16-Oct-2015, 20:46
If you'd buy a Dialog then I guess it's pointless not using it... There is one potential disadvantage with the solution you described (but only if Spark and Devialet are doing it right). Without using Spark your only option would be using a digital volume, and in that case you end up loosing some signal resolution. I think (and hope) Spark controls the volume by changing the gain on the amplifiers inside Phantom after the D/A conversion, hence always using the full resolution of the digital signal applied to the DAC.
What I would like to have would be a solution where the Dialog and even the optical input would not be required! For example, when using the ethernet ports in the Phantoms, they could simply use Spark to send the audio data to each Phantom, which, considering it's a Gbit port would have enough bandwidth, and then the only thing that we would need would be a switch/router to connect the Phantoms to the computer. Each Phantom would have its own IP address, so, Spark could perfectly know which one is the left and which one is the right. I'm not a network expert, but I think technically this would be completely possible. They could leave Dialog only for people that would prefer to use Phantoms in wireless mode, which, personally, I could perfectly live without... an ethernet cable is not that obtrusive.
This probably would even be a better solution for controlling a full set of 24 Phantoms as they are always claiming...
What I would like to have would be a solution where the Dialog and even the optical input would not be required! For example, when using the ethernet ports in the Phantoms, they could simply use Spark to send the audio data to each Phantom, which, considering it's a Gbit port would have enough bandwidth, and then the only thing that we would need would be a switch/router to connect the Phantoms to the computer. Each Phantom would have its own IP address, so, Spark could perfectly know which one is the left and which one is the right. I'm not a network expert, but I think technically this would be completely possible. They could leave Dialog only for people that would prefer to use Phantoms in wireless mode, which, personally, I could perfectly live without... an ethernet cable is not that obtrusive.
This probably would even be a better solution for controlling a full set of 24 Phantoms as they are always claiming...
