Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Plc vs wifi option
#1
Hi ,
Can some in explain the difference between wifi plc (plc meens wifi extender? or eth45 wired cables?)
auto option on the phantom?
My ? are in connected via wifi and i have optical for to cubox(also connected wifi to roon server).

10x
Reply
#2
https://help.devialet.com/hc/en-us/artic...ntom-Setup

PLC uses the power chord of the Phantom to communicate with one another and the Dialog (in DOS1). PLC provides better sound than wifi but not as good as Ethernet. PLC works best if the Phantoms and Dialog are using the same power strip/ board.
Reply
#3
I don’t think this is accurate. This is just how they communicate with each other. WiFi is the least stable, then PLC, then ethernet. PLC stands for PowerLine Communication - where devices can use your power cables to communicate with one another. If it’s unstable you may need to increase the latency, but I don’t believe the sound quality will change.
Reply
#4
I have had no problems with stability with DOS1 and have compared all 3. Ethernet has better SQ than PLC, which in turn is better than Wifi (router is next to Phantoms).
Reply
#5
I don't have much experience with DOS1, but in DOS2, I can hear no difference at all between the three. I tend to agree with @booshtukka (at least, for DOS2). The main difference is the stability. Wi-Fi and PLC are both subject to random interference, so you will never be able to be 100% dropout-free, unless you live in the middle of a field (Wi-Fi...) and the only electrical equipment in your house is your Phantoms (PLC...).

Ethernet is the most stable one by far, if you can, you should stick to it.

PLC vs Wi-Fi ? not so clear. I personally recommend Wi-Fi (5GHz, see below), but you should experiment for yourself. If you live in a recent building, PLC may be worth a try (do try to use the same powerstrip, if possible). But then, your neighbour will turn on his jacuzzi, and bang! PLC is dead for several seconds. Or more.

The only scenario I see for PLC is when (a) you confirm that it works well all the time and (b) you wish to push your latency down (for using with TV, for example). In theory, PLC should give you better (lower) latency. But again, if you really want to have the lowest possible latency, just switch to Ethernet and save you a lot of trouble. (oh, yes: the latency setting only applies to the optical input, and you should change it on both Phantoms!)

The auto option will let the Phantom decide if it uses Wi-Fi or PLC, based on the detected link quality (bandwidth and/or latency and/or dropout statistics). If you plug Ethernet, there will be no question: Ethernet will be used, whatever the setting you choose.

The last thing I'd like to add: if you use Wi-Fi, make sure you use a 5GHz band, and not a 2.4GHz one, they are normally less crowded, and there is no band sharing with Bluetooth.
Reply
#6
One question - when you use ethernet - do you connect both speakers (if in stereo) to two ethernet wires or is it good enough to connect one Phantom to one wire?
Thanks..
/Anders
Reply
#7
(12-Feb-2020, 12:57)Anders Wrote: One question - when you use ethernet - do you connect both speakers (if in stereo) to two ethernet wires or is it good enough to connect one Phantom to one wire?
You will need 2 Ethernet cables. If you use 1 in DOS2, the Phantoms will still need to talk to one another using PLC.

------
A further clarification on my earlier post about Ethernet being better. I realised that most of you would not have read my post below, which explains the setup used to compare Ethernet with PLC. Highly recommend the EtherRegen which gave a significant improvement to my Phantom setup and made the Ethernet link even better.

https://devialetchat.com/Thread-Audiophi...4#pid89494
Reply
#8
@Anders Yes, you will need 2 Ethernet cables. Actually, it is possible to make the situation worse by using only one Ethernet cable!

If your master Phantom is the one connected through Ethernet, it will send its signal through Ethernet cable... to the router. Which will then send it to the second Phantom through Wi-Fi. If Wi-Fi is really bad, then you may have a configuration working worse than the default one (with both Phantoms communicating via PLC).

If you master Phantom is the other one, then it will send its signal through Wi-Fi (and then Ethernet) or PLC, as per its network interface setting.

Bottom line: two cables.

@raph972 said in a post it was possible to connect both Phantoms directly with a single, regular cable. But since it works fine for me without any cables at all, in Auto, I never got around to testing that solution, although it may be really really useful if your router is far away from your stereo pair and you don't have any Ethernet socket there. If you test it, I'm sure everybody will be interested to hear the result!

@Snoopy8 : that's some serious tweaking here. I am not sure I will hear the difference you are speaking about, though.
Reply
#9
(12-Feb-2020, 20:28)quartz78 Wrote: @Snoopy8 : that's some serious tweaking here. I am not sure I will hear the difference you are speaking about, though.
We are going off topic here, but the EtherREGEN tweak is one of the simpler ones. I have others like room correction, using different stands etc. Follow the link below
Reply
#10
I read about someone having success just connecting them directly together with an ethernet cable - I don't see how you validate in the app which method it's using. Mine have an ethernet cable each connected to a gigabit switch.
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)