Please add support for DTS for the Sonos Playbar.



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So disappointed and frustrated - just received my Playbar and it's stunning except for one point; let's hope it's just a matter of time before SONOS do the right thing and implement dts.
Most of my media content is dts...SONOS, you NEED to add this. Whether a TV supports DTS throughput is irrelevant as most probably don't even have a TV that supports DD5.1. I know mine didn't. I had to go with an HDMI switch and it works fabulously even though you won't support it. I am ok with the lack of support, just not ok with a lack of DTS.
Recently purchased playbar , and its a great piece of kit, but the dts issue is deeply troubling, as a consequence I will not be investing anymore cash in this surround system, or recommending it to others.
As soon as the playbar has DTS support for my blu rays I will purchase one to go with my sub and two play 3's. Until then I'm sticking with my LG 5.1 and will need to keep 2 systems on the go!
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DTS please I'm looking to buy one but hold off till DTS is supported
I want DTS support as well, so please add it ASAP.
The playbar is really great, but without DTS support absolutly useless for all new blue-ray movies! Add DTS as soon as possible!
Hello Sonos, another vote for DTS. ...without DTS the PlayBar is like a car with only three wheel's.... You may not see ist at first, but You will hardly notice it, when You are trying to use it. ...so please make the PlayBar complete!
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Of course DTS is required. It's table stakes for this game.
Userlevel 4
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In just 49 days DTS support has easily become a Top 10 idea on ask.sonos.com, with an average in excess of three votes per day. Says it all really.
No DTS = No Playbar Glad I found this forum - I was about to order the Playbar to be added add to my existing Sonos system (4x Play 3, 1x Play 5, Bridge).
Please add DTS support for the Playbar. I would then be more than happy to purchase one with a sub!
At first, I thought the lack of DTS support wouldn't trouble me too much, but it ends up being really frustrating! I purchased a Blu Ray player to go with my new set up, but have very few options when it comes to BDs with Dolby Digital. Sure, I can always scale back to Stereo PCM, but it just seems so absurd and ends up frustrating.
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This weekend it happened for the first time ever, I had to not recommend a SONOS product to a friend... I really hope that DTS is integrated soon, so we all can go back to feeling good having invested so much in SONOS products...
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This seems to me to be an absolute no-brainer, this is marketed as a premium home cinema product, but it will force many people (including me) without appropriately compatible TVs to watch films on reduced quality DVDs in order to get sound. That's clearly not acceptable. I have seen some suggestion that it is a licensing issue, and taht the license would cost around £30 per person. Well, if you have already spent £1200 on the bar and sub then I can't see too many people resisting a further £30 to get this capability. I for one would send Sonos the payment now...
I agree with the other comments about adding DTS. The problem is that in order to get a DTS signal to the Playbar, you need to connect it to something other than a TV (with some limited exceptions). That's not what SONOS intended and that's why they included the simulated 5.1 capability, which probably cost them a lot of time and money to develop. If I purchased a Playbar, I would do like most people in this thread and connect it directly to my Bluray player in order to get true 5.1 surround. Without support for DTS though, I won't even consider buying one.
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I agree with the other comments about adding DTS. The problem is that in order to get a DTS signal to the Playbar, you need to connect it to something other than a TV (with some limited exceptions). That's not what SONOS intended and that's why they included the simulated 5.1 capability, which probably cost them a lot of time and money to develop. If I purchased a Playbar, I would do like most people in this thread and connect it directly to my Bluray player in order to get true 5.1 surround. Without support for DTS though, I won't even consider buying one.
I can get DTS audio directly from my TV. I can hook up the Playbar as directed per the instructions and it still does not work as it should. I should not have to be inconvenienced by having to go to my menu on my TV everytime I watch something that has only DTS audio and switch to PCM audio.
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I am thoroughly in favour of DTS being added to the Playbar, and if Sonos really believed that people would buy this and be happy connecting it to the TV and not even getting Dolby Digital 5.1(which, although the Playbar can decode, most TV's won't pass through the signal for it to do so), then that suggests a flaw in the market research that was done before deciding on the appropriate inputs/capability. That said, some people on here do seem to be suggesting that Blu-rays with DTS-only soundtracks are silent and redundant, when that does not need to be the case. You can get sound from Blu-ray with a DTS-HD soundtrack by connecting the BD player directly to the Playbar and then setting the BD player to output PCM via optical whenever the disc only has a DTS signal (ie it should not be necessary to persistently switch the BD player's output). The Playbar then takes the PCM signal and attempts to recreate the surround effects. Now before the audiophiles start shouting, I'm not saying this is the same as true 5.1, and clearly DTS-HD should be added to the Playbar's capability, but at least it means that Blu-ray discs are not entirely redundant, as some appear to be suggesting. I have yet to be able to properly compare the recreated sound with the sound from Dolby Digital soundtracks, and I assume there will be a significant drop-off in terms of surround effects, but it is at least a stop-gap whilst we wait for Sonos to bit the bullet and upgrade to DTS...
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I am thoroughly in favour of DTS being added to the Playbar, and if Sonos really believed that people would buy this and be happy connecting it to the TV and not even getting Dolby Digital 5.1(which, although the Playbar can decode, most TV's won't pass through the signal for it to do so), then that suggests a flaw in the market research that was done before deciding on the appropriate inputs/capability. That said, some people on here do seem to be suggesting that Blu-rays with DTS-only soundtracks are silent and redundant, when that does not need to be the case. You can get sound from Blu-ray with a DTS-HD soundtrack by connecting the BD player directly to the Playbar and then setting the BD player to output PCM via optical whenever the disc only has a DTS signal (ie it should not be necessary to persistently switch the BD player's output). The Playbar then takes the PCM signal and attempts to recreate the surround effects. Now before the audiophiles start shouting, I'm not saying this is the same as true 5.1, and clearly DTS-HD should be added to the Playbar's capability, but at least it means that Blu-ray discs are not entirely redundant, as some appear to be suggesting. I have yet to be able to properly compare the recreated sound with the sound from Dolby Digital soundtracks, and I assume there will be a significant drop-off in terms of surround effects, but it is at least a stop-gap whilst we wait for Sonos to bit the bullet and upgrade to DTS...
I subscribe to a well known film rental company run using the postal service. I used to enjoy the full HD experience Blu-rays offer. But having watched a few films using the Playbar and sound down-mixed to PCM 2 channel stereo I have now started renting DVDs again. At least I can enjoy the DD 5.1 soundtrack. Once you down-mix a DTS soundtrack to 2 channel stereo no amount of processing gets you that true surround sound back. It just does not sound good enough. So while saying Blu-rays are redundant with the Playbar is not exactly true, its not that far from the mark. It is a shame because everything else the Sonos system does is great.
I agree with the other comments about adding DTS. The problem is that in order to get a DTS signal to the Playbar, you need to connect it to something other than a TV (with some limited exceptions). That's not what SONOS intended and that's why they included the simulated 5.1 capability, which probably cost them a lot of time and money to develop. If I purchased a Playbar, I would do like most people in this thread and connect it directly to my Bluray player in order to get true 5.1 surround. Without support for DTS though, I won't even consider buying one.
Yeah, that's a pain and I agree you shouldn't have to do that. Sonos made some curious decisions when designing this product. By the way, are you getting DTS from an external source connected to your tv via HDMI, or from a "smart" feature of your tv (e.g. one of the streaming services)? Either way, I'm jealous that you can get DTS. I'm pretty sure my tv only supports 5.1 DD from a "smart" service and 2.0 from connected sources.
For a system that works so well in all other aspects, it's a real let down that the Playbar doesn't support DTS....
I was just about ready to purchase the playbar and the sub, but a colleague told me about the lack of DTS support. No idea why SONOS chose to not include it, but hopefully it gets added in the future. Its upsetting becasue this was going to be my first sonos purchase... i already planned out what rooms id be adding and everything. Unfortunately, I cant get behind the playbar (although i REALLY want to) with its lack of DTS support. SONOS, PLEASE ADD DTS!!!
Seems crazy to introduce a product like this without DTS support? I would say that DTS is a functionality consumers assumes in all products in this price range today. I think you did a terrible mistake introducing soundbar without it.
The missing DTS support is a absolutely deal breaker and unbelievable. The 5.1 feature of the playbar is totally useless for me as the playbar can not play half of my bluerays. Please Sonos don't wait 7 months to change this topic from “Under Consideration” to whatever. Clarify this topic now! Otherwise I have to buy another sound system.
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My concern here is that Sonos may see the first month of sales and decide that the product is doing just fine without DTS and they don't need to add it. They will have had target sales numbers in mind and, if they are reached, they won't perceive a problem with the product reaching their intended target market and simply won't add the extra function. As with other comments above, I've now lost count of how many people I have actually recommend do not buy this product due to the limitation. It seems to me that you either have a TV set that won't pass through Dolby Digital/DTS from external sources, at which point adding 2 X PLAY:3 and a SUB is perhaps a waste of money. Or you have a TV that will pass through audio bitstreams and then, if you put on a DTS disc, you end up with silence - and have wasted your money. If this product was only designed for those who didn't appreciate high quality surround sound, then why did they put in all the time making the PLAY:3 units work as surround speakers? There is now a TV advert showing in the UK for PLAYBAR that makes numerous claims and implies it will play any music in the world. Well, it won't if that music is coming from a DTS disc, will it?