Given the description of their “Quick Start Guides”, I have to be honest in saying that my hopes for accessible controller Apps aren’t high.
> On 30 Jan 2016, at 1:56 AM, John Gurd <[email protected]> wrote: > > This was fascinating. I've spent an hour or so reading reviews of the speaker > and then of the company, Devialet, that makes them. Their truly revolutionary > D200 amp also sounds amazing. Though wouldn't you just hate to buy a pair of > these speakers at well over £3000 each and then find the IOS app to control > them is inaccessible!!! (smiles) > > Thanks Dane > > John > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Pc-audio [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dane > Trethowan > Sent: 27 January 2016 23:56 > To: PC Audio Discussion List > Subject: Review: Phantom of the flopera, by Rod Easdown. > > No, this isn�t the most expensive Wireless system I�ve heard of but its right > up there with them, read why below, scanned this out of today�s local paper. > > Headline, Phantom of the flopera, by Rod Easdown. > > Devialet is a French company that had its beginnings in 2003 with ingenious > technology that combines digital and analogue amplification. Yes, its amps > sound good, but what most appeals to me is that they look like nothing else > at all in hi-fi. They are sleek, elegant, stylish and expensive, of course: > $8300 to $39,500. > > Now Devialet is making speakers called the Phantom ($2990) and the Silver > Phantom ($3590) that also look like nothing else in hi-fi. Both can be used > singly or set up as stereo pairs. They are Bluetooth AptX-compatible, and by > hooking into your home wireless network, they can go in any room and play the > music you have stored on wirelessly connected devices. Well, that's the > theory. > > Maybe you haven't noticed, but since everything went online, the instruction > books provided with new gadgets have become thinner, lighter and, most of > all, cheaper. Often all you get is a quick-start guide that usually invites > you to visit a website if you have problems. I suspect Devialet has set the > minimalism record with its guide for the Phantom. > > You get a little round book 6.5 centimetres in diameter that mostly boasts > about the technology. The set-up and operation instructions total just three > pictures and 15 words, five of which are the invitation to visit the website > ("Oops! Need help? Visit ..."). The folk at Devialet have obviously assumed > that everything is going to go exactly to plan when you plug the Phantom in > at your place, but it didn't at my place. > > I downloaded the app and everything worked nicely until I got to the screen > declaring that everything was ready and to press "continue". Then a little > timing wheel came on and kept turning. I went to the website. There I learnt > there was a button to be pressed and a connection to be made. Once done, the > app told me the next step of installation would launch automatically. No, > nothing. Try as I most assuredly did, the Phantom app went no further. The > Bluetooth worked, so I could listen to music on my phone and high-resolution > music player, but the home wireless network remained as silent as a stone, > and so did the music on my computer. > > I kept trying. I even tried with Devialet's optional Dialog box ($499) that > plugs into the router (instructions: four pictures and 20 words), and still > there was nothing but darkness. After two days of mucking about, I decided I > had better things to do. > > Devialet's Australian product manager called by and got everything running > beautifully on his MacBook, but nothing he could do would persuade the > Phantom to join my wireless network through my PC, which was the point of the > exercise. It seems the Phantom app prefers Apples to PCs and doesn't like > Windows 10 at all, although the factory says Windows 10 is expected to be > supported soon. > > I can say, however, that this is absolutely the best Bluetooth speaker I've > ever listened to. It has powerful but never overwhelming bass, brilliant > definition and beautifully defined and crisp highs, and it's extremely > powerful, filling a big space even at low volume. > > Looking like the progeny of a motorcycle helmet and a football, it's big and > it's heavy - 11 kilograms. If you go to the Devialet website, you'll find a > video of the Phantom pumping out bass, the convex cones at each side > thrusting dramatically. I had no test tracks that made them gyrate that hard > (at normal volume anyway), but Lucia Micarelli's Samarkand got them excited. > Yes, it's an expensive speaker, but it sounds good, especially given that it > can live on a shelf. > > Now, here's the good thing. These are sold on a 45-day trial basis. If it > doesn't work at your place or you just don't like it, return it for a full > refund. But I have a better idea: its price is such that you can ask the > dealer to install it at your place for free. That way his brain cells will be > killed by the set-up, not yours, and if it doesn't like your wireless system > you can tell him, gently, that the deal's off. > > > ********** > Those of a positive and enquiring frame of mind will leave the rest of the > halfwits in this world behind. > > > > ********** Those of a positive and enquiring frame of mind will leave the rest of the halfwits in this world behind.
