Direct Optical mode - How to

[alandbush]

With a slowly growing interest in using this ‘hidden’ mode, I thought it useful to create a thread that will be, hopefully, easier to find than the other various posts scattered across numerous threads.

First, an acknowledgement for @thumb5, who initially piqued my interest in this mode, following his excellent OAC meeting questions and answers post.

Also, thanks to Mei (Devialet Customer Care) and Eric Gaillard (Devialet Integration professional) who provided further clarification of the procedure.

And finally, the procedure to be performed for a single Phantom

1. get the Phantom to emit its startup sound
   • if you have a Dialog, switch it off
     
   • if the Phantom is off, switch it on and wait...
     
   • if the Phantom is on, press the back button 3 times and wait...
     
2. launch the Devialet Phantom Remote IOS app (not Spark)
   
3. pair the Phantom with the app
   • if you have previously paired with another Phantom, ensure you have paired to the chosen Phantom.
     
   • nb - the woofers should move, briefly, when paired.  Also, the app can display the Phantom identifier number.
     
4. in the app, tap ten times rapidly on a free space area (eg. between the “mute” and “night” icons).
   
5. if done correctly, a series of pop-up windows will appear as follows:
   • Option - select Optical Direct
     
   • Channel - select as appropriate (L/R/mix)
     
   • Volume - select as appropriate (0dB/-12dB/+12dB)
     • 0dB is equivalent to a Phantom playing at 100% of its capacity without any audio compression
       
   • Optical - a success or failure message
     

Repeat steps 1-5 for each Phantom.


For those of a nervous disposition, exiting Direct Optical mode is as follows:

• simply press the back button 3 times to execute a reset to factory settings
  

Update 1st October 2018

Finally found the time and inclination to perform measurements of a Phantom Gold in ‘normal’ mode and Direct Optical mode, ostensibly to determine the latency difference.
REW was used for the measurements utilising the timing reference option.
One speaker in Direct Optical mode was designated as the timing reference and the other was switched between the two modes.
Five measurements were taken for each mode and the delay values were within 0.01ms of each other.

The result, i.e. the difference between the two modes was 176ms.


Screenshots from the Devialet Phantom Remote app follow.

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