Phantoms for gaming and TV setup

[Soundside]

Hi, 

As a newbie when it comes to Devialet and this forum I need some guidance. Coming from a Bang & Olufsen setup and all of the convenience B&O offers I'm struggling to find answers before I dare to buy a pair of Phantom Golds + Dialog. 

I wish to connect the Phantoms to an LG B7 OLED with Apple TV 4K and PS4 connected to it. So, audio sync is a big issue and won't be accepted.   

1. Is the Audio Delay issue fixed now when connected through optical from TV to one of the Phantoms? 

2. What about volume control? Anyone here own the LG B7 or similar LG 2017 X7 series and can confirm variable volume through optical out? It would be nice not having to control the volume through the Spark app but with the TV remote or Apple TV remote. 


 
Thanks!

[jacob]

The audio delay can not be "fixed", since we are talking about digital processing, which takes time. If it did not take time, we would not have our awesome Phantom experience (or any active speaker). This is the future, so we need to be looking for adjustments in the chain of audio and video.
I am lucky enough to have an Epson video projector with wireless picture transfer that exactly matches the Phantom audio delay, so my home theatre is perfect. By coincidence.

[booshtukka]

This is not the future. If you are gaming, any kind of delay to live input is a problem. The same goes for performance audio like playing an instrument or DJing.

The future is removing this lag until it is imperceptible. Introducing intentional lag to the video to make up for it is a fix for anything that is not live.

Other DJs on this forum have said that Devialet gave them a custom firmware that reduced the delay - I assume at the cost of sound quality.

For gaming, I would not use Phantoms at this point. If pressing a button on your gamepad takes 1/10th of a second to take place on the screen/speakers, I would call that a dealbreaker.

[streamy]

The delay of standard Phantoms is too long for real-time applications as DJing, gaming etc. A possible solution might be occurring in close future, but at its prize. A company has introduced a dongle that will allow real-time applications unsing Phantoms for DJs, Multispeaker audio installations, maybe also for for gaming. It uses low latency ethernet as it is used in recording studios and a special firmware on the Phantom that does not introduce significant latency for a signal connected to the optical input of the Phantom. Devialet on thier website has indicated to call them when you need a special setupusing the Phantoms. The solution might have its costs, though.
Here's a link to an article that presents the dongle and the company behind it:
https://www.cepro.com/article/devialet_w...udio_jay_z

[Soundside]

Thanks for your answers. Thats unfortunate, I was looking forward to use the Phantoms for gaming also. Now I'm rethinking my setup since I really don't want a par of extra speakers or soundbar near the TV.
Would this be a possible solution if I want to use the Phantoms for watching TV shows and of course listening to music?

Sony KD-A1 with acoustic surface speakers + connected sub for gaming
2X Phantom golds connected through optical or bluetooth for watching movies through Apple TV or PS4
Spark app and AirPlay/Tidal for listening to music

What about remotes, anyone here got the NEEO remote yet and have tried it with the Phantoms?

[antilles]

I have the A1. The acoustic surface might exceed the very low standard set by other sets, but it is still very poor acoustically. Quite distorted and compares poorly to even fairly cheap box speakers, even though it does go loud, has a good quantity of bass and a fairly convincing surround effect.

And Phantoms will still have lag with shows (for some inexplicable reason Sony decided to omit any offset controls on their flagship TV, or much of anything in fact), it might not be game over critical but at least for me 150-200ms is well into what's bothersome, and at the price, completely unacceptable. The proper thing for people in our position to do is to not support Devialet until they can be bothered to fix their product. Even while the sound itself is sublime. This isn't the future, this is inadequate technical specification crippling a product.

[Waldstorch]

I have the A1. The acoustic surface might exceed the very low standard set by other sets, but it is still very poor acoustically. Quite distorted and compares poorly to even fairly cheap box speakers, even though it does go loud, has a good quantity of bass and a fairly convincing surround effect.

And Phantoms will still have lag with shows (for some inexplicable reason Sony decided to omit any offset controls on their flagship TV, or much of anything in fact), it might not be game over critical but at least for me 150-200ms is well into what's bothersome, and at the price, completely unacceptable. The proper thing for people in our position to do is to not support Devialet until they can be bothered to fix their product. Even while the sound itself is sublime. This isn't the future, this is inadequate technical specification crippling a product.

I totally agree. I have a Sony too, and they don't have any audio lag adjustment in any of their TV. With an additional settop box you are ok, but why then have a smart TV? With Samsung for example you can compensate the audio lag to a certain degree, but Sony is in terms of display quality better.

[streamy]

Wireless (and networked) communication has its drawbacks. The necessary buffering to increase signal stability and prevent dropouts is one of them. Unlike other networking protocols Devialet uses one that guarantees 20us precision between the different Phantoms. This prevents audible phase shifts and is the main reason for the incredible stable soundstage and precise acoustical positioning of instruments and voices. Low latency networks would be needed to be able to keep the buffers short and precision high. However, low latency networks are not available for mainstream consumer networking. For this reason we have to accept the current 150ms delay of the Phantoms as prize for the sound quality for a system that works in concumer networks. Devialet is offering with 3rd parties a professional solution (see my post above) that provides low latency but will require professional networking solution as well.
For consuming HQ audio I prefer that Devialet decided to go for better SQ with home networking than low latency requiring professional networking.

[booshtukka]

I personally would like to be able to choose between the two. I would sacrifice sound quality for low latency when I need it, but would like the option to maintain sound quality when latency is not important.

Without this option, I am forced to have two sets of speakers, which is a crappy solution.

[streamy]

I fully agree with you! This would be by far the best solution. I don't know if there is a technical limitation to have two modes reunioned in one firmware with a SW switch or if Devialet considers this too delicate to support for the average client. There is a webinterface on the Dialog that allows to upload a (custom) firmware. I've however, never gotten hold of such a FW version to update through this path. This might be a cumbersome but a doable way of switching versions to overcome some possible technical limitations.