Contributor I

Playbase: Sonos no longer recommandable for home theater

Forum|Forum|9 years ago
March 7, 2017
47 replies
42144 views

Hello,

today I read the specifications of the brand new Playbase. What have I waited for a new gen2 Playbar, supporting DTS, DD+, maybe having HDMI or (now I am getting really crazy) supporting Dolby Atmos. There are even soundbars providing Dolby Atmos sound! Really, you can search for yourself, these things are possible in 2017...

And now the brand new Sonos Playbase is out... The only difference between the Playbar (based on the first test and specifications I read): It's flat and, oh yes, it will support Alexa.

Sonos, did you even listen to your customers? To the complaints about your old product, the Playbar? Did you recognize that the home theater world is moving into a future where you have 4k, HDR movies, losless audio formats, dolby atmos?

We (your beloved customers) should pay $700+ for a piece of hardware that supports only stereo if you use e.g. Netflix (Netflix uses DD+, the same for Maxdome in Germany). Not to mention that you could end up with no sound at all if you use 4k Bluerays (search the Sonos community).

Sorry, Sonos. That is not the way to go in my opinion.

I cannot further recommend you. You want to listen to plain music? You will be happy with the Play 1, 3 or 5 from Sonos, but there are cheaper and equally good products around. You want to integrate your living room in your sound setup, with your TV as a central element? Avoid Sonos at any costs, You will not be happy, there are better products around.

A very disappointed customer.

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mgutt

Enthusiast II

+1 for this thread. Never seen a more ignorant company. Unbelievable. Much less people will buy a playbase compared to a playbar because now, much more of them know about the missing DTS support.

And regarding voice control: Forget it, it will never work until someone finds a way to real artificial intelligence.

If Alexa & Co will be sold, it will be finally a hype. Think about how many people you know that are using their smartphone mainly for voice control. You can count them on the fingers of one hand. Sonos is really on the wrong way supporting this.

P.S. it is not possible to support DTS or DD HD through Toslink (hardware bandwidth limitation). The playbar/playbase must add HDMI.

jgatie

P.S. it is not possible to support DTS or DD HD through Toslink (hardware bandwidth limitation).

Not a hardware limitation at all. TOSLINK can support up to 125 Mbps. DTS HD Master Audio is maximum 24.5 Mbps. Dolby TrueHD 18 Mbps. The limitation is because you can do copy protection over HDMI, nothing to do with bandwidth.

nicka99

Local Superstar

http://www.whathifi.com/news/denon-heos-bar-and-subwoofer-coming-to-uk-in-april
"Unlike the Sonos Playbar or Playbase, you can benefit from Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio processing."

jgatie

http://www.whathifi.com/news/denon-heos-bar-and-subwoofer-coming-to-uk-in-april
"Unlike the Sonos Playbar or Playbase, you can benefit from Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio processing."

Amazon doesn't publish sales figures, but comparing review numbers are a pretty good indicator of relative popularity.

Sonos Playbar reviews: 911 - average 4.5 stars
Denon HEOS HomeCinema Soundbar & Subwoofer reviews: 52 - average 3.5 stars

I don't think Sonos is too worried about Heos.

T

tom12

Enthusiast II

http://www.whathifi.com/news/denon-heos-bar-and-subwoofer-coming-to-uk-in-april
"Unlike the Sonos Playbar or Playbase, you can benefit from Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio processing."

You can add that tagline to any review of any soundbar on the market.

binh25

Avid Contributor I

+1 for this thread. Never seen a more ignorant company. Unbelievable. Much less people will buy a playbase compared to a playbar because now, much more of them know about the missing DTS support.

And regarding voice control: Forget it, it will never work until someone finds a way to real artificial intelligence.

If Alexa & Co will be sold, it will be finally a hype. Think about how many people you know that are using their smartphone mainly for voice control. You can count them on the fingers of one hand. Sonos is really on the wrong way supporting this.

P.S. it is not possible to support DTS or DD HD through Toslink (hardware bandwidth limitation). The playbar/playbase must add HDMI.

Sonos know what is best for their Customers just like Black Berry people don't use touch screen keyboard and insist on that crazy keyboard pad until the party is over :-)

Votes with your Wallet is the best answer to this, #ReturnSonos

T

tom12

Enthusiast II

+1 for this thread. Never seen a more ignorant company. Unbelievable. Much less people will buy a playbase compared to a playbar because now, much more of them know about the missing DTS support.

And regarding voice control: Forget it, it will never work until someone finds a way to real artificial intelligence.

If Alexa & Co will be sold, it will be finally a hype. Think about how many people you know that are using their smartphone mainly for voice control. You can count them on the fingers of one hand. Sonos is really on the wrong way supporting this.

P.S. it is not possible to support DTS or DD HD through Toslink (hardware bandwidth limitation). The playbar/playbase must add HDMI.

Sonos know what is best for their Customers just like Black Berry people don't use touch screen keyboard and insist on that crazy keyboard pad until the party is over :-)

Votes with your Wallet is the best answer to this, #ReturnSonos

Hah, I hadn't thought of that, but the Blackberry analogy is quite accurate. A once dominant manufacturer that failed to recognize the changing needs of it's customers and subsequently failed to change with the times.

B

beardah

Lyricist III

I have to agree. I recently had a couple of HDMI ports die on my cheap HTIB receiver. I was considering adding a Playbar or Playbase and downsizing my setup. Unfortunately, my TV (Panasonic 65ST30) doesn't pass through 5.1 and my Roku outputs Netflix in DD+. So in addition to the Playbar/Playbase, I'd be looking at getting an HDMI switch, an audio extractor, and replacing my Roku with another Netflix player (Apple TV?).

I might still go with a Playbar/Playbase because of the open-floor layout of the room and because I already have loads of other Sonos gear. But I'm having a hard time coughing up $700 for a soundbar that is technologically inferior to a low end $150 receiver like the Sony STRDH550, which supports DD+, DTS and acts as a 4-port HDMI switch. If Sony was able to incorporate these 3 crucial elements into a $150 package, shouldn't Sonos be able to incorporate it into a $700 package? Or at the least, sell a separate $100 4-port HDMI switch that converts DTS / DD+ into regular DD? It's true that you can buy HDMI switches and audio extractors as a band-aid, but it still doesn't address the bigger issue of the Playbar/Playbase being unable to play anything but stereo and DD.

T

theGeek

Avid Contributor I

I just had my first DTS frustration with Sonos last night.

I bought a new TV over the weekend that happened to have DTS PassThru. Went the whole weekend watching stuff streamed off Plex through my Roku. No issues at all since it would automatically transcode to a compatible format.

Last night we bought Fantastic Beasts on BluRay and decided to watch it before ripping it to Plex. I spent 45 minutes messing with cables and settings in Sonos trying to figure out what the problem was. Then it occurred to me that the TV might actually have DTS Passthru (or some other unsupported format). Sure enough, after diving into the settings more deeply, I found an output setting and had to change it from "Auto" to PCM. It worked fine after that.

T

theGeek

Avid Contributor I

I have to agree. I recently had a couple of HDMI ports die on my cheap HTIB receiver. I was considering adding a Playbar or Playbase and downsizing my setup. Unfortunately, my TV (Panasonic 65ST30) doesn't pass through 5.1 and my Roku outputs Netflix in DD+. So in addition to the Playbar/Playbase, I'd be looking at getting an HDMI switch, an audio extractor, and replacing my Roku with another Netflix player (Apple TV?).

I might still go with a Playbar/Playbase because of the open-floor layout of the room and because I already have loads of other Sonos gear. But I'm having a hard time coughing up $700 for a soundbar that is technologically inferior to a low end $150 receiver like the Sony STRDH550, which supports DD+, DTS and acts as a 4-port HDMI switch. If Sony was able to incorporate these 3 crucial elements into a $150 package, shouldn't Sonos be able to incorporate it into a $700 package? Or at the least, sell a separate $100 4-port HDMI switch that converts DTS / DD+ into regular DD? It's true that you can buy HDMI switches and audio extractors as a band-aid, but it still doesn't address the bigger issue of the Playbar/Playbase being unable to play anything but stereo and DD.

My question is IF (and thats a HUGE if) Sonos decided to add DD+ and DTS support would it be possible on their current hardware? Or would it be an entirely new piece of equipment?

I don't know enough about decoding to know if its a simple firmware upgrade or something bigger.

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