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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.
Will it convert? I think it will only distribute the dts signal through toslink.
i just got it. works great. if i need to convert dts, i will use the Oppo blu ray player. I use the monoprice switcher for the dierctv genie that has NO optical out.
On page 64 of the OPPO BDP-103 player documentation (google for BDP-103_USER_MANUAL_English_v1.6.pdf ) I read that DTS source material is always sent as DTS (whilst in variants) on coaxial/optical.



I am no expert in this field so any help would be appreciated before I spend 3 grand on a setup that would not sound like intended on contemporary DTS-only material.



I wanted to get this very BD player anyway, but I really begin to question my planned Sonos purchase.



Thanks in advance.
On page 64 of the OPPO BDP-103 player documentation (google for BDP-103_USER_MANUAL_English_v1.6.pdf ) I read that DTS source material is always sent as DTS (whilst in variants) on coaxial/optical.



I am no expert in this field so any help would be appreciated before I spend 3 grand on a setup that would not sound like intended on contemporary DTS-only material.



I wanted to get this very BD player anyway, but I really begin to question my planned Sonos purchase.



Thanks in advance.



The Oppo will down convert DTS to PCM. It works great. I Have done this myself with a Bluray Star Wars DVD
And the Oppo Player is the only one on the market doing that?
The Oppo will down convert DTS to PCM. It works great. I Have done this myself with a Bluray Star Wars DVD



Hello Racin,



I am no big expert, but I know that PCM is stereo on TOSLINK and that means we get 2 channels of sound with the famous Pro Logic phase trick that didn't already impress me too much when I saw Star Wars on VHS in 1990.



The playstation 3 comment also appeared interesting, but I am too hesitate to buy a Playbar only to find out I get 2 channel PCM Pro Logic downmixed from DTS. In any case I could just use my plasmas optical out as it gives me glorious 2 channel PCM for everything but internal tv.



And no offense, but "sounds great" is mostly caused by the quality of the Sonos speakers and not the precise separation of a proper 5.1 signal.



I am really puzzled: Every cheapo (and not so cheapo) soundbar these days support DTS and also the super-highend versions of DTS and DD... What went wrong at Sonos not using HDMI?



Cheers

Danish
Hello Racin,



I am no big expert, but I know that PCM is stereo on TOSLINK and that means we get 2 channels of sound with the famous Pro Logic phase trick that didn't already impress me too much when I saw Star Wars on VHS in 1990.



The playstation 3 comment also appeared interesting, but I am too hesitate to buy a Playbar only to find out I get 2 channel PCM Pro Logic downmixed from DTS. In any case I could just use my plasmas optical out as it gives me glorious 2 channel PCM for everything but internal tv.



And no offense, but "sounds great" is mostly caused by the quality of the Sonos speakers and not the precise separation of a proper 5.1 signal.



I am really puzzled: Every cheapo (and not so cheapo) soundbar these days support DTS and also the super-highend versions of DTS and DD... What went wrong at Sonos not using HDMI?



Cheers

Danish



I'm only telling you what the Oppo can do. It sounds like you need to vent to Sonos about the DTS issue. I have a Monoprice switcher thats $75 doing everything it says it will do, and Im happy with it. AND the ONLY DVD that Ive run across in my entire collection that is ONLY in DTS is this one. Most movies will let you choose 5.1

AS for your "sounds great" comment, It did sound great. Cause it was silent before that!
Hey guys, I'm late to the discussion but regarding those who are able to get a true 5.1 signal from the PS3 to the Playbar, are you going:



a) Directly from the PS3 to the Playbar (optical)

or

b) PS3 to TV (HDMI) and then to the Playbar (optical)?



Thanks!
This depends on your TV. If you TV is not able to bypass the signal then it will fail in this setting.
Ok, so if I contact the LG reps (I purchased the TV but have not received it yet), what should I ask them specifically? Whether my model is capable of bypassing audio?



Thanks for the help.
I don't think you will get a good answer but you can try to ask if the TV is able to bypass:

- PCM

- Dolby Digital

- DTS



I've read some LG manuals but unlike HDMI there is no explanation regarding the supported audio signals of the digital audio output. HDMI supports all standards. Search for your models manual and look for "DTS" in the pdf.
I have a sony 3d bluray player and I changed the settings just like the ps3 settings I saw posted. It works great and now i get full effect. Sony ps3 and sony 3d player same company?? This would be a cheap way out but works. This player is only 90 dollars now at best buy. Hope this helps....
I was going to post this as a separate thread, but it seems appropriate to this discussion…



Last night I was watching the Iron Man 3 Blu-ray which only has DTS 7.1 or Dolby 2.0, playing on PS3 and with my Soundbar + sub and surrounds.



Like others I've been having issues with getting a true surround signal, despite the TV being this year's top end Panasonic it will only pass 2.0 from the optical out. So I've bought a toslink switch and all audio is running over optical. Fine for the games consoles and Sky HD, but not for recent Blu-rays which only carry DTS.



However… While tinkering around in the on-screen menu during playback (tap triangle and then go to the AV settings button – looks like two sliders) I found that using BITSTEAM (MIX) resulted in the Sonos system getting a 5.1 signal. (I checked this in the 'about your system menu).



Choosing LINEAR PCM or BITSTREAM DIRECT resulted in 2.0, but when the (MIX) option was selected it definitely thinks it's getting a 5.1 signal, and sounds like it too. It's definitely not the pseudo surround stuff. Proper separation on effects. Anyway, hopefully it's the result of the unzipping stuff mentioned by another poster earlier and the PS3 is effectively extracting the necessary info. Good workaround if so.



Cheers.
To everyone who posted about the ps3 providing 5.1 thanks....!! I have one now and the true sound it produces is awesome.... I am so glad I read these posts because I was going to take back my surround sound system(sonos) back. They are staying now. I have an optical switch ordered and that will wrap up this upgrade. Sonos needs to get DTS for their soundbar or they are going to really lose a lot of potential customers. I do not understand how a company sells such a superior product while leaving out the most key ingredient?????? This is like Apple makking a new phone that can not make calls....:) You can only text and browse the internet. Come on Sonos get your crap together and fix this monstrous flaw before you loose out on becoming the best audio company out there right now..:). Please fix the situation so you can create a very loyal and raving fan base.....;)
. IF you want PURE unadulterated 5.1 from your DirecTV or Cable, you WILL most likely have to buy a switch like this one........

A $75 switch is a bargain IMO to have such sound to the Playbar the way it is intended.



Just for my clarity please, you have all your other devices (media players, PVR's etc) HDMI connected to the switch HDMI inputs, then the switch HDMI output to the TV and the Optical output to the Playbar ?



Do you use a Harmony remote or something to control ?



The other option I was thinking of was maybe an optical switch like http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/TOSlink-4x2-Active-Digital-Audio-Optical-Selector-Switch-with-Remote-Contro-BNIB-/321204938943?pt=AU_Television_Accessories&hash=item4ac94e68bf&_uhb=1



Your scenario would have a single HDMI cable going to the TV, making for a cleaner installation..... good WAF !
i just got it. works great. if i need to convert dts, i will use the Oppo blu ray player. I use the monoprice switcher for the dierctv genie that has NO optical out.



Hi,



concerning the Monoprice HDMI Toslink Switch:



How does it work if you have multiple devices? Eg one cablebox, one htpc and a console? I plug all of the devices into the Monoprice switcher and have one HDMI going to the TV? So how do I switch between the different devices?



And does the playbar automatically switch back to TV sound if I just stop music playback?



Greets
All my devices go thru the Monoprice switch. Cable, Oppo bluray, PS3.



The switch has a remote with channels 1-4

Cable is on channel 1 PS3 2 ect...

WATEVER is playing thru the channel comes thru the SONOS.



The Monoprice switch has 4 inputs 1 output.
Guys is there an alternative to the Monoprice as they don't seem to be available in the UK, I would like to be able to get the Playbar but not sure what the output is from my Panasonic TV Optical output. I have a number of devices connected currently, Sky HD, Sony DVD Player, Xbox 360, there was an option on Amazon UK but cant post this link being a newbie to the forum



thanks
Hi birelwf,



I had the same problem in The Netherlands. I bought the Octava HD41-ARC. This is a high quality switch. More expensive but can be bought in Europe easily.



Works as expected, no problems at all.
Concerning the future of the playbar:

Are there any hints that Sonos will sometime soon bring out a new edition of the playbar which would solve our problems?
Concerning the future of the playbar:

Are there any hints that Sonos will sometime soon bring out a new edition of the playbar which would solve our problems?

Sonos don't publicly announce their product development roadmap, but what 'problems' did you have in mind? Sonos have already indicated that DTS is 'under consideration'.



As for HDMI switching, IIRC there have been statements that this was an area with which they didn't want to get involved. The Playbar is therefore reliant on the S/PDIF signal it's being fed from the TV or any alternative device.
The problems I'd have in mind for them fixing for the next version of this can be summed up by the phrase 'flawed design' in my opinion :(



The fact that there's only one input and that is an optical one means that it excludes a lot of people from achieving proper 5.1 surround sound unless they're willing to keep going around the back of the system and changing which device is plugged into it.
Someone please explain to me about this Oppo BDP-103. Three times the quality for three times the price? I have a Octavia switcher on order that supposedly will automatically downgrade DTS signal to PCM 2.0.



Is it still worth buying the Oppo?
according to sony most of there high end tv's have always supported dd from optical and the newer oppo blu-ray players support dts to dd converting. i tried my play bar on both the sony tv i have and the oppo blu-ray player and it plays just fine for dd content. for the oppo i set the hdmi audio to bitstream and the optical audio to bitstream and it worked fine using th optical on either the oppo or sony tv



edit: i quess only my dd recorded blu rays say dd 5.1 on sonos controller via oppo or tv. My dts recorded blu rays say unsupported when plugged into oppo and say stereo with plugged in to TV
All my devices go thru the Monoprice switch. Cable, Oppo bluray, PS3.



The switch has a remote with channels 1-4

Cable is on channel 1 PS3 2 ect...

WATEVER is playing thru the channel comes thru the SONOS.



The Monoprice switch has 4 inputs 1 output.



Hi.

In your setup, when playing dts disc on ps3 does the ps3 convert dts to dd5.1 and outputs via hdmi into the switch?

Also, the monoprice switch indicates that it supports 1080p@60hz. Does that mean it would downgrade 120hz source to 60hz?

Thanks
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