PLAYBAR DTS Support

  • 7 March 2013
  • 14 replies
  • 24385 views

Userlevel 4
Badge +2
As we all know, PLAYBAR doesn't support DTS audio. If you feed it DTS, you simply get "unsupported" as the input type and silence from the speakers.

For my birthday today, I received a Superman blu-ray box set and looked forward to watching the movies in HD and PLAYBAR surround sound. Unfortunately, as the PLAYBAR doesn't support the DTS encoded movies, I am unable to play them back in surround sound. VERY disappointing, especially for my kids who bought the box set for me.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say that I wouldn't recommend a PLAYBAR to anybody until they fix this DTS issue. It's extremely frustrating to know that many blu-ray discs will not work in 5.1 for PLAYBAR and I can't believe that DTS decoding wasn't included on a device that commands such a high price.

To get PLAYBAR in 5.1, you need to have the unit itself plus a SUB and 2 x PLAY:3 devices. That's over £1700 and it still won't do DTS! Ridiculous.

Compare to this Yamaha soundbar...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yamaha-YAS10.../dp/B005WNOD6M

...£199 and full support for DTS. The Sonos PLAYBAR device costs three times as much and doesn't support it. You can get DTS decoding on a £50 DVD player so to omit this on a premium product makes no sense.

The Sonos website reads "EASILY CREATE A 5.1 HOME THEATER" - but it's not that easy at all. Most TVs won't output 5.1 on their optical output and, if you go the unsupported direct route, DTS isn't supported.0

If you'd like DTS support added to playbar, please go here and add your support to the request somebody already raised:

https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/please_add_support_for_dts_for_the_sonos_playbar

The lack of DTS is ruining the product for me.

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14 replies

My Playbar in my bedroom is 1 day old and though there is not DTS and DD+ support, I m happy with the sound quality. For surrounds I m using the Play:1
I stream movies n use the PBar for audio as well

If I need to watch Bluray with DTS/Atmos then I will watch in my living room
A 5.1 setup in my bedroom is good enuf for me
Userlevel 5
Badge +12
Wake up Sonos its 2015!!!!

Left it a bit late to trot that line out haven't you? Could have left 8 days and said 2016...


2018

It cannot be terminated if it was never on the agenda for implementation, and no one from Sonos has ever said it was on the agenda for implementation.

Hey jgatie, thank you for your reply.
I think there might be a misunderstanding. I am referring to the feature request, not to the fact that it would be something that SONOS had actually planned to implement. The latter step would only become fact *after* the feature request would have been accepted by SONOS. I just would like to add my vote to the request.
Can anyone let me know why this feature request was terminated?

https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/please_add_support_for_dts_for_the_sonos_playbar

Thank you in advance...


It cannot be terminated if it was never on the agenda for implementation, and no one from Sonos has ever said it was on the agenda for implementation.
I don't think that anyone outside of Sonos would know even if it was terminated, or put on the backlog for implementation later.
Can anyone let me know why this feature request was terminated?

https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/please_add_support_for_dts_for_the_sonos_playbar

Thank you in advance...
Wake up Sonos its 2015!!!!

Left it a bit late to trot that line out haven't you? Could have left 8 days and said 2016...
Userlevel 3
Badge +2
The lack of DTS is ruining the Sonos Playbar! Why is that Sonos can't see that problem? There are a lot of Sonos Playbar users that have connect the Sonos Playbar straight to their Dreambox ! And not to the tv. why? Because Dreambox outputs DD and DTS true optical! And my old led tv not so we need the DTS License for our Sonos Playbar!!! Is Sonos blind?
Wake up Sonos its 2015!!!!
Yes, I know, Sonos finally decided not to implement DTS in Playbar right now. I suppose they just not need to. Playbar doesn't have HDMI sockets and that's why its DTS support will still be limited. I think the company should consider marketing a new piece of hardware (decoder, or Cinema Controller, name it yourself) equipped with HDMI ports and 5.1-7.1 decoders, which will simply integrate into Sonos net and wirelessly send decoded signal to Playbar, SUB and surround Plays. Maybe that is the solution?
Userlevel 4
Badge +2
The DTS support thread on ask.sonos.com has now been marked as under consideration. It also has reached 50 votes.

If this feature is important to you, ensure you go to the thread and vote.

Thanks.

https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/please_add_support_for_dts_for_the_sonos_playbar
Userlevel 4
Badge +2
Is there going to be any chance at all of them patching in dts support - or at least allow downmixing of dts input to 2.0 - in the future?

Or is this more of a hardware issue making it impossible until sonos release playbar version 2?


It's entirely software, the PLAYBAR simply doesn't have the required codecs.

There are usually ways of downmixing to 2.0 without needing PLAYBAR to do it, but there is very little point in paying £1700+ for a 5.1 set-up and then feeding it 2.0.
Userlevel 3
Badge +2
Is there going to be any chance at all of them patching in dts support - or at least allow downmixing of dts input to 2.0 - in the future?

Or is this more of a hardware issue making it impossible until sonos release playbar version 2?
Userlevel 4
Badge +2
If I can find any blu-ray player that will output true DD5.1 from a DTS source, I'll buy one. The only ones I can find will output in analogue.

There are adapters like this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/EiioX-Audio-Digital-Sound-Decoder/dp/B0090H30M4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1362688469&sr=1-1

But the output isn't optical, so it's no use. They did manage to license both DD and DTS decoding on a £40 device though, showing how cheap this kind of licensing can be.

I just need any way of getting my DTS surround discs into PLAYBAR in a Dolby Digital 5.1 format - it doesn't even support LPCM.
I can't help but think this is partly the fault of the studios as well. Imagine how many different licensing fees a manufacturer has to pay for just to be able to decode those signals. I understand that DTS and Dolby have been around for ages and I'm not here to argue which one is better than the other.

I'm going to see if I can go rent the superman Blu-ray movie and see how the PS3 handles it if it can't push DTS through the optical line since I have that unchecked in the PS3 menu. I'll post back.