Tweak WiFi Antenna on D200

[Matthew]

Regardless of all the hypothesis, WiFi on Devialet is less than optimal - as an understatement.  If I knew or could find out how to "extend" the antenna's reach on the D200 I'd be all over that.  There would be many benefits to a stable and strong WiFi signal.

[Antoine]

From things I've read previously even the PEM's can create and/or aggravate white noise and hiss. Given that I think it entirely possible all current Experts may well have the entirely wrong PEM for wi-fi reception since they were likely purchased/installed before Air was considered and they're likely still installing old inventory on current assemblies. Sadly there are PEMs available that are specifically designed to remedy and/or diminish white noise while still carrying out the features Devialet wants to filter or provide protection against. Things like this can be a huge problem in over-exercising freebie upgrades when implemented gear didn't include going a different direction. I'm still interested, just for grins to see how Air might sound on my 200 post-reassembly tho I'll be terribly disappointed if that's the only place I notice an SQ-enhancement. The more I ponder this tweak the more hopeful I become but have to limit myself in soothsaying pre-natal chicken birth rates.

I think you're confusing the AIR white noise issue, which happens due to something going wrong with the digital bitstream, with the white noise/hiss with an analog origin. These are certainly not the same.

BTW AIR white noise can occur with both WiFi as hard wired ethernet connections.

[Manoet]

I wasn't "confusing" the two so much as including both since they are each high-profile contemporary issues related to a less than satisfying experience that can apparently be improved to some degree by alternate PEM build recipes... just casting a wider net rather than a limited one since both air/white noise appear to be topical and share an interest in being resolved. And if PEM build specification can influence or affect these issues it must also be considered they are capable of creating/causing them directly or indirectly. As everyone already knows I've personally never met a PEM I liked so please don't misunderstand my motives related to their use as any kind of endorsement. S'why I've adopted an "ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" strategy regarding their use in my own system.

[Antoine]

Personally I've never seen anyone mentioning white noise/hiss other than in relation to AIR. The Devialet's are quite known to be dead silent even at extreme volumes.

I think the AIR white noise issues are due to faulty buffer management, corrupted bitstreams and/or sync issues with the server PC. I can't imagine the PEM module contributing to the issues. Just my $0.02.

[Manoet]

Regardless of all the hypothesis, WiFi on Devialet is less than optimal - as an understatement.  If I knew or could find out how to "extend" the antenna's reach on the D200 I'd be all over that.  There would be many benefits to a stable and strong WiFi signal.

I'm not convinced an extended antenna reach is going to be the be all/end all nirvana SQ-wise you might expect as it doesn't address all the EMI/RFI in-the-box. But if you'd like to play a role in finding out there's a project you could help with. Make three 4 or 5 folded over layer pieces of tin foil large enough to cover both bottom viewing windows individually and one large enough to cover the entire GUI. Tape foil over those things then try using your remote with all blocking shields in place. Then untape them one at a time and try again from various positions and distances. From this you will pretty much confirm with 100% certainty where the receiver is tho be careful if it turns out to be one of the bottom viewing ports as there 'may' be some cross-talk from one to the other but one should prove dominant to the other and determined by RC ease-of-use. Once done we have a jumping-off point on where to concentrate the attempt, we're half way there. All that remains is to solder a small test lead that extends outside the box and nearer the wifi. I'm happy to do the test lead soldering on mine as my warranty is already toast.

But here's the rub... even with a dramatically improved wifi antenna I suspect all the EMI/RFI in the box is going to negatively influence everything incoming before it gets to the speakers... it still won't be pretty SQ.

[Matthew]

I will give the foil blocking experiments a try for sure and report back though won't likely get to it until Monday.

[thumb5]

I'm not convinced an extended antenna reach is going to be the be all/end all nirvana SQ-wise you might expect as it doesn't address all the EMI/RFI in-the-box. But if you'd like to play a role in finding out there's a project you could help with. Make three 4 or 5 folded over layer pieces of tin foil large enough to cover both bottom viewing windows individually and one large enough to cover the entire GUI. Tape foil over those things then try using your remote with all blocking shields in place. Then untape them one at a time and try again from various positions and distances. From this you will pretty much confirm with 100% certainty where the receiver is tho be careful if it turns out to be one of the bottom viewing ports as there 'may' be some cross-talk from one to the other but one should prove dominant to the other and determined by RC ease-of-use. Once done we have a jumping-off point on where to concentrate the attempt, we're half way there. All that remains is to solder a small test lead that extends outside the box and nearer the wifi. I'm happy to do the test lead soldering on mine as my warranty is already toast.

But here's the rub... even with a dramatically improved wifi antenna I suspect all the EMI/RFI in the box is going to negatively influence everything incoming before it gets to the speakers... it still won't be pretty SQ.

I think you're confusing matters by discussing the remote control here - or do you think the remote control is affecting the sound quality?  Put another way: I'm pretty sure the remote control is using a different receiver to the wi-fi interface used by AIR.  So, although your experiment might be interesting, I don't think it has any bearing on wi-fi performance.

[Manoet]

Yeah, I'm getting a lot of "I'm confusing matters" this morning but wouldn't be surprised to find wi-fi and UHF (remote) to share antenna receivers or a common pickup point. I could be wrong but if someone knows things to be empirically different they're not speaking up so I do things the old fashioned way... trial & error. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I personally wouldn't be at all surprised to find all onboard antennas to share a common pickup point then process different type signals at differing locations. But we have to start somewhere unless you can say empirically what I'm attempting is a complete waste of time in which case I'm happy to defer to you as that would mean you're positive while I'm a definite maybe at best. One of the quickest things I've learned with Devialet is just because something might seem counter-intuitive doesn't mean we should dismiss it summarily without at least independent exploration/confirmation.

[thumb5]

Well, I can't be 100% positive but I expect the remote control might operate at 868 MHz whereas the wi-fi will be at 2.4 GHz, in which case I think it's unlikely they will share an antenna.

[Manoet]

And thus why I specifically mentioned; "I personally wouldn't be at all surprised to find all onboard antennas to share a common pickup point then process different type signals at differing locations." When/if a pickup point is determined we can then see if a more free-flowing and less obstructive path might be possible. I just don't see multiple single-point pickups being used at each of the three openings in the Devialet for separate receivers. What I'm more likely to believe is a single pickup point entry with a two-lead or more antenna array.