Is DTS dead now?

Well, it’s a shame consumers like me don’t seem to matter because I am a *dinosaur* and still purchase and play blu-ray discs in addition to streaming content.  I understand the disc market is considered a dying industry compared to streaming, but it’s still alive and kicking. If there is any doubt, just visit www.blu-ray.com or www.amazon.com to readily confirm there is still an active market for new blu-ray discs. Albeit a much smaller market than its heyday. I get that. And streaming is the future. Check. Still, it’s hard for me to simply ignore the blu-ray market in a discussion of audio formats because I am still a consumer of those products. And although new movies typically carry some form of dolby as the primary audio, new blu-ray disc releases primarily include reissues that more often than not use some form of DTS as the primary audio format. I have 400 discs that use DTS-HD and another 50 or so that use DTS:X. Even now, in 2022, when I pick up newly released blu-ray discs they more often than not contain DTS as the primary audio. So while I can understand why streaming services may not be interested in offering the format, it’s still discouraging to think certain soundbar manufacturers would consider dropping support for DTS altogether. It seems short-sighted to me given the active market and existing installed base of blu-ray players/discs. Now if you will excuse me, I heard there is a meteor storm today and I am going to find somewhere to hide. 😂

I disagree with the conclusion that the decision can’t be taken by consumers. I think it’s a reflection of exactly what consumers are doing, and demanding from the majority of their consumption. Which appears to be streaming now, not hard media. And as the author points out, DTS isn’t streamed, it’s hard media related.

Not sure I’ve got an intelligent thought over which format is superior, but I do agree that the majority of consumers seem to not be demanding DTS over streaming sources, so there’s less of an impetus for manufacturers (like Sonos) to need to support DTS. On the other hand, support for DTS could be a differentiation factor for a company that might increase sales to folks who still maintain a lot of physical media.

I do think there’s an further aspect of licensing fee structures here as well, which the author delves into slightly, although I didn’t see any specifics listed. It’s possible that DTS fee structures may be slightly more onerous than Dolby’s, too. That might be an interesting and revealing discussion. Or not, I don’t know. ;)

I would personally like to see the consumer have the choice of which codec(s) they wish to use and perhaps pay any additional ‘one off’ cost to have an add-on codec package.

I have purchased media codecs in the past for use with different Apps.

I probably don’t use the various DTS formats too often, but I have commented previously, that I would perhaps be happy to pay ‘extra’ to have those codecs readily available on Sonos. I think there really should be a consumer choice and it would likely make Sonos hardware much more appealing to those that like to view their A/V sources in a variety of different ways (Blu-ray/Streaming) etc.

There’s the added challenge that whatever device you’re feeding needs to be able to pass through that DTS signal via their connections. I’m not sure all TVs have that, although I’ll admit to not have researched it completely. 

It would be easier for those of us in the consumer market if there were a singular, agreed upon codec, rather than multiples, but then again, companies need to make money for the work that they do.

Vinyl was dead a few years ago - and cassette tape even further back in time before that. Both are making a come-back (though I’m not sure about the real future of cassettes!). Who can say streaming will remain the favoured medium? Owning the disc may re-surface as the preferred option.   

I have seen very few folks that set up what I’d consider a good quality vinyl system. Most don’t even know the basic setup parameters and are doing it for the cool factor, not the sound.

Cassettes are another non-sound related choice, even with the best signal processing and high quality tapes the sound is noticeably inferior to CD or even a moderately well set up vinyl system.

Streaming may also go away but until there is a way to sell a single copy of a digital download it offers the best anti-piracy solution for sellers. CDs face the same “too easy to rip and share” problem downloads have. Maybe the newer disc types have better copy-protection but then you are back to swapping copy-protected discs which is an aggravation streaming doesn’t have.

nah dts is not dead, since the firmware upgrade from Sonos which added support for it across the board, I'd say dts is back alive again, at least for me, I'm now finally able to play all my existing blu-rays in surround on my Sonos beam + symfonisk rears 5.1 setup for the first time ever! as most of them use dts hd-ma, which has normal dts 5.1. core stream. yes, newer blu-rays will most likely come with atoms,  but that is also supported. 

well no, new cd’s that are now on the market do not have copy control or drm, nor will they have in a few years time, that just isn’t part of the standard red book audio spec compliant CDDA’s, and the music industry learned that the hard way, when tried copy protection mechanisms in the past (in the early zero’s) which broke the standards compliant cd. which resulted in discs being unplayable on some equipment at the least, to outright rootkit and malware installations on pc’s and other software based playback scenarios in the worst cases of copy protection methods employed on cd’s, but by I think 2006 thankfully they stopped this practice as it was doing more harm than good, and also, the sharing of cd-rips had had it’s peak by them too I suppose.

oh also, the companies which made the so called copy protections for cd’s are either long out of business or are no-longer making their products available to the recording industry, let alone to the cd pressing plants. of which there are fewer and fewer remaining each year.

DTS isn’t the future, that much is clear.  However, because there is such a mountain of physical media with DTS, it will take years for it to stop being a standard people care about.   And it may just be that those that do care about DTS still may not just be the demographic that an audio company is targeting with a particular product.

It stands to reason that someone who prefers physical discs is more ‘old school’ and likely prefers an old fashion receiver  with separate LCR rather than a soundbar.    They could prefer wired over wirless.  They are probably older, as the younger generation don’t even really get the concept of buying phusical discs for movies and music.  Not all, but that appears to be the general rule.  So it doesn’t suppress me that an audio product comes out that aims at the larger segments of the market.  But there will be a market for DTS for some time still I think.

In regards to having an audio standard, that’s got positives and minuses.  While it does make everything simpler, it’s competition between different codecs that drives innovation.  If, for example, there never was a DTS, dolby could have easily settled for 5.1 audio and left it alone.  Because of the competition with DTS, then had to add more audio channels and eventually develop spatial audio formats.  And perhaps we are nearing the end of growth in audio formats, and a universal standard is what we need now, but hard to say that there isn’t better formats out there that we will never develop without competition. 

But I do like the the idea of giving customers the ability to buy the formats they want to use for an added one time fee.  My fear with this is that will end up being a subscription model rather than a one time fee,  Streaming services, audio and video, are doing that now, so it’s not hard to see audio and video equipment following that model, covering licensing costs and getting a solid revenue stream.

I was not saying there are newer “CD types” but “disc types” thinking more of BlueRay and such.

Far from it, DTS:X still sounds miles better than Dolby Atmos tbh. Shame Sonos hasn't added it, think it would suit the Arc a lot better with how the sound stage is setup. But yes, limited to disks mainly, but if a streamer does properly introduce it, that will change everything. 

These type of format wars are never just about which format is the better quality.  

The fact of the matter at the moment, is that the majority of online streaming services have decided to support the Dolby Atmos format and many Movie discs now support that format too - if that were to ever switch to DTS:X and the format became used by the majority, then it’s likely the case that Sonos (and other device manufacturers) would then go onto support the codec instead, but those changes by the online providers really needs to take place first.

As with any business, it’s about first of all catering for the majority. If the switch doesn’t happen however, then I think users (in the minority) who want the DTS-X or DTS-HQ formats playable on their Sonos products, should perhaps have the option to maybe buy these things as an ‘add-on’.