I've had sonos for a couple of years now. Started with the playbar and sub and then yesterday I added 2 play 1's to get surround sound. OMG!!! What a drama. I didn't realise there would be any issues, just went to JB Hifi and bought a couple of speakers only to find there are loads of issues.
Since failing to get everything connected and running 5.1 through the blu ray player I came to this community and read a lot of different all reporting the same issues. I have a Samsung TV and Blu Ray player and wasn't aware until last night that there are a lot of issues with decoding the audio. Not sure why Samsung and Sonos don't play nice together but also know that it's unlikely for anything to change.
Anyway, I went out today and bought a few things after reading some threads last night. And can get the system working using the following components:
Digitech HDMI Audio Extractor
Digitech 3-Way Optical Switch
However, I now have two new boxes sitting on my cabinet, a new remote, 2 extra optical cables, 1 IR sensor, an extra power supply and 1 new HDMI cable.
The Samsung TV is JS9000 - http://www.samsung.com/au/tvs/suhd-js9000/UA65JS9000WXXY/
The Samsung Blu Ray is UBD-K8500 - http://www.samsung.com/au/audio-video/uhd-blu-ray-player-k8500/
It looks like there is only one way for me to connect it all which is by having the audio of the Blu Ray coming out via HDMI while the audio comes out of the TV via Optical cable. Then I export from the switch to the Playbar with an optical cable.
It's great to see that I can get everything working but I'd really like to know if it's possible to get one box that will do everything I need?
If anybody can recommend something I'd be very appreciative.
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.
+22Whilst the Playbar is somewhat limited in terms of the audio formats it will play and the audio input this is the model that Sonos have decided to push. The recent PlayBase rather suggests that they intend to stick to that course for the near term anyway.
So, the reality is that in order for the Playbar to perform at it's best it must receive a Dolby Digital 5.1 signal. If you have more than one external video input to your TV it means that a) The TV must pass through a DD5.1 if it receives it and/or convert a DTS signal to DD5.1 (You noted Blu-Ra) (I'm not aware any TVs do that). b) You will need to ensure that your video sources can output DD5.1 even when only a DTS audio track is available. Or, you do what you've done (though I don't know why you need 2 boxes - I just have one 4 x HDMI audio extractor).
If you only have 1 source then plug that directly into the Playbar but again you need to ensure the signal is DD5.1
So, the reality is that in order for the Playbar to perform at it's best it must receive a Dolby Digital 5.1 signal. If you have more than one external video input to your TV it means that a) The TV must pass through a DD5.1 if it receives it and/or convert a DTS signal to DD5.1 (You noted Blu-Ra) (I'm not aware any TVs do that). b) You will need to ensure that your video sources can output DD5.1 even when only a DTS audio track is available. Or, you do what you've done (though I don't know why you need 2 boxes - I just have one 4 x HDMI audio extractor).
If you only have 1 source then plug that directly into the Playbar but again you need to ensure the signal is DD5.1
Thanks for the reply Stuart_W
I've been playing around for a quite a while and also reading more things in the forum and came across a thread that actually help me clear up the issue with my original equipment - https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/4kuhd-bluray-players-that-decode-dts-to-dolby-6738683
1) In the Home Screen, using the arrow buttons on your remote, navigate to and select Settings then press the OK button.
2) Select Sound and press OK on your remote.
3) Select Digital Output.
4) PCM is the default setting compatible with most TV's and receivers. To select this feature press OK on your remote.
5) Select Bitstream (Unprocessed), if you want your receiver to decode all the audio.
6 )Select Bitstream (Re-encoded DTS) to have the original audio re-encoded into DTS.
7) Select Bitstream (Re-encoded Dolby Digital) to have the original audio re-encoded into Dolby Digital.
I'm now getting sound out the rear speakers without any extra hardware by selecting the item at point 7, re-encoded Dolby Digital. I'm really happy I can get rid of all the wires and stuff I bought and keep it nice and simply like I hoped.
One thing I'm unsure of though. Does this mean that the original Dolby 5.1 from the blu ray is getting re-encoded which would ultimately cause a decrease in audio quality?
I've been playing around for a quite a while and also reading more things in the forum and came across a thread that actually help me clear up the issue with my original equipment - https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/4kuhd-bluray-players-that-decode-dts-to-dolby-6738683
1) In the Home Screen, using the arrow buttons on your remote, navigate to and select Settings then press the OK button.
2) Select Sound and press OK on your remote.
3) Select Digital Output.
4) PCM is the default setting compatible with most TV's and receivers. To select this feature press OK on your remote.
5) Select Bitstream (Unprocessed), if you want your receiver to decode all the audio.
6 )Select Bitstream (Re-encoded DTS) to have the original audio re-encoded into DTS.
7) Select Bitstream (Re-encoded Dolby Digital) to have the original audio re-encoded into Dolby Digital.
I'm now getting sound out the rear speakers without any extra hardware by selecting the item at point 7, re-encoded Dolby Digital. I'm really happy I can get rid of all the wires and stuff I bought and keep it nice and simply like I hoped.
One thing I'm unsure of though. Does this mean that the original Dolby 5.1 from the blu ray is getting re-encoded which would ultimately cause a decrease in audio quality?
1 person likes this
+21marry_mark wrote:
One thing I'm unsure of though. Does this mean that the original Dolby 5.1 from the blu ray is getting re-encoded which would ultimately cause a decrease in audio quality?
If the original audio of a Blu-Ray is Dolby 5.1, the audio signal should be going through without any processing by the Blu-Ray player. If the movie audio is DTS 5.1, then it would need to be converted to DD 5.1. As the two audio formats do use different audio encoding techniques, it's possible that a very minimal difference in audio quality might be noticed... but I'd be surprised if you'd notice it.
Sweet Mike.
Was just reading on another forum about PCM vs DD and it explains that DD is lossy whereas PCM is lossless. Not sure if PCM actually has more options than a normal stereo signal so considering I bought the Play:1's for surround sound I'd prefer to have the 5.1 from DD than keep it at PCM.
Was just reading on another forum about PCM vs DD and it explains that DD is lossy whereas PCM is lossless. Not sure if PCM actually has more options than a normal stereo signal so considering I bought the Play:1's for surround sound I'd prefer to have the 5.1 from DD than keep it at PCM.
+1marry_mark wrote:
Thanks for the reply Stuart_W
I've been playing around for a quite a while and also reading more things in the forum and came across a thread that actually help me clear up the issue with my original equipment - https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/4kuhd-bluray-players-that-decode-dts-to-dolby-6738683
1) In the Home Screen, using the arrow buttons on your remote, navigate to and select Settings then press the OK button.
2) Select Sound and press OK on your remote.
3) Select Digital Output.
4) PCM is the default setting compatible with most TV's and receivers. To select this feature press OK on your remote.
5) Select Bitstream (Unprocessed), if you want your receiver to decode all the audio.
6 )Select Bitstream (Re-encoded DTS) to have the original audio re-encoded into DTS.
7) Select Bitstream (Re-encoded Dolby Digital) to have the original audio re-encoded into Dolby Digital.
I'm now getting sound out the rear speakers without any extra hardware by selecting the item at point 7, re-encoded Dolby Digital. I'm really happy I can get rid of all the wires and stuff I bought and keep it nice and simply like I hoped.
One thing I'm unsure of though. Does this mean that the original Dolby 5.1 from the blu ray is getting re-encoded which would ultimately cause a decrease in audio quality?
I've been playing around for a quite a while and also reading more things in the forum and came across a thread that actually help me clear up the issue with my original equipment - https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/4kuhd-bluray-players-that-decode-dts-to-dolby-6738683
1) In the Home Screen, using the arrow buttons on your remote, navigate to and select Settings then press the OK button.
2) Select Sound and press OK on your remote.
3) Select Digital Output.
4) PCM is the default setting compatible with most TV's and receivers. To select this feature press OK on your remote.
5) Select Bitstream (Unprocessed), if you want your receiver to decode all the audio.
6 )Select Bitstream (Re-encoded DTS) to have the original audio re-encoded into DTS.
7) Select Bitstream (Re-encoded Dolby Digital) to have the original audio re-encoded into Dolby Digital.
I'm now getting sound out the rear speakers without any extra hardware by selecting the item at point 7, re-encoded Dolby Digital. I'm really happy I can get rid of all the wires and stuff I bought and keep it nice and simply like I hoped.
One thing I'm unsure of though. Does this mean that the original Dolby 5.1 from the blu ray is getting re-encoded which would ultimately cause a decrease in audio quality?
+1tried this bit diffrent on my blu ray box uncompressed the hdmi works fab cheers🆒
marry_mark wrote:
Sweet Mike.
Was just reading on another forum about PCM vs DD and it explains that DD is lossy whereas PCM is lossless. Not sure if PCM actually has more options than a normal stereo signal so considering I bought the Play:1's for surround sound I'd prefer to have the 5.1 from DD than keep it at PCM.
Was just reading on another forum about PCM vs DD and it explains that DD is lossy whereas PCM is lossless. Not sure if PCM actually has more options than a normal stereo signal so considering I bought the Play:1's for surround sound I'd prefer to have the 5.1 from DD than keep it at PCM.
PCM is not only lossless, it's straight up uncompressed - and the plastic optical cables used only have enough bandwidth for two channels of it ... ditto for coaxial digital, by the way. 7.1 channel LPCM is supported only on HDMI inputs/outputs, and is usually used to decode HD audio tracks in the Blu-Ray player and pass them out to a receiver which isn't capable of the HD audio formats of modern Blu-Rays.
That said, your Dolby Digital at home is actually higher bandwidth than a DD in a theater, which only has a bitrate of only 320 kbps, compared to 448 for DVD and 640 for Blu-Ray, a legacy of DD originally being encoded optically between the sprocket holes of the film, one of the only spaces available on the film, since it was originally released to theaters with Batman Returns (after a short trial run with Star Trek VI) in the early 1990's. Yep, it's a very old codec. 🙂
Enter your E-mail address. We'll send you an e-mail with instructions to reset your password.