A week until the 2-year Anniversary of Phantom Gold announcement.

[seb]

It seems a lot of people are excited about hardware improvements. Actually, I am quite happy with the hardware. Phantom sounds great. IMHO, it is the software that Devialet needs to work on. Spark is not really a breakthrough in user interface design, responsiveness and reliability. It takes a lot of resources on my Mac as well as on my iOS devices. It would be really nice for existing users, if it would become more responsive and would take some inspiration form other great (streaming) software that is around. It would also be much easier if other software could directly stream to Dialog and adjust the volume without jumping through hoops. An interface to bluetooth / WiFi capable remotes would also be highly appreciated. To pick up a smartphone/tablet/computer for adjusting volume is not always the best idea. Unfortunately the Devialet "Remote" is far from it's original concept which included a display. I am a great fan of evolving products where existing users are surprised with new features and functionalities. It is software/firmware we are talking about, something that could be developed with relative ease compared to hardware that sticks around as it is. What do you think?

[streamy]

After the 4th bugfix that finally makes the new Phantom reliably functioning I will follow you.

streamy, it's been nice reading your posts in the last 24-48 hours. (Haven't been reading too much, lately). Can you remind me what the 4th bug is, please?

Thanks.

Thanks for the compliment. When I refer to bugs in the Phantoms this includes Dialog and Spark as I prefer listening to stereo reproduction (most recordings are made in and for stereo). Many bugs have been eliminated since March 2015 when I bought a pair of Silver Phantoms and Dialog. Most were related to loss of setup, loss of a Phantom, software issues like interrupted streaming, loss of playqueue, no gapless play, sudden volume change to 0, limit of showing only the last 50 purchases in Qobuz (which can be streamed in hires), transformer noise (buzzing) on the Gold Phantoms (yes, was fixed with a firmware update! even if it was HW noise from the PS inductors.
.... What remains to be fixed is reenabling (yes it used to work) 24bit/192k on the optical input of the Dialog, fix recurrent short dropouts of the Dialog optical input. These last two ‚to be fixed’ are candidates to be the 4th bugfix on a next gen Phantom system. Ah, there is another one remaining on the Gold Phantoms: Around one second after music stops playing there’s an audible ‚plopp‘ coming from the tweeter that indicates a disconnect of the tweeter or a short cutting, which cuts out the very low amplifier noise.

[Dvlt PhD]

After the 4th bugfix that finally makes the new Phantom reliably functioning I will follow you.

streamy, it's been nice reading your posts in the last 24-48 hours. (Haven't been reading too much, lately). Can you remind me what the 4th bug is, please?

Thanks.

Thanks for the compliment. When I refer to bugs in the Phantoms this includes Dialog and Spark as I prefer listening to stereo reproduction (most recordings are made in and for stereo). Many bugs have been eliminated since  March 2015 when I bought a pair of Silver Phantoms and Dialog. Most were related to loss of setup, loss of a Phantom, software issues like interrupted streaming, loss of playqueue, no gapless play, sudden volume change to 0, limit of showing only the last 50 purchases in Qobuz (which can be streamed in hires), transformer noise (buzzing) on the Gold Phantoms (yes, was fixed with a firmware update! even if it was HW noise from the PS inductors.
.... What remains to be fixed is reenabling (yes it used to work) 24bit/192k on the optical input of the Dialog, fix recurrent short dropouts of the Dialog optical input. These last two ‚to be fixed’ are candidates to be the 4th bugfix on a next gen Phantom system. Ah, there is another one remaining on the Gold Phantoms: Around one second after music stops playing there’s an audible ‚plopp‘ coming from the tweeter that indicates a disconnect of the tweeter or a short cutting, which cuts out the very low amplifier noise.

Awesome reply, streamy. Thanks.

I remember when I had a pair of Silvers for a very short while at home, I had a PS3 connected via optical to one of the Phantoms, or the Dialog...can't recall which. I was playing CD's, and remember noticing a very short audio dropout, like millisecond. I remember noticing  it every once in a while. The thing that threw me over the edge, probably, was when I played one of my all time favorite albums: "Mechanical Animals" by Marilyn Manson, and it just sounded small in my room. Drums sounded distant and small, and it was just smallish sound overall. After returning everything, I learned that maybe this could be fixed by room correcting. But, I felt it was a sign for me to just wait for later gen models, or so.

One thing that made me realize how special the Phantoms are, including Gold: "The Wretched" by NIN, feels like it was made for Phantom Gold. Holy Shit. I listened to a pair at the dealer, but you have to keep in mind that Phantom dealer rooms are smaller than regular rooms used for their other gear . Regardless, holy shit. I see myself owning a Devialet in the future. If you have a holy shit moment, it's probably a sign.


Edit: P.S. - Is there loss of audio information at the beginning of songs, at times? Maybe if the Phantoms were idle before playback? I can't remember if I ever noticed this... That would maybe be a deal breaker for me.