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DTS-X Support with S2 Platform

  • 6 October 2020
  • 35 replies
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35 replies

Snorf
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Would be great if they could let us know if this was part of a “roadmap” to support lossless formats.  I’m certainly happy they have base DTS support but I don’t see how that helps me on anything except the last few old DVDs in my collection; all my non-Dolby Blurays (4k or not) are DTS-HD or in rare cases DTS-X.  Is there a difference in licensing cost if they only pay for the DTS format?  Otherwise I don’t really get it.

My understanding is that even a DTS-HD/X track will play a ‘base' DTS track instead so will help you not get silence (if that's what you were getting instead).

Makes sense.  My setup is an Xbox w/HD Arcana to an older LG OLED, so I was already using the Xbox conversion options for LPCM or just Dolby Digital 5.1 before pushing things to the Arc via the LG, so doesn’t sound like this will make a huge difference in my case.  Glad it will help others though!

J
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It appears that support is only for regular lossy DTS and not lossless DTS -HD and DTS-X.

Yikes.  I am wondering why even bother then?  We already have LPCM.  Why go to the trouble of licensing and modifying software for DTS but not supporting DTS-HD and DTS:X?

I believe Sonos’ goal, at least for now, is to get basic DTS support on ALL of their home theater products. Remember, DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS:X are lossless and only supported over eARC. The Playbar and Playbase are only equipped with optical and the Beam (Gen 1) and Amp are only equipped with HDMI ARC. Lossy DTS Digital Surround support will be compatible with all of Sonos’ home theater products. Hopefully this is just the first step to eventually supporting lossless DTS formats on the Arc and Beam (Gen 2).

 

It would be very reassuring to hear this from Sonos. This would be the final piece to the puzzle, and would take some of the pressure off of them getting LPCM right (which still hasn’t happened).

G
Userlevel 7

@darkonex In my opinion, I still believe your best option would be the Arcana. The UB820 is a fantastic UHD player, and one of the best features of the player, in this particular situation, is that it has separate settings for Dolby audio and DTS audio whereas the other players don’t. With the other players, you would have to change the audio setting depending on whether the disc you are watching has Dolby audio or DTS audio. With the UB820, you never have to change the settings.

And the Arcana is a really small device at 4” x 2.25” x 1”. So it wouldn’t add much more to your many devices. And the Arcana has already been proven to work with LG TVs and the UB820.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
Generalzod
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Here is some interesting reading from the blu ray forum

 

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=161067

DaveFlash
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very welcome news! my blu-ray collection in dts will love it (beam gen 1) now!

M

@darkonex In my opinion, I still believe your best option would be the Arcana. The UB820 is a fantastic UHD player, and one of the best features of the player, in this particular situation, is that it has separate settings for Dolby audio and DTS audio whereas the other players don’t. With the other players, you would have to change the audio setting depending on whether the disc you are watching has Dolby audio or DTS audio. With the UB820, you never have to change the settings.

And the Arcana is a really small device at 4” x 2.25” x 1”. So it wouldn’t add much more to your many devices. And the Arcana has already been proven to work with LG TVs and the UB820.

I have an LG GX and a PS5 which I’ll be using as a 4K player as well. I haven’t bought the Sonos Arc yet but I really want to due to its simplicity of use. Until today though, I was unaware that my GX doesn’t have a DTS encoding feature. I’ve heard many people talk about the HDFury Arcana but it’s always in regards to Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital+ / DTS.

My question is this however, is this device able to specifically convert DTS:X to Dolby Atmos? The reason I’m asking this is because I don’t want to spend thousands of hard-earned euros just for regular surround sound, I want that 3D Surround Sound effect.

G
Userlevel 7

The HDFury Arcana cannot convert DTS:X to Dolby Atmos. The Arcana allows external media devices, like your PS5, to bypass your TV and send audio directly to the Arc. The Arcana is only as good as the equipment you have in your setup.

There aren’t any Sonos speakers that support DTS or DTS:X audio. But the Sonos Arc does support multichannel LPCM. Most Blu-ray and UHD players can convert DTS or DTS:X audio to multichannel PCM which sounds just as good as DTS-HD Master Audio. I don’t know if the PS5 can convert DTS to PCM. I would imagine it can.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
D
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I recently over the past couple months bought an LG CX 65” TV, Sonos Arc + Sub gen 3, and just this weekend the Panasonic UB820 blu ray player.  I didn’t realize at first that the reason some things sounded like crap was because they were DTS tracks on my blu rays being converted to stereo, and that’s when I first learned about the lack of this DTS support.  I’m not an av enthusiast and all this stuff I got because I had the money saved and heard such amazing things about them, and saw that they supported Atmos etc so figured it would just support everything, ya know since we’re living in 2020 and the crazy cost of them.  So I spent time today trying to find a way to at least make the tracks play via multi channel LPCM to no avail so sadly I’m boxing up the player tomorrow and refunding it to Amazon and guess I’ll go back to playing my movies on the Xbox which sucks for playing blu rays (no Dolby Vision and randomly freezes here and there).  It blows my freaking mind that they don’t already support DTS or can’t just quickly add it, I’m so fuming over this I can’t even properly express my anger over this.  It’s too late for me to send this all back and pick new things so guess I’ll just remember in X number of years when this Sonos stuff dies on me or I get something new it certainly won’t be Sonos!

G
Userlevel 7

@darkonex Unfortunately you just purchased the wrong combination of devices… specifically the LG TV with the Panasonic UB820. The UB820 CAN convert DTS audio to PCM 5.1 and send it to the Arc. The LG and UB820 just have a “handshake” issue where multichannel PCM from the UB820 doesn’t pass through the LG without the TV converting it back down to stereo PCM 2.0 again. So in this case, Sonos is not at fault. I believe your problem has more to do with your TV.

Have you considered getting a different brand UHD player? There is also a device called the HDFury Arcana that will solve your problem.

Multichannel PCM playing from the Arc sounds fantastic and just as good as DTS-HD Master Audio. You just have to get the right combination of devices to achieve it. 

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
D
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@GuitarSuperstar I did look at various UHD players before I chose this one, but from what I read this UB820 had superior upscaling and tone mapping among other things.  I was considering the Sony X700 or the X800M2 but I kept reading about issues with them freezing up etc.  I was looking at that HDFury but honestly I’d rather not spend another $200 and add more devices among the many new things I’ve already added recently hah.  I guess I could try a different UHD player, I’d definitely be up for it, but only if it would fix my issue with the audio.  It would have to be though probably between the Sony X700, X800m2, and the LG UBK90 just to keep them under $400.  Would any of those you think be a good fit for me and would solve my audio problem?  

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