Firmware update 1.3.0.x

[nikwest]

I got a response from support that power consumption is 7W for a Phantom when it is not playing music. I kind of doubt it as it is still kind of hot at the back. I'll buy a power consumption meter and test for myself.

[Vince_JP]

@nikwest: eager to know. Just took measure yesterday & this morning with the new FW: unchanged 20 W when not playing. May be something wrong with mines?

[nikwest]

@nikwest: eager to know. Just took measure yesterday & this morning with the new FW: unchanged 20 W when not playing. May be something wrong with mines?

I just ordered a power meter from Amazon. Will let you know what I have once I received it.

[Dovyj]

I absolutely disagree with you. I hear no sound quality change on mine, just a change in the volume control law which I am sure anybody can get used to after a while.
I have had kit in the past with much less logical volume control actions than either the original or current volume control laws used by the Phantom, usually in the name of sound quality improvement of a non-logarithmic pot.

I don't look at the number, personally, I just adjust the volume to sound as loud as I want and since nothing has changed on my Phantoms apart from the number displayed in Spark when I listen it makes no difference at all.

I agree, "louder" and "more bass" doesn't make much of a difference when there's an abundance of both. To my ears the Phantom sounds better than ever and Spark has improved, no more skipping tracks on the playlist.

[streamy]

I absolutely disagree with you. I hear no sound quality change on mine, just a change in the volume control law which I am sure anybody can get used to after a while.
I have had kit in the past with much less logical volume control actions than either the original or current volume control laws used by the Phantom, usually in the name of sound quality improvement of a non-logarithmic pot.

I don't look at the number, personally, I just adjust the volume to sound as loud as I want and since nothing has changed on my Phantoms apart from the number displayed in Spark when I listen it makes no difference at all.

After having repeated some measurements using REW and Umik-1 microphone with calibration file
I did in June I can conclude that there is no change (at least no observable at my listening position) in the frequency response between fw 1.2.0.0 and 1.3.0.31.
In June: SPL of 78dB, volume at that time: 23
In July: SPL of 73dB, volume at tge time: 21
now (Sept): meas1: SPL of 75dB, volume at 42; meas2: SPL of 63dB, volume at 35; meas3: SPL of 49dB, volume at 20.
All frequency response curves look (very much) the same. I have 10dB more between 15 and 35Hz, 5 dB less between 60 and 90Hz, another 5 dB valley between 150 and 180 Hz and then obviously room modes mainly steep canyons at specific frequencies: 40Hz, 57Hz, 75Hz, 150Hz, 170Hz, 220Hz...
All curves look very much the same in all the recordings from June, July and today in overlay mode.
Conclusion: no change in the frequency response of my Phantoms Silver. f1eng and others are right: the change of volume ratio and the now progressive scheme is the only change. This can have an influence on the perceived loudness. What still needs to be analysed is if there are some changes in the hissing that some including me experience and if this can make a difference in SQ.

[ragwo]

@streamy: Thank you for your thorough investigation!

[SimonB]

Hello,
I updated my pair of Phantoms with Dialog yesterday (with spark) and now I should have access to BT connection, but I can't find anything to pair my smartphone or my laptop with. Do I have to restart the setup ? I think my phantoms are recent enough because they did not give me any peripheral to connect to dialog in order to get BT. Does anyone have the solution ?
Thanks

[ragwo]

That's strange. Your Phantoms should show up as BT devices with both 1.2.0.0 and 1.3.0.31. It's not until 1.3.0.31 you actually can pair your phone etc with the speakers. Could you tell us what the Phantom's first three letters/numbers are? I believe both H25 and H30 have BT.

[Bogardo]

I got a response from support that power consumption is 7W for a Phantom when it is not playing music. I kind of doubt it as it is still kind of hot at the back. I'll buy a power consumption meter and test for myself.

I measure my power consumption at home all the time. Allways "on" standby consumption has decreased with 3-4W. I don't unplug the phantoms nor the dialog.
Before I had the phantoms and dialog, standby was at 81W, now I'm at 137W. Do the math.

[Butuz]

I got a response from support that power consumption is 7W for a Phantom when it is not playing music. I kind of doubt it as it is still kind of hot at the back. I'll buy a power consumption meter and test for myself.

They Wish. 

My 2 Silver Phantoms and Dialogue use 38w when idle. This does go up and down slightly plus or minus 2 watts.  7w is the Dialogue, 15.5 watt per phantom. 

They are VERY efficient when playing - using 45w up to 90w for all three. 90w is very loud in my room.

Idle consumption is not great.  I can't believe there is no automated standby after 30 minutes.  I am a bit anal with power consumption I even turn my broadband router off every night when I go to bed.  The Phantoms using 38w 24 hours a day is making me twitch uncontrollably.

Unlike Frank F1Eng - if I unplug my dialog and phantoms at bedtime, by the time I come home from work, it loses all it's settings and the next time I start spark I have to go through the whole set up again.  This may be because I am out the house for longer? 

Still haven't made my mind up about the sound quality, haven't done much listening in the last few days, but I am sure there is a change in balance particularly at low volumes.