Solving the 5.1, DTS issues with the Playbar

Apologies for asking a stupid question, as I am new to all of this Sonos stuff, but how does this work, connection wise?

I am looking at getting a Playbar (I already have a couple of Play 1's) to connect up to my TV, which has an Optical out.
If I understand correctly, the Playbar only has 1 Optical in port

Thus if I get the Samsung BD-F6500 would I have to unplug the optical cable from the TV into the DVD player, which then goes into the playbar, when watching DVD's

What about just watching normal T.V. would I have to unplug the optical cable from the Samsung BD-F6500 and plug it back into the T.V. to get sound out of the playbar or is the Playbar not really used when watching normal T.V.?

Thanks
Andrew

Andrew, you are right. If you want proper 5.1 from your Blu-ray player, like the BD-F6500 like I now have, you will need to send optical from the player to the Playbar. This is because most TVs will only output stereo from their optical port for external TV inputs. So you'll need a way to switch the optical input to the Playbar.

I do a cable swap each time. However optical ports are notoriously weak. Perhaps an optical switch is a good idea. A passive one probably won't work as the Tv will always output optical audio so the passive switch will mix two active optical signals - bad. An active switch would be able to select between inputs but consumes power, needs a power socket and no doubt there is another remote to juggle! Also there is a cost but a reasonably good cheap optical switch should not cost much more than £50.

Edit: I should add that bizarrely the DD re-encode option only applies to Blu-rays - if a DVD has a DTS track then the Samsung player will NOT re-encode it and will output a DTS track. As I have never seen a DTS DVD I doubt it's much of an issue.

Andrew, you are right. If you want proper 5.1 from your Blu-ray player, like the BD-F6500 like I now have, you will need to send optical from the player to the Playbar. This is because most TVs will only output stereo from their optical port for external TV inputs.

I do a cable swap each time. However optical ports are notoriously weak. Perhaps an optical switch is a good idea. A passive one probably won't work as the Tv will always output optical audio so the passive switch will mix two active optical signals - bad. An active switch would be able to select between inputs but consumes power, needs a power socket and no doubt there is another remote to juggle! Also there is a cost but a reasonably good cheap optical switch should not cost much more than £50.

I got this one and it beautifully ties with my logitech universal remote, I have hooked my 4 devices to its optical inputs
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003C15798/ref=oh_details_o09_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Just tested my new Playbar.
I got 5.1 from Apple TV and TV Receiver. My Sonos Sub wasn't delivered yet, so i miss the Bass right now.
First Impression: The Playbar ist good, but not great. I've got a simple Samsung All-in-One 2.1 HT to test side by side. Without the Sub the Playbar sounds ... mmh... a little bit weak.

On its own I found the Playbar to be pretty good. Your comparison could have so many variables - perhaps your Samsung unit has the bass relatively high by default? The only way to determine if one is better than the other is if you find one can't be adjusted to sound the way you want it to. "Out of the box"' though, isn't really a fair comparison (and of course this also applies where the Sonos prima facie sounds better than other units!).

Andrew, you are right. If you want proper 5.1 from your Blu-ray player, like the BD-F6500 like I now have, you will need to send optical from the player to the Playbar. This is because most TVs will only output stereo from their optical port for external TV inputs. So you'll need a way to switch the optical input to the Playbar.

I do a cable swap each time. However optical ports are notoriously weak. Perhaps an optical switch is a good idea. A passive one probably won't work as the Tv will always output optical audio so the passive switch will mix two active optical signals - bad. An active switch would be able to select between inputs but consumes power, needs a power socket and no doubt there is another remote to juggle! Also there is a cost but a reasonably good cheap optical switch should not cost much more than £50.

Edit: I should add that bizarrely the DD re-encode option only applies to Blu-rays - if a DVD has a DTS track then the Samsung player will NOT re-encode it and will output a DTS track. As I have never seen a DTS DVD I doubt it's much of an issue.

I have a 4 way optical switch (CYP AUD41 4-WAY OPTICAL SWITCHER WITH IR) with the TV, BLURAY and APPLE TV all going IN and the OUT going into the Playbar. Dolby 5.1 sound all-round. The sound is fantastic and I can't tell any difference with a converted from DTS or an actual Dolby soundtrack

I have a 4 way optical switch (CYP AUD41 4-WAY OPTICAL SWITCHER WITH IR) with the TV, BLURAY and APPLE TV all going IN and the OUT going into the Playbar. Dolby 5.1 sound all-round. The sound is fantastic and I can't tell any difference with a converted from DTS or an actual Dolby soundtrack

The optical switcher won't be doing any conversion so presumably your Blu-Ray player can convert DTS to DD?

On its own I found the Playbar to be pretty good. Your comparison could have so many variables - perhaps your Samsung unit has the bass relatively high by default? The only way to determine if one is better than the other is if you find one can't be adjusted to sound the way you want it to. "Out of the box"' though, isn't really a fair comparison (and of course this also applies where the Sonos prima facie sounds better than other units!).

What do you mean by "out of the box"?
Of course i adjusted the settings on both, the Playbar and the Samsung HT to "my" best.
I can't imagine that anyone can be satisfied with the Playbar without the Sub for watching Movies.
Hope there will be a big boost after the Sub arrived.

What do you mean by "out of the box"?
Of course i adjusted the settings on both, the Playbar and the Samsung HT to "my" best.
I can't imagine that anyone can be satisfied with the Playbar without the Sub for watching Movies.
Hope there will be a big boost after the Sub arrived.

I mean, perhaps cynically (but probably truthfully) that some systems' default settings are tweaked so that they sound better than other systems in similar conditions. I'm not saying that's the case in your situation, but it's something to be aware of.

If you have fiddled with the settings a lot and still found that the Sonos system is still not up to scratch though then perhaps it's not for you.

On the other hand, if you do get the sub (and it's quite an investment really for such a small amount of the frequency spectrum) it makes a reasonable difference, the bass is more "there" and much more satisfying. Apparently the Playbar itself will then concentrate more on midrange and higher but I've never pushed it hard enough for it to struggle anyway so I have not noticed much difference with the sub apart from much better bass 🙂

The optical switcher won't be doing any conversion so presumably your Blu-Ray player can convert DTS to DD?

Yes the BluRay coverts the DTS Bitstream to Dolby 5.1. The switcher a) Prevents fragile optical cables being constantly transferred. 😎 My Samsung TV passes Dolby 5.1 through optical and not HDMI. So I get 5.1 sound from all sources (if transmitted), so the Playbar, Sub and 2 Ply 1's work in the way they should and certainly doesn't disappoint.

Thanks for clarifying that guys

This Sonos thing is quite addictive, is it not!!

Got a Samsung Blu Ray Player on Order as well!!

Andrew

I mean, perhaps cynically (but probably truthfully) that some systems' default settings are tweaked so that they sound better than other systems in similar conditions. I'm not saying that's the case in your situation, but it's something to be aware of.

If you have fiddled with the settings a lot and still found that the Sonos system is still not up to scratch though then perhaps it's not for you.

On the other hand, if you do get the sub (and it's quite an investment really for such a small amount of the frequency spectrum) it makes a reasonable difference, the bass is more "there" and much more satisfying. Apparently the Playbar itself will then concentrate more on midrange and higher but I've never pushed it hard enough for it to struggle anyway so I have not noticed much difference with the sub apart from much better bass :)

Just to complete this Conversation:
The Sub arrived and woho - it's a difference like Night and Day!
Great Setup - Love it!

Just one negative Aspect: Now i'm thinking of ordering a pair of Play 1 🙂