Skip to main content
Contributor I
October 6, 2020
Answered

DTS-X Support with S2 Platform

Sonos likes to hear what people want, so I’m asking the question (Yet again?). When will Sonos finally support DTS decoding for the soundbars? Seems to me that there appears to be a pretty reasonable user base (& lost sales) that is continually asking for this. Given the Arc has now been released, it would be an opportune time to support these codecs, even if they user has to pay a little more for the licensing cost involved (Via the Sonos App).

 

Pretty sure its not easy to transcode DTS:X tracks to Dolby? (DTS is a different story)

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.
melvimbe
melvimbeAnswer
October 7, 2020

Sonos likes to hear what people want, so I’m asking the question (Yet again?). When will Sonos finally support DTS decoding for the soundbars?

 

 

Sonos will likely note your request, but they have never said they would provide DTS and surely would not provide a date for that without a public annoucement first.  You aren’t going to get Sonos to give you that information by asking here….again, if it’s even in their plans.

 

 

Seems to me that there appears to be a pretty reasonable user base (& lost sales) that is continually asking for this. Given the Arc has now been released, it would be an opportune time to support these codecs, even if they user has to pay a little more for the licensing cost involved (Via the Sonos App).

 

 

Sonos surely has a better idea than we do about how many customers are lost from lack of DTS support.  What that is, it does seem as if the number of DTS users is going down rather than up, given the rise of streaming services.  As far as charging customers directly for the licensing cost, that creates other issues.  First, they would need to build an maintain that software sales system, which they don’t have.  And would the license be by devise or user?  If the user sells their speaker, does the license go with them?  Will people be insulted for the extra cost for DTS and still look to buy elsewhere?  If this is a viable model, why isn’t any other AV company doing it?

 

I’m not against DTS personally, don’t really care.  I just don’t think we are going to see it happen unless there is significantly more use of DTS.

 

 

Danny

35 replies

Generalzod
Trending Lyricist II
September 15, 2021

 

Here's another bit of welcome news: Sonos says it will roll out support for DTS surround later this year for all soundbars that are on its S2 platform. That extends back to products like the Playbar and Playbase, so quite a few devices will be gaining the added functionality.21 hours ago

 

Sonos announces second-gen Beam soundbar with Dolby Atmos - The Verge

https://www.theverge.com › sonos-beam-2-atmos-soundb.


“Sonos says it will roll out support for DTS surround later this year for all soundbars that are on its S2 platform. That extends back to products like the Playbar and Playbase, so quite a few devices will be gaining the added functionality. Sonos is also jumping on board with high-resolution audio and Dolby Atmos music streaming. The company says it’ll support both of those features from Amazon Music in the coming months; no word on Apple Music, though.”

I hope that is accurate.  I have been pretty content with LPCM from my blu-rays, but would much rather be able to fully enjoy DTS:X on the 50 or so discs I have that are encoded with it.  And I have hundreds of blu-rays encoded in DTS-HD 5.1 or 7.1.  If we do get native support for DTS, it would be interesting to see how the volume levels will compare to LPCM.

And more hi-res audio support would be great as well, although I suspect the benefits for me are probably going to be less noticeable.

You’ll be definately getting a boost in sound quality...

Trending Lyricist I
September 15, 2021

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

Prominent Collaborator II
September 15, 2021

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?

HT: Arc + Era 300s + Subs (G3/G2) + Sony A80L + Sony UBP-X800M2
Generalzod
Trending Lyricist II
September 15, 2021

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

Better than nothing I guess. After all it took long just just to get normal DTS….

bockersjv
Local Superstar
September 15, 2021

Personally this is great news.  I have a load of Music BlueRay DVS that have a 5.1 mix of an album but every one is in DTS.  Will be nice on my Playbase to hear these at last.

Snorf
Trending Lyricist I
September 15, 2021

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.

Prominent Collaborator II
September 15, 2021

DTS compatibility would be useful for those (few) folks who have a high-end 2021 sony tv that incorporates its Bravia Core streaming service, which uses the DTS format.  But that doesn't do much for me. 😂

HT: Arc + Era 300s + Subs (G3/G2) + Sony A80L + Sony UBP-X800M2
Lead Maestro
September 15, 2021

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).

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
Local Superstar
September 15, 2021

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).

Snorf
Trending Lyricist I
September 15, 2021

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!