can we please get dts hd and dts x it is 2022 afterall

D
Userlevel 3
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hi just touching on this which im sure has already been asked plenty of times, but can we just get dts hd and dts x already it seems crazy to me to think a system that can cost up to and over 1500 hasnt the ability to play these modern formats, when you could pick up a standard av receiver for about 300 pound which would support all the mentioned formats

I have found myself more times than enough now sitting down to watch a film and simply getting mute audio just because it is in dts hd or dts x and quite alot of the time this is when i have friends and family over so it isnt a good look for the sonos brand that it cant produce sound for these types of movies or tv shows

it is somnething that could quite easily be achieved since yous went and enabled dts standard after not supporting it, i feel if yous want to be seen as the go to soundbars yous then have to make sure its the go to for audio formats also which currently it isnt dont get me wrong the sonos eco system and products are fantastic and i love my setup but to do dts but not go as far as offering dts hd or dts x is just lazy

103 replies

R
Userlevel 2
Badge +2

This request is only valid for the Beam Gen 2 and the Arc

...and (more importantly?) future Home Theatre products. I’m hoping the next generation of Amp will process eARC, although I have some higher priority feature requests there.

I can see why DTS:X support would be desirable - the Jason Bourne UHD Bluray mixes make noticeably more use of the overhead channels than Atmos content does on my AVR setup. However, I’m not convinced my Beam 2 setup is capable of delivering that difference with its speaker set, maybe the ARC can though.

As it stands, unless LG also back port their DTS feature enhancement to C1/A1 generation I won’t be finding out for quite some time.

K
Userlevel 1

Correct, optical can't pass high bandwidth codecs like DTS:X but the products with eARC should have more than enough overhead. Here's a nice diagram techhive made that shows the differences easily if anyone is in doubt:

 

controlav
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

Possibilities like

  1. Hardware incapable of processing codec
  2. codec requires more bandwidth than optical can carry
  3. Huge time investment needed to add codec, very small percentage of customers interested, making cost versus profitability questionable
  4. lingering potential legal issues

?

I don’t think anyone is gainsaying your desire, just that there may be issues that we’re not privy to that make this potentially not quite as easy as may be expected. And no, I don’t know if any of those are valid in this case, but it took about 10 seconds to think of those potential reasons…there could be more. I don’t work for Sonos. 

3 is obviously true: optical cannot pass the more advanced DTS codecs but that only affects the Ray, the Playbar/Playbase are no longer sold.

This request is only valid for the Beam Gen 2 and the Arc, although it seems this is not clear to some.

Author of the leading 3rd party Sonos app for Windows and a Sonos app for iOS
Airgetlam

Possibilities like

  1. Hardware incapable of processing codec
  2. codec requires more bandwidth than optical can carry
  3. Huge time investment needed to add codec, very small percentage of customers interested, making cost versus profitability questionable
  4. lingering potential legal issues

?

I don’t think anyone is gainsaying your desire, just that there may be issues that we’re not privy to that make this potentially not quite as easy as may be expected. And no, I don’t know if any of those are valid in this case, but it took about 10 seconds to think of those potential reasons…there could be more. I don’t work for Sonos. 

Bruce
R

You're offering one example where Sonos added an outdated (and license free) codec, something people had been asking for it since the playbar. The situation is a bit different when it comes to the DTS formats still under license, ie. the cost of a retrofit would likely be much higher (especially if rolling it out as a general update). One solution has been outlined here several times: allow the users who want it to pay for the upgrade. Low cost to Sonos (could possibly even make a little change, depending on pricing), users who need it get it, and those who don't want it are unaffected. 

I can understand to a certain degree why they didn't add it to begin with (mostly cost) but not adding it as a paid retrofit option doesn't make sense to me.

Fully agree.

K
Userlevel 1

You're offering one example where Sonos added an outdated (and license free) codec, something people had been asking for it since the playbar. The situation is a bit different when it comes to the DTS formats still under license, ie. the cost of a retrofit would likely be much higher (especially if rolling it out as a general update). One solution has been outlined here several times: allow the users who want it to pay for the upgrade. Low cost to Sonos (could possibly even make a little change, depending on pricing), users who need it get it, and those who don't want it are unaffected. 

I can understand to a certain degree why they didn't add it to begin with (mostly cost) but not adding it as a paid retrofit option doesn't make sense to me.

jgatie

Lol, no need for the hostility. They added DTS cause the license was literally free 😅

 

Hostility?  I was just offering historical evidence that your accusation is unfounded.  If you find that hostile, you need some thicker skin.

K
Userlevel 1

Lol, no need for the hostility. They added DTS cause the license was literally free 😅

jgatie

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.

K
Userlevel 1

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.

R

They seem quite deaf on this argument, In time they will loose customers.

K
Userlevel 1

C'mon Sonos, be "humble enough to listen to customers" (as your CEO put it https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/sonos-patrick-spence-listening-customers-era-100-era-300/) and make this tiny change that will impact so many of your customers 😁

C

Quite happy too pay a one off fee for a DTS:X firmware upgrade.

S
Userlevel 4
Badge +3

Thanks for the correction, as I said, it’s been several years, and at the time I was looking at a raft of various licensing agreements, not just sound related. Must have a faulty memory about it. 

 

Either way, the mark up on devices they could easily add it. DTS:X is coming to Disney+ in 2 months anyway so maybe that will give them a kick up the backside. There's also another streaming platform adding it in June. Can't unfortunately say which one, but that will be 2 major platforms that will have it. 

Airgetlam

Thanks for the correction, as I said, it’s been several years, and at the time I was looking at a raft of various licensing agreements, not just sound related. Must have a faulty memory about it. 

Bruce
S
Userlevel 4
Badge +3

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…

 

It's never been a monthly fee. DTS charge a license per device. It's around $20, so it's just Sonos being cheap / lazy sound engineers not wanting to tune their devices to support the codec. It's the only reason why the basic standard 15 year old codec is available as the license went free. 

Airgetlam

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…

Bruce
E
Userlevel 2

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.

S

I’ll also willing to pay for the feature/license. Would love to get DTS:X tracks off of my blu-rays. 

K
Userlevel 1

And I'd like to add: like others, I'm willing to pay for the upgrade. 

S

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 😉

Me too ^^ It is time to add dts:x support Sonos!

K
Userlevel 1

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 😉

Ken_Griffiths

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.

I may stand corrected here, but I thought LG were only going to offer it as ‘pass-through’ support on some TV models. Dolby codecs will still be available on all their TV’s - at least I thought that was the agreement/intention between LG and Xperi. That said, the more codecs supported by Sonos, the better.

R

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.

D
Userlevel 2
Badge +1

DTS:X is coming to new LG OLED and premium LCD TVs

05 Jan 2023 | Rasmus Larsen |  1 

At CES 2023, Xperi has announced a partnership with LG Electronics to integrate DTS:X immersive audio into LG's latest OLED and premium LCD TV models

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