Please add support for DTS for the Sonos Playbar.
A hifi homecinema soundbar without dts support seems not up to date for me. Are there any plans to add dts support?
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I have the full 5.1 setup (2xplay3, subwoofer, and playbar). Ben what TV do you have? And it does say stereo, but I'm by no means an audiophile and it sounds good to my ears.
Interesting you said that stereo music comes through all 3 channels, when you should have 6. When I play music it upmixes to all 6, which is why I asked. I have a Panasonic Viera PLASMA. It converts a DD5.1 signal to DD2.0 stereo. It can't handle a DTS signal. If you are happy with what you have, I'm curious how you found and were interested in this thread. I strongly encourage you to NEVER connect your blu-ray player directly to PLAYBAR as, if you do, you may never be satisfied again. There is a world of difference between true 5.1 and upmixed 2.0. Without true 5.1 I wouldn't considert the PLAY:3 surrounds and would think twice about investing in the SUB.
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@Tua09788 I'm sorry to say this, but with just 'Stereo' input you are not getting the full benefit out of your full 5.1 Sonos System you bought for the full money. Even with stereo input it sounds quite OK, but with DTS 5.1 it's going to be much better. You are going to feel the difference. Unfortunately I'm in a similar unlucky situation with an old Sony KDL-40Z5800, but going to return the PLAYBAR until Sonos solved the DTS issue. Switching a HD TV set's optical output to PCM 2.0 Stereo is just a quick and dirty workaround. For sure the Sonos support wants customers to believe this is a solution, but it’s not addressing the issue, it’s just about hiding the weakness of the Sonos 5.1 implementation.
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@Ben If I understood it correctly, your Panasonic HD TV is only capable of down-mixing any input to PCM 2.0 and therefore not a perfect match to the PLAYBAR. Are you likely to keep the PLAYBAR without DTS 5.1 support ? I'm returning mine tomorrow as soon as Sonos explained how to clean up the internal cache on their devices.
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When I listen to music the play3s are in other rooms. I only use the them as rears when I watch a movie. For me adding the sub does wonders. Originally when I bought Sonos I had some questions and found answers at http://forums.sonos.com/ before this site was made available. There are some pretty helpful ppl out there. I came close to returning my original sonos stuff but found out my Comcast modem/router was the problem. I came across this thread because its the 4th most active. On the Sonos forums not having hires 24bit audio support created the same emotion that this thread has.
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As already stated the Sonos support makes their customers believe switching a HD TV set's optical output to PCM 2.0 Stereo is a solution, 'cause you can hear some noise from the PLAYBAR and the linked SUB and PLAY:3s. But it's definitively not a solution, it's just a quick and dirty workaround, a well-designed Sonos support lie, they push to their customers. Even if you are not an audiophile looking for the best of the best of the best, you will here and feel the difference between up-mixed Stereo and real 5.1.
I've been following this thread since the beginning and posted early on - I even have an HDMI/optical work-around to avoid the TV hub business etc. Auditioned the Playbar and it was good sonically, not great, a bit digitized and too processed IMO. Better than TV speakers, absolutely. Separates? Nope - but it was good enough that I would have been willing to give the system a shot (incl sub & Play3's) for home theater if the implementation was great. Well, it's not. In the end, the lack of DTS decoding is an absolute deal-breaker and forcing everyone to the 'TV as a hub' is limiting (IMO) and short-sighted on Sonos' part. I personally don't upgrade my TV's that often and technology seems to be moving rather quickly. If you just want improved TV speakers with awesome music streaming, the Playbar is a great, simple solution but nothing more. With that, I just installed a GoldenEar SuperCinema 3D Array (passive soundbar) and Forcefield3 Sub to my to my trusty Rotel AVR but still working on my surround solution - it sounds awesome (shockingly awesome for a soundbar), encodes all formats, simple switching, can upgrade adding a pre/pro.... Yes, Sonos will still get some of my hard earned cash for a Connect, but that's $349 vs $2000. So close, but yet so far. Good luck to everyone.
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Switching to PCM 2.0 is not a solution to the DTS issue ! Sonos support makes their customers believe switching a HD TV set's optical output to PCM 2.0 Stereo is a solution, 'cause you can hear some noise from the PLAYBAR and the linked SUB and PLAY:3s. But it's definitively not a solution, it's just a quick and dirty workaround. Even if you are not an audiophile looking for the best of the best of the best, you will here and feel the difference between up-mixed Stereo and real 5.1. Push for DTS 5.1 support, up-mixed PCM 2.0 stereo is not a solution.
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Hi, PCM 2.0 is an awful workaround, miles from the real DD or DTS. I do not think, that Sonos that really know this bussiness, thinks indeed that this is a viable solution... I like the playbar, I used it a lot for listening music and I really hope that SONOS will indeed do something about DTS as my TV (and I suppose many TVs in the feature will) support DTS passthrough. What we know so far is that there is possible to upgrade the playbare only with software to support DTS. We also know that this idea is under consideration. What, I think, we all want to know is what is the progress of it. So, if SONOS is monitoring this thread please let us know how long did you come with the consideration... Give us some plans and we all are going to be happy. The playbar generates other bussiness for SONOS so it is important that the customers are given an explanation before the current spring wind grows to a summer storm. /Regards!
Hi Adrian May I ask what TV you have that supports DTS? If they ever add DTS to Playbar then my next step would be a TV that accepts DTS too. Thanks Andy
I'll come out and say I don't know a lot about audio. If they add DTS support, will I need to get TV that will output DTS out of the optical audio toslink? I have not bought the Playbar yet, but want to eventually if it will be a good solution to go with my new Panasonic TCP55VT50.
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It's a Samsung LED D8000 series. I see the DTS issue when I try to play streams with DTS sound via Plex. (Note that I never tried it from a Blue ray via HDMI cable)
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Please review the updated mail thread above: Decision made easy: I'm going to return the scrap instantly. Sonos is not able or not willing to give any serious commitment to current customers on their PLAYBAR plans and updates. Right now I don't see any valuable statement from Sonos telling me I you can indeed use the current hardware for DTS upgrades in the future. Return the PLAYBAR and go for something real !
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Stay patient and wait at a minimum until Sonos adds DTS support to the PLAYBAR. Due to Sonos design flaws and missing DTS support your HD TV must act as an audio hub and deliver compatible audio streams to the PLAYBAR, at this point in time PCM 2.0 or DD 5.1 only. Most of the current HD TV sets are not capable to do the full transcoding job for the PLAYBAR right now. In addition most Blu-Ray audio streams are produced in DTS 5.1, especially translations. Therefore you are going to deal with a lot of restriction related to the weak audio format support on the PLAYBAR.
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I understand your frustration but (altough I have no names) I have the impression that it was confirmed by SONOS that DTS can be added with a firmware update. (This is not at all strange as DTS is just just about coding/decoding digital information). The reason for not being there already was the research in the TV market. SONOS is aiming for the premium segment and the only way to reach there is to keep the customer happy (Look at Apple)
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From my point of view the PLAYBAR launch is a real downturn for Sonos. Just for music Sonos is fine, but obviously they do not have any clue about audio in the real ‘home cinema’ world as you can easily recognize on the weak PLAYBAR functionality. In addition I’m really frustrated about the quick and dirty PCM 2.0 workaround offered as a ‘solution’ for the DTS support lack, leading into a faked 5.1 solution, far far away from a real 5.1 installation.
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I think it is important that the customers come here and show their dissapointment. SONOS is not an ordinary company and they will eventually understand that DTS is a really important feature for us, the customers, Arrogant companies hit the ground really fast as the diversity of of the products is very large. Personally I am confident, I just wish that this would go faster and SONOS kept us informed.
I have so many DVD / Blueray I can't watch because DTS is not supported. Such an expensive speaker. Come on and add this feature pretty soon.
Sonos is a corporation, they are driven by money and shareholder return...they wont do anything until you return the products and dont buy their products...only when they losing market and customers they step up to the mark... Customers service is a nice cosy buzzword ...I found most manufacturers don't give a sh*t after you bought the product...I found you get better customers service from the retails guys not the manufacturer. Look at Apple how arrogant they are until Samsung start taking their market share....
I thinking of buying a sonos playbar but the only thing is setting me back is the sonos playbar doesn't have the DTS decodering and i won't to know before i buy a sonos playbar will i have to replace this sonos playbar and if so i would have wasted 6 hundred pounds or will this sonos playbar be able to decode DTS after the firmware update when sonos decede to do the update i would like to know before i go out to buy this sonos playbar.
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Take a look at this thread and make your own decision. At this point in time the Sonos PLAYBAR ist just a nice music player, looking like a home cinema soundbar, but far far behind a real 5.1 home cinema solution. Unfortunately you are very likely to end up this the faked 5.1 situation, 'cause they are missing support for the most important 5.1 audio format DTS 5.1. For myself I returned the scrappy PLAYBAR instantly, because paying the full price, round about 2k, for the full Sonos 5.1 setup, counting a PLAYBAR, a SUB and two PLAY:3 my expectation is indeed a full and properly working real 5.1 solution and not the weak and faked ‘Sonos Virtual Surround Sound’.
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That's the reason why I returned the PLAYBAR without DTS instantly. Sonos is obviously not serious about home cinema use of their products, especially for real 5.1. They are unable or unwilling or just not skilled enough to support DTS. Sonos is also unable or unwilling to give a strong commitment to support DTS on the existing hardware in the near future, too. Make your own decisions, but take my advice for a real 5.1 experience into account: Miss the weak Sonos PLAYBAR and go for something real ! In case you already paid 2k for a faked 5.1, return the scrap instantly !
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Yes, you are right. They are as arrogant like apple and simply ignoring customer demands. "Same sh**, different company :(" That's for sure an additional reason why I returned the PLAYBAR without DTS instantly. Sonos is obviously not serious about home cinema use of their products, especially for real 5.1. They are unable or unwilling or just not skilled enough to support DTS. Sonos is also unable or unwilling to give a strong commitment to support DTS on the existing hardware in the near future, too. Make your own decisions, but take my advice for a real 5.1 experience into account: Miss the weak Sonos PLAYBAR and go for something real ! In case you already paid 2k for a faked 5.1, return the scrap instantly !
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Dear Sonos I have this great multi-room wireless music system. Its various components mean it does everything I want it to. Recently I splashed out and purchased a Playbar and Sub. They both seamlessly integrated into my system and the sound from using my music library is great. Then I played a DVD and again the sound was just fantastic. Ground shaking effects. Even when I watch the correct HD TV programs from my satellite receiver I get the same tremendous audio experience. But then I played a Blu-Ray disk. Silence. Nothing. I thought something was wrong so played around with the settings on my Blu-Ray Player. It turns out I can only get sound when using a Blu-Ray disk if the player outputs PCM 2 channel stereo, and my Sonos system clearly says Audio In:Stereo. And the audio experience is adversely affected by this. I no longer get the clear discrete sound channels and the quality suffers badly. Yes it sounds better than the speakers in my TV, but I cannot go much further than that. Is this problem due to a complete design oversight or is my Playbar faulty? Yours faithfully Sonos customer.
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Your problem about the PLAYBAR is obviously missing DTS support. Your DVDs and HD TV programs are DD 5.1. Your Blu-Rays are in most cases DTS 5.1. But don't go for the PCM workaround on the support forum. This leads into a faked 5.1 solution and not a real 5.1 as you already figured out on your own. Many thanks for your clear feedback about the down turn in the surround experience on the faked 5.1, saying 'Sonos Virtual Surround Sound' It's about Sonos to solve the problem by simply adding DTS support to the PLAYBAR. Make your own decisions, but take my advice for a real 5.1 experience into account: Miss the weak Sonos PLAYBAR and go for something real ! In case you already paid 2k for a faked 5.1, return the scrap instantly ! For myself I returned the scrappy PLAYBAR instantly, because paying the full price, round about 2k, for the full Sonos 5.1 setup, counting a PLAYBAR, a SUB and two PLAY:3 my expectation is indeed a full and properly working real 5.1 solution and not the weak and faked ‘Sonos Virtual Surround Sound’.
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