New Phantom?

[RBM]

I’m relatively new to the whole Devialet circus (got Phantom Golds, Trees & Dialog end of last year), but I am _very_ familiar with Roon. I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to pipe in Roon to the Phantoms over the last few weeks – sadly concluding there is none.

Local/Qobuz via Spark sounds fine – this was my benchmark. Over the last few months (while still using Roon) I have been migrating my collection to Qobuz, keeping a small amount of local music that is not available on Q.

I found S/PDIF to be rather shrill on top and undefined in the bass region – not a nice listening experience. Tried a few endpoints (from Pi/Digi+ to Metrum Baby Ambre) to the same results. Airplay is of course limited and sounds a bit wooly. I tried SmallGreenComputers’ UPNP Bridge (a pimped up Pi that offers itself as a Squeezebox to Roon, while relaying the signal to a UPNP renderer of choice), but it does not play nice with the Dialog (tracks play until 2/3, then skip).

So sadly, Roon is a no-go really – except for background and Roon Radio.

I don’t like Spark – at all. It sounds great, is visually nice but feels clumsy and half-baked. Qobuz integration is minimal (does not show Highres, no metadata, etc.). Various lists rendering miniature images (Favorite Artists for instance) feel slow – and there’s no way to overrule Qobuz’s weird way of alphabetization.

Not all is lost though – I have become very impressed by BubbleUPNP (the app). It integrates with Qobuz very well (including lists and metadata), sounds great, and has tie-ins for lyrics and radio. Most importantly, it plays to the Dialog well over UPNP.

I liked it so much that I bought a simless LG V30 phone as remote control (even though I live in an iOS world). It is working great (like Spark, but smarter and faster), while also playing to my other (Chromecast) zones and being a nice local headphone endpoint (the V30 has a rather nice DAC on board). Put in a 400GB micro SD for the Qobuz app to put its local files on.

I’m happy for now, but RoonReadiness would be well eh... great.

[streamy]

I found S/PDIF to be rather shrill on top and undefined in the bass region – not a nice listening experience. Tried a few endpoints (from Pi/Digi+ to Metrum Baby Ambre) to the same results. Airplay is of course limited and sounds a bit wooly. I tried SmallGreenComputers’ UPNP Bridge (a pimped up Pi that offers itself as a Squeezebox to Roon, while relaying the signal to a UPNP renderer of choice), but it does not play nice with the Dialog (tracks play until 2/3, then skip).

Welcome to Devialetchat, RBM! I saw your new setup on the Roon forum. Very nice! When you were using a RPi through S/PDIF did you connect it to one of the Phantoms or through Dialog? I’m asking because the Dialog has a problem with S/PDIF and adds distortion but the optical input of the Phantoms works well, at least to my ears. Therefore, I use Roon mainly with RAAT to an RPi3 into the S/PDIF of one of my Phantoms. I also use some Room correction filters purchased at HAF and I’m very happy with the SQ. Not so much with the current Qobuz integration into Roon v1.6 that underperforms speedwise (when skiping tracks or selecting new albums) compared to the Spark implementation, which is snappy and rock solid including Hires streaming.

[vaguedetails]

I found S/PDIF to be rather shrill on top and undefined in the bass region – not a nice listening experience. Tried a few endpoints (from Pi/Digi+ to Metrum Baby Ambre) to the same results. Airplay is of course limited and sounds a bit wooly. I tried SmallGreenComputers’ UPNP Bridge (a pimped up Pi that offers itself as a Squeezebox to Roon, while relaying the signal to a UPNP renderer of choice), but it does not play nice with the Dialog (tracks play until 2/3, then skip).

Welcome to Devialetchat, RBM! I saw your new setup on the Roon forum. Very nice! When you were using a RPi through S/PDIF did you connect it to one of the Phantoms or through Dialog? I’m asking because the Dialog has a problem with S/PDIF and adds distortion but the optical input of the Phantoms works well, at least to my ears. Therefore, I use Roon mainly with RAAT to an RPi3 into the S/PDIF of one of my Phantoms. I also use some Room correction filters purchased at HAF and I’m very happy with the SQ. Not so much with the current Qobuz integration into Roon v1.6 that underperforms speedwise (when skiping tracks or selecting new albums) compared to the Spark implementation, which is snappy and rock solid including Hires streaming.

Agreed. I had tons of issues connecting directly to the Dialog. Plugging directly into one of the Phantom (although seemingly not as logical to me as plugging into the thing that was supposed to be providing stereo support) fixed all the stuttering and audio issues. I can’t get past the awful UI of Spark, particularly in comparison to Roon.

[daibaron]

Hi,
I never noticed any issues like bass or distortion when using the Phantom over S/PDIF with the Dialog.
But you seem like you all agree there are issues.
I don't even hear the difference between DLNA vs S/PDIF
I'm also using the RPI/Digi+
The Phantoms sound nice in my place, but i know in other place they can sound awful

@RBM
have you tried Music Bee (the best player!) on PC or Volumio on the RPI ?
Synology's DS Audio also works well.

[Hifi_swlon]

I’m relatively new to the whole Devialet circus (got Phantom Golds, Trees & Dialog end of last year), but I am _very_ familiar with Roon. I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to pipe in Roon to the Phantoms over the last few weeks – sadly concluding there is none.

I thought quite a few people had found success with optical splitters and direct mode (or whatever it’s called) bypassing dialog?

Also, can’t remember if you’re into room measurements but the mitchco review of them on audiophile style said they were a bit generous in the treble. Might just need a bit of dialling back compared to what you’re used to if they’re seeming a bit shrill? Just ideas.