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Producer I
March 7, 2017

NO DTS on NEW PlayBase and thats not due to hardware limitations.

http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/3/7/14828738/sonos-playbase-tv-speaker-soundbar-announced

"But home theater enthusiasts might be disappointed with some of the technical details. For one, the Playbase doesn’t support DTS multichannel audio. Neither does the Playbar. Here’s what a company spokesperson had to say about that decision (emphasis ours):

For home entertainment, DTS content is only found on physical media such as DVD, Blu-ray and Laserdisc – no video streaming services such as Netflix or Hulu support DTS. Sonos is focused on modern listeners who predominantly stream and because most physical discs encode DTS at bitrates substantially similar to Dolby Digital, we have decided to not support DTS on PLAYBASE as we don’t believe it offers a better listening experience for the majority of owners."

I really love my SONOS system. The sound is indeed great, but I cannot understand how it comes that SONOS isn’t paying any attention to all the users that have been claiming for DTS support for years now.

Apparently, they don’t plan to support anytime soon because they are affirming that SONOS is made for the modern users that uses streaming and no streaming service offers DTS at the moment. Ah they also said on the interview that there is not much difference on DTS sound.

SONOS was one of the first speakers to support Hi-Fi and always have been on the vanguard for audiophiles. I really think that these comments are discrepant and are at least conflicting with the company’s past. I really hope that SONOS reconsider.

There is also a segment about HDMI support on the article.

“While newer HDMI standards such as HDMI ARC and CEC promise increased control functionality, they are unlikely to be found on TVs that are several years old and are still implemented in a fragmented way across newer TV models,” the Sonos spokesperson said. “We continue to monitor the state of HDMI audio implementations in the market for future roadmap products.” 

Apparently, we cannot expect SONOS to be on the vanguard anymore.
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43 replies

nicka99
Local Superstar
March 7, 2017
it was a bizarre omission the first time around on the Playbar. For those that remember, there was a very long and heated thread on the old forum about it where it was 'under consideration' (someone at sonos said it could be added retrospectively) for a whole year before they finally came out and said they wouldnt do it.
2nd time around it makes no sense at all to not support DTS via optical - even just to offset the negative press !
Paulw123
Virtuoso
March 7, 2017
I can't help feeling sonos are really twisting things, and their PR department working overtime, to come with no streaming service uses DTS, as an excuse for not supporting it. That just alienates the majority of people that have dvds, blu-rays, playstations, and boy have they got a surprise after they have bought the playbar or playbase as no salesman is going to tell them. They all turn up on here along with bbc iplayer complaints!!
Avid Contributor I
March 7, 2017
I was hoping for a replacement of my 7.1 home theater. But if I would replace it with Sonos I would need to buy a HDMI switch because I don't want all 5 HDMI cables to go to the TV. And no DTS again?! Same design flaw as Playbar!? You have to be kidding me. It's a 2000 Euro home cinema. It MUST support DTS or it's useless. I will have no sound on my blurays.
Lyricist I
May 22, 2017
What a shame. I consider myself a "modern listener" and use PLEX to watch movies. More then half my movies have DTS encoded audio. PLEX supports DTS, my Samsung TV can pass DTS. I too would be a Playbar/Playbase customer if Sonos only added DTS. I bet they don't want to pay up for the DTS licensing - which is crazy considering the cost for the Playbar/Playbase, it should support everything.
Lyricist I
June 20, 2017
I find Sonos attitude incredibly arrogant. Kind of like Apple with the closed systems, but even more so. I love Apple products by the way.

We want to downsize and eliminate our tower speakers, cables etc. I've been researching to death and I love the idea that Sonos sounds good, apparently has a great app, is easy to install and rock solid. However, i can't get past the idea that they only support DD through digital optical. You shouldn't have to deal with all these work arounds such as hdmi switchers, etc when spending so much on a product. I have come to the conclusion that I will probably get a Paradigm PW soundbar. It has 3 hdmi inputs and it supports DD and DTS. I haven't heard it yet but their reputation for sound is excellent.
nicka99
Local Superstar
June 20, 2017
or the new Denon Heos Soundbar. I love Sonos but truly shocked that they dropped the ball once with the Playbar and then again with the Playbase 2 years later !
Lyricist I
June 20, 2017
Yes, I am also looking at the HEOS. People have a lot of complaints about the app but it supports all the major surround formats through HDMI, of which it has 4!
Avid Contributor I
August 29, 2017
The main purpose of the soundbar is for TV. So deciding to not support DTS because Sonos users predominantly use streaming services is completely wrong. It is the case for music, but not TV.

Also, the reason for lack of DTS support is because the optical cable makes it incompatible. This also, is a daft thing to stick with because most TVs are moving away from legacy connections like TosLink and those that do have it (or an amp) about half the TVs do not have an option to mute the sound from the TV while using TosLink so you end up with two sounds (TV/soundbar).

I desperately want a soundbar for my new room and Sonos makes all sense given I have 5 other speakers, but this reliance on old technology means I cannot justify the price or even the tech.
Paulw123
Virtuoso
August 29, 2017
Optical does support DTS.
The main reason it is not on sonos, is that sonos do not want to pay dolby for the license.
Local Superstar
August 29, 2017
Not sure it's ever been confirmed it's a payment issue (must be a tiny price given all others support it - inc. £20 DVD players) but it forces all manner of convoluted workarounds either way.
It's DTS btw, not Dolby.