The Sonos latest update contains big news for surround sound fans. The addition of DTS audio support for its home theater speakers. This includes not just newer speakers like the 2nd generation Beam and Arc but also the older devices like the first generation Beam, the play base and even the play bar, that originally launched in 2013. Even the Sonos Amp is getting in on the DTS action.
Those unfamiliar with the technical nightmare, that is home cinema Audio DTS is a rival surround format to Dolby Digital. The DTS support means that, Sonos users can benefit from the surround sound across more sources like the Blu ray discs, that use the DTS format. The release date of the update comes a week after Disney announced, that the DTS audio support will be coming to its Disney Plus streaming service in the future.
The users on Reddit, who have tried out the functionality report that Sonos only seems to support standard DTS digital surround so users won’t be able to get the most out of sources, that use the higher speed DTS HD it reportedly comes through the regular DTS.
This App shows the small DTS surround 5.1 badge, when the speaker system is playing the format. Users might need to watch other niggles out for are whether your TV supports DTS audio. The LG most popular CX and C1 OLED TVs e.g don’t support DTS that means users will run into the issues if they are passing the DTS audio through them, through HDMI.
Other new features introduced as the part of the 13.4 update, that include the new battery saver mode, for the portable Sonos Products like the Roam which when activated will automatically turn the speaker off after 30 minutes to conserve the battery life.
It currently just goes into the low power sleep mode by default. Now playing screen in the Sonos app on IOS includes, the new shortcut to access the EQ settings and the new HD badge that will appear when the higher quality audio is being played.
