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Are Phantoms boring... now that they work perfect?
#11
(11-Apr-2018, 18:29)daibaron Wrote: Frankly ?

no Bluetooth security
Spark is the worst player ever created (i miss you winamp 1998)
Different audio volume presets depending you're using Bluetooth 70/100 or DLNA 35/100 (basically you can't keep your own preference after switching...)
Poor DLNA compatibility.
Audio drops via Toslink

We all share the same shit... after 2 years.

seriously ? you're happy with it ?


Sorry to say, yes I’m happy too with my golds.

The reason is simple. I got my music on an external 2TB SSD connected to my iMac which runs ROON. Since I ripped most of my music from CD I am good with AirPlay towards the Phantoms.
Dialog is as needed hooked up via Ethernet to my rooter. Phantoms are supplied via Powerline and I have almost never have a dropout. Maybe if my iMac gets a hickup due to some load. But than I’m not concentrated listening anyway. Smile


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#12
(11-Apr-2018, 18:29)daibaron Wrote: Frankly ?

no Bluetooth security
Spark is the worst player ever created (i miss you winamp 1998)
Different audio volume presets depending you're using Bluetooth 70/100 or DLNA 35/100 (basically you can't keep your own preference after switching...)
Poor DLNA compatibility.
Audio drops via Toslink

We all share the same shit... after 2 years.

seriously ? you're happy with it ?

No problem for me, anymore. BT is anyway too low in quality, so I do not need it. DLNA is poor compared to Roon. Roon runs on an old MacMini. I use a Rpi3 with Digi+ board optically connected to a Phantom (have 2 Golds and a Silver). Wlan is sufficiantly stable in my case for all streaming up to 24/192k, not dropouts. I use Spark to stream from Qobuz and over Roon I stream Tidal, only because I have room correction filters from HAF running in Roon. But for new music exploration I prefer Qobuz in Spark over Tidal in Roon. My own library I play from Roon. A Roon extension allows me to control the Phantoms volume from an old Ipad. Wishes? Yes, RAAT and Qobuz integration in Roon, might unfortunately newer come, but great listening is what I do now rather than bother for what is not (yet?) available.
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#13
It wasn't my intention to kill the joy.
I was just reacting to the thread title.
Enjoy
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#14
(11-Apr-2018, 21:52)daibaron Wrote: It wasn't my intention to kill the joy.
I was just reacting to the thread title.
Enjoy

No joy killed, you are absolutely right with what still needs to be improved with a few other things more like the optical input of Dialog that still has problems from time to time. But there are ways around and Spark is snappy and hires streaming with Spark got dead stable, even better than Roon. Usability and the UI is another thing. It‘s difficult to beat Roon.
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#15
(11-Apr-2018, 18:29)daibaron Wrote: Frankly ?

no Bluetooth security
Spark is the worst player ever created (i miss you winamp 1998)
Different audio volume presets depending you're using Bluetooth 70/100 or DLNA 35/100 (basically you can't keep your own preference after switching...)
Poor DLNA compatibility.
Audio drops via Toslink

We all share the same shit... after 2 years.

seriously ? you're happy with it ?


I never have that volume issue. Every method I connect presets to 35% volume. AirPlay. Bluetooth. DLNA. Local streaming, whatever. Always sets to 35% before a track plays.

DLNA support is still in Beta, has worked flawlessly for me though.

I’d just turn Bluetooth off. It’s probably the worst input method anyway. I don’t see many devices with Bluetooth security as it is. You either turn it on or you turn it off.

Spark is built to allow you to pick music and play it. That’s what it does. I don’t see an issue with it.

Never whatsoever have I ever had an Optical drop on Phantom, two or more Phantom, or Dialogue. They say Dialogue has a tiny crackle with Optical occasionally still but why can’t you just plug directly into your Phantom? It’s probably the same distance away as your Dialogue. See for every problem that there supposedly is there is always an alternative way to achieve the same results without a problem.

Maybe you need to software update your system? The last three things you’re describing were resolved in previous firmware.

I agree with everyone else I’m extremely happy with my system. I worry more about the sound than these picky things that aren’t an actual problem. In terms of sounds it’s incredible so yes, I’m still extremely happy and it doesn’t get boring because every time I turn them on I’m blown away!!


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Devialet Phantom (White)
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#16
(11-Apr-2018, 03:31)pscampbe Wrote:
(11-Apr-2018, 02:27)Jon Wrote: Just a joke really but with the Phantoms working pretty much perfectly we don't have anything to complain about anymore haha. You see less and less posted on the forum - the questions have been answered and the set-up is solid. Maybe different colors and surround sound HT aren't coming - maybe Spark is as good as it will get ...... all that's left to do is... buy more Phantoms  Smile it's kind of satisfying to just turn them on  and they work. Is this how regular people live stuff just works? haha

It's interesting that you should say that Jon. My experience with the phantoms has been largely predictable (in a good way) and excellent. At the time I bought them, I had spent 9 months researching mid-level audiophile systems. I found speakers I liked, components I liked but all from different dealers, and it was near impossible to assemble a system and do a test. Did I even trust my ears to get the test right? Could I even replicate the sound files properly as some dealers had trouble with ingesting my flac files. Then I had all the second level things like streaming functionality, what cables to buy, interconnects etc. 

Then I wondered whether the speakers I wanted would fit in my listening room - which is just the family room. Started thinking about a dedicated room, room treatments etc to justify and make the large investment in equipment worthwhile. TOO HARD!!! 

Then I stumbled on the money back trial for the silvers and realised if they worked well enough then all that rubbish goes away, given that whatever system I had would be in a compromised environment anyway. Loved the silvers, listened to the golds and loved them more then swapped. 

Yes the Spark app is a bit rubbish but the connectivity options are awesome for digital music. I can play through spark, tidal, spotify from my phone, apple music, google assistant can play through spotify to them, my TV, my laptop, my macbook, my main PC, even my Apple watch. Yes I can be sitting on the couch and press a button on my watch and have it come through the devialets, even control volume. Different levels of quality for each option, but different levels of convenience and family friendliness too. 

NO TWEAKING NECESSARY. The only thing I have done is give them an ethernet cable each - which I believe improved imaging and sound quality in general and is likely to be more reliable. Forget the power conditioning, gold plated cables. it just works - fits in with the family, but still sounds great and often spectacular. Couldn't be happier. They are even easily moved - see attached photo when we watched the Big Blue projected onto a wall outside - they sound frigging fantastic outside as they aren't influenced by the room and the Big Blue remix movie has great sound quality. Next movie that way is Apocalypse now - redux 4K version.


Couldn't be happier as I reckon they meet the brief. Great sound, amazing bass, louder than I need, no distortion, multiple ways of using them so they get embedded in your day to day life, quality listening options and easy to use. My wife calls them my bitches as she reckons I love them more than her :-) 

Just update spark to work a bit better, extend the range of their sexy remote, maybe make them a roon endpoint, tidal MQA, surround options, room correction - all nice to have but not critical as they have solved the hard problems already. I just hope they keep working as I worry about the engineering complexity.

Oh, and just for the record - although possibly contentious - don't buy expensive ethernet cables - makes no sense as given the protocols involved it will not change the bits that are delivered at all, so cannot affect sound quality in an objectively measureable fashion - I realise I'm baiting more intelligent people than me with that opinion. Or is it a fact? too hard to tell in the audiophile game.

Well done Devialet! I don't say that often about any gadget or vendor.

I bet your neighbours love you!
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#17
No, they are not boring to me. I've had two Phantom Silver from 2015>2017. Sold them and bough two Phantom Gold in the summer 2017 and I never looked back. They sounds awesome, love the design and the simplicity. Never going back to a traditionel Hifi with cables, amplifier and speakers. I use them both for music, television and bluray movies. When I get an OLED 4K Tv, I think I will try out an Apple TV 4K for movies. Hope the sound quality is good enough from an Apple TV.
2 x Devialet Phantom Gold / Branch + Dialog
Pioneer KRP-600M 60" Plasma Tv
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#18
In my experience of just over a year with 2 gold phantoms, I definitely do not find them boring; love listening to them and do not regret the decision to purchase them.  I literally pine for opportunities to listen to them without distraction.  That said, the phantom experience as a whole is not entirely satisfactory due to a variety of shortcomings ranging from waking up in the middle of the night to the speakers suddenly playing, to software frustrations like there being a lack of a "go to" EQ, to hardware issues like the Dialogue needing to be replaced. In fact, I wish my experience with the speakers was more boring in that I'd like my listening sessions to be consistently predictable.  For the moment, the sessions are akin to the feeling I have when watching championship figure skating, I never know if the effort is going to render a moment of artistic history or a face plant.  For this reason I am extremely selective as to whom I recommend these speakers.
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