Обзор devialet phantom gold

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PRODUCT: High-end wireless all-in-one sound system

Top of the range Phantom model

PEERS: Bluesound Pulse 2; Master & Dynamic MA770

of all the Devialet Phantoms. It’s rated at an improbable 4,500W, and claims to muster 108dB. Quite how such a small device packs so much wallop is unclear. Clearly Devialet has discovered how to defy the laws of physics; this is the only way to explain a bass extension that’s rated to 14 Hz. Those glitzy 22-carat cheeks visibly exhale as it reaches down; a titanium dome tweeter handles the highs.

While the Gold Phantom is primarily a wireless speaker, offering both Bluetooth and Wifi, it still supports hardwired connectivity. There’s also an optical digital audio input for an external source, be it music player or TV.

Features

There’s a lot of special things about this speaker and it’s almost impossible to mention every piece of hardware and software built inside, but we are going to list the most important ones.

All the Phantom speakers use Devialet’s proprietary ADH amplifier technology. These amplifiers combine all the benefits of class-A and class-D amplifiers. They deliver sweet and musical sound of class-A amplifiers with the dynamics and efficiency of digital amplifiers. There are three amps inside Devialet Gold Phantom – one for the tweeter, one for midrange woofers, and one for woofers.

Another patent built inside the speaker is HBI (Heart Bass Implosion). You have probably heard people saying that there’s no big sound without big drivers, but this patent is supposed to defy the laws of physics. With 2 6.5-inch woofers, this speaker manages to go down to 14Hz which is incredibly low for the speaker of this size.

SAM (Speaker Active Matching) is responsible for accurate reproduction of the audio. This is Devialet’s version of DSP (Digital Signal Processing) chip.

Evolutive Platform EVO is the technology responsible for upgrades and updates.

We can go on and on with all the patents built inside, but we are not going to. You can visit Devialet web page and read about all the patents used to make this beautiful speaker.

Devialet Gold Phantom can receive only digital signals. The supported types of connection are Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, digital optical, and Ethernet (wired or over the powerline PLC).

Thanks to all the installed high-end software and hardware, the speaker can reproduce high-res audio files up to 24-bit/192kHz.

Devialet Gold Phantom also supports some streaming services (Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, SoundCloud, web radio) but not all the popular ones. Luckily, every new update brings a few more interesting things and a few more supported streaming apps. It also supports Airplay and Spotify connect.

Devialet can also be part of a multiroom system. You can wirelessly connect up to 24 speakers together.

Connect up to 24 Gold Phantoms together for an amazing multiroom system

But, in order to do that, you need to buy a Dialog. Dialog looks like a mini wi-fi router. In fact, that’s exactly what it is. This device is supposed to make a dedicated wi-fi network for Phantom speakers.

You have to buy the Dialog even if you want to connect two speakers together and play them in stereo.

Another accessory you can buy is the remote. This is actually just a volume control. It’s nice-looking but it’s not really necessary since you can control the volume through your phone.

If you want, you can also buy some speaker stand or wall mount. The manufacturer offers three different types – Treepod ($330), Tree ($375), and Gecko wall mount ($200). They are all quite expensive, but they are not absolutely necessary.

Devialet Treepod, Tree, and Gecko wall mount

The speaker comes with the Spark app. You can use this app to set up the speaker, create your playlist, control the playback, and integrate your streaming apps and other audio sources with the speaker.

Download Stark app from AppStore or Google Play

Stark app can also be installed on your Windows PC or MacBook.

Features

There are some changes beneath the skin, though. The Texas Instruments DAC of lesser Phantoms has been replaced by a proprietary converter embedded in Devialet’s Analogue Digital Hybrid (ADH) technology.

Branded ADHV2, it combines Class A and Class D amplification in an effort to maximise each technology’s inherent benefits while minimising its equally inherent shortcomings.

The Gold Phantom tweeter is a titanium dome, a theoretical upgrade on the aluminium alternative used lower down the range. And, of course, there’s that whopping increase in peak power.

Despite the DAC changes, the Gold Phantom tops out at the same maximum audio file resolution of 24-bit/192kHz as its Silver relative.

Bandwidth is increased in both directions, though, down to 14Hz at the bottom end (where sound becomes not so much audible as physical) and 27kHz at the top (where sound is of much more use to a dog than to you).

The Gold Phantom is designed as a wireless speaker, of course, and has both Bluetooth and wi-fi connectivity.

But there is also a digital optical socket for legacy equipment, and an ethernet connection for those who value signal stability over decorative minimalism.

And for the seriously monied, multiple Gold Phantoms can be configured to work as everything from a stereo pair to a surround-sound cinema package to as many as 24 discrete zones using the cost-option Dialog hub.

Control of any or all of the Gold Phantoms in your particular set-up is via the Spark app for Android, iOS and Windows.

MORE: 7 of the best wireless speakers

At every turn, there are big numbers attached to the Gold Phantom experience.

As well as those concerning price or power, there’s the 1.2 tons of pressure required to hermetically seal the Phantom cabinet and the 30kg of thrust force driving the lateral woofers (this configuration, whereby the hermetically sealed woofers function under tremendously high pressure, is – with no apparent sense of hyperbole by Devialet – called Heart Bass Implosion).

For all its complicated architecture and crowd-pleasing numbers, the Gold Phantom functions as a wireless speaker in the most everyday sense: it’s simple to set up and equally painless to control.

Its spherical, omnidirectional nature makes positioning it pretty straightforward (within the confines of its weight and size, of course), and getting the Devialet to a state of readiness is child’s play.

MORE: Best multi-room speaker systems

Sound

Low-End (Bass)

Before we begin, it’s worth noting that this is a slightly different review to what we normally do. When we contacted Devialet, the company didn’t have any review loaner models in stock – however, they said we were more than welcome to visit their store in New York City at any time, to test their Devialet Gold Phantom model. As it so happened, we were in New York for CanJam 2018 — a huge headphones festival – so, when we were done with that, we took ourselves to the company’s Soho store for a demo.

Normally, this kind of arrangement isn’t something we like. We prefer to test speakers on our terms, over a long period of time, like any real-world listener might. In this case, however, we are going to give Devialet a pass, and not just because they gave us a very gracious one-on-one demo. While we might have listened to the Gold Phantom in their swanky testing room, which no doubt contain some flattering acoustics, we’re pretty sure we got the full measure of this particular wireless speaker. That’s because there’s no possible way to fake what we heard, which was some of the deepest, most unbelievable bass on the planet.

You cannot believe – you really cannot believe – just how intense the low-end on a Gold Phantom is. This is, after all, a product that can put out 4,500 watts when it’s turned up to the maximum, and which uses woofers (bass drivers) that feel like they have more R&D behind them than tech Elon Musk is launching into orbit. The bass felt like it extended back into infinity, swamping the room with unbelievable vibration and power. We love subwoofers, but this was something else. This was an eighth of the size of an SVS PB16-Ultra subwoofer (full review here), which we consider to be the one of the best available right now, and it easily held its own.

Very few experiences in the audio world leave our jaws on the floor. We hear a lot of gear that’s very good, even occasionally great, but we’re pretty experienced at this point and it’s hard to really knock our socks off. The Gold Phantom? That knocked off our socks, pants, underwear, flesh, skeleton, and immortal soul. The bass is that good. And Jesus Christ Buddha Yahweh Satan Vishnu Flying Spaghetti Monster, was it loud.

High-End (Treble) and Mids

Fortunately, the Gold Phantom doesn’t just have that one trick up its sleeve. While the high-end and the mids are nowhere near as impactful as that unbelievable bass, they still manage to impress. In fact, the other parts of the frequency spectrum were surprisingly subtle, spiked with detail that seemed to float on an ocean of wonderful bass. They aren’t really going to compete in with a pair of detailed floorstanding speakers, like the Bowers & Wilkins 700 Series (which are a little cheaper than the top-model Phantom, at $2,300 to the Gold Phantom’s $2,990), but they easily match up to other comparable wireless speakers. The overall audio quality was fantastic, with almost no downsides.

Soundstage

We did say almost. If there’s one criticism that could be levelled at the Gold Phantom and its brethren, it’s that a single speaker operating on its own doesn’t have mind-blowing soundstage and spacing. It’s good enough – it certainly doesn’t take anything off the table – but it does occasionally become difficult to precisely place instruments in a particular song. Devialet, of course, have a rather convenient solution to this: just buy two. It’s not exactly the most cost-effective solution – and we will be talking at length about the cost of this particular speaker in a minute – but it absolutely does resolve the problem. Two of these things assaulting your eardrums at once, from two different directions, is the kind of thing that can cause religious conversions. It’s absolutely magical. If, by the way, you do want increased stereo spread and spacing from a single speaker, you might want to try something like the Naim Mu-So 2nd Generation. It’s around than half the price of a single Gold Phantom — at around $1,599. It definitely doesn’t have as magnificent a low-end, but it manages to do a finer job of replicating the spacing in the music.

Обзор реактора Devialet Phantom: вердикт

В общем, Devialet преуспел в том, что он намеревался достичь с помощью фантомного реактора. Он взял все технологии у Призрака и сжал его в более компактный корпус, сделав его немного дешевле в процессе. Хотя слово «дешевле» несколько академично, когда мы говорим о спикере, который начинается с £ 990.

Если вас всегда искушали диковинный дизайн, необычная звуковая инженерия и громкое звучание Devialet Phantom, фантомный реактор мог бы стать ответом на все ваши молитвы. Просто имейте в виду, что это не лучший беспроводной динамик для пользователей Android и не самый изысканный динамик за деньги.

Подключение

число MPI

Неизвестно. Помогите нам, предложите стоимость. (Devialet Silver Phantom)

Неизвестно. Помогите нам, предложите стоимость. (Devialet Silver Phantom Gold)

Multipoint позволяет вам подключать большее количество устройств через Bluetooth и легко переключаться между ними. Например, вы можете легко переключать звонки с одного устройства на другое, не отключая и включая их вручную.

версия Bluetooth

Неизвестно. Помогите нам, предложите стоимость. (Devialet Silver Phantom)

Неизвестно. Помогите нам, предложите стоимость. (Devialet Silver Phantom Gold)

Bluetooth — это стандарт беспроводной технологии, который позволяет передавать данные между устройствами, расположенными в непосредственной близости, с использованием коротковолновых сверх высокочастотных радиоволн. Более новые версии обеспечивают более быструю передачу данных.

поддержка Bluetooth паринг используя NFC
Devialet Silver Phantom

Devialet Silver Phantom Gold

Данное устройство поддерживает Bluetooth паринг, используя технологию NFC для того, чтобы связываться с другими устройствами через Bluetooth. Вы можете быстро соединить устройства без введения кода, просто расположив одно устройство рядом с другим.

имеет гнездо для 3,5 мм мини-джека
Devialet Silver Phantom

Devialet Silver Phantom Gold

Вы можете использовать стандартный мини-джек разъем для подключения большинства наушников.

имеет AUX вход
Devialet Silver Phantom

Devialet Silver Phantom Gold

AUX вход позволяет вам проигрывать другие источники звука, подключив их через простое аудио соединение, такое как 3,5-мм разъем, т.е. как у портативных MP3 или DVD/CD-плееров.

есть LDAC
Devialet Silver Phantom

Devialet Silver Phantom Gold

LDAC — это кодек, разработанный Sony для аудио Bluetooth. Он поддерживает очень высокий битрейт 990 кбит/с, что обеспечивает звук высокого разрешения. Он также может автоматически настроить более низкий битрейт 330 кбит/с или 660 кбит/с для повышения стабильности.

есть aptX Adaptive
Devialet Silver Phantom

Devialet Silver Phantom Gold

aptx Adaptive — это аудиокодек для устройств Bluetooth, разработанный Qualcomm. Он имеет переменную скорость передачи данных (от 279 кбит/с до 420 кбит/с), это означает, что он может регулировать скорость передачи данных при различных сценариях, таких как прослушивание HD-аудио или уменьшение помех от других устройств.

есть aptX HD
Devialet Silver Phantom

Devialet Silver Phantom Gold

aptX HD — это аудиокодек для устройств Bluetooth, разработанный Qualcomm. Он поддерживает высококачественный 24-битный звук (с битрейтом 576 кбит/с).

имеет aptX
Devialet Silver Phantom

Devialet Silver Phantom Gold

aptX — это кодек, используемый для беспроводной передачи звука через Bluetooth. Он разработан Qualcomm и поддерживает 16-битный звук со скоростью 384 кбит/с.

Final Thoughts

Devialet Gold Phantom is an amazing high-end wireless speaker. It features unique and dazzling design and delivers superb sonic performance. The only issue is narrow soundstage. In order to eliminate/fix this issue, you will have to buy two Gold Phantoms. If you have that kind of money, and you are willing to spend it on a high-end speaker, Gold Phantom is a perfect choice.

Depending on what kind of speaker you need, there are all kinds of options and alternatives. If you need something luxurious but different from Gold Phantom, you can read the Competition section of this article. If you need some cheaper wireless/multiroom speakers, you should check out SONOS speakers and speaker bundles, Bose SoundTouch speakers, Denon HEOS, etc. There are all kinds of smart and wireless speakers with a built-in Chromecast and/or Airplay on the market, but only a few offer the sound quality and overall performance comparable to Gold Phantom.

Обзор Devialet Phantom Reactor: качество звука

С звуковой точки зрения, Призрачный Реактор — уменьшенная версия его большего родного брата, Призрака. Все важные звуки воспроизводятся двумя алюминиевыми НЧ-динамиками с каждой стороны и одним алюминиевым НЧ-динамиком спереди. В отличие от обычной модели, здесь нет специального твитера для работы с верхними частотами. Также стоит иметь в виду, что динамик также поддерживает один моноканал; если вы хотите стерео, вам нужно будет купить другой Reactor.

Мои тесты основаны на более мощном Reactor 900. Он имеет усиление 900 Вт, что на 300 Вт больше, чем у Reactor 600 за 990 фунтов стерлингов. Несмотря на свои размеры, реакторы достигают максимального уровня громкости в ушах — 98 дБ и 95 дБ соответственно. Независимо от того, с каким объемом я заводил Reactor 900, он никогда не колебался.

И, несмотря на свои небольшие размеры, Reactor обладает неотразимым воспроизведением низких и средних басов. Два низкочастотных динамика с каждой стороны динамика перемещают воздух таким образом, что его можно описать только как удары по полу и грохот люстр. «Runaway» Галантиса (U & I) (Диллон Фрэнсис Ремикс) звучит невероятно; этот грохот суб-басов поднимает вас с ног, а сильный, среднебасовый динамик громкоговорителя трудно игнорировать. Не только это, но и степень контроля Reactor над музыкой невероятно впечатляет. Реактор замечательный для своего размера.

К сожалению, это воспроизведение низкого уровня имеет свои последствия. Среда отведена назад и утоплена, вокал заглушен тяжелым ударом среднего баса, а песни, такие как «Tell Your Friends» The Weeknd, звучат чересчур напыщенно. Это не то, что я ожидаю от громкоговорителя, который стоит так дорого; для сравнения, Samsung AKG VL5 и Naim Audio Mu-So более нейтральны и звучат более сбалансированно.

Что касается высоких частот, отсутствие высокочастотного динамика означает, что высокие частоты Reactor 900 звучат как прикосновение к высоким частотам, разумеется, по сравнению со своим старшим братом, который в этом отношении обладает гораздо большими возможностями.

Наконец, звуковая сцена динамика — это прикосновение к закрытой стороне. Он просто не имеет такой же ширины или глубины, как некоторые из его конкурентов. Сказав это, разделение инструментов все еще отлично.

User Experience

Streaming services include Deezer, Qobuz, Tidal, a comprehensive list of radio stations (organized by country and music genres) and, as always, Spotify Connect. To take advantage of the latter, you must exit the application, go to the appropriate application, then select the name of the multiroom group created in “Available devices”).

You also have access to files stored locally on the device, sorted by playlists, albums or artists, and downloaded podcasts.

The panel of streaming platforms is set to expand over time, with Dialog promising to be UPnP compatible over time to access music stored on a NAS, “and much more“. In the update of 2020, this is already achieved and this is now possible.

Now Playing indicates the playlist of the tracks listened to / to come, a list that is created by selecting any file (music, podcast), scanning to the left and choosing “Add to playlist”.

The speaker groups to which these playlists are assigned are visible in the Rooms tab. Spark has the ability to read files on the Cloud, a feature that Apple has blocked to date (above left: plain text podcasts downloaded; grayed out tracks on the Cloud, not yet readable).

For the purposes of this test, we have paired two Gold Phantom – but please note, dear Rockefellers, that Dialog can manage up to 24 speakers simultaneously and thus create as many multi-monophonic, stereophonic or multi-channel groups as possible.

Let’s look for a moment at the latter term, used by Devialet: since the system is currently unable to read a multi-channel stream, it is, in fact, possible to create what could be called “multi stereo”, i. e. assign several speakers to the left channel and/or the right channel. Read more about this here in our related article.

The creation of groups is just as fluid as the configuration of the speakers themselves: the speaker concerned emits a crystalline sound when you grab the corresponding icon on the application, which you then simply drag to the chosen position (above, left stereo, right stereo or mono) to assign it the appropriate channel. Unfortunately, these groups cannot be modified “live“: if you want to switch from a pair of stereo speakers to a double mono (to sound two different rooms, for example), you will have to reset the speakers, then configure them again. Future updates promise to solve this problem as well as the problem of not supporting multi-channel, which is something to follow.

Finally, the Options tab gives access to information about the application and the user’s account, but also to the settings. Here you can enable/disable each source, select the quality of the streamed files (for example, for Qobuz: Hi-Res, Flac or MP3) and configure each device (speaker name, optical input and/or Bluetooth activation, UPnP compatibility beta test for Dialog, source selection, connection indication).

Операции с NFT

Третья возможность, которую предоставляет кошелек Phantom – это операции с перемещением и хранением NFT. Рассмотрим процесс приобретения на примере площадки «Solanart». Она удобна тем, что находится в экосистеме Solana, операции здесь интуитивно понятные и комиссия очень маленькая по сравнению с известными маркетплейсами (такие как OpenSea). Первое, что нужно сделать – это подключить к галерее кошелек. Для этого следует нажать клавишу «Connect Wallet». После чего программа распознает существующие кошельки. В данном случает – это Phantom. Выбрав его и введя пароль, можно делать покупки в галерее.

Для примера рассмотрим приобретение недорогой картинки за 0,02 SOL. Можно предложить свою цену, выбрав опцию «Make offer», но если стоимость устраивает, то выбирается кнопка «Buy now». Так как кошелек уже подключен, все что требуется сделать – это подтвердить платеж.

После проведения покупки, NFT сразу же отражается в кошельке в разделе «Ваши предметы коллекции». Если работа приобретена в другой галерее, не входящей в систему Solana, то для перевода нужно ввести адрес кошелька в форму отправки. Такая операция ничем не отличается от перевода любых токенов.

Features

Features a wealth of interesting tech
Various connection options
Intuitive app and remote

It wouldn’t be a Devialet product if there weren’t any fancy-sounding acronyms – and lo and behold, the Phantom 1 lives up to expectations with ADH, SAM, and HBI.

ADH stands for Analog Digital Hybrid. The analogue amplifier reproduces an unspoilt signal and passes it off to the digital amplifier. In the words of Devialet, this process combines the precision of analog and the power and compactness of digital amplification. SAM isn’t a person, but Speaker Active Matching, an algorithm that recognises the speaker’s specs and tailors the sound for an optimal performance.

Heart Bass Implosion sounds like a dance album from the early 2000s, and is all about reproducing low frequencies with depth and power – and, in the form of the Phantom 1, that gives birth to some truly prodigious bass extension. Non-acronym features arrive with a more power-efficient system chip, improved energy consumption and reduced distortion through the speaker’s signal path.

The 108dB version of the Phantom 1 has at its disposal 1100 watts RMS of power, which is a way of saying this speaker can make a racket. Source connectivity stacks up to Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, UPnP, Roon Ready support, and an optical cable (for plugging the speaker into a TV or other device).

You can manage those sources through the Devialet app, which is stable, swift in terms of speed, and intuitive. Within the app, and if you have more than one speaker to hand, there’s the promise of linking them up through multi-room or bringing two together to form a stereo pair – a process that’s easy to achieve. There’s access to music streaming services (Spotify, Qobuz, Deezer, Tidal), as well as playback functions with track skipping and volume control. If you have a pair, the volume can be controlled independently of each speaker.

A more physical means of control is with the Phantom Remote, a puck-sized controller with buttons for playback, a twist of the rotary dial moves volume up and down. The set-up is a charming process with in-app references to a “new life” being born and the speaker – which pulses during set-up (those side-woofers at it again) – calmed by a touch as if it’s a new-born baby. The Phantoms are plenty eccentric, and winningly so.

Devialet Gold Phantom Conclusion

So, is the Devialet Gold
Phantom worth the $3,000 price tag? That all depends on why you want this
speaker. If you want the latest and most exceptional wireless speaker on the
market, then yes, I believe the Gold Phantom is worth the price.

There is no other wireless
speaker on the market that comes close to the Gold Phantom.

But I believe you can spend a third of the money on the Phantom Reactor 600W and still experience the same awesomeness. You might not get the same 4,500 watts of power get with the Devialet Phantom Gold, but you’ll undoubtedly have one of the best Bluetooth speakers on the market. Devialet has set the bar high with the Phantom range.

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Features

Features