Direct Optical mode - How to

[kmjy]

You have obviously never worked in PR or as a sales person... the only purpose is to impress someone so much that they impulse buy a Phantom when they see it! No function, just a trick...

What about my comment makes you think you can judge what I have or haven’t done? I simple asked it’s purpose and that’s it. It’s a hidden feature so it’s purpose is not obvious or descriptive.

[ogs]

Sorry about that! Not an appropriate response from me..

It is not actually hidden as much as it is kept away from 'ordinary users'. I do not know when this was introduced in a firmware but I've seen mention of the woofer movement display several times in the past. What is probably more upsetting is the fact that the low latency mode may have been available while users on this forum and elsewhere have complained about latency and the use of Phantoms for DJing and live music and of course HT. If Devialet knew users where looking for a solution to latency, but kept silent about the Direct Optical mode it is really bad...

[alandbush]

Thanks so much for this - interesting - so it's not different firmware, just a different mode. What does the 'motion design' mode do?

It moves the woofers without them making a sound!

What’s the purpose of this? And what effects does it have on the unit?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As previously mentioned, it’s likely to be a demo mode to show the range of movement in the woofers as per the following video.

Exploded Phantom demo

[alandbush]

Finally found the time and inclination to perform measurements of a Phantom Gold in ‘normal’ mode and Direct Optical mode, ostensibly to determine the latency difference.

Results have been added to post #1 of this thread.

[streamy]

Finally found the time and inclination to perform measurements of a Phantom Gold in ‘normal’ mode and Direct Optical mode, ostensibly to determine the latency difference.

Results have been added to post #1 of this thread.

This is great news. Difference of less than 10us. It means that the stereo representation / sound stage stays rock solid. Any means to be able to measure the absolute delay? Of course there is some difficulty there as the computer system (signal generation to optical out) might contribute to the overall delay.

[Extra Gravity]

Finally found the time and inclination to perform measurements of a Phantom Gold in ‘normal’ mode and Direct Optical mode, ostensibly to determine the latency difference.

Results have been added to post #1 of this thread.

This is great news. Difference of less than 10us. It means that the stereo representation / sound stage stays rock solid. Any means to be able to measure the absolute delay? Of course there is some difficulty there as the computer system (signal generation to optical out) might contribute to the overall delay.

The result, i.e. the difference between the two modes was 176ms. 

So....that's the magic number!  I wonder if thats constant or would it change depending on the complexity of the file?

[kmjy]

Motion Design mode can overheat Phantom and cause damage to the woofers on a standard retail unit.

[Extra Gravity]

Motion Design mode can overheat Phantom and cause damage to the woofers on a standard retail unit.

That's interesting. May I enquire how you know this ? 

Thanks.

[kmjy]

Motion Design mode can overheat Phantom and cause damage to the woofers on a standard retail unit.

That's interesting. May I enquire how you know this ? 

Thanks.

I enabled it to see how it works then I had to go out urgently so I just left it on. I was gone maybe 30 minutes and came back to the unit being so hot on the back that it would be serious burns if fully touched. The woofers were so hot I couldn’t touch them either. I’m talking hot enough to actually cook food. There was also a plastic sort of pressurised smell coming from the woofers. I left it 5 minutes more and it got even hotter so turned it off and reset it.

I’ve thoroughly tested the unit since and everything still works but that much heat or more can cause internal damage, especially to the woofers. It’s well above the units thermal limits.

From my knowledge this mode requires bursts of actual maximum power to fully push the woofers in and out. Under normal use, even at 100% volume the unit is never at its absolute maximum output capacity whereas this mode exceeds the software locked limits and goes directly to the hardware.

Devialet use this mode on disposable versions of Phantom that are fully opened and aired out. These units can never be real Phantom because they can never be sealed as they weren’t during vital parts of manufacturing where the casing is bonded and pressurised. So for these to have any damage from this mode won’t be a concern because they aren’t real anyway.

If you are going to use this mode make sure the room isn’t too hot or humid and limit the time used.

[DesertEagleAZ]

As I have two Gold Phantoms and a Dialog coming in to replace my Phantom Elevate:  (  ) 

… I'm wondering if there's an option for the Dialog to be used in a "Direct Optical" mode like a single Phantom? My current setup is using an Airport Express with the Airplay 2 update and an optical connection to the singular Phantom. Optical direct was necessary for it to play in Sync with the HomePod and the other speakers (Libratones) and to not lag behind them.

How's the delay looking using a Dialog with the Phantoms in a standard setup? Would appreciate any hints here.