Question

playbar and comittment for DTS playback firmware upgrade


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?  

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214 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +26
@Ian Hammond

I’m sorry if this comes across as contempt, that’s not what was intended. We want to be clear and upfront that DTS support is not planned so that everyone can make their own decision about whether or not PLAYBAR is the right product for them. There are workarounds available, but they may not be right for everyone either.

@User740479

I think we’ll have to agree to disagree here. There are many people who do enjoy the surround sound PLAYBAR produces from Blu-rays even without using a transcoding or switching workaround, but we recognize that this isn’t right for everyone.  
Userlevel 3
My tv does pass through both DD and DTS ... I still believe in sonos that's why I invested in two play 1 this Monday gone and it sounds very good through the Xbox one, but it would've nice to have DTS just to future proof my new system, don't know if 4K Blu-Ray which will be realised next year will have this work around.
Ryan,

That is like saying, there are many people who enjoy 128kbps sound so there was no point in putting in higher fidelity speakers. Or many audio tracks don't use stereo's full potential so we'll just be playing in mono.

There might not be many who will use DTS, but there is clearly a need for it. Same way not everybody will appreciate the Sonos design or experience but that hasn't stopped you in the past from producing a high quality product. There is just a bit of inconsistency to why DTS isn't supported.
You just can't compare Sonos to wired systems. They are the most innovative wireless multi room system out there. They have issues that we can see but do they know something we don't.? Is there a new format that will replace DTS? Is it just a licensing fee issue? I don't know. What I do know is I will never have a wired home theater again. Keep us posted Sonos. You do have loyal customers that love the product.
Joe, you said "You just can't compare Sonos to wired systems. They are the most innovative wireless multi room system out there. " Whilst you can't compare to wire systems, you can compare Sonos with the following Multi-Room systems: - LG Music Flow - http://www.lg.com/uk/smart-hi-fi-systems - Samsung - http://www.samsung.com/au/consumer/tv-audio-video/multiroom/ - Panasonic "All" - http://www.panasonic.com/uk/consumer/home-entertainment/wireless-speaker-systems.html I have looked at the LG Music Flow and it seems to be the more complete system and the sound is pretty good. I am trying to understand its DTS support and how it works as a 5.1 system. So if anyone has one, I would like to know any feedback.
Userlevel 1
You just can't compare Sonos to wired systems. They are the most innovative wireless multi room system out there. They have issues that we can see but do they know something we don't.? Is there a new format that will replace DTS? Is it just a licensing fee issue? I don't know. What I do know is I will never have a wired home theater again. Keep us posted Sonos. You do have loyal customers that love the product.
Chris, Are you from the UK? I have heard the LG system mentioned a couple times but can't find it in the US. I'm not a big fan of the Samgung.
If this helps anyone I've got 5.1 by plugging the optical cable directly into my foxtel/sky and playstation and changing the settings if that helps. It doesn't work via the tv. Bit of a pain to keep switching the lead but the sound is clearly better. Annoying that this wasn't clearer from the start! 

I guess the issue with the lack of support for DTS is that it isn't clear why not. I've read quite a few replies and never seen the "why" part. The other thing I'm not clear on is how good will a PS4 decode the DTS signal to get 5.1? In reality how big will the difference be? Anyone?

My summation of other responses is because Sonos aren't explaining the "why" part people are unclear as to whether it will NEVER be possible or that they DON'T want to do it. Those are very important distinctions, where the later gives hope (hence the 500+ responses), but if it was the first answer then people would stop posting!
You just can't compare Sonos to wired systems. They are the most innovative wireless multi room system out there. They have issues that we can see but do they know something we don't.? Is there a new format that will replace DTS? Is it just a licensing fee issue? I don't know. What I do know is I will never have a wired home theater again. Keep us posted Sonos. You do have loyal customers that love the product.
hi Joe, I am in Australia. One of the retailers here, JB Hi Fi, stock a few different ranges of the multi room systems from:
- Sonos
- LG
- Samsung
- Bose

I went there today. The choice isn't as simple like a few years back when there was only the sonos. I am glad I didn't get the sonos like I almost did 12 months ago as there are now more options. Just doing my homework on which one now.
Userlevel 1
Badge
You just can't compare Sonos to wired systems. They are the most innovative wireless multi room system out there. They have issues that we can see but do they know something we don't.? Is there a new format that will replace DTS? Is it just a licensing fee issue? I don't know. What I do know is I will never have a wired home theater again. Keep us posted Sonos. You do have loyal customers that love the product.
Of those mentiones above , only Sonos and LG are wireles, multiroom and multichannel home theater capable.
Samsung's does home theater but won't pair additional speakers for true surround.
Panasonic ALL systems have no support for home theater.
Bose's Lifestyle systems use wired speakers.
omg... just bought a fake 5.1 Sonos setup.

Sonos: I bought all your products based on you advertising I would get an immersive 5.1 experience. From my point of view I have been misled. (HiFi 5.1 surround which gives a great experience and delivers home cinema goods, translates to DTS and the best of the best in my world)

Maybe there are legal aspects that are different in my country, but here you should be informed if a product does not deliver something what you would assume it would do based on that what is being advertised, both what is written and what is NOT being written. You should really add that you can not play blu ray, that you need an optical switch because you will not get 5.1 surround sound from a TV and that in fact you do not get a home cinema sound. The music is fine.

I feel misled and would like to know if I can return my products directly to you. The resailer I bought it from does not take it back after 14 days and without the original packaging. I did not get a 5.1 home cinema.....actually I got no sound at all since my blu rays can not be played.....

I sold my Marantz receiver and Kef e305 set to get sonos..... just to get rid of the wires and make things simpler. Well ok, that I achieved..... at the loss of so many simple standard features you wouldn't even think of not being incorporated in your products because they are so...well ...basic (like DTS).

You could always just decide to add DTS though, that would solve it as well.
omg... just bought a fake 5.1 Sonos setup.

Sonos: I bought all your products based on you advertising I would get an immersive 5.1 experience. From my point of view I have been misled. (HiFi 5.1 surround which gives a great experience and delivers home cinema goods, translates to DTS and the best of the best in my world)

Maybe there are legal aspects that are different in my country, but here you should be informed if a product does not deliver something what you would assume it would do based on that what is being advertised, both what is written and what is NOT being written. You should really add that you can not play blu ray, that you need an optical switch because you will not get 5.1 surround sound from a TV and that in fact you do not get a home cinema sound. The music is fine.

I feel misled and would like to know if I can return my products directly to you. The resailer I bought it from does not take it back after 14 days and without the original packaging. I did not get a 5.1 home cinema.....actually I got no sound at all since my blu rays can not be played.....

I sold my Marantz receiver and Kef e305 set to get sonos..... just to get rid of the wires and make things simpler. Well ok, that I achieved..... at the loss of so many simple standard features you wouldn't even think of not being incorporated in your products because they are so...well ...basic (like DTS).

You could always just decide to add DTS though, that would solve it as well.

I bad mouth the Sonos HT "experience" every time I see it come up on a forum that I visit.

I will continue to go out of my way to do so until such time as proper surround support is added.
Userlevel 6
Badge +16
I'm on the fence here, and researched what I was buying before hand. Yes agreed sonos should be looking to add DTS support but the users on here I think are being out of order, when I spend £600 on anything I don't just take it for granted it is going to serve my needs without the research. I don't buy a car without checking out reviews, mpg, etc. I didn't walk into currys and spend 2.5k on a 58" 4K TV with-out checking it served my needs. And I definitely don't watch a TV advert for any product and walk into shop and buy it based on what a very expensive marketing agency is paid to make sheep walk in stores and empty their wallets. So have your moan about the lack of support for DTS on the PlayBar but remember you choose to buy it based on the time you spend researching it, and going by that it would be the same time taken as a salesman managed to empty your wallet.
So you have the time, inclination and technical understanding to thoroughly research every purchase you every make? Good on ya. Way to pat yourself on the back. You are clearly the superior consumer.

Your post is a bunch of pointless jibes with no substance. 

End of the day, there are a number of customers that aren't happy with Sonos.

We're going to talk about it. And I , for one, and going to tell others about.

Word of mouth is just another form of research.
Userlevel 1
The reaserch required to figure out if Sonos is right for you is actually very quick and simple. That's the whole theme behind Sonos.
Is it? Like, wireless, home theatre, 5.1?

All valid research results.

Who ,that doesn't have prior knowledge or technical understanding, thinks to check what kind of audio signal can be passed over optical from their television? What average consumer thinks to check that out?
Userlevel 1
Me. If you go anywhere that sells Sonos and read the reviews you would know this in a matter of minutes.
Whatever mate.
Userlevel 1
Well things to consider further, whilst I throughly want DTS support from SONOS and I am in no favour of all these DVD players doing DTS to DD convertions. I believe SONOS has another plan up its sleeve that I for one hope happens. I believe the SONOS system can achieve surround settings the same way cinemas can supporting any configuration like 9.2 or 15.4 Whilst at this stage we don't have DTS consider how in the past 8yrs HDMI technology has changed. We have gone from 1.2-1.4 and now supporting 4k up scaling and so on. If you purchased any of the current soundbars with HDMI on them, most if not all of them within the next 2 yrs will be obsolete due to technology. Also consider the fact that HDMI at this stage will probably only support a data throughput of 35Gbps. Tv companies are now in the process of producing 8k TV's and HDMI will not work on that. Please don't respond with we won't have any supporting media either as it will happen. In my opinion SONOS's bold and forward thinking of optical only is a ballsy move and the best part is it only requires a software update. Even though I would love DTS as a primary sound source on it, again it comes back to the TV manufacturers to allow pass-through. the SONOS playbar is 2yrs old in its technology run and at the time of design all TV's optical output was at best DD 2.0. I think it would be incredibly silly at this point to rule out what SONOS plans to achieve in the Playbar
Userlevel 6
Badge +16
@User820801 

So you have the time, inclination and technical understanding to thoroughly research every purchase you every make?
Yes 90% of the time I do when it's a big purchase, have you never bothered because you have money to throw away.

Your post is a bunch of pointless jibes with no substance.

Your opinion only but others might learn to research first.

End of the day, there are a number of customers that aren't happy with Sonos.

Agreed and like every product ever made you will have good and bad, so by that there is no wrong or right just personal experience of that product.

We're going to talk about it. And I , for one, and going to tell others about.

Wow sounds like you have issues, have you got sonos Playbar and if so were you mislead by a salesman or TV advert? If so go make a complaint to trading standards or the Advertising Standards Authority.

Word of mouth is just another form of research.

The systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.
Userlevel 2
For Christmas I bought myself a top of the line Panasonic Blu-ray player that has the digital optical cable output. I can finally listen to Blu-rays in theater surround sound on my $2000 Sonos home theater system. I also bought a toslink switch so I can run the optical cable directly to my Sonos Playbar from the TV, Apple TV and my new Blu-ray player. 

The switch worked perfectly, now I have true surround sound when watching Apple TV, the difference is phenomenal. Then I switched to my new Blu-ray player well all the previews sounded really great I'm thinking man this is what it's all about. Surround sound was fantastic just what I wanted. Then the main feature started and no sound I'm thinking what is wrong with my new Blu-ray player perhaps I have a bad disk. So I put in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie and it played perfectly beautiful surround sound. Then I put in another movie and no sound from the feature film, so I cursed my new Blu-ray player, thinking it's the problem.

Then I started doing research on the internet trying to figure out what's wrong with my new Blu-ray player. Then I came across this thing called DTS and started reading blogs about how the Sonos is not configured to receive the DTS signal. So I just couldn't believe what I was reading that the problem is my Sonos and not the Blu-ray player. Sonos doesn't support DTS what the heck I replaced a perfectly good Panasonic Home Theater system with what I thought at the time was the most innovative advanced sound system I could buy. Well I must say the Playbar sounds beautiful when playing music from the Sonos app. However I feel cheated when I want to use the system as a home theater. Sonos should have never advertised this system as a home theater when in fact it's not. Enhanced 2 channel surround sound is not what I wanted.

  

              
For Christmas I bought myself a top of the line Panasonic Blu-ray player that has the digital optical cable output. I can finally listen to Blu-rays in theater surround sound on my $2000 Sonos home theater system. I also bought a toslink switch so I can run the optical cable directly to my Sonos Playbar from the TV, Apple TV and my new Blu-ray player. 

The switch worked perfectly, now I have true surround sound when watching Apple TV, the difference is phenomenal. Then I switched to my new Blu-ray player well all the previews sounded really great I'm thinking man this is what it's all about. Surround sound was fantastic just what I wanted. Then the main feature started and no sound I'm thinking what is wrong with my new Blu-ray player perhaps I have a bad disk. So I put in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie and it played perfectly beautiful surround sound. Then I put in another movie and no sound from the feature film, so I cursed my new Blu-ray player, thinking it's the problem.

Then I started doing research on the internet trying to figure out what's wrong with my new Blu-ray player. Then I came across this thing called DTS and started reading blogs about how the Sonos is not configured to receive the DTS signal. So I just couldn't believe what I was reading that the problem is my Sonos and not the Blu-ray player. Sonos doesn't support DTS what the heck I replaced a perfectly good Panasonic Home Theater system with what I thought at the time was the most innovative advanced sound system I could buy. Well I must say the Playbar sounds beautiful when playing music from the Sonos app. However I feel cheated when I want to use the system as a home theater. Sonos should have never advertised this system as a home theater when in fact it's not. Enhanced 2 channel surround sound is not what I wanted.

  

              


Get a Sony or Samsung Blu-ray player that converts DTS to DD 5.1.  Problem solved.
Userlevel 2
For Christmas I bought myself a top of the line Panasonic Blu-ray player that has the digital optical cable output. I can finally listen to Blu-rays in theater surround sound on my $2000 Sonos home theater system. I also bought a toslink switch so I can run the optical cable directly to my Sonos Playbar from the TV, Apple TV and my new Blu-ray player. 

The switch worked perfectly, now I have true surround sound when watching Apple TV, the difference is phenomenal. Then I switched to my new Blu-ray player well all the previews sounded really great I'm thinking man this is what it's all about. Surround sound was fantastic just what I wanted. Then the main feature started and no sound I'm thinking what is wrong with my new Blu-ray player perhaps I have a bad disk. So I put in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie and it played perfectly beautiful surround sound. Then I put in another movie and no sound from the feature film, so I cursed my new Blu-ray player, thinking it's the problem.

Then I started doing research on the internet trying to figure out what's wrong with my new Blu-ray player. Then I came across this thing called DTS and started reading blogs about how the Sonos is not configured to receive the DTS signal. So I just couldn't believe what I was reading that the problem is my Sonos and not the Blu-ray player. Sonos doesn't support DTS what the heck I replaced a perfectly good Panasonic Home Theater system with what I thought at the time was the most innovative advanced sound system I could buy. Well I must say the Playbar sounds beautiful when playing music from the Sonos app. However I feel cheated when I want to use the system as a home theater. Sonos should have never advertised this system as a home theater when in fact it's not. Enhanced 2 channel surround sound is not what I wanted.

  

              


Do you have one that works? I looked at the Samsung BD-F6500 model that supposedly converts DTS to Dolby Digital, however it does not have a digital optical cable output. So does it convert through the HDMI and than have to pass through the TV? If I can get DTS to convert to Dolby Digital I'll be happy. Thanks for the help.
For Christmas I bought myself a top of the line Panasonic Blu-ray player that has the digital optical cable output. I can finally listen to Blu-rays in theater surround sound on my $2000 Sonos home theater system. I also bought a toslink switch so I can run the optical cable directly to my Sonos Playbar from the TV, Apple TV and my new Blu-ray player. 

The switch worked perfectly, now I have true surround sound when watching Apple TV, the difference is phenomenal. Then I switched to my new Blu-ray player well all the previews sounded really great I'm thinking man this is what it's all about. Surround sound was fantastic just what I wanted. Then the main feature started and no sound I'm thinking what is wrong with my new Blu-ray player perhaps I have a bad disk. So I put in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie and it played perfectly beautiful surround sound. Then I put in another movie and no sound from the feature film, so I cursed my new Blu-ray player, thinking it's the problem.

Then I started doing research on the internet trying to figure out what's wrong with my new Blu-ray player. Then I came across this thing called DTS and started reading blogs about how the Sonos is not configured to receive the DTS signal. So I just couldn't believe what I was reading that the problem is my Sonos and not the Blu-ray player. Sonos doesn't support DTS what the heck I replaced a perfectly good Panasonic Home Theater system with what I thought at the time was the most innovative advanced sound system I could buy. Well I must say the Playbar sounds beautiful when playing music from the Sonos app. However I feel cheated when I want to use the system as a home theater. Sonos should have never advertised this system as a home theater when in fact it's not. Enhanced 2 channel surround sound is not what I wanted.

  

              


You would need your TV to output DD 5.1 from outside sources via the optical out.  Connect the Playbar to the TV optical out.
Userlevel 2
For Christmas I bought myself a top of the line Panasonic Blu-ray player that has the digital optical cable output. I can finally listen to Blu-rays in theater surround sound on my $2000 Sonos home theater system. I also bought a toslink switch so I can run the optical cable directly to my Sonos Playbar from the TV, Apple TV and my new Blu-ray player. 

The switch worked perfectly, now I have true surround sound when watching Apple TV, the difference is phenomenal. Then I switched to my new Blu-ray player well all the previews sounded really great I'm thinking man this is what it's all about. Surround sound was fantastic just what I wanted. Then the main feature started and no sound I'm thinking what is wrong with my new Blu-ray player perhaps I have a bad disk. So I put in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie and it played perfectly beautiful surround sound. Then I put in another movie and no sound from the feature film, so I cursed my new Blu-ray player, thinking it's the problem.

Then I started doing research on the internet trying to figure out what's wrong with my new Blu-ray player. Then I came across this thing called DTS and started reading blogs about how the Sonos is not configured to receive the DTS signal. So I just couldn't believe what I was reading that the problem is my Sonos and not the Blu-ray player. Sonos doesn't support DTS what the heck I replaced a perfectly good Panasonic Home Theater system with what I thought at the time was the most innovative advanced sound system I could buy. Well I must say the Playbar sounds beautiful when playing music from the Sonos app. However I feel cheated when I want to use the system as a home theater. Sonos should have never advertised this system as a home theater when in fact it's not. Enhanced 2 channel surround sound is not what I wanted.

  

              


I'll see if my TV can do that, THANKS!
For Christmas I bought myself a top of the line Panasonic Blu-ray player that has the digital optical cable output. I can finally listen to Blu-rays in theater surround sound on my $2000 Sonos home theater system. I also bought a toslink switch so I can run the optical cable directly to my Sonos Playbar from the TV, Apple TV and my new Blu-ray player. 

The switch worked perfectly, now I have true surround sound when watching Apple TV, the difference is phenomenal. Then I switched to my new Blu-ray player well all the previews sounded really great I'm thinking man this is what it's all about. Surround sound was fantastic just what I wanted. Then the main feature started and no sound I'm thinking what is wrong with my new Blu-ray player perhaps I have a bad disk. So I put in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie and it played perfectly beautiful surround sound. Then I put in another movie and no sound from the feature film, so I cursed my new Blu-ray player, thinking it's the problem.

Then I started doing research on the internet trying to figure out what's wrong with my new Blu-ray player. Then I came across this thing called DTS and started reading blogs about how the Sonos is not configured to receive the DTS signal. So I just couldn't believe what I was reading that the problem is my Sonos and not the Blu-ray player. Sonos doesn't support DTS what the heck I replaced a perfectly good Panasonic Home Theater system with what I thought at the time was the most innovative advanced sound system I could buy. Well I must say the Playbar sounds beautiful when playing music from the Sonos app. However I feel cheated when I want to use the system as a home theater. Sonos should have never advertised this system as a home theater when in fact it's not. Enhanced 2 channel surround sound is not what I wanted.

  

              


Hi Thomas.  What makes you say the BD-F6500 has no optical out?  I have this model and it does! I am using it with the Playbar via an optical switch (because I have other inputs to the Playbar).  It transcodes DTS to DD5.1 so does the job for blu-rays

Specs here: http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/tv-audio-video/blu-ray-players/blu-ray-players/BD-F6500/XU

John
Userlevel 1
For Christmas I bought myself a top of the line Panasonic Blu-ray player that has the digital optical cable output. I can finally listen to Blu-rays in theater surround sound on my $2000 Sonos home theater system. I also bought a toslink switch so I can run the optical cable directly to my Sonos Playbar from the TV, Apple TV and my new Blu-ray player. 

The switch worked perfectly, now I have true surround sound when watching Apple TV, the difference is phenomenal. Then I switched to my new Blu-ray player well all the previews sounded really great I'm thinking man this is what it's all about. Surround sound was fantastic just what I wanted. Then the main feature started and no sound I'm thinking what is wrong with my new Blu-ray player perhaps I have a bad disk. So I put in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie and it played perfectly beautiful surround sound. Then I put in another movie and no sound from the feature film, so I cursed my new Blu-ray player, thinking it's the problem.

Then I started doing research on the internet trying to figure out what's wrong with my new Blu-ray player. Then I came across this thing called DTS and started reading blogs about how the Sonos is not configured to receive the DTS signal. So I just couldn't believe what I was reading that the problem is my Sonos and not the Blu-ray player. Sonos doesn't support DTS what the heck I replaced a perfectly good Panasonic Home Theater system with what I thought at the time was the most innovative advanced sound system I could buy. Well I must say the Playbar sounds beautiful when playing music from the Sonos app. However I feel cheated when I want to use the system as a home theater. Sonos should have never advertised this system as a home theater when in fact it's not. Enhanced 2 channel surround sound is not what I wanted.

  

              


I'm surprised that most of you have purchased an optical switch but didn't purchase one with a DTS decoder or a HDMI switch with optical out and a DTS converter. Using the DVD players ability to convert DTS to DD isn't really optimal at all