This feature request is for Sonos support Dolby Digital Plus, also known as E-AC-3 or DD+. This would permit a higher quality audio experience when watching surround sound-enabled videos.
Sonos currently supports PCM stereo and Dolby Digital (AC-3) surround sound. This made sense for the Playbar and Playbase, which only have a S/PDIF connection.
With the Sonos Beam's HDMI ARC connection, it is now possible to deliver a Dolby Digital Plus bitstream to the Sonos 5.1 system. Many Blu-rays include a 1.5Mbps Dolby Digital Plus track. Many streaming services including iTunes, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video support the Dolby Digital Plus codec both for efficiency and in order to deliver Dolby Atmos. Further, it is possible for an app (like Plex) to transcode in a perceptually transparent manner from lossless codecs like TrueHD and DTS:X (as well as lossy codecs like DTS that are unsupported by Sonos) to Dolby Digital Plus. This is because DD+ can support up to 6Mbps throughput versus Dolby Digital's 640Kbps cap.
A simple software upgrade would deliver higher audio fidelity to systems with a Sonos Beam in a 5.1 arrangement (i.e. a Beam + 2x Sonos Ones + a SUB).
Note: this request is separate from delivering true home theater Dolby Atmos in a 7.1.4 speaker arrangement.
For more details:
https://developer.dolby.com/blog/dolby-audio-over-hdmi-part-1-codecs/
https://developer.dolby.com/blog/dolby-audio-over-hdmi-part-2-signaling-and-carriage/
https://developer.dolby.com/blog/dolby-audio-over-hdmi-part-3-reality/
https://developer.dolby.com/blog/dolby-audio-support-on-apple-tv/
https://www.avsforum.com/forum/39-networking-media-servers-content-streaming/2378442-dolby-digital-plus-dd-atmos-over-hdmi-arc.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_Laboratories
Feature Request: Enable Dolby Digital Plus (E-AC-3 or DD+) for Better Audio Quality
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The BEAM sound bar is not an old one and the price must justify an update to fit the main streaming application that is Netflix
Netflix DD5.1 titles will play on a Sonos 5.1 system, with all discrete channels preserved routed properly.
DD+ will get remixed, extracted, or otherwise reprocessed so it will play back to the utmost on the Sonos 5.1 system (as MikeConnelly said)
Those above who said they cant use 5.1, they're mistaken. In your case, it's something in your setup/config that needs to be tweaked
+2
My setup with Playbar + 2x One + Sub get perfect DD 5.1 from Netflix, iTunes, Viaplay with no issues at all. ATV 4K connected to Samsung 7 series TV with HDMI 1.3 cable and optical from TV to Playbar. No issues.
Userlevel 7
+23
My "old" Playbar can do DD 5.1 from Netflix, call me skeptical that a Beam cannot do the same. Sounds like some kind of config issue to me.
Any update on this point ? I face the same issue, getting only stereo on Netflix using a BEAM, SUB et 2 play 1
The BEAM sound bar is not an old one and the price must justify an update to fit the main streaming application that is Netflix
The BEAM sound bar is not an old one and the price must justify an update to fit the main streaming application that is Netflix
I can't speak to all device edge cases but if your STB or your TV has a DD+ (E-AC-3) decoder, then it _can_ extract a DD (AC-3) legacy substream. However...
- Because the Sonos Beam doesn't appear to support DD+, Sonos needs an upstream device to extract DD from DD+.
- This introduces both hardware decoder and user configuration dependencies.
- Extraction of DD from the DD+ audio stream will result in lower audio fidelity as compared to DD+.
- Frequently, there is the possibility of a device in the HDMI chain defaulting to 2.0 PCM rather than 5.1 surround sound.
Beyond that, if your source audio is very high quality, such as lossless audio, then DD+ is the best means to replicate TrueHD, DTS-X, etc. in a perceptually transparent manner--unless and until Sonos _and_ your TV manufacturer support E-ARC.
- For now, Sonos could take advantage of up to 6.1 Mbps to render lossy 5.1 or 7.1 audio in DD+.
- Long term, Sonos may be able to retrofit eARC on the Beam for lossless audio (Dolby MAT 2.0+ is already supported by the Apple TV 4K).
- Because the Sonos Beam doesn't appear to support DD+, Sonos needs an upstream device to extract DD from DD+.
- This introduces both hardware decoder and user configuration dependencies.
- Extraction of DD from the DD+ audio stream will result in lower audio fidelity as compared to DD+.
- Frequently, there is the possibility of a device in the HDMI chain defaulting to 2.0 PCM rather than 5.1 surround sound.
Beyond that, if your source audio is very high quality, such as lossless audio, then DD+ is the best means to replicate TrueHD, DTS-X, etc. in a perceptually transparent manner--unless and until Sonos _and_ your TV manufacturer support E-ARC.
- For now, Sonos could take advantage of up to 6.1 Mbps to render lossy 5.1 or 7.1 audio in DD+.
- Long term, Sonos may be able to retrofit eARC on the Beam for lossless audio (Dolby MAT 2.0+ is already supported by the Apple TV 4K).
Userlevel 2
+1 this is absurd that you can’t use a Sonos beam to listen to Netflix, Hulu or Prime Video in 5.1 ; assume Sonos isn’t worried about this bc your average consumer doesn’t even realize they are getting sub par sound compared to what they could be getting. Shame on Sonos for not tackling this super obvious request that has been open for well over a year and supporting the format the worlds most common streaming platforms have been using for years!
Userlevel 2
+1 on this. Huge disappointment that you cant get 5.1 sound out of devices like chromecast, fire stick, roku, etc as all are now play movies exclusively on dolby digital plus. sonos becoming worthless in home theater department without this feature
DD+ is backwards compatible with HDMI v1.3. Not sure whether the Beam has a v1.4 or 2.0x HDMI port but it must be at least v1.4 to support ARC.
Userlevel 7
+23
Not sure how "a simple software upgrade" is going to make the audio hardware go from 640kbps to 6Mbps, which is an order of magnitude. If the hardware is grossly over-specced then this might be possible, but if it was designed for DD I don't see how a software upgrade is feasible.
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