Phantom Premiere and Dante

[njaiswal]

Thank you very much.
In fact, it was difficult to receive accurate information because there were few users using Dante equipment in Korea.
It was very helpful.
Right now, I am configuring using 3 Gold, 2 Silver and ADC, and I will try to configure the system using DANTE soon after hearing your advice.

That's going to sound amazing.  Do share pictures when you have it up and running.

[mingfang]

$300 a piece! That is a hefty price... but if the sound is good it is worth it I guess. You finally have a proper MCH system with Phantoms.

Hi, did you buy them directly from audinate or Devialet? Is there any latency on the sound that you notice? ( to be used with movies )

Thank you!

Rom

I bought the dongles form an AV integrator that works with Devialet for large installations (http://www.sensoriumavr.com/).  I found them before Devialet recommended them through a CEPro article describing their installation at a mansion in NY.

@njaiswal Thanks for the info. I just ordered a set of these from senoriumavr.  I will be using them with the JBL SDP-55.

[walther]

Hi, did you buy them directly from audinate or Devialet? Is there any latency on the sound that you notice? ( to be used with movies )

Thank you!

Rom

I bought the dongles form an AV integrator that works with Devialet for large installations (http://www.sensoriumavr.com/).  I found them before Devialet recommended them through a CEPro article describing their installation at a mansion in NY.

@njaiswal Thanks for the info. I just ordered a set of these from senoriumavr.  I will be using them with the JBL SDP-55.

@mingfang I’d really appreciate if you can post your results with the JBL SDP-55! I’m thinking about going the Dante road and the JBL SDP-55 is interesting.

[njaiswal]

Hi, did you buy them directly from audinate or Devialet? Is there any latency on the sound that you notice? ( to be used with movies )

Thank you!

Rom

I bought the dongles form an AV integrator that works with Devialet for large installations (http://www.sensoriumavr.com/).  I found them before Devialet recommended them through a CEPro article describing their installation at a mansion in NY.

@njaiswal Thanks for the info. I just ordered a set of these from senoriumavr.  I will be using them with the JBL SDP-55.

OMG!  You have to tell us how it works! I'm dying to get one but am hesitating because of the issues I've been reading about on avsforums (https://www.avsforum.com/threads/jbl-syn...8/page-213)  There seems to be an ongoing concern about Dante not working...

[mingfang]

I received the three Dante dongles I ordered today.
They are physically beautiful.
They are made of solid metal and are tiny.
And for $300 each they are a bargain compared to the brands.

For testing I ran Audinate Dante Via Mac to send music to my Reactor 900.
Compared to my old setup of AV Receive -> ADC -> Toslink -> Reactor, there is almost no idle noise.
I used to hear a hiss with volume around 70. Now there's only a slight hint of noise at 100. Amazing.
Also there's zero delay from when I press play to when I hear music. Unlike Airplay which has a 1-2 sec delay.

My JBL SDP-55 is arriving tomorrow and I will report back this weekend.

[mingfang]

I bought the dongles form an AV integrator that works with Devialet for large installations (http://www.sensoriumavr.com/).  I found them before Devialet recommended them through a CEPro article describing their installation at a mansion in NY.

@njaiswal Thanks for the info. I just ordered a set of these from senoriumavr.  I will be using them with the JBL SDP-55.

OMG!  You have to tell us how it works! I'm dying to get one but am hesitating because of the issues I've been reading about on avsforums (https://www.avsforum.com/threads/jbl-syn...8/page-213)  There seems to be an ongoing concern about Dante not working...

I received my JBL SDP-55 yesterday and played with it all night.
The good: Dante is amazing. It was easy to setup and works well.
The bad: Everything on the forum above is true, even with the latest firmware.
The ugly: Many times the remote just doesn't work. Sometimes I can't turn the unit on and when on sometimes some keys just don't register why other keys remain functional. This is inexcusable.

It is unusable at this point.
I don't recommend it.

[mingfang]

@njaiswal Thanks for the info. I just ordered a set of these from senoriumavr.  I will be using them with the JBL SDP-55.

OMG!  You have to tell us how it works! I'm dying to get one but am hesitating because of the issues I've been reading about on avsforums (https://www.avsforum.com/threads/jbl-syn...8/page-213)  There seems to be an ongoing concern about Dante not working...

I received my JBL SDP-55 yesterday and played with it all night.
The good: Dante is amazing. It was easy to setup and works well.
The bad: Everything on the forum above is true, even with the latest firmware.
The ugly: Many times the remote just doesn't work. Sometimes I can't turn the unit on and when on sometimes some keys just don't register why other keys remain functional. This is inexcusable.

It is unusable at this point.
I don't recommend it.

I just read this post https://www.avsforum.com/threads/jbl-syn...t-59623532 and learn that the remote behavior is a feature. It's a bad feature but the remote does work after pressing the "Amp" button each time I switch input.
I will now attempt to integrate it to my system.

[mingfang]

OMG!  You have to tell us how it works! I'm dying to get one but am hesitating because of the issues I've been reading about on avsforums (https://www.avsforum.com/threads/jbl-syn...8/page-213)  There seems to be an ongoing concern about Dante not working...

I received my JBL SDP-55 yesterday and played with it all night.
The good: Dante is amazing. It was easy to setup and works well.
The bad: Everything on the forum above is true, even with the latest firmware.
The ugly: Many times the remote just doesn't work. Sometimes I can't turn the unit on and when on sometimes some keys just don't register why other keys remain functional. This is inexcusable.

It is unusable at this point.
I don't recommend it.

I just read this post https://www.avsforum.com/threads/jbl-syn...t-59623532 and learn that the remote behavior is a feature. It's a bad feature but the remote does work after pressing the "Amp" button each time I switch input.
I will now attempt to integrate it to my system.

Good news. My systems is now working. 

Setup

Inputs: Apple TV - 2160p60, Fios TV One - 2160p30 + Passthrough audio setting
Output: LG HU85LA projector
Fronts: SDP-55 -> Devialet Dante adapter -> Devialet Silver in Optical Direct mode , 1 ms latency
Center: SDP-55 -> Devialet Dante adapter - > Devialet Reactor 900, 60 ms latency

Firmware
- SDP-55 v1.44, Dante v1.2
- Devialet Silver and Reactor v2.12.3

Minor Problems

- When watching Apple TV the screen blacks out once a while for a second.  Doesn't happen often but still annoying
- Fios TV One does not work with the default 2160p60 setting.

Major Problems

- Dolby Atmos  content starts with static noise.  The noise goes away after about 2 seconds and audio is fine afterwards.
- Bluetooth and Airplay via the NET input on SDP-55 does not route any audio over Dante.
- The Amp button "feature" of the remote. 

Future
- fix center latency by replacing with Reactor 900 Custom with direct Dante support
- add Audinate Dante to XLR adapter to subwoofer
- add Dante amplifier to pre-wired surrounds

I now recommend the JBL SDP-55 if you really want Dante. 

[njaiswal]

@mingfang Hi! Were you able to test out Dirac? Did it provide an improvement? How are the tone controls? Are you able to tune the system?

[mingfang]

@mingfang Hi!  Were you able to test out Dirac?  Did it provide an improvement?  How are the tone controls?  Are you able to tune the system?

I just did a quick run of DirecLive 3. I did encounter a few hiccups but it eventually worked and I got good results.

Here is my updated setup.
Fronts: SDP-55 -> Devialet Dante adapter -> Devialet Silver in Optical Direct mode , 1 ms latency
Center: SDP-55 -> Devialet Dante adapter - > Devialet Reactor 900, 60 ms latency Reactor 900 Custom w/Built-in Dante, 1 ms latency
Sub: SDP-55 -> Audinate Dante to XLR adapter -> MartinLogan Descent-i subwoofer

Calibration:
1-Connect the included USB calibration mic to my MacBook
2-Upon openning the DirecLive app, it will discover the JBL SDP-55 on the network
3-The first screen in the guided process is to adjust the volume of each speaker to about the same level
4-Then you choose between focused or diffused center.  I picked diffused for family viewing
5-Then it guides you to measure up to 17 positions, it plays a calibration tone cycling to each speaker.
    I did it for the first 3 positions(center, left, right) and opted to skipped the rest.
6-The measured results are displayed in a graph and I think you can adjust by dragging the line of the graph.  I left it alone.
7-Finally you save the results to any of the 3 slots on the JBL SDP-55. 
   This step was not smooth.  The SDP-55 appears to freeze/lock up with the status of "saving" or "exiting" from the Direc mode.
   I had to physically power cycle the SDP-55 and then it worked.
8-To use the Direc results, you have to navigate to the each input on the SDP-55's web interface and choose the slot you saved in step #7
9-When Direc is active, you can't change the speaker type(large vs small). 
   But you can still adjust each speaker's distance and volume.
   
The result is good. I toggle Direc on and off to hear the difference and it is better with it on.