Please add support for DTS for the Sonos Playbar.

Sonos will not support DTS period they made this clear since 2014 and its ashame because the 5.1 is a perfect, flawed product due to having no DTS. As a user you make the choice you buy or you don't it's that simple.

Ryan, I don't mean to toss a stone at you for your reply. But you pretty much didn't answer the question.

Why is DTS not supported, nor is it ever planned to be supported?

Because sometimes the TV doesn't pass DTS to the optical isn't an acceptable answer.
What is keeping Sonos from developing this, regardless of what their thoughts are on the TV passing whatever. Why won't Sonos develop for DTS?

I know it's probably been explained on a technical stance, but seriously guys, pin this answer to the top of the list and make it really obvious to someone reading the forums exactly what is the stance on DTS and why. You're only going to be getting more and more requests and complaints about it as time passes and systems evolve.

It's a serious pain in the ass to deal with. I've had my theater system for a while, and it's a constant source of "What the... why... AH FOR F SAKE!" when I open a new movie/show file. Then I need to piss around trying to convert it, or bodge something together to make it work.

Guys... You can't acceptably call this a home theater package like this... and it's just going to get worse.
Ryan, I'm sorry for blasting, as I find you're extremely helpful and upfront... But this just boggles my mind how it's a glaring problem and doesn't really get addressed.

glad I found this

bought 6 play 1 speakers and boost for a Christmas party. worked well for a small speaker.

researching a new tv and sound bar. way too much research is needed on this stuff. since I planned to expand my sonos speakers, the playbar and sub was my first choice. I could use the play 1s until I could get play 3s for the surrounds.

then I find that many tvs don't pass anything 5.1. the sound bars try to make an educated guess as to what should be routed to the surrounds? for $2,000?

I was hoping for something a little less complex to operate. boxes that provide functions that other boxes say they support, but not fully. or fake support. disappointing. tv can switch BUT... tv has input for this BUT... output for that BUT... interface can support BUT... protocol supports that but...

if the optical protocol does not support ANY of these audio standards, it should be expanded to encompass all of them. if the interface physical properties are the limitation, they need to correct that too. dump the plastic pipes. we can send the entire library of congress around the planet several times per second on a single fiber the size of a hair. this application would not have to support that throughput, and the cost to implement a remarkably fast optical interface would not be cost prohibitive.

throw in plug and play where boxes shake hands and declare their capabilities...

wait - sonos.

$2 grand for a tv - another $2 grand on sonos. and its a compromise. alternatively, more boxes, more complexity, more points of failure, more cables...and you still need an engineering degree to navigate the menus for each box, each media source, each dvd to get the best possible out of the investment. and if sonos is in the mix, its STILL a compromise.

the upside is that many tvs DO pass these protocols now. sony, vizio and Toshiba have been doing it since 2013 and before. sonos needs to stop using that as an excuse. they are NOT going to do it as evidenced by this 2 year old thread.

but thanks all for the info in this thread. i'll keep researching.

that link to dts play-fi looks interesting...

Ryan, is there a reason why DTS will not be supported? I have just bought my first Sonos speaker and have been considering purchasing a Sonos 5.1 HT system.

There absolutely are reasons and we've talked about them in this thread a little higher up. In the end, it came down to there just not being that many TVs which pass DTS through optical from HDMI sources.The PLAYBAR wasn't designed with DTS in mind and we've found that Dolby Digital 5.1 has a great surround experience which a lot of TVs and other devices can pass through optical to Sonos.

If you're interested in testing it out, we offer a 45 day money back guaranty for all units purchased directly through our shop (http://www.sonos.com/shop). You're welcome to try it out in your home and see if it's a good fit.

Love true DD from sonos playbar 5.1, but due to its limitations and sonos trying to make it "simple" they have ironically made it pretty difficult to get the best out of there products. Would I spend £1700 again no....will I sell my set up no. The work arounds are 100% necessary because stereo/faux 5.1 is terrible but when it's good it's outstanding.....my TV does pass DTS through optical

I remember when I bought my first "Smart TV" a few years back, was delighted with it till I found it didn't have DTS support. It always bugged me , I felt like I had been mugged.
A few years later and I have 2 x play1's and in the market for a soundbar.The Playbar was the obvious choice but wait... low and behold no DTS support.
Sorry but this isn't good enough and you can promise as many software updates for other features but without DTS support it's a deal breaker for me.
Not going to get mugged this time around.
SONOS you have gone down the pecking order,...Time to wise up.

I just dissuaded a family member from buying a playbar because of this issue. That might have been his "in" to the Sonos network. But I told him that without DTS support and without any other Sonos components in his house and he's better off getting different playbar.

Dts support please Sonos listen to your customers! Iam sad that it still not is support in 2015? Why Sonos Why???

Fundamentally the issue boils down to Playbar being a device that doesn't really fit its niche. Playbar is lacking critical features in a high end 5.1 home surround sound system (HDMI inputs and DTS support), but it's also priced well above what low end systems typically go for (you can buy a cheap "5.1" wired system for $300 including a Blu-Ray player). So you have what is in essence a budget-ish product being sold at a premium price. Looking at the competition in the high end space there are quite a few offerings in a similar price range that DO support HDMI inputs and DTS as well, but they fall short in the support for audio streaming and other codecs, and some of them are also more expensive to boot (not massively so, but enough you can notice it).

I agree - its really surprising that a premium priced soundbar is missing DTS decoding thats included on even the most bargain basement priced all-in-one solutions. However, also consider that the Playbar also includes all the Sonos innards that are missing from a cheaper soundbars to 'Sonosify' it. You need to compare the price of a decent 'regular' soundbar plus a Sonos Connect to make a fair comparison.

This is exactly why i won't further invest in any Sonos home theater set up. I love it for its multi room capabilities, but they seriously whiffed on this one. Had I done my research on the Playbar before had a probably would have never bought it, but it sounded so good in the store. I certainly won't be spending $700 more to add a sub or rear channels... and i bet i am not the only one in this camp...

I posted this in another thread, but feel it is valid to be put here to:

Having felt that the surround sound was lacking I started searching and after reading a couple of days ago about how I can go into the "About my Sonos System" and see what the status is of "Playbar Audio in:" I have checked mine repeatedly with slightly different configurations only to find that it consistently says "Stereo". I am not going to start buying other workaround devices, guess at a compatible TV (serious Sonos, all you can muster is a list of all the ones that won't work??) in order to compensate for the failings of what is supposedly a premium product.

I had taken to setting it up with my play 3's from other rooms which I was going to replace in the new year. Instead I have put them back in the rooms, packed back up the Playbar and Sub and DPD are will be collecting them tomorrow so I can get them refund.

Premium should apply to more than just the price tag, Sonos. Very disappointed.

I agree - its really surprising that a premium priced soundbar is missing DTS decoding thats included on even the most bargain basement priced all-in-one solutions. However, also consider that the Playbar also includes all the Sonos innards that are missing from a cheaper soundbars to 'Sonosify' it. You need to compare the price of a decent 'regular' soundbar plus a Sonos Connect to make a fair comparison.

But that's sort of at the root of the issue, it feels like Sonos is dabbling in a market they aren't actually prepared for. Sonos as a home music system is great, hands down one of the best products out there. Sonos as a 5.1 surround sound theater system is a train wreck. Sonos made the choice to move into the home theater market, but they did it tentatively, and even now they don't really want to commit to it. They've gone on record saying they don't want to have HDMI inputs on their devices because they don't want to deal with video, they're purely an audio shop, which is fine and all, but if that was the case they never should have dipped their toes in the home theater market.

The current sub-par state of Sonos as a home theater setup is entirely due to their pussyfooting around and not really committing to supporting that market, they either need to go whole hog and do a proper sound bar complete with HDMI inputs and DTS, or else back out of the market. At this point if Sonos isn't careful the market is going to make the choice for them as their competitors expand their already decent home theater products into the home audio market and start to erode Sonos core product. It's a shame to see how badly they've blown this because the Playbar could have opened up a whole new market for Sonos, but instead it faceplanted right out of the gate.

Honestly even the Playbar could have been OK if they had marketed it right and sold it at the proper price-point. Where Sonos screwed up was pushing it as a 5.1 solution which it very much isn't. As a 3.1 or purely as a soundbar it isn't too bad, but it simply lacks the necessary features to go toe to toe with a true 5.1 surround sound theater system. From the standpoint of a soundbar, even the poorest of options out competes the Playbar in features (most of them have bluetooth support among other things) and fairly decent ones can be purchased around a $350 pricepoint, which is a shame because with just a few minor tweaks the Playbar could have easily trounced even a $1500 soundbar like the one you mentioned.

Fundamentally the issue boils down to Playbar being a device that doesn't really fit its niche. Playbar is lacking critical features in a high end 5.1 home surround sound system (HDMI inputs and DTS support), but it's also priced well above what low end systems typically go for (you can buy a cheap "5.1" wired system for $300 including a Blu-Ray player). So you have what is in essence a budget-ish product being sold at a premium price. Looking at the competition in the high end space there are quite a few offerings in a similar price range that DO support HDMI inputs and DTS as well, but they fall short in the support for audio streaming and other codecs, and some of them are also more expensive to boot (not massively so, but enough you can notice it).

I agree - its really surprising that a premium priced soundbar is missing DTS decoding thats included on even the most bargain basement priced all-in-one solutions. However, also consider that the Playbar also includes all the Sonos innards that are missing from a cheaper soundbars to 'Sonosify' it. You need to compare the price of a decent 'regular' soundbar plus a Sonos Connect to make a fair comparison.

As an addendum to the previous comment I also want to point out that even if they added DTS support it wouldn't entirely solve the problem in all cases because some TVs only support stereo audio out of their TOSLink outputs. That however is at least a problem with the TV manufacturers cutting corners and not the problem of Sonos.

If Sonos really wanted to go above and beyond they would do what has been suggested by others and offer either a new version of the Playbar that had HDMI inputs and outputs with ARC (and DTS support), or else offer some other small cheap device that offered just those inputs and could be used as a bridge to an existing Sonos setup (similar to the way Connect and Connect: AMP function).

Fundamentally the issue boils down to Playbar being a device that doesn't really fit its niche. Playbar is lacking critical features in a high end 5.1 home surround sound system (HDMI inputs and DTS support), but it's also priced well above what low end systems typically go for (you can buy a cheap "5.1" wired system for $300 including a Blu-Ray player). So you have what is in essence a budget-ish product being sold at a premium price. Looking at the competition in the high end space there are quite a few offerings in a similar price range that DO support HDMI inputs and DTS as well, but they fall short in the support for audio streaming and other codecs, and some of them are also more expensive to boot (not massively so, but enough you can notice it).