06-Feb-2020, 23:00
Hi @eladeb, @[h+]³ and all. Here's my take at getting rid of dropouts in a stereo setup, optical or otherwise.
First, you need to establish if you have dropouts on one Phantom only, or on both. It could be hard to tell, especially if you only have them once a day, but it is important. If only one has the issue, then it is clearly a problem of transmitting the signal from one Phantom ("the master") to another (or their synchronization). However, if both have dropouts, the issue is likely with the signal getting from your source to the first Phantom.
Anyway. To improve the communication between the Phantoms, there are the following ways:
1) go to the settings of each Phantom and choose "Wi-Fi" or "PLC" in the preferred network interface, instead of "Auto". Be sure to select the same interface on both Phantoms, because you never know which one is the master (except when you use the optical input, in which case the master is obviously the one with the cable). I strongly recommend the Wi-Fi. PLC is great... when it works. Turn on a lamp, a fridge, or whatever, your line configuration changes - here come the dropouts. Give the forced Wi-Fi configuration a try! I think it should work for most cases, if it did not, read on.
2) A good Wi-Fi is a 5GHz Wi-Fi. It's less crowded, channels overlap less etc... And it is not using the exact same frequencies as Bluetooth! Even if you don't use Bluetooth, you neighbours might. And if you do, then truly, you need to go 5GHz! How do you do that? Well, the best way is to set different network names for your 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz networks in the router admin page, or even to disable the 2.4Ghz band altogether. Then, make sure to connect your phone to the 5GHz network, and redo the whole setup.
3) If you are desperate, you can also find a less crowded Wi-Fi channel with any of the Wi-Fi scanning apps and force it on the router.
4) If it still does not work on Wi-Fi, you may try forcing PLC on both Phantoms, but as I said earlier, that would not be my first try.
5) Remember that both Wi-Fi and PLC may be good for throughput, but (occasionally) bad for the latency, which is the reason for the dropouts. If despite all the above, you can not manage to get rid of the dropouts... consider Ethernet. It is the medium least subject to random RF interference.
6) Now, in the case of optical, you can also increase the latency in the settings (make sure to use the Phantom physically connected to the cable, or both Phanotms, just to be sure). It is great for music (the latency does not matter much), but not so for using with a TV, of course, leading to huge lipsync difference. By the way (I should have started with that), make sure the latency is NOT less then the default (190ms, I believe) before trying anything else. Pushing the latency down WILL cause dropouts sooner or later, except on the cleanest Wi-Fi networks or Ethernet.
7) Also in the special case of optical input, it has already been said in this thread, you are better off connecting directly to one of the Phantoms. The signal will have to go through the network only once (from the Phantom which is physically connected to the optical cable to the other one) instead of twice as in case of the optical cable connected to the Dialog (from the Dialog to each of the Phantoms). It has an additional benefit, too: you can choose both latency and the network interface for optical input on the Phantoms, but you can not do so for the Dialog. Yet, as explained above, these settings can help you a lot!
I hope this helps.
Oh, one last thing: if you have dropouts when using Ethernet cable on both Phantoms, it is likely due to the sync issues, and not network issues. You should contact the support team and send them the report from the app!
Well, I am off to listen to some music now
First, you need to establish if you have dropouts on one Phantom only, or on both. It could be hard to tell, especially if you only have them once a day, but it is important. If only one has the issue, then it is clearly a problem of transmitting the signal from one Phantom ("the master") to another (or their synchronization). However, if both have dropouts, the issue is likely with the signal getting from your source to the first Phantom.
Anyway. To improve the communication between the Phantoms, there are the following ways:
1) go to the settings of each Phantom and choose "Wi-Fi" or "PLC" in the preferred network interface, instead of "Auto". Be sure to select the same interface on both Phantoms, because you never know which one is the master (except when you use the optical input, in which case the master is obviously the one with the cable). I strongly recommend the Wi-Fi. PLC is great... when it works. Turn on a lamp, a fridge, or whatever, your line configuration changes - here come the dropouts. Give the forced Wi-Fi configuration a try! I think it should work for most cases, if it did not, read on.
2) A good Wi-Fi is a 5GHz Wi-Fi. It's less crowded, channels overlap less etc... And it is not using the exact same frequencies as Bluetooth! Even if you don't use Bluetooth, you neighbours might. And if you do, then truly, you need to go 5GHz! How do you do that? Well, the best way is to set different network names for your 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz networks in the router admin page, or even to disable the 2.4Ghz band altogether. Then, make sure to connect your phone to the 5GHz network, and redo the whole setup.
3) If you are desperate, you can also find a less crowded Wi-Fi channel with any of the Wi-Fi scanning apps and force it on the router.
4) If it still does not work on Wi-Fi, you may try forcing PLC on both Phantoms, but as I said earlier, that would not be my first try.
5) Remember that both Wi-Fi and PLC may be good for throughput, but (occasionally) bad for the latency, which is the reason for the dropouts. If despite all the above, you can not manage to get rid of the dropouts... consider Ethernet. It is the medium least subject to random RF interference.
6) Now, in the case of optical, you can also increase the latency in the settings (make sure to use the Phantom physically connected to the cable, or both Phanotms, just to be sure). It is great for music (the latency does not matter much), but not so for using with a TV, of course, leading to huge lipsync difference. By the way (I should have started with that), make sure the latency is NOT less then the default (190ms, I believe) before trying anything else. Pushing the latency down WILL cause dropouts sooner or later, except on the cleanest Wi-Fi networks or Ethernet.
7) Also in the special case of optical input, it has already been said in this thread, you are better off connecting directly to one of the Phantoms. The signal will have to go through the network only once (from the Phantom which is physically connected to the optical cable to the other one) instead of twice as in case of the optical cable connected to the Dialog (from the Dialog to each of the Phantoms). It has an additional benefit, too: you can choose both latency and the network interface for optical input on the Phantoms, but you can not do so for the Dialog. Yet, as explained above, these settings can help you a lot!
I hope this helps.
Oh, one last thing: if you have dropouts when using Ethernet cable on both Phantoms, it is likely due to the sync issues, and not network issues. You should contact the support team and send them the report from the app!
Well, I am off to listen to some music now
