How to get 5.1 from other sources?

What game consoles do you have? I believe the xbox one can play blue ray disks and transcode them from DTS to DD 5.1 on the fly. I'm not sure on playstation. Your best answer may be to just drop the Panasonic and start using the game console.

Another option would be to upgrade your blue ray player than can transcode from DTS to DD5.1 itself.

I don't think using an optical switcher is going to really help. Bypassing the TV won't accomplish much as I don't think the TV is really the issue. You can easily verify that for your own peace of mind by plugging the optical directly from the Panasonic to the playbar and see what you get.

I don't think you need to purchase anything.

I do think that you need to look at the audio settings on your Bluray player, and make sure that it is set to Dolby Digital only. This will lock down the signal traveling to your TV set across the HDMI cable, and give you the output you want.

Note, many bluray discs aren't in Dolby Digital, or require you to play a special track in order to get that particular option. There are some bluray players that have the option built in to translate DTS (the common format for most audio on bluray) to Dolby Digital (the maximum signal that Sonos can accept).

But most DVDs (not blurays) are set up for Dolby Digital as the default, so do your testing there. And double check that the audio settings on the TV are also set for Dolby Digital, rather than something else. And be aware that many TVs won't allow you to choose the option for Dolby Digital if the signal that they're currently playing isn't a Dolby Digital one. So, adjusting while playing your local new program would likely not give you the option, but adjusting while playing a recent movie on a movie channel will.

Hope this helps.

First, the consoles are Xbox one X and PS4, yes I can play Blu Ray through the Xbox and it will play DD 5.1 but doesn’t upscale picture to 4K for DVDs etc which is why I have the separate player.

This Panasonic is an upgrade, but no matter what combination of settings I use on the player and TV it will not put the sound through as anything other than stereo (as the pc and consoles go through the TV and output 5.1 correctly the setting I use currently must work somewhere along the line). The Panasonic says it will output in DD, but only seems to put this through in stereo. I’ve tried using the PCM and bitstream settings, the alternative audio settings and the TVs accepted input settings. Nothing gives me 5.1 correctly. I tried asking the retailer (Richer Sounds) and they researched it, and it seems the current generation of players in combination with my TV don’t do something called ‘pass through’, so I wouldn’t be able to get it to work short of either spending some £600 on a Blu Ray player, which might do it, or upgrading my TV (which is only a couple years old and would cost a stupid amount of money to do). I don’t have the money for either option!

I know it will sound stupid to people, and they will laugh and comment, but I cannot get the idea of using a game console for playing Blu Ray. I know they do, I know they work, but the concept is wrong. I have Autism Spectrum Disorder (Aspergers), and if you understand that you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about when I say “Consoles are for games, Blu Ray players are for films”, anything else is just ... difficult at best, stressful at worst.

Does this mean there isn’t any option? The retailer seemed to think that an optical switch of some kind was the solution, and not as a way to get me spending more as they don’t sell them!

If the TV passes dd from the consoles i don't see why it wouldn't from the Panasonic. I have one of the cheaper Panasonic 4k blueray players and my Panasonic tv passes through dd.

The Panasonic players don't convert the DTS formats to DD though. You shouldn't have a problem with DVD but some blurays might be the issue. Anything with dolby truehd or atmos should be fine.

I know it will sound stupid to people, and they will laugh and comment, but I cannot get the idea of using a game console for playing Blu Ray. I know they do, I know they work, but the concept is wrong. I have Autism Spectrum Disorder (Aspergers), and if you understand that you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about when I say “Consoles are for games, Blu Ray players are for films”, anything else is just ... difficult at best, stressful at worst.


I completely understand that. I don't want smart tvs or smart blue ray players. I want my components do the one thing they were designed to do, and this trend of combining things together isn't my cup of tv.


Does this mean there isn’t any option? The retailer seemed to think that an optical switch of some kind was the solution, and not as a way to get me spending more as they don’t sell them!

Based on your additional information, I would test out optical directly from the Panasonic to the playbar. If it works, I'd then look into getting an optical switch. I previously incorrectly assumed your TV did passthrough, and your blueray couldn't do DD 5.1. Sound like I was wrong on both accounts.

If the TV passes dd from the consoles i don't see why it wouldn't from the Panasonic. I have one of the cheaper Panasonic 4k blueray players and my Panasonic tv passes through dd.

The Panasonic players don't convert the DTS formats to DD though. You shouldn't have a problem with DVD but some blurays might be the issue. Anything with dolby truehd or atmos should be fine.

The Xbox has a setting that puts its output to a specific 5.1 DD signal, the Blu Ray has an option to output DD from certain signals but seems to downmix then to stereo rather than 5.1. That’s my understanding anyway!

If the TV passes dd from the consoles i don't see why it wouldn't from the Panasonic. I have one of the cheaper Panasonic 4k blueray players and my Panasonic tv passes through dd.

The Panasonic players don't convert the DTS formats to DD though. You shouldn't have a problem with DVD but some blurays might be the issue. Anything with dolby truehd or atmos should be fine.

The Xbox has a setting that puts its output to a specific 5.1 DD signal, the Blu Ray has an option to output DD from certain signals but seems to downmix then to stereo rather than 5.1. That’s my understanding anyway!

The Panasonic can be set to convert to DD 5.1 as well but only for dd formats. The DTS formats get converted to DTS only.

I have the 400 which is essentially the same and it gives me DD for DVDs and a lot of 4k blurays. I have about 15 4k blurays already and only one so far doesn't give me 5.1 with my Playbase.

If the TV passes dd from the consoles i don't see why it wouldn't from the Panasonic. I have one of the cheaper Panasonic 4k blueray players and my Panasonic tv passes through dd.

The Panasonic players don't convert the DTS formats to DD though. You shouldn't have a problem with DVD but some blurays might be the issue. Anything with dolby truehd or atmos should be fine.

The Xbox has a setting that puts its output to a specific 5.1 DD signal, the Blu Ray has an option to output DD from certain signals but seems to downmix then to stereo rather than 5.1. That’s my understanding anyway!

The Panasonic can be set to convert to DD 5.1 as well but only for dd formats. The DTS formats get converted to DTS only.

I have the 400 which is essentially the same and it gives me DD for DVDs and a lot of 4k blurays. I have about 15 4k blurays already and only one so far doesn't give me 5.1 with my Playbase.

Ok, so how are you getting 5.1 then? I’ve tried multiple combinations and all I’m getting is stereo, according to the Sonos app! Is this where my TVs playing silly buggers and not reading the pcm or bitstream output correctly? Whichever one it’s set to makes little difference, although I seem to remember that only one of those gave me the option to select DD on the TV settings.

It’s really about time Sonos came up with something that could recognise these other formats. I’m fairly sure other companies have, or is it just wireless setups that struggle?

Are you certain the Blu Ray is sending DD or is it sending DTS? You can verify by going into the Audio settings on the Blu Ray main menu. As explained above, Sonos doesn’t support DTS. If you want DTS to play you would need a player that can transcode DTS to DD. The market has headed towards streaming, which supports DD, so Sonos has decided to stick with their current codec support.

If the TV passes dd from the consoles i don't see why it wouldn't from the Panasonic. I have one of the cheaper Panasonic 4k blueray players and my Panasonic tv passes through dd.

The Panasonic players don't convert the DTS formats to DD though. You shouldn't have a problem with DVD but some blurays might be the issue. Anything with dolby truehd or atmos should be fine.

The Xbox has a setting that puts its output to a specific 5.1 DD signal, the Blu Ray has an option to output DD from certain signals but seems to downmix then to stereo rather than 5.1. That’s my understanding anyway!

The Panasonic can be set to convert to DD 5.1 as well but only for dd formats. The DTS formats get converted to DTS only.

I have the 400 which is essentially the same and it gives me DD for DVDs and a lot of 4k blurays. I have about 15 4k blurays already and only one so far doesn't give me 5.1 with my Playbase.

Ok, so how are you getting 5.1 then? I’ve tried multiple combinations and all I’m getting is stereo, according to the Sonos app! Is this where my TVs playing silly buggers and not reading the pcm or bitstream output correctly? Whichever one it’s set to makes little difference, although I seem to remember that only one of those gave me the option to select DD on the TV settings.

It’s really about time Sonos came up with something that could recognise these other formats. I’m fairly sure other companies have, or is it just wireless setups that struggle?

Its been a while but there a section that allows setting to bitstream output. I've got to head off to work soon but I will take a photo tonight and post it if you still haven't sorted it.

I suspect DTS will be less of an issue going forward. As i say most of the 4k blurays seem to come with support. Predator has just been release but is listed with a DTS format. I will look at it in store as i suspect it will still have support for a dolby format.