Phantom Firmware version 1.3

[michirishi]

Regarding both negative and positive reactions here to the september 1 release of the Phantom Firmware 1.3 (for Phantom, Silver Phantom and Dialog).

What do you think about this Firmware issue?

[michirishi]

Personally, I really like the update.

-sound volume is better adjustable in the lower volume end.
-stability seems to be improved (I have to restart Spark less frequently)

There's always room for more improvement, but this is not too bad.

[f1eng]

I prefer the volume control and Spark improvements. I do not notice a change in sound quality.
I am not voting though since none of the 3 choices match my verdict.

[pjlarge]

Made a whole world of difference as far as I'm concerned. Spark has actually become usable, bluetooth a very handy addition and personally I don't see what all the fuss is about with the volume - it's just a number. Turn it up or down until it's loud enough and don't worry about what the number is.
No hissing or any other odd behaviour on my silver phantoms.
No drop outs or glitches at all using Spark but optical through the Dialog is still far less than perfect. With an Airport Express or Mac Mini plugged optically into the Dialog the sound occasionally is scratchy or glitchy.
Thanks to the bluetooth and spark working though I've abandoned optical for now. Look forward to whatever the next update brings...

[Vince_JP]

+ Much better in streaming: now I can listen to a complete album on Qobuz without having tracks beeing skipped. :-) (was a real pain when you "know" your album)
+ Optical input now beeing named "Dialog", "Phantom left" etc. is a +. Possibility to choose "autoswitch" or not: +
+ On Qobuz now with "related artists" like on qobuz.com which makes it easier to enjoy my subscription there
+ until now Spark beeing stable across my 3 main devices (android phone/iPad/windows tablet)
+ Volume control now possible on my volume-devices (android smartphone: slider goes +-1 as it should, on iPad +-3 should be improved)
- no improvement in "stand-by", still no possibility to switch off phantoms
- still no possibility to save playlists
- still no possiblity to browse qobuz/spotify like in the respective native apps.
- still small gaps between tracks in streaming qobuz, though I'm not sure whether qobuz or devialet should work on it.
- NAS Windows Media-Server still a mess (.wpl playlists not recognized and so on). My Surface3 still quite useless with Spark (UI not optimized, browsing my directories still a pain)
- even if "just numbers", changing volume scale from original ("as bought") without warning or possiblity to reverse is not a consumer-friendly move. Why don't we have some explanation from Devialet as to the motivations to do so? I can understand some customers feeling p*. Anyway, I'll get use to the new scale as I didn't notice changes in SQ.

I don't use my phantoms for tv/films and wonder if there have been improvement in that point. As I read the forum, due to sync problems this was not a good idea for "dummies" like me.

[streamy]

For me the improvements do not compensate what got worse:
+ setup can now be accessed and changed (after setting up I never needed to redo setup in 1.1.4 as it run stable)
+ playlists also on local files not only in streaming subscriptions (works only if itunes is synchronized, but not on added local folders, I do not use itunes as it doubles files with ones I have in lower quality and there is no way to see file format or quality, but I get twice or more the same album. So no playlists of local files for me, same as before. Anyone gets playlists without itunes library activated in setup?)
+ bluetooth integration (I have first batch Phantom Silver, so no change for me)
- network got worse (I could enjoy both local files and Qobuz streaming before without many
problems. Now I get quite frequently high freq 'clicks' and echo-like repetitions as well as short interrupts (like others had before but not me). So got definitely worse for me. I'm using wifi and PLC, not ethernet between Dialog and Phantoms)
- overall visual design got worse in my opinion. (Now font size on my IPad mini is so small and in white on playqueue with album view that I have difficulties to read)
- overall usability got worse in my opinion. (Maybe because I'm a mac guy now that the user interaction has changed to windows or android way to interact it got very slow, even on the IPad. To delete a song from the playqueue I have to point to one of the 3 doted menus (Android style) and then point again to delete. so 2steps instead of simply pressing on delete sign on the album picture. Also I often have press several times on the + to add an album or song before it accepts my input. Never experienced this on the IPad but on Android phones. So it takes me much longer to compose my music. And this is a functionality that I use often and it got much, much worse!!)
- favorites and playlists in Qobuz take much longer to build up being displayed for selection. (This adds to the worse usability. Often I cannot add a Qobuz playlist to the queue because the needed + sign to add it is not there. I first have to go into the playlist, wait until it slowly builds up (was much faster in 1.1.4) then go back to playlist menu and then the + sing shows up that I can add it to the queue.)
--- volume control got much worse! ( I have great difficulties to find the right volume when playing music at louder levels. Now the volume progression between 55 and 65 is so steep that it is very difficult to adjust. It is impossible with the hard button control as the jumps are way too big. I have the impression volume usability is now optimised for those that use the Phantoms as computer speakers in the nearfield. For me there is no usage of the fine resolution between 0 a d 35. 35 is my low volume listening level. At night I might use 25, but levels below 20 now are too low to enjoy music and as background noise I can use other speakers like the B&W Zeppelin)
So overall this latest update to me is a significant step back. I'm worried that we might not see Devialet going again back to Apple-like usabiliy but prefers to complicate the interface with many unnecessary steps like 'yes I confirm that I just have pressed 'Trash sign' because yes I want to delete the playqueue' only to name another annoyance in user-friendlyness.

[Cosmosound]

pjlarge - said eveything correctly .I can't agree more!

[Dvlt PhD]

Made a whole world of difference as far as I'm concerned.  Spark has actually become usable, bluetooth a very handy addition and personally I don't see what all the fuss is about with the volume - it's just a number.  Turn it up or down until it's loud enough and don't worry about what the number is.
No hissing or any other odd behaviour on my silver phantoms.
No drop outs or glitches at all using Spark but optical through the Dialog is still far less than perfect.  With an Airport Express or Mac Mini plugged optically into the Dialog the sound occasionally is scratchy or glitchy.  
Thanks to the bluetooth and spark working though I've abandoned optical for now.  Look forward to whatever the next update brings...

Have you asked support about if the  scratchy/glitchy is their software or  the Dialog hardware related?

What if you connect the optical to the Phantom(s), instead?


Thanks.