Please add support for DTS for the Sonos Playbar.



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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.
I think the most frustrating part is that it sounds so damn good when watching 5.1 TV/film from Dolby Digital sources and then you put on a DTS movie and it's just silent. Highest selling DVD of all time is Mamma Mia - it's encoded in DTS.
Userlevel 4
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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.
Your PS3 is downmixing to PCM 2.0 - stereo. 6 channels squeezed into two. You lose most of the surround effect, lose the discrete centre channel and lose the subwoofer track. That's why it sounds rubbish.
Userlevel 2
I have 10 sonos devices including playbar, sub and 2 surround play 3s. I have over 500 blu-rays that support DTS yet I can't play them on my shinny new playbar. I just swapped my yamaha soundbar which was working great with the sonos in hopes of getting the sonos experience to the tv. Unfortunately, really disappointed in finding out that DTS support is lacking. How can Sonos, in this day and age, not support a protocol that is supported by the lowest common denominator. Disappointed/Frustrated.
Sam I agree 100% too
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Really IS TIME you got this Sorted Sonos
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@conard- what are the setting you are using on your WDTV? I have a WD TV Live media player and do not seem to get Digital Dolby when I play DTS file through it. Please advise the settings you are using. My player is connected through HDMI to TV and through optical switch to the playbar. Thanks
Userlevel 3
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.
Yep, you're right...they do have a planned section.
Userlevel 4
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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.
"Note that with newer DSPs, such as Pro-Logic II (which I assume Sonos is using some form of), this can sound pretty good." I disagree, it's OK at best.
Userlevel 2
They would never say that they are not considering this or not going to provide this. This sort of bad news would mean people would skip on purchasing this unit. I already had a friend of mine balk at the idea and went and purchased a harmon kardon in favor of the playbar. He simply said that he can't justify getting something that doesn't support the basic audio formats other soundbars provide as a default set at a much lower cost of ownership. Too bad. I do feel the playbar is a superior soundbar but without DTS it's nothing but a good soundbar for just satellite/cable and not blu-ray. 90% of the movies I own are DTS only.
I agree - the uncertainty will only drive people to buy other brands
Yes it is Time!
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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

Again, I encourage you to form your own opinion and I'm sure Bernd (who has made his opinion known) would agree.  If you don't feel the PLAYBAR is right for your setup, we'll be happy to take it back.
Userlevel 1
I think the best we should aim for is getting as many people to vote for the "Add DTS to the PlayBar" rather than trolling the forum, the greater the number of distinct users that request a feature, the greater the case for implementing it..
I agree. I have been posting this link on as many reviews of the playbar as I can find.
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.
The degree of difference between "pretty good" and "OK" is not even worth arguing over. Tomato, tomahto.
Please give an update Sonos... I've been waiting on this response to decide whether to add a playbar to the 6+ Sonos units in my house. I'm perfectly happy to spend more on a Playbar than I would on a receiver and surround speakers for my home entertainment system, but ONLY if it works fully. Lacking support for DTS which means a majority of bluray discs don't work is not fully functional in my book. In 2013 DTS isn't a feature of a home entertainment audio product, it is a NECESSITY. Please correct this Sonos!
I have the possibility to change the audiosettings of my Blu Ray Player manually to PCM, then it works. But it is a pain in the ass......
This is incredibly disappointing.  I'm a loyal Sonos customer (and posted a very favorable Playbar review on Amazon), and no I'm not going to leave the ecosystem based on this, but it WILL stop me from buying another Playbar for my 2nd TV.

While it is true that my two Samsung smart TVs do not pass through DTS (or DD for that matter), the SmartTV apps DO ABSOLUTELY SUPPORT DTS.  Specifically, Plex does.  I use Plex every day and I have to say the Dolby Digital sound through the Playbar is absolutely stunning.  I suspect that DTS would sound even better were it supported.  The "fake" surround sound you get with the PCM sound is not even close to the true surround experience.

I don't regret buying the Playbar, but I won't be buying another until this situation is remedied.  This strikes me as a selfish move by Sonos to avoid paying the DTS licensing fees.  Why else would you not do it?
DTS is without a doubt a MUST!
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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.
@Ben: yeah, I mean the audio quality on the Star Wars Blu-rays varies throughout. Sometimes it sounds good (never great) and other times it sounds almost muted and very compressed which is a shame. From what I gather here, adding DTS support for the PLAYBAR will improve this pretty significantly.
After waiting for an official response to this issue, I'm now ready to sell all my Sonos gear and find something that actually works with common media files. The fact that Sonos fails to commit on this issue, but rather just keeps it stuck at "under consideration" for 8 months, is an embarrassment. At the very least let your customers know where you stand, so they can make an informed decision. Anybody want to buy a Playbar + SUB and a bunch of other Sonos junk?
+1 for DTS support. But I really doubt Sonos will announce anything in the near future. So would this idea be a workaround? Getting an AV receiver to decode the DTS of any source and supply DD 5.1 to my TV that is optically connected to the Playbar. Would this work?

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. 


Just purchased a Playbar last week to go with a new Samsung TV, which outputs DTS.  Love the streaming capabilities and expansion possibilities.  Plan was to eventually purchase the sub and rear speakers.  Based on what I'm reading, I may have made a mistake buying the Sonus??
I have an LG TV and I currently use Plex on a Mac Mini to watch my media. I have the Mac Mini connected to the television with a HDMI cable. However, any audio passed from the optical out on the TV is downmixed to 2.0. I have tried DTS, DD, and others. The Sonos "about my system" always reports a 2.0 source. For now, I have purchased an Toslink switch to choose between my 4 inputs and send it to the Playbar. Now when i watch DD media it now registers as 5.1 and sounds great. DTS media still is downmixed to 2.0 by the Plex software as I had to disable DTS support to prevent it from just being silence. There is a very noticeable difference in the sound between downmixed DTS and DD. Its been a pain to have to alter my setup to fit to what Sonos decided the setup should be, but I understand the reasoning behind the one input. However, the lack of DTS is rather upsetting. I would estimate that 90% of my media is encoded with DTS. I purchased the full set to go along with the Playbar, I'd like to be able to enjoy it to its fullest so that i could recommend it to others that have the same media setup as i do.
I've just bought one today and now I wish I didn't. I assumed something basic as DTS support, would be included. Hopefully I can return the playbar. Very, very disappointing.
Sonos advertising: “5.1 Homecinema met het grootste gemak” (Playbar met een SUB en 2x PLAY3) Based on this information I bought a Sonos System in August But unfortunately, Sonos does not play 5.1 With the coming of the Beta version 4.2 (4 weeks ago), Dolby Digital 5.1 is now supported. But playback in DTS HD 5.1 is still NOT possible. And a lot of DVD Music and Films are playing only in DTS HD 5.1 (for example > James Bond) Sonos needs to fulfill its promises and make sure that DTS HD 5.1 will be supported as soon as possible Especially for such expensive equipment! There is also something positive; the sound is great!
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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. 

I'm in the same boat, playbar and sub then found out no dts, but it does sound good or I think it does as I've nothing to compare to... If I do keep I'll definitely not be getting the rear play 1 as I believe that the faux 5.1 will be rubbish.
I have an LG TV and I currently use Plex on a Mac Mini to watch my media. I have the Mac Mini connected to the television with a HDMI cable. However, any audio passed from the optical out on the TV is downmixed to 2.0. I have tried DTS, DD, and others. The Sonos "about my system" always reports a 2.0 source. For now, I have purchased an Toslink switch to choose between my 4 inputs and send it to the Playbar. Now when i watch DD media it now registers as 5.1 and sounds great. DTS media still is downmixed to 2.0 by the Plex software as I had to disable DTS support to prevent it from just being silence. There is a very noticeable difference in the sound between downmixed DTS and DD. Its been a pain to have to alter my setup to fit to what Sonos decided the setup should be, but I understand the reasoning behind the one input. However, the lack of DTS is rather upsetting. I would estimate that 90% of my media is encoded with DTS. I purchased the full set to go along with the Playbar, I'd like to be able to enjoy it to its fullest so that i could recommend it to others that have the same media setup as i do.
hi rob, which LG TV are you using? and does the TV down mixes everything that comes out via the optical out irrespective of the source (Plex, Xbox/PS3, Bray player)? I seriously don't get, why don't they just have 4-5 HDMI in and one out in the playbar, that to me seems so much easier.