Reactor 600 - Autoswitch and TV remote

[MC94]

Hey everyone!
 
I am thinking about buying the 600 stereo. I could test it and I was impressed. Even though I am convinced of the sound quality, I have some open points regarding the functionality. I want to use it for music via Airplay or Spotify Connect and TV via Optical. Therefore, it would be great if the Reactor detect the signal and automatically select the source where there is output from, i.e. I start the TV, the Reactor plays TV sound, I switch off the TV and start playing music via Airplay, the Reactor plays music. So I don’t have to change the source in the app. Do you know if this is possible? I’ve read in other threads, that there is an autoswitch function in Spark but not in the Devialet app for the reactor. Another topic which I’ve read in other threads was the issue with the volume control via optical. I know that there is no guarantee that I can control volume with the TV remote but is it theoretical possible and depending from the TV? I asked because it’s explicit mentioned in the manual of my TV (LG OLED B8) that I can control volume with TV remote when using speaker over optical.
 
Many thanks!

[njaiswal]

Hey everyone!
 
I am thinking about buying the 600 stereo. I could test it and I was impressed. Even though I am convinced of the sound quality, I have some open points regarding the functionality. I want to use it for music via Airplay or Spotify Connect and TV via Optical. Therefore, it would be great if the Reactor detect the signal and automatically select the source where there is output from, i.e. I start the TV, the Reactor plays TV sound, I switch off the TV and start playing music via Airplay, the Reactor plays music. So I don’t have to change the source in the app. Do you know if this is possible? I’ve read in other threads, that there is an autoswitch function in Spark but not in the Devialet app for the reactor. Another topic which I’ve read in other threads was the issue with the volume control via optical. I know that there is no guarantee that I can control volume with the TV remote but is it theoretical possible and depending from the TV? I asked because it’s explicit mentioned in the manual of my TV (LG OLED B8) that I can control volume with TV remote when using speaker over optical.
 
Many thanks!

Hi,  Based on my experience you need to use the app to switch sources and control volume.  I got around this by using a Sonos Connect which gave me the ability to auto switch sources as well as integrate into a universal remote (Logitech Harmony).

[MC94]

Thanks for the tip.

[quartz78]

Hi @MC94 there is no option in the new Devialet app to switch the autoswitch off, so to say. Because in some scenarios you do not want that to happen. So, for your expected use case, there should be no problem - you turn on the TV, it plays optical, you play AirPlay, it switches to AirPlay and so on.

As for the volume control via optical done by the TV, I would advise against that, even if it is possible. I strongly suspect that it will degrade the sound quality. Think of the optical cable as a 16-bit audio file. The only way to adjust the volume by the TV would be to decrease its maximum amplitude. So, you'll get 15 or 14 bit actual dynamic range, or worse. On the other hand, most of the TVs do not support volume control over optical, so they output lossless sound "file", at 100% "volume". Then, the receiver or the Phantom, in our case, will apply gain to the electrical (analog) signal just before giving it to the speaker, so no loss here. The only way for it to work more or less fine would be to output in 24-bit. Does your TV manual say anything about that?

[MC94]

Hi quartz78, thanks for your answer. I asked LG customer service who told me that the bitrate over optical is 16bit. In addition, the Phantom must support LG Soundsync for volume remote control. So it looks like it‘s not possible and I have to use the app or buy the Devialet remote.