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Racin929
Avid Contributor I
April 20, 2013

Solving the 5.1, DTS issues with the Playbar

This thread is specifically for those who are trying to understand the Playbars 5.1 and DTS issues.

As most of you know the Playbar does not convert DTS signal. It also will only convert 2.0 to SIMULATED PCM 5.1 signal. If you can live with the simulated signal, then you are ahead of the game. IF you want PURE unadulterated 5.1 from your DirecTV or Cable, you WILL most likely have to buy a switch like this one. http://www.monoprice.com/products/7974
Or a Bluray converter like this one.
http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-103/

MOST tvs will not convert true 5.1. There are some on this thread that say they do, but most dont. I found this out the hard way by buying one of Samsungs highest end tv's, only to find out that 2.0 is all im ever gunna get.
A $75 switch is a bargain IMO to have such sound to the Playbar the way it is intended. IF you want 1080p up convert video and and 5.1 audio, then a simular Bluray like the Oppo is for you.

Concerning movies that are only on DTS:
Oppo can convert the DTS signal to PCM 5.1 as well. I do not know about the Switch, because I do not have one.
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    205 replies

    Duc_E
    Lyricist I
    April 21, 2013
    How exactly do you get the 5.1 sound from the Oppo-103 unit. I put in a blu-ray in today with the "bit stream" setup, but no sound came out.

    Note: I have the toslink going from the Oppo player to my SONOS play bar.

    Thanks for your help!
    Racin929Author
    Avid Contributor I
    April 21, 2013
    Audio output. PCM192 for those movies that dont have a 5.1 DD option.
    655321
    Trending Lyricist I
    April 21, 2013
    Hi Racin,

    great hint but unfortunately this is not a solution (Oppo player), but a very expensive work-around for Sonos' design flaw.

    The only real solution can come from Sonos with new firmware and added DTS support.

    Let's hope they will add it asap, although it will cost them some $ they thought was easily saved by their strange decision.

    It's still hard to swallow for me. A high class, very expensive surround system that is indeed capable of great sound quality was deliberately declined to reduce some $ in production.

    How expensive can a DTS licence be? Even my 90 Euro LG BD player has it! Amazon lists a 84 Euro Philips receiver with DTS Support, also a 100 Euro Sony receiver, capable of DTS support.

    And our 700 Euro playbar can't do it? Come on, Sonos...
      Duc_E
      Lyricist I
      April 21, 2013
      Audio output. PCM192 for those movies that dont have a 5.1 DD option.

      Thanks.

      The sound is clearly inferior with PCM192. For those that have been questioning SONOS about the lack of DTS are spot on.

      A $2k setup should offer more IMHO.
        Racin929Author
        Avid Contributor I
        April 21, 2013
        [QUOTE=655321;193973]Hi Racin,

        great hint but unfortunately this is not a solution (Oppo player), but a very expensive work-around for Sonos' design flaw.

        The only real solution can come from Sonos with new firmware and added DTS .



        I knew when buying the sonos what its flaws were. IMO the Oppo and sonos together are the answer. Is it a perfect system? No. But with the oppo, its as near perfect as can be.
        When and if sonos adds the DTS, I'l be even happier. Until then, I'l try to help any way I can those who need it.
          655321
          Trending Lyricist I
          April 21, 2013
          I concidered buying the Oppo player, but it's too expensive, unfortunately. My LG player was only 90 Euros and it's pretty good and quiet and sports a toslink output.

          I am using Apple Tv more and more but am concerned that Apple might one day switch from DD 5.1 to DTS which brings us playbar 5.1 users to the same problems we are facing today 😞
          mgutt
          mgutt
          Enthusiast II
          May 30, 2013
          Concerning movies that are only on DTS:
          Oppo can convert the DTS signal to PCM 5.1 as well.

          Did anyone tested this? I'm confused regarding the technical details of the optical output:
          Coaxial/Optical Audio: Dolby Digital, DTS, up to 2ch/192kHz PCM.


          PCM 5.1 is only supported for HDMI:
          HDMI Audio: Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD High Resolution and DTS-HD Master Audio, up to 7.1ch/192kHz PCM, up to 5.1ch DSD.


          And because the playbar lacks of HDMI it will never support DTS-HD Master Audio (uncompressed) as Toslink does not support enough bandwidth for 5.1:
          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOSLINK
          that can decode two channels of uncompressed lossless PCM audio or compressed 5.1/7.1 surround sound such as Dolby Digital Plus or DTS-HD High Resolution Audio. But, TOSLINK does not have the capacity to carry the uncompressed data in the lossless formats of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio – as HDMI does.


          The only option would be DTS-HD High Resolution Audio (compressed) and of course the usual DTS Core that is included in both standards. But is the Oppo really able to send the DTS Core as PCM 5.1 through optical audio?

          I don't think that this is possible. I think it can only send the DTS core and again there we have the problem that the playbar lacks DTS support. The only option would be a converter/blu ray player that is able to convert the dts core to dd. But I can't find such a product so it seems not to be available.
            baxsounds
            Trending Lyricist I
            May 31, 2013
            Agree. I will never buy the playbar until they release a version 2 with hdmi and all these issues are fixed. Sonos is supposed to be simple and just plain work. Needing all these switches and not being able to play certain media at the highest level is a deal breaker for me. It is ashame because I have the sub already and would drop another $700 if they just got the playbar right, not sure who in sonos screwed up this decision but wow. (Along with the recent matte black sub fiasco for some, seems they need to find some clear direction/leadership within the company)
              the_lhc
              Avid Contributor I
              May 31, 2013
              Agree. I will never buy the playbar until they release a version 2 with hdmi and all these issues are fixed.

              But then it'll need to switch video, otherwise you'll need two hdmi outputs on your sources (one for video, one for audio) and Sonos have said that they're never going to getting into the video market.
                mgutt
                mgutt
                Enthusiast II
                May 31, 2013
                I don't think a video processor is needed as it should only passthrough the video signal and use the audio return channel (ARC):
                http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/hdmi_1_4/arc.aspx

                So multiple hdmi inputs with one master out would be fine. Of course with auto detection to avoid using the sonos controller to switch the input (only optional).

                Or we hope that the bandwidth of toslink will be raised in the near future ;)

                But independent of that, the DTS-HD High Resolution Audio (at least the DTS Core) should be supported by now as it is supported by Toslink (and should be enough for 90% of all customers) so please vote:
                https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/please_add_support_for_dts_for_the_sonos_playbar
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