Please add support for DTS for the Sonos Playbar.



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Following a careful evaluation, we have decided not to implement support for the DTS audio format in PLAYBAR at this time.
 
PLAYBAR uses a single optical connection directly from your television and was designed this way to make it as easy as possible to set-up and enjoy great HiFi sound.  Most PLAYBAR owners connect PLAYBAR to their TV in this simple way. This is the intended setup for playing the sound from your TV.
 
Today, very few TVs pass a DTS-encoded audio stream through their optical output.  Instead, the TV or source device converts the audio signal automatically to PCM, which PLAYBAR supports.  This is how PLAYBAR plays DTS-encoded Blu-rays.
 
We are committed to supporting the existing and future ecosystem of streaming video services. Currently, popular streaming services do not use DTS and most use Dolby Digital encoding, which PLAYBAR supports.
 
We are aware that PLAYBAR is being connected by customers to devices other than the television. In this configuration, when PLAYBAR receives a DTS signal, it will not process the signal.  If you are not able to connect your PLAYBAR directly to your TV and would like to explore solutions, please click here
 
If DTS support is crucial for your current set-up, PLAYBAR may not be the right solution for you and we apologize for this inconvenience.  If you are currently a PLAYBAR owner and would like to discuss options, please contact Sonos Customer Care.
 
We’ll be actively monitoring TV and streaming services capabilities and trends. If our development stance around DTS decoding in PLAYBAR changes, this community will be among the first to know. 

Seems daft when every budget blueray player on the market can implement DTS. Even if it made 0.1% of playbar users happy, for the cost of implementing, surely it would be worth it ?

I get the position that its meant to be very easy to use and to have it connected to the TV optical out so it works each time, every time, but, SONOS, isn't the following true?

IT WOULD BE SIMPLE TO ADD
IT WOULD BE CHEAP TO ADD
IT WOULD NOT AFFECT THE DESIGN BRIEF OF SIMPLE TO USE
IT WOULD MAKE A VOCAL MINORITY VERY HAPPY.
IT WOULD PREVENT LOSS OF SALES THAT THIS ISSUE COULD BE CAUSING
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Caved in and ordered a matt Sub (glad I did - they went fast!) to go with the potential Playbar purchase - once DTS is confirmed (obviously). Sonos, if you’re listening - you may want to get a rebate off DHL for their shoddy delivery service and put it in the DTS licence kitty. (Ordered on 19th March, left Netherlands on the 20th arrived in England on the 21st. Great. Sent to Ireland on the 22nd - eh?.. I live in England. Sent back to England on the 25th – and still waiting!!) Anyhoo, I’m a bit concerned with the post from Sander regarding the Sonos dealer’s comments with the technical difficulties of streaming DTS and the inability of the Sonos system to cope with the bandwidth. A simple ‘yes it’s possible’ would be nice from Sonos instead of the non-committal response stating that “Hilmar is the lead product architect”. My initial reaction was that this comment was about as useful as a chocolate teapot and about as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit. Of course I would like to think that if Hilmar has stated that DTS is purely a software issue it would follow that the hardware would stand-up to the bandwidth imposed by the DTS stream (together with the system being used in other locations in the house for music). To be fair, I’m sure that is what Mike C was getting at. However without some official black and white ‘yes it’s possible’ comment after over 120 votes in 2 weeks I’m beginning to think this is firmly on the back-burner for Sonos. Which is disappointing to say the least. When an employee of Sonos is unable to confirm that this is technically possible (regardless of whether it will be implemented) it may mean that the topic isn’t being discussed within Sonos, or then again it may mean they’re bored and like to keep us guessing about whether their HT solution will ever be any more than a squandered opportunity. Obviously I’m biased but for me DTS in a HT system is a no-brainer to the point of being ludicrous that it wasn’t included in the first place (regardless of how Sonos think we should use the system). Also, unlike anything else on this forum that I can see the DTS omission is a certain purchase stopper which should therefore trump all of the other ‘feature’ requests no matter how useful they are - and there are a good number that I think are brilliant suggestions that would definitely enhance the Sonos platform. But, if they weren’t implemented would they stop me buying another Sonos component? Simple answer… No. Can the same be said for DTS?... Well, for me it's easy - no DTS = no Playbar. I’m guessing there are a lot more people out there with the Playbar that haven’t found their way to this forum yet and are just living in hope that Sonos won’t pursue such a narrow view of audio implementation in their HT solution. Still waiting to make the jump (for the time being the Sub will complement my Play5 setup in the living room – when/if DHL deliver it), but the more time goes on and this issue remains in limbo I’m sure I’ll just lose my initial excitement/interest and go back to being content with my current HT setup.
Hello, have a question to the community who own a Playbar. If we supposed that the Playbar supports DTS, does your TV support DTS passthrough over the optical cable? I think the most of us have to buy an additional optical audio switch.
DTS-HD/MA has a 'core' track of lossy 1.5 MBs DTS that can be sent via optical, but not all players support it. Check your Blu-ray player. Note that even this core track is superior to 95% of the DVD DTS tracks, which are usually 750kbs and below.
Please add DTS support for my playbar
Hi John
how is the state after three months? "DTS" is Bluaray standard and here we have only stereo and not 5.1. With DVD we have AC3 5.1 but then a bad picture. Sonos advertises we bring your home theater to the rock. For me it rocks only in old DVD and not with Blueray.
What is the status?

Following a careful evaluation, we have decided not to implement support for the DTS audio format in PLAYBAR at this time.
 
PLAYBAR uses a single optical connection directly from your television and was designed this way to make it as easy as possible to set-up and enjoy great HiFi sound.  Most PLAYBAR owners connect PLAYBAR to their TV in this simple way. This is the intended setup for playing the sound from your TV.
 
Today, very few TVs pass a DTS-encoded audio stream through their optical output.  Instead, the TV or source device converts the audio signal automatically to PCM, which PLAYBAR supports.  This is how PLAYBAR plays DTS-encoded Blu-rays.
 
We are committed to supporting the existing and future ecosystem of streaming video services. Currently, popular streaming services do not use DTS and most use Dolby Digital encoding, which PLAYBAR supports.
 
We are aware that PLAYBAR is being connected by customers to devices other than the television. In this configuration, when PLAYBAR receives a DTS signal, it will not process the signal.  If you are not able to connect your PLAYBAR directly to your TV and would like to explore solutions, please click here
 
If DTS support is crucial for your current set-up, PLAYBAR may not be the right solution for you and we apologize for this inconvenience.  If you are currently a PLAYBAR owner and would like to discuss options, please contact Sonos Customer Care.
 
We’ll be actively monitoring TV and streaming services capabilities and trends. If our development stance around DTS decoding in PLAYBAR changes, this community will be among the first to know. 

My perception is that a direct connection of the source device (digital receiver, ps3, etc.) to the playbar produces FAR superior sound than going through HDMI first. I use a switch for optical cables (18€), so the use case to connect it to the TV does not apply to me and I imagine few others who really want to get their money's worth in terms of sound quality for a 1800€ home theatre. So now, if the source device produces DTS, that's a negative user experience. Is it really that costly to implement?
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Hello, have a question to the community who own a Playbar. If we supposed that the Playbar supports DTS, does your TV support DTS passthrough over the optical cable? I think the most of us have to buy an additional optical audio switch.
Ah, ok. Got it. Pretty sure the PS3 supports this.
Bonjour, Tout d'abord mon anglais n'est pas top donc je vous réponds en français. N'espérez pas une mise à jour magique pour le DTS HD la bande passante d'une liaison optique ne permet tout simplement pas de laisser passer ce signal. Il faudrait donc ajouter une prise HDMI et c'est assez difficile à faire passer par le net 🙂 En attendant je vous conseil de télécharger vos films en 1080 et AC3 5.1 (on trouve ça sur le net:-) et de profiter d'une image impeccable et d'un son irréprochable avec votre playbar,sub et vos deux play 3. Pierre Parmentier (distributeur SONOS)
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how about a little Christmas update on this Sonos? Just an ETA on when a decision will be made would be better than the infuriating silence we have at the moment!
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Everyone, a note on comments.  

We are actively moderating discussion in this thread and removing posts that contain inappropriate language.  If your post contains language which is not suitable for a wide audience, it will be removed.

Thank you for your understanding.

Call up a few local stores and see they have it set up. I heard it in a bby and looked up the model number of the tv to see if it passed Dolby or not. Also have them put in a blu ray that is Dolby and not...and do a blind test.
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Ridiculous isn’t it, there are so many budget HT solutions out there that include DTS. If they didn’t include DTS due to hardware limitations then it presumably comes down to licence costs. Had MP3 or FLAC carried a licence cost and as such they decided not to include these codecs in their range of products would any of us be here now? I’m guessing not. Personally I wouldn’t have spent a penny on Sonos.
Hello, have a question to the community who own a Playbar. If we supposed that the Playbar supports DTS, does your TV support DTS passthrough over the optical cable? I think the most of us have to buy an additional optical audio switch.
Yes it does.
Bonjour, Tout d'abord mon anglais n'est pas top donc je vous réponds en français. N'espérez pas une mise à jour magique pour le DTS HD la bande passante d'une liaison optique ne permet tout simplement pas de laisser passer ce signal. Il faudrait donc ajouter une prise HDMI et c'est assez difficile à faire passer par le net 🙂 En attendant je vous conseil de télécharger vos films en 1080 et AC3 5.1 (on trouve ça sur le net:-) et de profiter d'une image impeccable et d'un son irréprochable avec votre playbar,sub et vos deux play 3. Pierre Parmentier (distributeur SONOS)
The only two ways to get DTS-HD Audio is either via HDMI to a receiver that can decode it, or from a 6-channel analog output from Blu-ray players that have such outputs, and a receiver that has a multi-channel input. http://www.dts.com/~/media/f9fc96f2da74436bae7ffbf4fa094eda/DTS_Blu_ray_infosheet.pdf http://hometheaterreview.com/dts-hd-master-audio/ Pour ceux qui ne parlent pas français 😉
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Sonos please add a working DTS codec for the Sonos Playbar that's all what we Sonos Playbar users want, its a shame that It still not is available!! Come on Sonos keep the good work on and install those DTS codecs to the Sonos Playbar! I hope Sonos listening to his customers and will add soon the codecs, than it will be a fantastic system!!!
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Everyone, a note on comments.  

We are actively moderating discussion in this thread and removing posts that contain inappropriate language.  If your post contains language which is not suitable for a wide audience, it will be removed.

Thank you for your understanding.

it works for me when u draw all my content through WDTV.

Try see if u under audio settings on W/E ur using to decide which audioformats your TV/Box/DVD/BR will output.

My WDTV can output to certain formats on optical. Like i can chose if the optical output can send AAC, DTS, etc., or all formats to the hooked up unit (playbar in this case)

Price is like 200 Euro. Includes mediaplyaer that can play anything: Netflix, ISO, MKV, AVI, MP4, Youtube, and everything else. It has 1TB internal storage, it WDTValso works as a NAS. My wife uses it to show pictures on the tv. And before we had wimp, we played all our music on sonos from the music library on the WDTV........ 200 Euro........

So easy that my wife operates it, just as easy as sonos 🙂
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Caved in and ordered a matt Sub (glad I did - they went fast!) to go with the potential Playbar purchase - once DTS is confirmed (obviously). Sonos, if you’re listening - you may want to get a rebate off DHL for their shoddy delivery service and put it in the DTS licence kitty. (Ordered on 19th March, left Netherlands on the 20th arrived in England on the 21st. Great. Sent to Ireland on the 22nd - eh?.. I live in England. Sent back to England on the 25th – and still waiting!!) Anyhoo, I’m a bit concerned with the post from Sander regarding the Sonos dealer’s comments with the technical difficulties of streaming DTS and the inability of the Sonos system to cope with the bandwidth. A simple ‘yes it’s possible’ would be nice from Sonos instead of the non-committal response stating that “Hilmar is the lead product architect”. My initial reaction was that this comment was about as useful as a chocolate teapot and about as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit. Of course I would like to think that if Hilmar has stated that DTS is purely a software issue it would follow that the hardware would stand-up to the bandwidth imposed by the DTS stream (together with the system being used in other locations in the house for music). To be fair, I’m sure that is what Mike C was getting at. However without some official black and white ‘yes it’s possible’ comment after over 120 votes in 2 weeks I’m beginning to think this is firmly on the back-burner for Sonos. Which is disappointing to say the least. When an employee of Sonos is unable to confirm that this is technically possible (regardless of whether it will be implemented) it may mean that the topic isn’t being discussed within Sonos, or then again it may mean they’re bored and like to keep us guessing about whether their HT solution will ever be any more than a squandered opportunity. Obviously I’m biased but for me DTS in a HT system is a no-brainer to the point of being ludicrous that it wasn’t included in the first place (regardless of how Sonos think we should use the system). Also, unlike anything else on this forum that I can see the DTS omission is a certain purchase stopper which should therefore trump all of the other ‘feature’ requests no matter how useful they are - and there are a good number that I think are brilliant suggestions that would definitely enhance the Sonos platform. But, if they weren’t implemented would they stop me buying another Sonos component? Simple answer… No. Can the same be said for DTS?... Well, for me it's easy - no DTS = no Playbar. I’m guessing there are a lot more people out there with the Playbar that haven’t found their way to this forum yet and are just living in hope that Sonos won’t pursue such a narrow view of audio implementation in their HT solution. Still waiting to make the jump (for the time being the Sub will complement my Play5 setup in the living room – when/if DHL deliver it), but the more time goes on and this issue remains in limbo I’m sure I’ll just lose my initial excitement/interest and go back to being content with my current HT setup.
They did mark it as under consideration. People get frustrated when they don't get an official yes or no...I am too wanting dts. But don't expect them to say "yes expect it". What other company does that? Don't see Google, Apple, or Microsoft annnouncing a timeline of updates and promises. Underpromise and overdeliver goes for all companies 🙂. Also in the conversation, Hilmar says you can implement dts through software update. I'll take his word vs a dealer. But here's to DTS being implemented.
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Hello, have a question to the community who own a Playbar. If we supposed that the Playbar supports DTS, does your TV support DTS passthrough over the optical cable? I think the most of us have to buy an additional optical audio switch.
And does it follow that this lossy DTS is better than LPCM or whatever the PS3 is encoding it as? Sounds like one can get DTS to the PLAYBAR either with an A/V receiver that has an optical out port or by using a TOSLink switch. That clears it up for me, thanks again @Jgatie
Bonjour, Tout d'abord mon anglais n'est pas top donc je vous réponds en français. N'espérez pas une mise à jour magique pour le DTS HD la bande passante d'une liaison optique ne permet tout simplement pas de laisser passer ce signal. Il faudrait donc ajouter une prise HDMI et c'est assez difficile à faire passer par le net 🙂 En attendant je vous conseil de télécharger vos films en 1080 et AC3 5.1 (on trouve ça sur le net:-) et de profiter d'une image impeccable et d'un son irréprochable avec votre playbar,sub et vos deux play 3. Pierre Parmentier (distributeur SONOS)
Une solution intermédiaire serait de rendre la playbar compatible avec le DTS core (bande passante inférieure mais qualité très acceptable) https://www.google.be/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=dts%20core&source=web&cd=4&sqi=2&ved=0CE8QFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hdfever.fr%2F2009%2F03%2F09%2Fdigital-theater-system-dts-hd-master-audio%2F&ei=41xRUoTTHc2R7Abt5IGgDQ&usg=AFQjCNFqGet_rzYUB7_VyWjr03zlfhDpEA&sig2=Pf-GrAjU4GuPJfsgUIdK6Q&bvm=bv.53537100,d.Yms
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Amen @Roel Jetten
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Following a careful evaluation, we have decided not to implement support for the DTS audio format in PLAYBAR at this time.
 
PLAYBAR uses a single optical connection directly from your television and was designed this way to make it as easy as possible to set-up and enjoy great HiFi sound.  Most PLAYBAR owners connect PLAYBAR to their TV in this simple way. This is the intended setup for playing the sound from your TV.
 
Today, very few TVs pass a DTS-encoded audio stream through their optical output.  Instead, the TV or source device converts the audio signal automatically to PCM, which PLAYBAR supports.  This is how PLAYBAR plays DTS-encoded Blu-rays.
 
We are committed to supporting the existing and future ecosystem of streaming video services. Currently, popular streaming services do not use DTS and most use Dolby Digital encoding, which PLAYBAR supports.
 
We are aware that PLAYBAR is being connected by customers to devices other than the television. In this configuration, when PLAYBAR receives a DTS signal, it will not process the signal.  If you are not able to connect your PLAYBAR directly to your TV and would like to explore solutions, please click here
 
If DTS support is crucial for your current set-up, PLAYBAR may not be the right solution for you and we apologize for this inconvenience.  If you are currently a PLAYBAR owner and would like to discuss options, please contact Sonos Customer Care.
 
We’ll be actively monitoring TV and streaming services capabilities and trends. If our development stance around DTS decoding in PLAYBAR changes, this community will be among the first to know. 

Hopefully just a simple yes or no question to SONOS on the PLAYBAR refunds policy:

Is SONOS going to give a full refund for all SONOS equipment bought together with the PLAYBAR and later on in 2013 ?

[__] = Yes   [__] = No   [__] = Babble

Please just check only one of the three possible answers above !
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Caved in and ordered a matt Sub (glad I did - they went fast!) to go with the potential Playbar purchase - once DTS is confirmed (obviously). Sonos, if you’re listening - you may want to get a rebate off DHL for their shoddy delivery service and put it in the DTS licence kitty. (Ordered on 19th March, left Netherlands on the 20th arrived in England on the 21st. Great. Sent to Ireland on the 22nd - eh?.. I live in England. Sent back to England on the 25th – and still waiting!!) Anyhoo, I’m a bit concerned with the post from Sander regarding the Sonos dealer’s comments with the technical difficulties of streaming DTS and the inability of the Sonos system to cope with the bandwidth. A simple ‘yes it’s possible’ would be nice from Sonos instead of the non-committal response stating that “Hilmar is the lead product architect”. My initial reaction was that this comment was about as useful as a chocolate teapot and about as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit. Of course I would like to think that if Hilmar has stated that DTS is purely a software issue it would follow that the hardware would stand-up to the bandwidth imposed by the DTS stream (together with the system being used in other locations in the house for music). To be fair, I’m sure that is what Mike C was getting at. However without some official black and white ‘yes it’s possible’ comment after over 120 votes in 2 weeks I’m beginning to think this is firmly on the back-burner for Sonos. Which is disappointing to say the least. When an employee of Sonos is unable to confirm that this is technically possible (regardless of whether it will be implemented) it may mean that the topic isn’t being discussed within Sonos, or then again it may mean they’re bored and like to keep us guessing about whether their HT solution will ever be any more than a squandered opportunity. Obviously I’m biased but for me DTS in a HT system is a no-brainer to the point of being ludicrous that it wasn’t included in the first place (regardless of how Sonos think we should use the system). Also, unlike anything else on this forum that I can see the DTS omission is a certain purchase stopper which should therefore trump all of the other ‘feature’ requests no matter how useful they are - and there are a good number that I think are brilliant suggestions that would definitely enhance the Sonos platform. But, if they weren’t implemented would they stop me buying another Sonos component? Simple answer… No. Can the same be said for DTS?... Well, for me it's easy - no DTS = no Playbar. I’m guessing there are a lot more people out there with the Playbar that haven’t found their way to this forum yet and are just living in hope that Sonos won’t pursue such a narrow view of audio implementation in their HT solution. Still waiting to make the jump (for the time being the Sub will complement my Play5 setup in the living room – when/if DHL deliver it), but the more time goes on and this issue remains in limbo I’m sure I’ll just lose my initial excitement/interest and go back to being content with my current HT setup.
Hi Tua09788, I totally agree - I'm not expecting a timeline just a simple statement like "yes, technically it is possible with regards to the mesh wifi framework but we haven't decided yet whether to include it in software". That would do nicely. My concern is purely to do with the fact that the hardware limitation referred to by the Sonos dealer has not been addressed by a Sonos Employee. Of course I too would take Sonos's word over that of a dealer, but as yet we have no word from Sonos (re the hardware that is).
I get it. Even if they fix the DTS issue via firmware we won't be able to listen true DTS or 5.1, but anyway, you expect that kind of option from a brand like Sonos. The possibility to connect the Playbar to the PS3 or bluray player and listen the movies in DTS format. Most of blu rays and games use DTS now.
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+1 on DTS support. This is a basic feature in today's technology, and considering the price of playbar, it should come out of the box!! Please add the DTS support ASAP!
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@All- till the time Sonos come up with the response (not sure if they will), use this software to convert DTS to DD 5.1 of your mkv files..It does a pretty good job in audio converstion..I understand it is a hassel, but it's worth it especially after spending so many bucks on this playbar. http://www.videohelp.com/tools/PopCorn-MKV-AudioConverter
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Everyone, a note on comments.  

We are actively moderating discussion in this thread and removing posts that contain inappropriate language.  If your post contains language which is not suitable for a wide audience, it will be removed.

Thank you for your understanding.

@Martin

All unrequired transcoding, especially from ‘DTS 5.1’ to ‘PCM Stereo’ back to just ‘Virtual Surround’ ends up in a major loss of audio details and quality.