Finally my patience has run out

[eibet]

Hello.

I used to have small problems with my phantoms that annoyed me from time to time. Like losing my right phantom for a few seconds every 15-20 min, sometimes bluetooth volume jumped, I could not stream to airport express that was optically connected to Dialog because the connection was unstable or something. Anyhow, I was waiting for the last update, hoping that it would fix everything. To my surprise, guess what, it didn't. I now have more problems than ever. Everytime I come home from work I have to do a full reset because the right phantom has gone M.I.A. Nowhere to be found. I do the full reset. The right phantom needs to be unplugged of course. After both Phantoms have been touched and cuddled with multiple times I finally get everything up and running and and sit myself down on the couch to relax. I open Spark to play some of my iTunes library files. I find the album, add it to the playlist and press play. Nothing happens. Try a different album, actually all of them, nothing. I then try to stream to my airport express, thinking that they might have fixed that problem. Even worse now. Plays for 5 sec, then stop. Another 5 sec and stop. Get tired of that so I turn on bluetooth and connect to the left Phantom. Go to spotify and press play. BOOOOOOOM, song starts and volume jumps to max. I "quickly" (takes some time to do that) open the spark app and turn it down to 35-40. Then I connect to the right Phantom with bluetooth and open Spark first to check volume level. The volume has now put it self at 27, better than 70+ anyway. I play a few songs but there are some "ticks" coming now and again that really bother me so I then add my TV optical connected to the right phantom and turn on the volume. I have actually set every single video prosessing choice to "on" to try and eliminate the delay difference but it's still very noticable. Everything is connected to the same power strip, and all devices are not more than 3 m apart including Apple Express. I am getting really tired of this now so I sent an e-mail to Devialet explaining that if they can't resolve these issues soon I will have to return my speakers under the warranty. They have basically delivered faulty products. It's sad because I really like them, but I want my stereo system to work. Just work.

Thank you for reading this rather long post.

[Teliaved]

I undetstand you regtet having to let go these phantoms. Very easy to end up with a poor WiFi setup between your network elements. Depends on external factors. Have you tried with a wired configuration?

[eibet]

I undetstand you regtet having to let go these phantoms. Very easy to end up with a poor WiFi setup between your network elements. Depends on external factors. Have you tried with a wired configuration?

I have not tried with a wired solution because I use the Apple express. Only one ethernet output.
But I have read from others on the forum who have tried both wireless and wired and they say that there is no difference.
I don't know. I'm considering investing in a Asus RT-AC3200 because I have bad coverage outside my house and on the terrace, but I really don't think it would make a difference.

[streamy]

From my experience with two Phantoms and Dialog I for now (using them since March 2015) conclude that it is important to have the Phantoms and Dialog plugged to the same power branch (copper cable in the house installation) because the wireless setup relies strongly on the integrated PLC of the Phantoms and Dialog. Why I come to this conclusion I have described here: http://devialetchat.com/showthread.php?t...3#pid28293

[f1eng]

I have an ethernet over house wiring connection between my internet router and my listening room. The socket in its plug has a filter to remove the ethernet signal from the mains items plugged into it.
Not realising the extent to which the Dialog relies on the same technology to link to the Phantoms I had my Dialog and one Phantom plugged into this filtered output.
I had loads of connection, stuttering and loss of one Phantom problems, even after the firmware and Spark had been updated. On the advice of Devialet's help line I tried connecting Airport, Dialogs and Phantoms using Ethernet to a Netgear hub which I had.
Everything worked perfectly then.
I then bought an extension lead such that the Phantom and Dialog no longer connected to the filtered socket in my house and then I did not need the wired ethernet connections any more, it still works perfectly.
I recently bought a third Phantom and this one has bluetooth, it seems that the iPhone app for controlling volume has loads of lag and the once I tried it I had a sudden high volume because of this. I have not used it since and have gone back to Spark.

I switch everything off over night. On days when I expect to use Phantoms I plug them in in  plenty of time. I plug in the Phantoms first then the Dialog. I don't know if it was the earlier firmware or having unfiltered mains connections to the equipment but all the problems I used to have of needing to reset and reconfigure went away when I used unfiltered mains sockets.
My first Phantoms were amongst the first sold and the new one came this week and both work the same FWIW.

[Manoet]

I've read a lot over the past few days about people referring to "unfiltered mains" in association with existing problems and mentioning the use with and absence of AC filtration. We know in the case of the Expert line there's no such thing as a "filter-free" OEM model. My question is has anyone physically confirmed the absence of an existing Power Entry Module in either Phantom, Dialog or both? Seems Devialet prefers them and I'm always confused by people who have them yet say they are running "filtration-free" via wall receptacle only as well as people running after-market stand-alone filtration yet commenting they are only using a single source of filtration when they're actually running bi-filtration via the internal PEM. If there's one thing that should be obvious at this point in time at this forum is running a PEM is kinda like being a "little bit" pregnant. You either are or aren't pregnant/filtered and until the presence of a PEM is confirmed/denied are in no position to know, let alone state emphatically.

I'm making no statement of PEM culpability related to these or any other issues but seems to me it would be a prudent endeavor to find out about any PEM existence since the subject of filtration seems to be inexorably tied to or influenced by the dilemma.

[msg]

Eibet, not knowing much about the electronics, I wonder whether the power strip you are using is causing or contributing to the problem. Others have said that the surge protection and/or filtering in the power strip might interfere with the PLC. Given my lack of knowledge of electronics, this is just a wild guess.

I've got two Phantoms and a Dialog with an Airport Express connected to the optical input of the Dialog. Initially I had the Dialog and Airport Express in the same room as my wireless router with the phantoms in the adjacent room. This set-up was unreliable. I then moved the Dialog and the Airport Express into the same room as and near to the Phantoms. I plugged the power cables of the Dialog and Phantoms into the same extension cord (not a power strip). My system is now configured as follows (with the items in each set of brackets in the same room):

[cable modem <--ethernet--> powerline adapter] <--house circuitry--> [powerline adapter <--ethernet--> Dialog <--optical--Airport Express]

I've had no problems since, and I'm now running the latest firmware and Spark software. Hope that helps.

[peramos]

I undetstand you regtet having to let go these phantoms. Very easy to end up with a poor WiFi setup between your network elements. Depends on external factors. Have you tried with a wired configuration?

I have not tried with a wired solution because I use the Apple express. Only one ethernet output.
But I have read from others on the forum who have tried both wireless and wired and they say that there is no difference.
I don't know. I'm considering investing in a Asus RT-AC3200 because I have bad coverage outside my house and on the terrace, but I really don't think it would make a difference.

I bought that router for similar reasons and the situation has improved. Before I got frequent glitches and stereo image loses that I haven't experienced with the new setup. I set it up one week ago and so far so good. But, note, I made the update to the new firmware at the same time I installed the AC3200 so I am not completely sure what contributed the most to end the issues.

[eibet]

Eibet, not knowing much about the electronics, I wonder whether the power strip you are using is causing or contributing to the problem. Others have said that the surge protection and/or filtering in the power strip might interfere with the PLC. Given my lack of knowledge of electronics, this is just a wild guess.

I've got two Phantoms and a Dialog with an Airport Express connected to the optical input of the Dialog. Initially I had the Dialog and Airport Express in the same room as my wireless router with the phantoms in the adjacent room. This set-up was unreliable. I then moved the Dialog and the Airport Express into the same room as and near to the Phantoms. I plugged the power cables of the Dialog and Phantoms into the same extension cord (not a power strip). My system is now configured as follows (with the items in each set of brackets in the same room):

[cable modem <--ethernet--> powerline adapter] <--house circuitry--> [powerline adapter <--ethernet--> Dialog <--optical--Airport Express]

I've had no problems since, and I'm now running the latest firmware and Spark software. Hope that helps.

Thank you for replies and suggestion. Came home today and I think Devialet heard my cries. Everything seems to be in somewhat working order. Spark works, no dropouts, phantom was still online. Incroyable.

[MountainGuy]

Hello.

I used to have small problems with my phantoms that annoyed me from time to time. Like losing my right phantom for a few seconds every 15-20 min, sometimes bluetooth volume jumped, I could not stream to airport express that was optically connected to Dialog because the connection was unstable or something. Anyhow, I was waiting for the last update, hoping that it would fix everything. To my surprise, guess what, it didn't. I now have more problems than ever. Everytime I come home from work I have to do a full reset because the right phantom has gone M.I.A. Nowhere to be found. I do the full reset. The right phantom needs to be unplugged of course. After both Phantoms have been touched and cuddled with multiple times I finally get everything up and running and and sit myself down on the couch to relax. I open Spark to play some of my iTunes library files. I find the album, add it to the playlist and press play. Nothing happens. Try a different album, actually all of them, nothing. I then try to stream to my airport express, thinking that they might have fixed that problem. Even worse now. Plays for 5 sec, then stop. Another 5 sec and stop. Get tired of that so I turn on bluetooth and connect to the left Phantom. Go to spotify and press play. BOOOOOOOM, song starts and volume jumps to max. I "quickly" (takes some time to do that) open the spark app and turn it down to 35-40. Then I connect to the right Phantom with bluetooth and open Spark first to check volume level. The volume has now put it self at 27, better than 70+ anyway. I play a few songs but there are some "ticks" coming now and again that really bother me so I then add my TV optical connected to the right phantom and turn on the volume. I have actually set every single video prosessing choice to "on" to try and eliminate the delay difference but it's still very noticable. Everything is connected to the same power strip, and all devices are not more than 3 m apart including Apple Express. I am getting really tired of this now so I sent an e-mail to Devialet explaining that if they can't resolve these issues soon I will have to return my speakers under the warranty. They have basically delivered faulty products. It's sad because I really like them, but I want my stereo system to work. Just work.

Thank you for reading this rather long post.

THANK YOU for posting.  Mirrors a lot of my experience except I don't have airport express and my volume has not jumped to max yet.  But I've tried everything else I know and my power line is unfiltered. Unplugged & reset everything mutliple times from the modem down to the phantom.  Allocated majority of my wireless router resources to the Phantom.  Still similar experience to yours.  

If you really want impact, post your review above on Amazon.  If enough Phantom users post on Amazon with a low rating, this is much more likely to catch Devialet's attention as Amazon is by far the most read 'review' site per my understanding.  This forum probably has limited penetration but not Amazon. 

MtnGuy