Answered

New Sonos ARC - DTS support


Hi.

I have a Sony OLED A8F that only has ARC.   I understand the support sequence for Dolby decoding but wondering if Sonos will now be able to support DTS decoding?  Many of my movies I have ripped to disk using the best sound option only and many of those are any line of DTS.  Can you please verify if the new ARC will support any of these?

Thanks

 

icon

Best answer by controlav 10 May 2020, 16:02

View original

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.

32 replies

Sonos has made no indication that they intend to support DTS. We will have to see what S2 reveals when it released.

Given their announcement around Atmos, it seems unlikely that DTS would be included, though, as you’d think that would have been an good time to make that announcement as well. 

Userlevel 1
Badge

Hi.

I have a Sony OLED A8F that only has ARC.   I understand the support sequence for Dolby decoding but wondering if Sonos will now be able to support DTS decoding?  Many of my movies I have ripped to disk using the best sound option only and many of those are any line of DTS.  Can you please verify if the new ARC will support any of these?

Thanks

 

They didn’t add DTS to playbar, playbase, beam or amp so IMO they aren’t likely to add it to arc. Hopefully I’m wrong.

Hopefully your media player converts DTS to DD5.1 for you.

Userlevel 7
Badge +23

The web site lists a lot of codecs for the Arc, but DTS is absent. The FAQ page says eARC supports Dolby Atmos, TrueHD, MAT, Dolby Digital Plus, and Dolby Digital.

Thanks to all.  Somewhat disappointed by this as I may have to bail on the new ARC.  Have it preordered at the moment but if there is no DTS  support,  I will probably go the receiver route for that room.

 

Userlevel 2
Badge +1

Thanks to all.  Somewhat disappointed by this as I may have to bail on the new ARC.  Have it preordered at the moment but if there is no DTS  support,  I will probably go the receiver route for that room.

 

The dts deficiency could be compensated for if your source decodes DTS and outputs it in multichannel pcm (most do) IF the Arc supported multichannel PCM… which it, based on currently announced specs, doesn’t. I’ve been banging on about this in a few threads, but the lack of lpcm is a much more critical problem than lack of dts support - which, of itself, is somewhat absurd, considering the prevalence and presence of DTS in audio products 1/10 of the Arc’s price.

Very likely because of DTS Play-Fi, the awful but widely-adopted multi-room competitor to Sonos.  Yet another infringer on Sonos’ many patents, without a doubt.

Userlevel 2
Badge +1

I was waiting for this new bar, believing that it would finally support DD+ AND DTS. I was wrong. I’ll stick it to my AVR setup, which supports all kinds of codecs.

I love Sonos, but - at this point - this choice of keeping DTS support out really is not understandable.

Userlevel 2
Badge +1

I still cannot fathom the pigheadedness of SONOS about DTS support. I would buy one if it did this; but I’m not going to ghost 90% of my Bluray collection because they are so tight as not to pay £1 or so (per device) DTS Core license!

 

Please SONOS, listen to your Customers and potential new Customers!
 

DTS DTS DTS DTS DTS DTS DTS DTS DTS DTS

Userlevel 2
Badge +1

I still cannot fathom the pigheadedness of SONOS about DTS support. I would buy one if it did this; but I’m not going to ghost 90% of my Bluray collection because they are so tight as not to pay £1 or so (per device) DTS Core license!

 

Please SONOS, listen to your Customers and potential new Customers!
 

DTS DTS DTS DTS DTS DTS DTS DTS DTS DTS

I mean, I get it if they have an ongoing disagreement over the competing DTS streaming technology and patents (as it appears), but in that case I’d make triple sure to support multichannel pcm so everybody with earc at least can overcome the problem this invariably creates.

Userlevel 4
Badge +7

Sonos will not be changing their the policy on this. Really not worth requesting it or in any way for hoping/planning for it in the future. 
 

Get a blu-ray player that will transcode to DD 5.1 on the fly and forget all about it. 
 

I have a Samsung BD-player that does the trick for me. Most recent consoles should also be able to do it. I saw a recent post confirming this for the PS4 and my Xbox One is also able to do it.  

Userlevel 2
Badge +1

Sonos will not be changing their the policy on this. Really not worth requesting it or in any way for hoping/planning for it in the future. 
 

Get a blu-ray player that will transcode to DD 5.1 on the fly and forget all about it. 
 

I have a Samsung BD-player that does the trick for me. Most recent consoles should also be able to do it. I saw a recent post confirming this for the PS4 and my Xbox One is also able to do it.  

Now that the pipeline supports lossless (due to earc multichannel pcm support), I’m not going to buy a product that forces me to use a lossy transport stream. Might as well have stuck to arc.

Userlevel 4
Badge +7

Sonos will not be changing their the policy on this. Really not worth requesting it or in any way for hoping/planning for it in the future. 
 

Get a blu-ray player that will transcode to DD 5.1 on the fly and forget all about it. 
 

I have a Samsung BD-player that does the trick for me. Most recent consoles should also be able to do it. I saw a recent post confirming this for the PS4 and my Xbox One is also able to do it.  

Now that the pipeline supports lossless (due to earc multichannel pcm support), I’m not going to buy a product that forces me to use a lossy transport stream. Might as well have stuck to arc.

I am definitely not defending the decision not to include DTS. I don’t find it a reasonable omission from any soundbar in this price range and the issues Sonos is creating for their users with their generally limited codec support both now and in the past are not reasonable. 
 

I am simply stating that if one ends up buying the Arc, there is no use in pleading for DTS support or spending time waiting for it. It will likely never arrive and the only real option is to get a player capable of transcoding. 
 

If DTS matters to you, you should buy something else. It is that simple. 
 

Despite its relatively high price tag, this is still a product intended for the more casual consumer who doesn’t spend too much time worrying about detailed codec support, lossless audio etc. If those things matter, a dedicated receiver and a more comprehensive speaker setup will always be a better option. 

Userlevel 2
Badge +1

Sonos will not be changing their the policy on this. Really not worth requesting it or in any way for hoping/planning for it in the future. 
 

Get a blu-ray player that will transcode to DD 5.1 on the fly and forget all about it. 
 

I have a Samsung BD-player that does the trick for me. Most recent consoles should also be able to do it. I saw a recent post confirming this for the PS4 and my Xbox One is also able to do it.  

Now that the pipeline supports lossless (due to earc multichannel pcm support), I’m not going to buy a product that forces me to use a lossy transport stream. Might as well have stuck to arc.

I am definitely not defending the decision not to include DTS. I don’t find it a reasonable omission from any soundbar in this price range and the issues Sonos is creating for their users with their generally limited codec support both now and in the past are not reasonable. 
 

I am simply stating that if one ends up buying the Arc, there is no use in pleading for DTS support or spending time waiting for it. It will likely never arrive and the only real option is to get a player capable of transcoding. 
 

If DTS matters to you, you should buy something else. It is that simple. 
 

Despite its relatively high price tag, this is still a product intended for the more casual consumer who doesn’t spend too much time worrying about detailed codec support, lossless audio etc. If those things matter, a dedicated receiver and a more comprehensive speaker setup will always be a better option. 

 

I don’t even care about “full” DTS support, as Sonos doubtlessly have their reasons for their obstinacy here.

In fact, I mostly agree with your points, but I have a nagging feeling that the casual consumers are going to come in with a lot of “why am I not getting any audio from my x, y or z when it worked fine with my $ 100 soundbar” threads in a month or two.

 

Again, I just repeatedly want to point out that this is only a problem due to lack of multichannel PCM support, as any player I am aware of can output any sound source, whether a type of Dolby, DTS or native PCM output (as on the Switch and possibly on PS5) as lossless multichannel PCM, bypassing the need for lossy compression and decoding at the Arc. This is how things were done when the first blu-ray discs came out, when codec support was all over the place, and it’s a perfectly reasonable option now that the earc tech supports it.

My reason for repeating this ad nauseam is that I’m tearing my hair out not wanting to go back to a full system to get “front, back and bass with a little bit of up” in my small apartment. The Arc with the ones and sonos sub is as close as I’ve come so far, only to be let down with this problem, which is an absolute deal-breaker for me.

In fact, I mostly agree with your points, but I have a nagging feeling that the casual consumers are going to come in with a lot of “why am I not getting any audio from my x, y or z when it worked fine with my $ 100 soundbar” threads in a month or two.

 

 

While I’m sure there will be some of that, there’s no reason to think it will be in higher volume that there was for the Playbar, Beam, or Sonos Amp.  In fact, good reason to think it will actually be much less for a couple reasons.   People are watching less and less bluray discs and more and more streaming.  As well, people who buy this are focused on Atmos, and will be looking to play Atmos content.  Will they even notice that the Arc doesn’t DTS?  The other is that a lot of the Arc customers are probably people upgrading from a Playbar or Beam, in which case they know what to expect from the Arc.  In contrast to Atmos, DTS is becoming less and less necessary, while Atmos is becoming something people are looking for more and more.

Userlevel 1
Badge

Even some TV manufacturers are stopping support for DTS, an example being the LG CX which will neither decode it nor pass it through. It’s almost as if the industry is trying to kill it off.

Sonos will never support DTS. Join a webinar and ask and you’ll find out either by a vague non-answer or total ignorance. 

Soooo… I currently have a Playbar, Sub and 2x play one rear speakers. I also have sonos speakers in all the 5 other rooms in ouer house.
I would have been willing to pay for addding DTS to the old playbar since i have hundreds of DVD’s and Bly-Ray movies.
Right now i am going to wait for some kind of official response from Sonos on DTS for the ARC. Make no mistake here. I would be willing to pay 100+ USD extra for a DTS license as an add on purchase. But if there is no solution i will we looking for a new soundbar from one of the sonos competitios. 
If i end up going that i may as well switch all the way to a different system meaning the two old play 5 speakers i have will probably not be replaced by new sonos speakers.
I do understand that sonos has some kind of DTS but i really think Sonos has quiet a bit to loose by not supporting DTS.
And if there is no response then the end of 2020 is my final deadline for buying a new surround system.

Userlevel 4
Badge +7

Soooo… I currently have a Playbar, Sub and 2x play one rear speakers. I also have sonos speakers in all the 5 other rooms in ouer house.
I would have been willing to pay for addding DTS to the old playbar since i have hundreds of DVD’s and Bly-Ray movies.
Right now i am going to wait for some kind of official response from Sonos on DTS for the ARC. Make no mistake here. I would be willing to pay 100+ USD extra for a DTS license as an add on purchase. But if there is no solution i will we looking for a new soundbar from one of the sonos competitios. 
If i end up going that i may as well switch all the way to a different system meaning the two old play 5 speakers i have will probably not be replaced by new sonos speakers.
I do understand that sonos has some kind of DTS but i really think Sonos has quiet a bit to loose by not supporting DTS.
And if there is no response then the end of 2020 is my final deadline for buying a new surround system.

Wait all you want. History is absolutely clear: Sonos will never bring DTS-support. 

Userlevel 2
Badge +1

It will also be technically unnecessary, once they add the now-promised lpcm earc functionality. You will be able to unpack the dts at the source and transfer it as lpcm.

Userlevel 1
Badge

I still cannot fathom the pigheadedness of SONOS about DTS support. I would buy one if it did this; but I’m not going to ghost 90% of my Bluray collection because they are so tight as not to pay £1 or so (per device) DTS Core license!

 

Please SONOS, listen to your Customers and potential new Customers!
 

DTS DTS DTS DTS DTS DTS DTS DTS DTS DTS

If you think DTS royalty per unit is £1, I want some of what you’re smoking. It’s MUCH higher.

 

Badge +1

It will also be technically unnecessary, once they add the now-promised lpcm earc functionality. You will be able to unpack the dts at the source and transfer it as lpcm.

That’s an important development - do you have the source for that promise?

I have a new SONY XBR-A9G (with eARC HDMI), ARC, two Sonos 1SL rears coupled with my older Sony UBP-X800 player and Sonos Sub.  ATMOS is wonderful, streaming Disney+ movies in DD5.1 is great, cable TV in DD5.1 is good,  but my Blu-ray library is mostly DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 or 5.1.  I cannot find any combination of settings to play these movies in anything but STEREO 2.0.  Amazingly if I switch the audio track to any of the foreign language DD5.1 they all play as 5.1 (but alas, I am only mono-lingual)….  I thought the new Sony A9G with eARC would transcode DTS to DD5.1 but it does not.  I have been on chat with Sony for an hour with Level 2 support and they conclude that Sony is passing the DTS signal (neither Sony product transcodes).  So I can play DTS from the TV speakers and left with Stereo 2.0 in the Sonos rear speakers.  

After reading this post, I realize the problem is with the SONOS ARC.  Prior to launch, I asked the SONOS preorder person if the ARC would support all the Dolby and DTS formats and was told “Yes it will”.  Obviously, this person was miss-informed.

I have looked for other players that transcode on the fly, but could only find people saying Samsung and Oppo did this and unfortunately Samsung does not produce them anymore and Oppo has discontinued making theirs (can only find used ones).  our PS4 has the ability but ONLY if using optical out (and I dont want to run another wire through my walls to the mounted TV/ARC).  Are there any other 4K UHD player brands out there with this capability?????

Optimal solution is Sonos to provide the ARC with capability to transcode DTSx to DDx instead of Stereo 2.0….

Badge

I have a new SONY XBR-A9G (with eARC HDMI), ARC, two Sonos 1SL rears coupled with my older Sony UBP-X800 player and Sonos Sub.  ATMOS is wonderful, streaming Disney+ movies in DD5.1 is great, cable TV in DD5.1 is good,  but my Blu-ray library is mostly DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 or 5.1.  I cannot find any combination of settings to play these movies in anything but STEREO 2.0.  Amazingly if I switch the audio track to any of the foreign language DD5.1 they all play as 5.1 (but alas, I am only mono-lingual)….  I thought the new Sony A9G with eARC would transcode DTS to DD5.1 but it does not.  I have been on chat with Sony for an hour with Level 2 support and they conclude that Sony is passing the DTS signal (neither Sony product transcodes).  So I can play DTS from the TV speakers and left with Stereo 2.0 in the Sonos rear speakers.  

After reading this post, I realize the problem is with the SONOS ARC.  Prior to launch, I asked the SONOS preorder person if the ARC would support all the Dolby and DTS formats and was told “Yes it will”.  Obviously, this person was miss-informed.

I have looked for other players that transcode on the fly, but could only find people saying Samsung and Oppo did this and unfortunately Samsung does not produce them anymore and Oppo has discontinued making theirs (can only find used ones).  our PS4 has the ability but ONLY if using optical out (and I dont want to run another wire through my walls to the mounted TV/ARC).  Are there any other 4K UHD player brands out there with this capability?????

Optimal solution is Sonos to provide the ARC with capability to transcode DTSx to DDx instead of Stereo 2.0….

Get yourself a second hand Xbox one -  it transcodes DTS Blu rays to Dolby Atmos on the fly and works perfectly with no lip sync issues on my setup (LG C9 - Xbox one x - Sonos arc)

Great, thanks… and the Xbox One connects and transcodes via HDMI?  I have a PS4 but it requires using optical cable.

Badge

Great, thanks… and the Xbox One connects and transcodes via HDMI?  I have a PS4 but it requires using optical cable.

Yes - I have my Xbox one X connected to my TV via HDMI and it works without a hitch.  Quick tip - When watching UHD discs with Dolby Atmos true HD soundtracks I have found you need to select the option in the Blu ray settings titled ‘let my receiver decode audio’ otherwise the Sonos app says it is receiving only lossy Dolby Atmos and not the lossless True HD signal.  If you are watching a disc with a DTS soundtrack you need to deselect that option - the Xbox will then transcode to Dolby Atmos on the fly.  Changing this setting takes only seconds so it is not much of an inconvenience.