A hifi homecinema soundbar without dts support seems not up to date for me. Are there any plans to add dts support?
Page 46 / 48
Dear Sonos
This does simply not make sense. Imagine how many customers who would cheer and buy even more products if you added DTS?
Sure, it's gonna cost you, which must be the sole reason why you haven't already (otherwise this is, well, really really silly). Streaming services like Netflix does indeed use DD5.1, but what about dvds, blurays and private movie collections on harddrives? Imagine how super cool Sonos would be with DTS support?
Come on now, either come up with a story we'll believe, or add DTS. Intentionally pissing customers off is bad marketing.
Best regards
Kasper
This does simply not make sense. Imagine how many customers who would cheer and buy even more products if you added DTS?
Sure, it's gonna cost you, which must be the sole reason why you haven't already (otherwise this is, well, really really silly). Streaming services like Netflix does indeed use DD5.1, but what about dvds, blurays and private movie collections on harddrives? Imagine how super cool Sonos would be with DTS support?
Come on now, either come up with a story we'll believe, or add DTS. Intentionally pissing customers off is bad marketing.
Best regards
Kasper
Same here. Yesterday I was very disappointed to find out that dts is not supported!
What about a simple InApp dts lizence purchase. I would pay about 10-20€.
Lack of of dts is just so irritating! Thumbs down by me, sorry Sonos.
Lack of of dts is just so irritating! Thumbs down by me, sorry Sonos.
I think what Sonos doesn't seem to understand, is that people that are willing to spending so much money on this (amazing!) setup, don't want compromises. If I tell my mates I've spent 2000 euros on my new home cinema setup (assuming sub and surround speakers), then I'd be seriously embarrassed to tell them it doesn't support DTS.
Aside from this, is the practical limitation of DTS-only movies that many people have already mentioned here.
Personally, DTS support on the play bar is the only thing holding me back from a *complete* Sonos setup throughout my entire home and, well, doing nothing and keeping an eye on the competitors. My feeling is that I am not alone and Sonos is missing out on a LOT of revenue.
Oh, and if you think the system gets more complex with DTS support, just introduce a "Playbar Pro" for 50 euros more, maybe even 100. People will buy it specifically if they need it and they won't mind the alleged complexity.
Just my 2 cents...
Aside from this, is the practical limitation of DTS-only movies that many people have already mentioned here.
Personally, DTS support on the play bar is the only thing holding me back from a *complete* Sonos setup throughout my entire home and, well, doing nothing and keeping an eye on the competitors. My feeling is that I am not alone and Sonos is missing out on a LOT of revenue.
Oh, and if you think the system gets more complex with DTS support, just introduce a "Playbar Pro" for 50 euros more, maybe even 100. People will buy it specifically if they need it and they won't mind the alleged complexity.
Just my 2 cents...
Lack of DTS support (and support for higher bitrate encodings) is currently the only thing holding me back from picking up some Sonos speakers. I'm rather surprised that DTS isn't supported considering the wide array of support for music encodings and streaming services that are supported. I hope you'll seriously reconsider support for DTS either in existing Playbar products via a update, or else in a new Playbar Pro product as mentioned by the previous poster. It would also be nice if you do go the route of a new product to add some HDMI inputs rather than just optical, but that would just be a nice bonus, support for DTS alone would be enough to make me purchase it.
Unfortunately your lack of support for DTS puts me between a rock and a hard place, on the one hand there's Playbar (and the other Sonos products) which seem to be hands down the best choice in terms of features, but which are lacking a single crucial feature, and on the other hand there's your competition which are woefully lacking in features, but DO support DTS. Please consider how many current and future customers you're potentially losing over this single missing feature.
Unfortunately your lack of support for DTS puts me between a rock and a hard place, on the one hand there's Playbar (and the other Sonos products) which seem to be hands down the best choice in terms of features, but which are lacking a single crucial feature, and on the other hand there's your competition which are woefully lacking in features, but DO support DTS. Please consider how many current and future customers you're potentially losing over this single missing feature.
Another potential Sonos Soundbar and Sub sale LOST...
I've been happily using my Sonos system for it must be greater than 10 years without any issues at all (except the dreadful change in style and design of the iPad App).
So, when looking at a new TV I was happy to hear about Sonos having a soundbar and sub available...
However :
1. No DTS - possibly forgivable for a bargain bucket, bottom of the range piece of kit... but an utterly unfathomable decision for any quality home theatre product.
That alone is bad enough.. but reading about the optical output from TV issue, reveals further problems
2. (Very? ) many TV's do not pass through Surround sound info to their optical output - see here
http://www.cnet.com/news/20-tvs-tested-which-sets-can-pass-surround-sound-to-a-sound-bar/
so, no sale...
Instead I now have a Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 2.
Does it support DTS? - Of course it does.
Does it use the TV's optical out? - No, it does not.
Their original version back in 2010 (?), did use the TV optical out but they at least have learnt and "reviewed" the home theatre market.. now with version 2, it has 3 HDMI inputs and 1 HDMI output (with ARC, so audio can be passed back from the TV on the same cable) which goes to the TV. There is also an aux/optical input.
So - my cable connection is HDMI 1 input to the Panorama 2 sounder, HDMI 2 is my Minix Neo X8-h which takes care of my Plex client for streaming all my shows and movies from my Synology NAS, HDMI 3 is spare - and my Sonos Connect is plugged in via optical to the soundbar.
(there's a phono connection on the Panorama2 for any active Sub if you want to add one).
I've been happily using my Sonos system for it must be greater than 10 years without any issues at all (except the dreadful change in style and design of the iPad App).
So, when looking at a new TV I was happy to hear about Sonos having a soundbar and sub available...
However :
1. No DTS - possibly forgivable for a bargain bucket, bottom of the range piece of kit... but an utterly unfathomable decision for any quality home theatre product.
That alone is bad enough.. but reading about the optical output from TV issue, reveals further problems
2. (Very? ) many TV's do not pass through Surround sound info to their optical output - see here
http://www.cnet.com/news/20-tvs-tested-which-sets-can-pass-surround-sound-to-a-sound-bar/
so, no sale...
Instead I now have a Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 2.
Does it support DTS? - Of course it does.
Does it use the TV's optical out? - No, it does not.
Their original version back in 2010 (?), did use the TV optical out but they at least have learnt and "reviewed" the home theatre market.. now with version 2, it has 3 HDMI inputs and 1 HDMI output (with ARC, so audio can be passed back from the TV on the same cable) which goes to the TV. There is also an aux/optical input.
So - my cable connection is HDMI 1 input to the Panorama 2 sounder, HDMI 2 is my Minix Neo X8-h which takes care of my Plex client for streaming all my shows and movies from my Synology NAS, HDMI 3 is spare - and my Sonos Connect is plugged in via optical to the soundbar.
(there's a phono connection on the Panorama2 for any active Sub if you want to add one).
Just bought a brand new 60" 4k Samsung, Playbar, and Sub. Hey, Gravity will look and sound so awesome! Guess what, Gravity blu-ray is DTS only.
$1400 of audio gear. In stereo.
$1400 of audio gear. In stereo.
I would also like to add my frustration to the mix as a video projector user.
As much as I'd love to get rid of wires in my home theatre the current relic setup of being tied to a TV up front is infuriating as all of my equipment excluding the front speakers are situated by the projector at the back of the room and all sources are out of necessity connected via HDMI to my Denon AV amp for source switching as my projector has only two HDMI inputs and I have four sources (ATV, PS3, XBOX, MacMini).
What us projector users would need is a fictional product Sonos AV-CONNECT 4K HDMI switch/audio decoder/Sonos controller which could take the HDMI-inputs of various devices, switch the video (up to 4K) to external display devices like a projector and decode DD/DTS7.1 and relay that to the relevant mix of wireless Sonos speakers in the room that form the 5.1 or 7.1 home theater.
I would love to have playbar & sub upfront and four 1's as the satellites wirelessly, but with the current TV-centric product it's a total miss on Sonos side 😞
As much as I'd love to get rid of wires in my home theatre the current relic setup of being tied to a TV up front is infuriating as all of my equipment excluding the front speakers are situated by the projector at the back of the room and all sources are out of necessity connected via HDMI to my Denon AV amp for source switching as my projector has only two HDMI inputs and I have four sources (ATV, PS3, XBOX, MacMini).
What us projector users would need is a fictional product Sonos AV-CONNECT 4K HDMI switch/audio decoder/Sonos controller which could take the HDMI-inputs of various devices, switch the video (up to 4K) to external display devices like a projector and decode DD/DTS7.1 and relay that to the relevant mix of wireless Sonos speakers in the room that form the 5.1 or 7.1 home theater.
I would love to have playbar & sub upfront and four 1's as the satellites wirelessly, but with the current TV-centric product it's a total miss on Sonos side 😞
Need DTS support! Just received my play 1's...so disappointed! I have a playbar, sub, play 1 surrounds, connect amp and and older non amped version. Lotsa $$$$....no surround sound when watching TV!
Mine does...samsung...purchased 2 years ago.
Dear Sonos, i would happily return the Sonos components that I purchased to use in my home theater setup at even 50% of my cost. That dollar amount could translate into a decent 7.1 solution that supports DTS and a number of other surround formats.
FYI...outside of home theater I'm a huge sonos fan, but I feel like I've wasted a lot of hard earned money on my Playbar, Play1s and to a lesser extend the Sub.
FYI...outside of home theater I'm a huge sonos fan, but I feel like I've wasted a lot of hard earned money on my Playbar, Play1s and to a lesser extend the Sub.
FYI...outside of home theater I'm a huge sonos fan, but I feel like I've wasted a lot of hard earned money on my Playbar, Play1s and to a lesser extend the Sub.
Sonos gear seems to resell at stupidly high values so I am confident you'd get back far more than 50%.
I don't understand why they don't offer DTS either, especially when I can buy a cheap £30 audio converter that does so, but you should have known that before buying - it's mentioned in every review I have read.
We bought a 75" 4K tv and went with the Sonos soundbar because we have the Sonos system in our house. Imagine how fun it was last night, after instillation, to discover the the soundbar doesn't support DTS. The sounds bar goes back tomorrow.
Read through pages, but couldn't find a cliffs notes, so some noob questions:
- How common is DTS? Only found in Blu-Ray?
- If I have a Blu-Ray player, but play a regular DVD on it, will that play fine with the Sonos 5.1 (playbar, sub, two play 1s)?
- Without DTS, are people saying that the Sonos 5.1 "doesn't sound good"?
- How is the Sonos 5.1 if just watching Netflix through apple tv?
- How common is DTS? Only found in Blu-Ray?
- If I have a Blu-Ray player, but play a regular DVD on it, will that play fine with the Sonos 5.1 (playbar, sub, two play 1s)?
- Without DTS, are people saying that the Sonos 5.1 "doesn't sound good"?
- How is the Sonos 5.1 if just watching Netflix through apple tv?
- How common is DTS? Only found in Blu-Ray?
Fairly common, but the place you see it the most is in Blu-Ray and DVD playback. Sadly DTS isn't determined (solely) by the player, but by the actual disc itself and how the movie was encoded.
- If I have a Blu-Ray player, but play a regular DVD on it, will that play fine with the Sonos 5.1 (playbar, sub, two play 1s)?
Depends on the DVD, some will work, some won't. In theory it might not have audio at all (if DTS is the only audio encoding on the disc) but in practice that never actually happens, rather it will fallback on stereo or mono audio as most DVDs and Blu-Rays have a stereo (PCM) and 5.1 or 7.1 audio track.
- Without DTS, are people saying that the Sonos 5.1 "doesn't sound good"?
Basically yes, it will output stereo audio out of your "5.1" surround sound setup, so not really too much better than the speakers built into the TV. It will sound better than the average flat screen simply because the speakers in the average flat screen are terrible, but it falls well short of what a true 5.1 surround sound setup is capable of. Basically people are mad because their $1400 worth of audio equipment sounds like a $200 set of stereo speakers.
- How is the Sonos 5.1 if just watching Netflix through apple tv?
Probably fine. I'd need to confirm, but I don't think Netflix has DTS audio output. On the other hand, you're probably once again not getting the full 5.1 experience, so you could probably save a ton of money and buy something cheaper and get just as good of an audio experience.
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).
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).
+1 Yes please. Hard to imagine it's not included at these price points. Better add DTS before users start asking for ATMOS 😉
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 what Playbar V2 should do:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/arcam-solo-bar-plus-solo-sub-review
http://www.trustedreviews.com/arcam-solo-bar-plus-solo-sub-review
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.
I have been following this thread for years on and off. At the same time I have been keeping an eye on the Play-Fi technology.
http://listen.dts.com/pages/play-fi
I see this as a major threat to SONOS and its market share over the next couple of years.
I have a SONOS setup for Audio and Multiroom, AND a DTS, Dolby 5.1 setup. In the lounge room a SONOS Connect site next to a 5.1 HT system. Crazy!!!!
I want to get rid of my current HT system and replace it with SONOS. However, with the lack of DTS support and just general lack of HT direction im not willing to invest further in SONOS.
Play-Fi is gaining some real momentum and investment.
Could be interesting times over the next couple of years.
SONOS I would get a move on.
I don't want to move over to another vendor but I would have to seriously consider it if they can compete with Audio quality, Multiroom with the added benefit of a proper Home Theater offering.
http://listen.dts.com/pages/play-fi
I see this as a major threat to SONOS and its market share over the next couple of years.
I have a SONOS setup for Audio and Multiroom, AND a DTS, Dolby 5.1 setup. In the lounge room a SONOS Connect site next to a 5.1 HT system. Crazy!!!!
I want to get rid of my current HT system and replace it with SONOS. However, with the lack of DTS support and just general lack of HT direction im not willing to invest further in SONOS.
Play-Fi is gaining some real momentum and investment.
Could be interesting times over the next couple of years.
SONOS I would get a move on.
I don't want to move over to another vendor but I would have to seriously consider it if they can compete with Audio quality, Multiroom with the added benefit of a proper Home Theater offering.
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.
+1
Likely wasting my time but the lack of DTS is my one gripe with Sonos.
I have a fair few modern films and TV series on Bluray. Most of them dont have an option to select english 5.1 meaning I have a £1500 surround sound system that outputs in Stereo even when connected directly to my PS4 over an optical connection. Yes Neflix is great in 5.1 but I want to watch physical disks too.
I wish I knew the stats but just from searching these forums a huge percentage of playbar owners must be crying out for this functionality.
Please Sonos reconsider, its not acceptable to expect every playbar owner who wants this level of functionality to purchase converters or specific models of bluray players to get around the issue.
Likely wasting my time but the lack of DTS is my one gripe with Sonos.
I have a fair few modern films and TV series on Bluray. Most of them dont have an option to select english 5.1 meaning I have a £1500 surround sound system that outputs in Stereo even when connected directly to my PS4 over an optical connection. Yes Neflix is great in 5.1 but I want to watch physical disks too.
I wish I knew the stats but just from searching these forums a huge percentage of playbar owners must be crying out for this functionality.
Please Sonos reconsider, its not acceptable to expect every playbar owner who wants this level of functionality to purchase converters or specific models of bluray players to get around the issue.
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...
Likely wasting my time but the lack of DTS is my one gripe with Sonos.
I have a fair few modern films and TV series on Bluray. Most of them dont have an option to select english 5.1 meaning I have a £1500 surround sound system that outputs in Stereo even when connected directly to my PS4 over an optical connection. Yes Neflix is great in 5.1 but I want to watch physical disks too.
I wish I knew the stats but just from searching these forums a huge percentage of playbar owners must be crying out for this functionality.
Please Sonos reconsider, its not acceptable to expect every playbar owner who wants this level of functionality to purchase converters or specific models of bluray players to get around the issue.
The ps4 will convert dts audio to dd 5.1 when connecting through optical on the ps4. Have a look on the net n you will find the set up process
Enter your E-mail address. We'll send you an e-mail with instructions to reset your password.