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Full Version: Dean's Stereo Phantom Reactor 900 Rig
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Really enjoying seeing everyone's audio setups. There's many I'd love to hear in person.

A couple of weeks back I mentioned I made a major change to my main sound system. Sold off various sets of speakers, subwoofers, components and cabling. I was waiting for my stands to arrive before posting a photo. Here it is. I love the minimalism. A customized 2006 Apple Mac Pro digital music server I put together years ago is still more than capable, with playback handled via Audirvana.
Beautiful setup! Mine is similar, however im using 2 Phantom Premiers connected to a 2014 Mac Mini. Im also running Audirvana and love the setup so far! I bought a second iPad that I use as a dedicated Audirvana Remote (Guided Access enabled) and thats working fantastic as well (in addition to the beautiful but castrated Devialet remote).

Are you running the Phantoms via uPnP or optical cable? I like being able to control the volume from the Audirvana Remote when using them via uPnP so I dont rely on the Devialet remote. At the same time however, I love the responsiveness when plugging them into the Mac via optical cable, everything regarding to playback is instant (pause, play, scrubbing inside the track). However in optical mode I rely on my Devialet Remote which can sometimes get annoying if its not nearby as I dont like using the Devialet app for volume control (I have turned off software volume control inside Audirvana as to not have 2 different volume adjustment inputs).

Lots of questions, just interested in your opinion as youre using a setup similar to mine!
cudifying Wrote:Beautiful setup! Mine is similar, however im using 2 Phantom Premiers connected to a 2014 Mac Mini. Im also running Audirvana and love the setup so far! I bought a second iPad that I use as a dedicated Audirvana Remote (Guided Access enabled) and thats working fantastic as well (in addition to the beautiful but castrated Devialet remote).

Are you running the Phantoms via uPnP or optical cable? I like being able to control the volume from the Audirvana Remote when using them via uPnP so I dont rely on the Devialet remote. At the same time however, I love the responsiveness when plugging them into the Mac via optical cable, everything regarding to playback is instant (pause, play, scrubbing inside the track). However in optical mode I rely on my Devialet Remote which can sometimes get annoying if its not nearby as I dont like using the Devialet app for volume control (I have turned off software volume control inside Audirvana as to not have 2 different volume adjustment inputs).

Lots of questions, just interested in your opinion as youre using a setup similar to mine!

Hello. Happy to answer your questions. 

I'm currently using an optical output for a couple of reasons: stability and I feel 24/96 is more than adequate. Before I took the MacPro out of service as a work computer, it already had 11gb of RAM, which is more than enough for it to perform music server duties. I then customized it via a bunch of software configurations and outfitted it with SSD drives to hold my digital library. This eliminates additional cables and another server box. It runs headless (no video card, keyboard or monitor). I run it via a mobile device (iPad Mini or iPhone) as well as via VPN on my main computer. I use the Devialet App to handle volume as I find it works very well. 

Audirvana is key to me for EQ and room correction. As you may know Tidal is integrated into Audirvana for lossless streaming. Running Tidal via Audirvana takes advantage of this. Qubuz is currently not available in Canada (where I'm based), but Deezer is. I've recently written to Deezer asking if they might permit Audirvana to integrate their service as well. They responded the same day and advised they are looking into it. Both Deezer and Audirvana are French companies (as is Devialet). Apparently Deezer, to date, has only been integrating with hardware, but not software. I mentioned they would avail themselves to a larger customer base if they integrated with Audirvana, so we'll see what happens.

I was considering the larger Phantoms, but felt they would be overkill for my listening space. I bet with their being a three-way speaker the midrange and high end is probably a bit sweeter than the Reactors, but for for the price and my intimate listening space, the Reactors perform beautifully.

Could you tell me more about your server uPnP setup (or what you feel would be the ideal uPnP setup). I did some research, tried out a few things, but ended up not pursuing it for my current setup. If I ever go the Mac Mini route down the road it would be something I'd consider.

On a side note, I back up my digital library in two additional locations. In the event the drives in my MacPro fail, I have backups readily available. Cheers.
Thanks for the in depth reply! I also like the stability aspect of the optical cable in comparison to uPnP.

My setup consists of a Mac mini 2014 (headless, 16gb RAM, 1tb SSD, i5), iPad 6th gen (Running only Audirvana Remote 24/7), 2 Phantom Premier in Stereo and the Devialet Remote. I use Screens (iOS app) on my iPhone or iPad Pro or regular Screen Sharing from my MacBook if I want to remote control the Mac mini.

Mac mini > Optical > Phantoms

I also have Tidal and Qobuz but will most likely stick with Tidal for music discovery purposes after my Qobuz trial runs out. My own music library consists solely of ALAC files (I enjoy iTunes - now Music.app - for organizing my library and depend on it anyways due to the Apple ecosystem) and I sync it via the Synchronize option inside Audirvana. The library is stored locally on the Mac mini (its only 300gb so there's lots of head room) and syncs to a Synology NAS which backs up to the Synology Cloud once a week.

The reason why Im not a fan of the Devialet app is not really because of the app itself, I just prefer dedicated hardware remotes that serve a single purpose to do the job quicker. While the Devialet Remote does this to a certain extent, the volume adjustment is somewhat delayed and it's also lacking basic functionality like play/pause, seek and skip). Thats why I went somewhat overboard and bought a cheap iPad and turned it into a fancy remote. The only thing thats missing is volume control in optical mode. If I use the Phantoms via uPnP it lets me adjust the volume inside the Audirvana Remote app.

I could technically toggle on software volume control for Audirvana, however that would mean I'd have to deal with volume control for Audirvana aswell as the Phantoms themselves (which i think would neither be bitperfect anymore nor very convenient).

So yeah, for now I'm really happy with my setup, i'd just like for the Phantom volume control to be available inside Audirvana even when using optical mode (if that is technically possible?) As I just finished university I am now about to move to a different space which might include a new (additional) setup. I might consider uPnP if my Phantoms aren't my sole setup anymore and the Mac mini might no longer be close to them.
Thought I'd post a followup. 

I've been putting my latest 2-channel audio system together the past few months. Aside from some audio furniture and cable management, it's now complete. 

The latest piece to set up, and the one that took the most time, was the miniDSP SHD-Studio with Dirac digital room correction. 

The benefit of the room correction is simply superb. 

[Image: RYk9loB.jpg]
That is a lovely setup.
I am toying with Reactor 600 and miniDSP SHD-Studio, glad to hear room correction makes such a difference.
Could you elaborate on the Mistral Audio W-3900 (reason for using it, benefits you experienced)?
Digital room correction always improves the sound in a listening space, unless we're speaking about old-school professional (studio) room installations where physical room correction has been done without digital room correction, and thoroughly tested to have been implemented correctly. I've used digital room correction for approximately the past 10 years, when it was first introduced to the mass market.

Aside from the regular benefits an audio filter and a good-quality power strip provides, the W-3900 also allows me to have a central power on / off function, as well as helps with cable management. The power mains in my listening space is off to one side (the left Phantom Reactor power cord would be too short to plug in otherwise).