Does Dolby Digital and DTS really matter with Sound Bars

I am wondering the same?

Do soundbars that support DD and DTS benefit,,,,,, depends on who you ask and which soundbar it is.

Im not even sure I know to be honest.

Each soundbar process's sound its own way and each soundbar maker has a fancy name for their processing.

I Know in the past I have seen some on here make comments like " Ohh, I would never buy "that" soundbar,, it does not support HD audio",,, my reaction is always, really dude,, its a soundbar,,,, its not going to make a rats ass of difference if "that" soundbar does HD audio or not,,, its a soundbar !!!

Cheers
Davyo

Most of the time it is cirtual simce it is only two channel. It does help to "open" the sound field, when watching tv and movies. Since majority of the time, it sounds like tv shows and movies, when listening through a 2 channel system sounds "tighter" or compressed.

I have hooked up my Zvox580 both from the TV (Panny optical) which is 2.0 and directly from the Cable box and blu ray player. Maybe a slight difference but it also could just be in my head.

As far as I know, when you make a digital audio connection between two devices, it's important that the receiving device is able to "handle" the digital format sent by the source device.

For example, if your set-top box is sending PCM 2.0 (i.e., digital stereo). ANY soundbar with a digital input should be compatible with that signal. If however, the box is set to output Dolby Digital (5.1 multichannel) and your soundbar doesn't do that format, then you'll either get just the L/R signals without any center channel mixed in, or no output at all. Soundbars that can decode Dolby Digital and/or DTS signals are therefore a neccessity when the source device cannot be set to send PCM 2.0. Most such soundbars simply downmix the 5.1 channels down to stereo, but that's at least the right way to handle the signal, IMHO.