I have just added the Sonos Playbar to my samsung smart TV and have discovered the lack of DTS functionality through reading this forum. I find it disappointing that the best we can get is a stereo effect through the playbar? My originial search was based on identifying a way of using my existing Onkyo nr509 AV Amp with the playbar however that appears to be a no go option as well. The concept of buying and adding the playbar as a step change to the surround sound system I had has left me feeling I have done the wrong thing? Slightly cheated in a sense too, I hear what Sonos are saying that the majority of content is streamed and agree we use netflix however I also enjoy having a collection of Bluray discs and feel Sonos should fulfil both requirements. If anyone can give us an idea as to when this may be re-considered as it looks like Sonos have closed the subject down from reading through the forums. Do I revert to my old system and return the Playbar to John Lewis could buy a couple Play3's instead?

playbar and comittment for DTS playback firmware upgrade

Please reconsider your decision on DTS, All Samsung TV's from at least 2012 now have a firmware update that now has DTS Neo support via Optical.

Samsung has 30% market share. That's a lot of TV's that now support DTS.

I think most people understand that this is an additional cost, but I get the feeling you have some good margin in the product. This is obviously the biggest issue on the forums so please stop thinking technically and think about how this is affecting your brand and eventually your future growth and market share with so many other vendors’ eagerly developing similar, but currently inferior technology.

Please reconsider... and oh by the way, please support Spotify connect - It’s really cool.

Are we talking here Sonos not wanting to add the dts support as it would be admitting to their competitors? It seems dts is licensing “sonos” like technology to other manufactures http://listen.dts.com/pages/play-fi Do we have management involved in the decision of not to implement it as it goes against company strategy or legal barriers

I am glad that I read this blog before purchasing the playbar today. All this conversion stuff is far too much hassle for me. I thought Sonos was meant to be simple. Thanks but no thanks. I am gob smacked as to why Sonos can't support a format that is the norm these days. I am an existing sonos user but the playbar is not for me.

While a lot of tv's don't support or output dts, but they WILL pass-through dts. In my case, I have an extensive library of blu-rays on my home server, and they all play in their native formats. So when I get a file that has dts, I need to manually re-encode the file to remove the dts, often at the expense of multi channel audio.

I love my sonos products, but the lack of dts support just negates any and all 'ease of use' gained from having sonos. There are so many hoops to jump through to properly play my media through the playbar.

I, like many others, feel cheated.

Just want to record my vote for getting DTS support in Sonos!

Please, Sonos, listen to your customers!

Another potential Sonos Soundbar and Sub sale LOST...

I've been happily using my Sonos system for it must be greater than 10 years without any issues at all (except the dreadful change in style and design of the iPad App).

So, when looking at a new TV I was happy to hear about Sonos having a soundbar and sub available...

However :

1. No DTS - possibly forgivable for a bargain bucket, bottom of the range piece of kit... but an utterly unfathomable decision for any quality home theatre product.

That alone is bad enough.. but reading about the optical output from TV issue, reveals further problems

2. (Very? ) many TV's do not pass through Surround sound info to their optical output - see here

http://www.cnet.com/news/20-tvs-tested-which-sets-can-pass-surround-sound-to-a-sound-bar/

so, no sale...

Instead I now have a Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 2.

Does it support DTS? - Of course it does.

Does it use the TV's optical out? - No, it does not.

Their original version back in 2010 (?), did use the TV optical out but they at least have learnt and "reviewed" the home theatre market.. now with version 2, it has 3 HDMI inputs and 1 HDMI output (with ARC, so audio can be passed back from the TV on the same cable) which goes to the TV. There is also an aux/optical input.

So - my cable connection is HDMI 1 input to the Panorama 2 sounder, HDMI 2 is my Minix Neo X8-h which takes care of my Plex client for streaming all my shows and movies from my Synology NAS, HDMI 3 is spare - and my Sonos Connect is plugged in via optical to the soundbar.

(there's a phono connection on the Panorama2 for any active Sub if you want to add one).

Not supporting DTS is a SIGNIFICANT disservice to Sonos' loyal customer base. Please provide a workaround (i.e. some sort of decoding/re-coding software to convert the signat to something that the surrounds can use!). I've spend several thousand dollars on Sonos gear and while the system is great for music, it's highly mediocre and overpriced for home theater.

I just got some sonos 2x play:1 kit speakers and want to get wireless surround but this playbar lack of input and format support surprise me

for a company like sonos. I will wait and see what second generation brings for soundbar.

I think Sonos is a decent wifi system and I probably use for music but please dont be hubris and listen to your customers need

I like Sonos to stick around and not fall into Jim Collins how the mighty fall

STAGE 1: HUBRIS BORN OF SUCCESS

I still remember Sony refuse to support MP3 and their walkman and music player was top notch at the time

then Apple came out with iPod and MP3 because that what the majority of user use for digital music

and the rest is history.

There are lessons to be learned for business not listening to their customers need

Agreed. I mentioned in another post that I could sell my sonos home theater setup at a 50% discount and still get a decent purchase a decent system!

On the other hand, I generally like the sonos products, so i'm eagerly waiting for them to change their minds.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone, I'll pass it on to the team for you. We're still monitoring the industry and trends but our decision not to include native DTS support remains. Few TVs have the ability to send a DTS signal from an HDMI source directly to the optical connection. In the few case where this is happens, the audio output settings on a BluRay/DVD player or game system can be set to PCM; allowing a stereo signal over HDMI to be passed through to the PLAYBAR from the TV.

In addition, some of these devices can convert that DTS signal to Dolby Digital 5.1 for surround sound. Examples of models capable of this are the Samsung BD-F6500, Samsung BD-F5900, and Samsung BD-F5700. You can find a lot of suggestions around the community, including a few in this thread.

If DTS support is paramount to your home cinema experience, the PLAYBAR may not be the right sound bar for your home.

@Kimchi10- we appreciate the dedication but updating every thread mentioning DTS is a bit counterproductive. If your PLAYBAR isn’t working out we’d love to talk to you further to see if we can help. I see you have an email incident started with our team already, they’ll be in touch soon.

I have read the thread with interest, I have a number of PLAY1 and PLAY5 speakers and was considering swapping out my ONYKO AV amp for the PLAYBAR.

I am absolutely astounded that the only option for input on the PLAYBAR is optical, no HDMI? seriously?

SONOS you SERIOUSLY need to listen to what your customers are asking for. You have positioned the PLAYBAR in the marketplace to take the role of an AV amp but in falls short of this role by a long margin. I for one will not be purchasing a PLAYBAR unless it gets HDMI in/out and DTS support.

Another sale lost!

How can we get Sonos to reconsider this? Its not a cheap product and for most people who have...

TV using Smart apps like Netflix

SkyHD

BluRay

they have three sources and they have to choose which one gets 5.1 on their £1500 Surround sound! Madness. Maybe we should all email the CEO John MacFarlane?

This thread is one of a half dozen "DTS on Playbar" threads that have been going on for years. After all that time and all those posts, the final answer for Sonos is that DTS will not be supported. Period. If you think e-mailing the CEO (who, being the CEO of a billion dollar company, probably doesn't even see his public e-mail) is going to change their mind after years of contemplation and thousands of posts in protest, then you should go ahead and e-mail him. However, don't be surprised to find out your effort should have been funneled into finding a better solution, rather than an internet crusade.

After all this time no DTS!!! ITS CRAZY, what will a DTS License cost for Sonos!

They have should listen to their customers from the beginning big mistake Sonos for not supporting DTS!

Maby I have to email CEO John MacFarlene everyday about this issue!!!!or maby wait I have a better Idea give me his phonenumber I will call him every morning!!! ITS TIME SONOS MUST WAKING UP!!!!

SUPPORT SONOS DTS SUPPORT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F_NWAr2ux0

WAKE UP SONOS WAKE UP SONOS WAKE UP SONOS DTS SUPPORT

DTS SUPPORT

DTS!!!!!!!!

One word . . . Decaf.

Still sleeping Sonos? goodnight!

Dear Sonos, I got the playbar and sub for Christmas, and I'm seriously disappointed it lacks this support. Can I get a refund???

Hi Undadaugh, Sorry to hear you're disappointed. Any units purchased from us directly have a 45 money back guaranty, other retailers will have their own return policies. Wedo have some good suggestions for how to convert DTS audio if you have a lot of DTS only content and your TV is passing it through. We recommend using a Blu-ray player or game system which you use to convert the audio from DTS to Dolby Digital to get 5.1 audio to the PLAYBAR.

Example Blu-ray players which will convert the audio on the fly include the Samsung BD-F6500, Samsung BD-F5900, and Samsung BD-F5700. An Xbox or PlayStation4 can also be used to convert DTS from Blu-rays to Dolby Digital. You can also find a lot of suggestions around the community, including a few in this thread to other workarounds too.

We know that if DTS is key to your home theater experience, the PLAYBAR may not be the right sound bar for your home. Though we don’t have plans to add DTS support at this time, we’re continually improving the Sonos system in other ways through free software updates.

Ryan S you are saying that the playbar not be the right soundbar for your home.its 2015! A lot of people ask for DTS support many times. I'am very dissapointed to spend 2000 euro on my Sonos 5.1 set we want the full experience not only Dolby Digital, I just can't believe Sonos why you let your customers down. Is it really that difficult to add DTS? Or expensive? Any way I hope you are decide to add DTS support in 2016 for the Sonos Playbar.

Samsung now announced Atmos enabled Soundbar and wireless speakers / sub !

http://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-to-reveal-groundbreaking-new-soundbar-at-ces-2016

In addition to Yamaha's YSP-5600 this is making Sonos playbar look even more dated !

Thanks for all the feedback everyone, I'll pass it on to the team for you. We're still monitoring the industry and trends but our decision not to include native DTS support remains. Few TVs have the ability to send a DTS signal from an HDMI source directly to the optical connection. In the few case where this is happens, the audio output settings on a BluRay/DVD player or game system can be set to PCM; allowing a stereo signal over HDMI to be passed through to the PLAYBAR from the TV.

In addition, some of these devices can convert that DTS signal to Dolby Digital 5.1 for surround sound. Examples of models capable of this are the Samsung BD-F6500, Samsung BD-F5900, and Samsung BD-F5700. You can find a lot of suggestions around the community, including a few in this thread.

If DTS support is paramount to your home cinema experience, the PLAYBAR may not be the right sound bar for your home.

@Kimchi10- we appreciate the dedication but updating every thread mentioning DTS is a bit counterproductive. If your PLAYBAR isn’t working out we’d love to talk to you further to see if we can help. I see you have an email incident started with our team already, they’ll be in touch soon.

I'm sorry Ryan but NOBODY converts DTS to Dolby only PCM. Your system is awesome but the lack of any sort of DTS in 2016 is like watching TV in 480i. The setup does not do a good job with PCM, yes it plays but the rears are just playing ambient sound constantly. There is no surround sound. If it's licencing fees with DTS that's one thing, but if it's as simple as a software update (Most likely not, unless there is a DTS chip inside the sounbar) then sonos should really push this as all new UHD's pass both and then some. Not to mention that the main format for Blu-Ray 1080p and Blu-Ray UHD is DTS-MA and has been for years.

Samsung and some Sony Blu-Ray players convert DTS to DD 5.1. Matter of fact, there are some models listed in these threads.

That's very odd. I never heard of any piece of audio equipment that does that. Some have dual tracks (DTS and Dolby), or maybe there converting it to Mutli-Linear PCM and back to a version of Dolby that there products have mimic Dolby. Either way, basic DTS on this type of setup, which by the way is phenomenal, is a no brainer. Simple 5.1 dolby, dts & pcm. If you want 7.1, atmos or any other setup you go the route of separates.

It's not odd at all. Samsung's been making them like that for years. Xbox and PlayStation too. Perhaps one should familiarize themselves with the current tech before blasting off at a Sonos rep who is only trying to help a consumer.

Who is blasting off? I'm fully aware that a Rep has no control over what ultimately happens with the product. I love Sonos and I'm a huge supporter, I'm just stating the obvious. Easy there... and I assure you that I am aware of what goes on in the A/V industry. Xbox & Playstation, not so much.

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