playbar and comittment for DTS playback firmware upgrade

Just chiming in that this issue was a surprise for me when I went to make a purchase decision this week.  While I own a Sonos system for my whole house music needs, and thought the playbar + sub + plus rear speakers would be great for my new home theater in a new house, both the only-optical-input issue and the lack of DTS support mean I am buying something else.  It simply does not make sense to pay this kind of money and have to resort to workarounds by adding an optical switch, and having no viable workaround to use DTS directly.  I know Sonos seems to think this is an issue reserved for die hard audio people, but there is much more of a ripple effect- most of my friends who are not so tech savvy ask me what to buy, and I can not recommend this system to them given those limitations at this price.  If they are going to compromise on sound, they might as well get something less expensive.

Just chiming in that this issue was a surprise for me when I went to make a purchase decision this week.  While I own a Sonos system for my whole house music needs, and thought the playbar + sub + plus rear speakers would be great for my new home theater in a new house, both the only-optical-input issue and the lack of DTS support mean I am buying something else.  It simply does not make sense to pay this kind of money and have to resort to workarounds by adding an optical switch, and having no viable workaround to use DTS directly.  I know Sonos seems to think this is an issue reserved for die hard audio people, but there is much more of a ripple effect- most of my friends who are not so tech savvy ask me what to buy, and I can not recommend this system to them given those limitations at this price.  If they are going to compromise on sound, they might as well get something less expensive.
Whilst I do fully understand and support your statement, I must also state that this ultimately (at this stage) comes down to the TV. If you have purchased any of the most recent 4k TV's, most have on board DTS decoders. This means that DTS 5.1 is being sent directly out of the TVs Optical output into the Playbar. I would classify myself as a Home Threatre fan and I personnally own the exact system you have described and there is nothing that comes close to the sound reproduction and clarity.

Just chiming in that this issue was a surprise for me when I went to make a purchase decision this week.  While I own a Sonos system for my whole house music needs, and thought the playbar + sub + plus rear speakers would be great for my new home theater in a new house, both the only-optical-input issue and the lack of DTS support mean I am buying something else.  It simply does not make sense to pay this kind of money and have to resort to workarounds by adding an optical switch, and having no viable workaround to use DTS directly.  I know Sonos seems to think this is an issue reserved for die hard audio people, but there is much more of a ripple effect- most of my friends who are not so tech savvy ask me what to buy, and I can not recommend this system to them given those limitations at this price.  If they are going to compromise on sound, they might as well get something less expensive.
I just purchased a Samsung UN65HU8550FXZA, which is a most recent 4K TV, but I am being told it only passes the PCM from the optical port for content that passes through the tv, although I seem to be getting different answers depending on who I ask.  Always happy to hear alternatives.

Just chiming in that this issue was a surprise for me when I went to make a purchase decision this week.  While I own a Sonos system for my whole house music needs, and thought the playbar + sub + plus rear speakers would be great for my new home theater in a new house, both the only-optical-input issue and the lack of DTS support mean I am buying something else.  It simply does not make sense to pay this kind of money and have to resort to workarounds by adding an optical switch, and having no viable workaround to use DTS directly.  I know Sonos seems to think this is an issue reserved for die hard audio people, but there is much more of a ripple effect- most of my friends who are not so tech savvy ask me what to buy, and I can not recommend this system to them given those limitations at this price.  If they are going to compromise on sound, they might as well get something less expensive.
Hi Donovan.  May I ask for clarification please?  Given that the Playbar does not support DTS, if a TV were passing DTS directly into the Playbar I would expect silence.  Are you saying that is not the case?  Have I misunderstood? Thanks. John

Just chiming in that this issue was a surprise for me when I went to make a purchase decision this week.  While I own a Sonos system for my whole house music needs, and thought the playbar + sub + plus rear speakers would be great for my new home theater in a new house, both the only-optical-input issue and the lack of DTS support mean I am buying something else.  It simply does not make sense to pay this kind of money and have to resort to workarounds by adding an optical switch, and having no viable workaround to use DTS directly.  I know Sonos seems to think this is an issue reserved for die hard audio people, but there is much more of a ripple effect- most of my friends who are not so tech savvy ask me what to buy, and I can not recommend this system to them given those limitations at this price.  If they are going to compromise on sound, they might as well get something less expensive.
John, From what I believe I was told if the TV did/does in fact Pass-Through the DTS sound then the Playbar should play the audio. This is also dependant that the DTS sound track has already been decoded though or the TV has a decoder. On top of this I have and currently use a HDMI switch box with optical out that has a 5.1/7.1 DTS Master and DD True HD decoders built-in. I was initially using a PS3 as my Blueray player and specified only DTS audio and tested the whole system with the Extended Edition of LoTR on standard DVD (as you can select the DTS audio track only) then switch the movie over to the BR version and the sound was significantly better. All of these worked flawlessly on DTS, and I now use the XboxOne as my Blueray player instead. However I do still have some small issues with the XB1 though. However SONOS originally informed me that the fact that TVs would convert any audio from the player through HDMI back to Dolby 2.0 out of the optical output and then the Playbar would change it to SONOS encoded surround.

As a Sonos enthusiast and customer, I felt the need to chime in with my own take on this, both positive and negative.

First, I commend Sonos for the entrance into the Home Theater market in the first place.  The Sonos identity as “all the music in the world” was never going to be enough to make it in an ever-changing market place, and I would think that focus on audio solutions for both music and video content, streamed throughout the house, is what will appeal to consumers in the long run.  Something that just works, EVERYWHERE, for most everything in a single, easy and expandable system.  The announcement of the Playbar was a welcomed one, and I look forward to further product developments and to see how far Sonos will take this product.  But I’ll tell you why I do not yet own one, despite my high interest in the product.

First the positive.  The bar itself is well-built and attractive, and the sound compares favorably to other soundbars I’ve tested (and I’ve tested many).  Setup is a cinch like all other Sonos products, and it would be fabulous to stream content throughout the house seamlessly and in sync.  But there are serious drawbacks, and there are far too many to warrant purchasing the product at it’s hefty price when including the subwoofer (a must).  But even if it were less expensive, I still will not purchase until the product line meets at least the basic needs for home theater.  

A single optical input just.doesn’t.work.  Most televisions, including my brand new top of the line Sony 4k tv, do not output audio from sources coming into the television via HDMI over optical, which like it or not, is how most people connect their components.  Period.  Now one can say that it’s the TV manufacturers, and I’d agree to some extent, but the bottom line is most folks cannot and generally will not make such a large purchase solely based upon it’s optical output capabilities, assuming they’re in the market for a brand new television in the first place.  I buy a tv for it’s video display capabilities and leave it to 3rd parties for audio solutions.  The Sonos doesn’t have HDMI inputs (ARC), so it was immediately out for me, sadly.

People who are in the market for a soundbar in the first place are looking for simple, easy to setup solutions that don’t have tons of wires running everywhere.  That should fit into the Sonos bucket, but in order to make the playbar work with my system I’d have to employ splitters, switches and such to “make it work”.  Too much trouble and defeats the purpose for the soundbar market.

I mentioned the build of the playbar is attractive, and it is, but it’s so large (tall) that it would interfere with the television remote functions (IR).  Without a repeater on the back of the playbar to relay commands, the bar becomes a serious hinderance in normal, daily operations.  And while it’s nice that it can be hung on the wall, again, most folks have tv stands and are looking to lay the bar on a surface.  Consider reducing it's height, or adding a backside repeater to resolve this.

And finally, I come to why I’m posting.  DTS.  It’s not something that is optional in my opinion.  It’s a must have, a basic need.  DTS is common for blu ray, and is picking up in popularity, so decoding DTS is simply required.  Leaving it to the blu ray player to convert to DD, assuming the consumer’s player will even do that, seems unreasonable to me.  It’s an AUDIO function, so the AUDIO solution chosen should handle that, whether it’s a receiver for a large 7.1 wired system, or a soundbar for a consolidated, low profile system.  Soundbars are gaining in popularity because of those traits, and there are more and more to choose from as manufacturers are improving their sound quality in these packages every day.

So despite the fact that I’ve invested heavily into Sonos and have speakers in nearly every room of my house, Sonos does not yet have a presence in the most important room in my house.  My living room.  I purchased a competing soundbar to go along with my very cool new television, and while I prefer the sound of the Sonos and desperately want to “keep it in the family”, there were far too many compromises.  Please consider developing the product further in these areas, and you’ll have another sale and happy customer.

P.S.  I’d like outdoor speakers, too, please. And bluetooth.  :o)

DTS is mandatory ! it's samsung default optical output format ... so every time i want to see a blue ray,  i must go too deep menu to change the optical output format ... 

it's so raging that sonos don't want to change anything that i've past the whole night to put bad star on amazon and a lot of other to explain why it's stupid to buy a sonos product that just want to stay on their .
Hope that go viral to make them move. 

Anything else is fine (spotify integration can be better, but that is the spotify API, so i will not blame sonos about that).

Just put this feature top one !
 

This is a very good post.  Well thought out and balanced - and I could NOT AGREE MORE WITH YOU!!

I love my Sonos system, and am also looking for a solution to go with my TV - but like you I feel the Sonos just isn't it.  I would be more than happy to buy both the Sub and the sound bar if it had DTS support and more inputs.  But as it doesn't my £1500 is going to go elsewhere...

Sonos, you need to wake up and listen to your customers...

Update.  Not only is my money going elsewhere - I am going to sell all my existing Sonos equipment and go to the Bose SoundTouch platform.  Not only does it support DTS it also supports HD audio and is available in both black and white for all components.  Sorry Sonos - you just took too long to listen to your cusotmers

I've ploughed over last 12 months £1600 in sonos gear and biting the bullet and getting 2 play 1 this week, this is something I said I wouldn't do because of the lack of DTS.. When 5.1 is being passed through the experience is just epically awesome but I was presently surprised how very good the faux 5.1 sounded. After watching guardians I had a smile on my face and I don't regret of my purchase. I do believe and hope that sonos will bring DTS because this would be the icing on an already tasty cake.