Sonos is well-known for its wireless multi-room wireless audio platform as well as its soundbar systems. However, although its popular ARC and Beam soundbars have been supporting most Dolby-centric surround sound formats, including Dolby Atmos, access to DTS surround sound has been missing.
There have been previous indications that DTS support may be added. Finally, on November 16, 2021, Sonos officially released a firmware update for its S2 Control App that brings DTS capability to the Sonos ARC, Beam (Gen 1 and Gen 2), the older Playbar, Playbase, and the Sonos Amp.
Sonos DTS Support Overview
If you have one of the listed products as well as the S2 Control App, check for updates. The DTS Firmware Update is included in S2 ver 13.4.
The system requirements for the S2 App are:
- Android 8.0 or later
- iOS 12 or later
- iPadOS 13 or later
- macOS 10.11 or later
- Windows 8 or later
- Fire OS 7 and higher
In addition to DTS support Sonos is including a few other improvements for its products:
- EQ settings are now accessible by pressing the volume slider icon on the Now Playing screen in the Sonos app for iOS. Coming soon for Android.
- An HD badge now shows on the Now Playing screen while Sonos is playing higher-quality audio.
How Sonos DTS Support Shakes Out
Although DTS support is added, the firmware update only includes DTS Digital Surround (5.1). It does not include support for DTS HD-Master Audio or DTS:X.
After the DTS update is installed, TVs and Sonos soundbars that feature HDMI-ARC or eARC and the TV has DTS passthrough – DTS Digital Surround sources can be freely accessed. However, when playing a DTS-HD Master Audio or DTS:X source, the Sonos soundbar will default to DTS Digital Surround.
Whether Sonos will add DTS-HD Master Audio or DTS:X support down the road, we will have to just wait and see. Stay tuned!
For more information: sonos.com
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