Producer I

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

43 replies
24084 views

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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TJRL

Renowned Enthusiast II

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 !

We were all queue up to replace our PlayBar with the new PlayBase when it came out just to get this "missing" functionality. We had even worked out were the PlayBar was going. But oh no Sonos shot themselves in the foot and release the PlayBase as effectively the same product as the PlayBar just with a different shaped box to house it in!

7x CR100, 2x CR200, 5x SP100, 1x ZP80, 7x ZP100, 1x iPod Dock, 1x Boost, 4x Play 1, 3x Play 3, 2x Play 5, 1x PlayBar & 1x Sub.

jgatie

Optical does support DTS.
The main reason it is not on sonos, is that sonos do not want to pay dolby for the license.

Dolby? :8

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stauf

Lyricist I

Sonos is just not a home theater company. Period. Lack of DTS support is not a statement of relying on old or new tech it is purely a statement that Sonos doesn't want to be a home theater company. This has always surprised me as I know personally I own a number of speakers from Sonos for music but would own twice as many (if not more) if they supported DTS. Sure, there are ways around this issue but I don't like spending the money on a premium product that requires me to implement workarounds to use it. I still love Sonos for music but they re-affirm over and over that is the only market they are interested in.

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ti33er

Trending Lyricist I

This argument from SONOS and the few Fan-boys above saying DTS is not required is pathetic - DTS (standard format) has been found on cheap £20 DVD players and on just about everything for at least the past decade! This is simply a Licensing issue that SONOS don't want to pay for so they can make more profit. Those who argue that SONOS dont want to be affiliated with Home Cinema, then why the hell do they have DolbyDigital and sell hardware that is for this purpose in the furst place? The DTS Code/Algorithm is supplied by Vendor so its not difficult to implement and per device or input, this is auto-sensing, so nothing difficult for the End User whatsoever to concern over...sound will just work without worrying about some stupid format compatibility issue!

I still cannot believe some people defend SONOS when most of us have DVD and Bluray Players, often with with significant collections of Discs, also Gaming Consoles that do DVD or Bluray Discs, and Streaming Devices like WDTV (and Popcorn Hour, Zappiti, Zidoo etc.) that play MKVs with DTS - when I look, the majority of my Blurays are DTS and far fewer in my collection have DolbyDigital!

The reason I have come across this thread was seeking some answers as my un-techno-savvy neighbour just invested in the (expensive) PLAY Bar with PLAY:1 Surrounds and the SUB thinking he was all set to enjoy his new system, only for me to pop over and discover this massive flaw ...I don't care how people in this thread try to defend SONOS, to me it's like Hippies trying to promote Marijuana for its health benefits (futile lol)

SONOS - WAKE UP!!! SIGNIFICANT CONSUMERS ARE ASKING FOR SIMPLE DTS SUPPORT ...this is not even an HD format requirement, just the industry defaults which are present on all 'Core' tracks on Discs

Sincerely

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ti33er

Trending Lyricist I

PS. I am pretty sure they could release a Firmware update to include DTS support ...this is not complicated - in fact, they could probably sell the License for DTS separately for a fee, as they would know your Serial number and it could be bound to your specific Play Bar (some older Audio manufacturers used to do this, you could buy options later if you required them)!

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stauf

Lyricist I

I am not defending Sonos at all. I love their products for playing music but their home theater offering doesn't exist in my mind. This is why I have never purchased a Play Bar. I'm sorry your friend invested and is disappointed but this problem has been present for many years and it is no a secret. At some level, there should be some personal responsibility to know what you are buying BEFORE you spend the money. Returning products because you were too lazy to understand what you were buying is unethical. Sonos deciding not to support a specific feature is not. FWIW, some people do real-time conversion of DTS to DD and others go through their TV's and output to the Play Bar. As I understand it, most TVs won't output DTS (another one of Sonos's excuses).

As for why Sonos isn't supporting DTS, I heard somewhere there were issues supporting DTS using wireless transmissions. I have no idea if this is a technical reason, something in DTS's spec requirements, or just an excuse not to pay the royalties. Whatever the reason, like you, DTS is important to me and the lack of support is why Sonos is not a home theater company (in my mind). Sonos is a premium brand, not supporting standard audio formats is a bit embarrassing if you ask me. From what I understand, they don't handle high bit-rate FLAC files either...if that is important to you.

All we can do is voice our opinion and hope someone listens. Sonos is by no means required to be what you or I want them to be. Although, personally, I would buy more of their products if they were. I can be disappointed but I am not going to be mad at them. That doesn't help anyone.

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prayme

Lyricist III

I have invested heavily in Sonos equipment over the years. New Play5, 4 Play1’s and my 5.1 set up. The lack of DTS support has frustrated me for years. Now with more and more BluRays only supporting DTS I’m no longer able to put up with the lack of DTS support. I’m in the process of selling it all!

Sonos lack of foresight and giving the customer what it wants means they are losing potential customers. Friends, colleagues and family come to me all the time asking for my advice on technology. 4 have asked me about the Sonos Playbar and I’ve had to steer them to alternative brands because playing a simple BluRay is becoming harder to achieve. It is just downright disappointing.

passopp

SONOS was one of the first speakers to support Hi-Fi...

No, certainly not.

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Lees23

Contributor II

I agree, it sucks that there is no DTS support. I have looked up and down for a good sound bar for my bedroom.. I can’t find anything that has a sub that looks like it will hold a candle to the SONOS sub, which is a huge deal with TV/Movies. The 14# Denon sub woundnt stand a chance in my large room. I will likely never connect a DVD to my bedroom, everything will be streamed with Apple TV or cable. Down to Sonos, Samsung Atmos(I get they steaming would be unlikely to use Atmos but curious about it) and Klipsch 3.1 systems.

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Silverthorn

Prodigy II

Lack of DTS is a worry. I was of a mind to finally upgrade my TV next year and get a blu-Ray player as well. A play base would have come after that.

"I saw the Stooges and the MC5"

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