DTS:X Pro DTS:X Pro (high-channel-count DTS:X decoder)

What DTS:X Pro is

DTS describes DTS:X Pro as an advanced decoder technology package for home cinema customers. Its Home Solutions page states the capacity plainly: it supports up to 30 connected speakers and 2 subwoofers for a total of 32 output channels. The package is built on the DTS:X decoder and adds the DTS Neural:X spatial remapping engine and an object renderer. Rave Publications, reporting Trinnov's release of it, quotes the same ceiling as 30.2 discrete speaker outputs.

The 32 is the sum of 30 speaker outputs and 2 subwoofer outputs, so a full 30.2 system has 30 speakers and two subs. The "Pro" does not change the soundtrack. Wikipedia reports the only difference from DTS:X is added support for more channels, and that no Pro version of a DTS:X soundtrack exists. It is a playback-side capability: the same disc or stream plays on a 7.1.4 receiver and on a 30.2 processor, and the renderer maps the objects to whatever speakers are present. For the base format, see DTS:X.

How the channel counts work

Standard consumer DTS:X has hard ceilings. DTS's DTS:X page lists up to 5.1.4 decode for streaming and up to 7.1.4 decode for optical disc. Rave Publications, reporting Trinnov's launch, says that before DTS:X Pro, home DTS:X was limited to 11 main channels plus LFE, typically in a 7.1.4 configuration. DTS:X Pro raises that to 30 speakers and 2 subwoofers, which is 32 outputs against 12 for a 7.1.4 layout with its LFE. The 30.2 notation also differs from Atmos: Dolby's installation guidelines cap Atmos at 34 total speaker positions (for example 24.1.10), so Atmos allows more speakers (34 against 30) but one subwoofer channel, while DTS:X Pro allows two. See channel configuration notation for the counting rule.

Channel capacity is also limited by hardware, not by the format. Rave Publications reports that Trinnov's implementation renders the full DTS:X complement of 30.2 channels, limited by the channel capacity of each individual processor. Trinnov made it a free software update for Altitude32 and Altitude16 owners, which typically takes under 15 minutes to install.

DTS:X Pro vs DTS:X

The practical difference is speaker count and hardware, not content. DTS:X plays up to 7.1.4 on a mainstream receiver; DTS:X Pro is the decoder option for larger rooms, installer-designed theaters and layouts such as Trinnov's 11.4.6 demonstration at CEDIA 2019. Wikipedia adds that DTS:X Pro is "merely for convenience in large cinemas" and is usually supported by many consumer receivers anyway, but that statement is loose: Denon's own spec tables show the support is model-specific.

DTS:X Pro is also unrelated to DTS Virtual:X, which shrinks the speaker count instead of raising it, and it is not DTS Neural:X, the upmixer that DTS's DTS:X page says adds support for up to 32 speakers (30.2) and that Pro bundles as its remapping engine.

Which processors and receivers support it

Denon's AVC-A1H lists DTS:X Pro with 15 power amplifiers, 15.4 processing channels, 17.4 channels of multichannel pre-out and up to a 9.4.6 speaker configuration. Marantz's Cinema 30 lists DTS:X Pro with 11 powered channels at 140 W each and 13.4 processing channels. The Denon AVR-X3800H lists DTS:X as Yes and DTS:X Pro as No, so the badge differs even inside Denon's range.

Support is by model, not by brand: of the three Denon and Marantz receivers above, two list DTS:X Pro and one does not. Read the format table on the spec sheet, and look for the "Pro" suffix, before you assume a DTS:X receiver will decode the larger layouts.

Where it does not matter

Most buyers never meet the limit. The Denon AVR-X3800H has 9 power amps and 11.4 processing channels, so it decodes DTS:X within 7.1.4 and the Pro tier would add nothing it could drive. Wikipedia notes DTS:X's first public demonstration was at CES 2015 on a Trinnov Altitude32. Dolby's guidelines likewise describe Atmos systems with as many as 24 speakers on the floor and 10 overhead, so neither format's ceiling is the constraint in a home. The bottleneck is amplifier and processing channels: 9 power amps on the X3800H, 15 on the A1H. DTS positions the Pro package for premium immersive installations in the home. The extra capacity matters only above the 11-channel ceiling, with 12 or more speakers and a processor with enough outputs to feed them.

Worked example

Take the AVC-A1H. A 9.4.6 layout is 9 ear-level speakers plus 6 height speakers, 15 speakers in total, which matches its 15 power amplifiers exactly, with 4 subwoofer outputs on top for 19 outputs. DTS:X Pro's 30.2 is 32 outputs, while the A1H's 17.4 pre-out is 21 outputs (17 channels plus 4 subwoofers), a shortfall of 11. Per Rave Publications, a Pro implementation is limited by each processor's channel capacity, so a full 32-output layout needs a processor with 32 outputs, which the A1H does not provide. Its 15.4 processing count of 19 outputs is lower still.

For most homes the question is moot. A 7.1.4 layout is 11 speakers on 11 channels, and the Marantz Cinema 30 drives it with its own amps, so DTS:X Pro adds capacity you cannot use until you pass 11 speakers. Compare the format against Atmos in DTS:X vs Dolby Atmos, and read AVP vs AVR before you shop for a processor.