
Hope that Sonos add the dts hd and dts x support now.
Imax and Disney+ are releasing movies from Disney library, in Imax and DTS X audio.
So Sonos, what are your intents? With Lg reintroducing DTS, Sony and HISense already in, for sure others will follow . Sonos you should acknowledge that DTS X is not dead, just the opposite.
Hi @mikeh97
Kodi! I used to use that for years, but not in the time that I have been using Sonos for TV audio, and not since I got my Shield. Therefore, I can’t really help with the settings there - it would be from memory at best, and none of my memory includes getting it to work with Sonos.
Both Plex and Emby (and Jellyfin, for that matter) are similar to Kodi, and yet different. Their main functional difference is that you can access them via the cloud, and therefore do not need to be on the same network. Each requires an install of both an app to play, and server software to do the behind-the-scenes work. Plex comes pre-installed on the Shield, so you should already have it. You will need to set it up via a browser, however - not via the app. Their website has instructions.
LPCM is the same thing as Multichannel PCM (sometimes referred to as McLPCM). It is what all formats will eventually be decompressed to for internal processing and playback, and utilises no compression whatsoever - this is why it’s not usually used as a transport method, as the bandwidth needed is the highest possible.
The difficulty with Atmos is that the entire chain must support it - starting with the source media, the player (and the app, in the case of Shield), the TV and the sound device. This makes plug-and-play more challenging, but it usually works. Shield is rather an unusual playback device - as compared to BluRay players, anyway - but it does have useful configuration options. Personally, I turned off automatic audio format selection and then ticked all the formats that my Amp supports - Dolby Digital and DTS. For the Arc, you can of course include DD+, DD+ Atmos and True-HD (Atmos MAT) too. I have “Dolby audio processing” enabled to allow transcoding of unsupported formats, but with Plex extracting DTS from DTS-HD, there aren’t many formats left!
I can give you a couple of pointers for remuxing, but please note that Sonos - nor I - can take any responsibility for any harm caused by any third-party software that I may suggest. With that out of the way, I use mkvtoolnix to manipulate mkv files, and mediacoder to transcode. The first Google Search results for each are the official sites - I don’t recommend downloading them from anywhere else. You will need plenty of disk space (at least 2x the size of the source file, probably 3x if you recode the video too) to remux files - that could easily add up to 100GB. Once done, you can delete all but the final, resulting file, though.
I hope this helps.
DTS HD & DTS X would be amazing. Like 60% of my physical media collections would have new life breathed into it! Imagine if sonos made this happen for Christmas 2022. Wouldn't that be incredible.
I’m curious. Would you pay for the mentioned codecs and if so, how much? What if it was a monthly subscription?
I’m thinking that if there was a suggestion that people might be happy to pay for these additional codecs, then perhaps Sonos might go onto introduce these things as there is probably a licence fee attached to them for their use.
Please don’t give anyone the idea of a subscription for a basic feature. I paid enough for my Arc and Amps and Play5. I can’t stomach the idea of sending money every month too.
Yeah, the world existed before 2021 and a lot of good BluRays out there have DTS:X. For an $800 soundbar, we should be able to hear more than DD 5.1 on Harry Potter and other things mastered earlier.
I could see a one-time license fee if that would be required, but don’t tell me there’s not enough margin in an Arc to pay for a DTS license.
I’m wondering what the point is of adding DTS HD or DTS X support. Or even regular DTS for that matter: most newer TV’s from popular brands don’t support it any longer (also not passthrough).
For example LG’s and Samsung TV’s don’t anymore - so even if your Sonos would support it, it would be useless for most people.
@LBJ2,
Dolby have produced test/demo discs, for users to check each channel output, I haven’t looked online, but maybe DTS have the same option available, but you may have to purchase a demo-disc however, er.. perhaps? Maybe try Amazon or eBay etc.
Last time I looked, and it’s been a couple of years at least, the licensing fee was a monthly fee, and not a one time cost. That certainly might have changed, but still…
@LBJ2,
Dolby have produced test/demo discs, for users to check each channel output, I haven’t looked online, but maybe DTS have the same option available, but you may have to purchase a demo-disc however, er.. perhaps? Maybe try Amazon or eBay etc.
I found this: https://www.find-demo-disc.com/2020-dts-demo-disc-vol24-4k-uhd-p-849.html which includes DTS:X and as you suggest may have to go this route to isolate and hear height speakers effect to be 100% certain
So far I have been testing with the movie “Lone Survivor” 2013. DTS:X via LPCM on the ARC. Plenty of helicopter and gun fight sound passed through as LPCM. I do hear the height effect on the Sonos ARC 5.1.2. I compared this soundtrack side by side between the Sonos ARC 5.1.2 and the Sony HT-A9 + Sub which does support full DTS:X. I couldn't tell a difference in the 3D effect for this movie between either system. Both sounded like 3D action to me. Pretty thrilling to be honest--but due to all the other sounds I haven't been able to isolate a particular height speaker sound on the ARC with my ear right to the height speaker with this movie like I have been able to do with some of my Dolby Atmos test blu-rays on the ARC.
I might just need more time to isolate DTS:X height effect via LPCM on the ARC, but regardless DTS:X via LPCM sounds so very good surround sound wise, I'm not too worried. But my OCD wants to know for certain
Just to be clear, the DTS and LPCM I can get from my Arc home theater sounds great. It’s just a shame I still cant get the non-lossy DTS-HD or object oriented DTS:X as well.
@LBJ2: I was also surprised when Sony included DTS as a streaming format for some of its newer tvs.
Or they're adding it in Arc gen 2 and therefore don't wanna add it to the original Arc so that customers have (another) reason to upgrade.
Just lke they did with DTS!
Oh, wait . . .they didnt do that with DTS. They retrofitted it to all of the soundbars they've sold in the past decade plus.
Lol, no need for the hostility. They added DTS cause the license was literally free
“it is 2022 afterall”
The fact that it is 2022 is actually a good reason NOT to offer DTS support. Today, most people are moving away from physical media and are only using streaming services. DTS audio is pretty much non-existent on popular streaming services.
I actually prefer Blu-ray discs over streaming so I would love to see DTS-HD and DTS:X supported by Sonos. But I am also pretty content with just setting my Blu-ray player to convert DTS to PCM. I think lossless multichannel PCM audio sounds great from my DTS-encoded discs. And I doubt most people would even be able to tell the difference between DTS-HD Master Audio and multichannel PCM.
my it is 2022 afterall is more to the fact that there is numerous av receivers out there at 200 to 300 mark with a wider range of supported codecs, it really shouldnt even be a discussion as it is genuine laziness on sonos part not to include it whether more things is moving towards streaming or not,
if we took that approach with everything we would stop 720p or 1080p sources and say they arent needed anymore because we now have 4k and 8k, the whole thing is about compatibility and it should be included especially at this price point and dont get me wrong its not just sonos as bose have took a similar approach along with various tv brands
I don’t know why you keeping mentioning ‘laziness’. It’s a business decision not to invest the necessary effort and resources to chase after a minority market segment which is arguably on the wane. Sonos knows where their target market lies. If you don’t like it then choose a different product.
I don’t know why you keeping mentioning ‘laziness’. It’s a business decision not to invest the necessary effort and resources to chase after a minority market segment which is arguably on the wane. Sonos knows where their target market lies. If you don’t like it then choose a different product.
because it is lazy to not include them said formats when so many others do, ill choose what product i want to thanks very much, you do realise companies use forums like this to find out about bugs issues and requests which is why i posted this in the first place and im not the first to do so, if it was a business decision then why did they backtrack and add dts standard support which wasnt initially there?
Even if sonos do decide to support the full dts range you are then dependant on all tv manufacturers following suit to allow pass through, which is a stretch.
Most manufacturers will choose the largest part of the market which is dolby and streaming but I wish you all the luck
its not just sonos as bose have took a similar approach along with various tv brands
There is a good reason for this… and it isn’t because of “laziness”.
yeah and the reason is because customers asked for it thats the reason, so sonos decided to go half measure and add dts when they could have added the whole dts range which is where the laziness part comes from
Just curious… if lossless DTS support is so important to you, why did you invest in a system that doesn’t support it?
at the time of purchasing i genuinely didnt know it was a thing that it was missing as i owned numerous av receivers before this and the issue was never there, i wanted a simpler setup with less running wires and cleaner setup so went for the sonos arc and ones and sub, system has been great for the most part but imo is let down by its lack of simple support for the formats mentioned
@skullc i own a samsung qn800a which has a passthrough option but i also have a hdfury vrroom device also which would mean the tv brand not supporting dts would not be an issue for me which is why the last stumbling block for me is sonos not supporting it
My lgb8 has pass through as well but 10 years ago I started buying digital on iTunes so dts isn't that much of an issue for me as dvds got given away
its not just sonos as bose have took a similar approach along with various tv brands
There is a good reason for this… and it isn’t because of “laziness”.
yeah and the reason is because customers asked for it thats the reason, so sonos decided to go half measure and add dts when they could have added the whole dts range which is where the laziness part comes from
Just curious… if lossless DTS support is so important to you, why did you invest in a system that doesn’t support it?
at the time of purchasing i genuinely didnt know it was a thing that it was missing as i owned numerous av receivers before this and the issue was never there, i wanted a simpler setup with less running wires and cleaner setup so went for the sonos arc and ones and sub, system has been great for the most part but imo is let down by its lack of simple support for the formats mentioned
@skullc i own a samsung qn800a which has a passthrough option but i also have a hdfury vrroom device also which would mean the tv brand not supporting dts would not be an issue for me which is why the last stumbling block for me is sonos not supporting it
Same for me. I didn't know what I didn’t know at the time of purchase. Now I know too much about DTS, DTS: HD and DTS: X and find myself with a lot of DTS content. However, the Sonos 5.1.2 has brought a lot of fun and entertainment to my family and me for the last year. It’s a great system with a few flaws e.g., only one HDMI port and no support for object-based DTS codecs. But Dolby Atmos is fantastic and prolific on the market to include streaming and once I figured out how to pass through LCPM for DTS content that can sound very, very good too. After all is said and done I unknowingly purchased a 4K OLED TV, Sonos and 4K UHD Blu-ray player 🥴 that don't support either DTS or DTS:X with each other. HA! Lessons learned. But I can't really complain.
I don't think a muti million dollar company like sonos should have any issues covering the cost.
The same could be said for LG and Samsung? I was really pleased to see Sonos adding standard DTS because then I should have got some sound instead of silence, only to find LG had deleted DTS between my TV model years. I can transcode to LPCM but then hit an intermittent sound drop issue. Obviously HD and X would be even better for convenience, but I’d quite like the basics to work first.
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.
@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.
My disc doesn't have dts-x and no you won't be able to get that on sonos which is a shame
Guessing the UK version I have is different to yours
Why did you get rid of your DTS-encoded discs? Just set your Blu-ray player to convert DTS to Multichannel PCM. This is what I do with all of my DTS discs and it sounds great.
Of course it sounds good. Multichannel PCM is just the decoded DTS, so it will sound iexactly as it would if Sonos supported DTS.
This is not the way to go. We are talking about a principle not a work around to solve the problem. Sonos only want to sell new products (very expensive too) and will not care about customers. I will never buy a Sonos product again and am not recommending them to my friends. It is not the DTS HD MA or DTS X problem but the way Sonos act towards the customers.
I was specifically addressing someone who got rid of all of their DTS discs because of Sonos. This is completely unnecessary. All of my DTS discs sound great on my Arc + Sub + Era 300s setup.
But since you brought it up, I have been a Sonos customer since 2017 and have been active on this community forum for a few years. Overall, I have been very pleased with Sonos and the way they have responded to issues/complaints that customers have. My Sonos devices sound better today than they did the day I purchased them. And they continue to improve with every update because of the improvements and added features that Sonos implements based on the customer feedback from these forums.
I literally only signed up to the forum to say that I would also like this feature to be added. Please Sonos, it is 2023 afterall