Devialet Phantom I and Tidal and iPhone

[VIPERSL65]

I have Devialet Phantom I (latest and 108db).  My problem is that the iphone music app like Tidal or Qobuz will only stream up to 24/44 or 48khz using Bluetooth.  I was told that I can get a MFI Lightning to female 3.5mm and then another cable which is mini-toslink TO Toslink.  The Toslink connects to Phantom I and the mini-toslink connects to the female 3.5mm but NO Sound.  The app recognize that it is streaming to a headphone but no sound.  I notice that the mini-toslink doesn't snap all the way in the female 3.5mm and I have tried more than 1 brands already. Do you have a cable solution for this?  Thanks in advance

[ecwl]

Hmm… I have never heard of this before.

Yes, older MacBooks’ headphone jacks support mini-Toslink. But I’ve never heard of iPhone and a Lightning to female 3.5mm adaptor supporting mini-Toslink digital output. Maybe ask the person who told you how this works to clarify?

 

I was always of the impression that in order to get a Toslink output out of the iPhone, you need:

1) Lightning to USB adaptor

2) USB to Toslink converter (and it can’t drain too much battery from the iPhone or it needs to be externally powered)

 

But there are many things I don’t know. Maybe somebody in this forum can teach us. Or ask the person who told you how the Lightning to female 3.5mm adaptor would support mini-Toslink.

 

I did try to specifically google for a Lightning to mini-Toslink adaptor and found this:

https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/portable-dac-and-mobile/ikko-zerda-dac-lightning-to-jack-35mm-mini-toslink-mfi-adapter-cs43198-32bit-384khz-dsd256-p-14291.html

So my gut feeling is that you can’t just buy any Lightning to 3.5mm adaptor because they simply won’t work. You probably have to buy a specific Lightning to mini-Toslink adaptor. But since this is the first time I’ve heard of this, I don’t know if this specific product will definitely work either. It probably will but just no guarantees.

[Norton]

On 11/30/2022 at 1:01 PM, ecwl said:

So my gut feeling is that you can’t just buy any Lightning to 3.5mm adaptor because they simply won’t work. You probably have to buy a specific Lightning to mini-Toslink adaptor.

Seconded.  I suspect the 3.5 output  simply isn’t intended to work with toslink.  Rather than buying another adaptor, another option would be an inexpensive WiiM streamer which has toslink output and uses your phone as the control.

https://www.wiimhome.com/WiiMMini/Overview

 

 

[VIPERSL65]

 

 

Can you please recommend a "box" or appliance (not too expensive as my music taste is EDM, hiphop and pop) that will connect to both Phantom I via optical cable and stream using the optical cables?

 

Thanks in advance

[ecwl]

47 minutes ago, VIPERSL65 said:

Can you please recommend a "box" or appliance (not too expensive as my music taste is EDM, hiphop and pop) that will connect to both Phantom I via optical cable and stream using the optical cables?

Hmm… Something cheaper than the WiiM Mini?!? Which is US$100 from Amazon? Not sure if it exists.

 

Also, I really don’t fully understand the problem that is trying to be solved. Sure, @VIPERSL65 said that he wanted Optical input into Devialet Phantom I. And two solutions were provided with web links for purchasing. But was that really the issue?

 

The original comment was that he is only getting Bluetooth 24/44 or 24/48 into Phantom via Qobuz/Tidal from iPhone. Hmmm… Actually, it’s probably much worse than that. If you’re using Bluetooth, you’re probably only getting lossy 16/44 or 16/48 AptX compression into Phantom so it’s going to sound only okay since it’ll probably be worse than 256/192kbps mp3’s.

 

Phantom even without Dialog should support AirPlay 2. So you should be able to get 24/44 or 24/48 from iPhone Qobuz/Tidal lossless via AirPlay, assuming you have good Wifi because you’ll need to stream the music file from your router to your iPhone first and then iPhone would have to stream the file back from the phone to the router and then onwards to the Phantom (wired or WiFi). So you are sending the file 2-3 times over WiFi within your own home. And this should already sound extremely good. But I think everyone should try to make sure they have solid WiFi network connection because WiFi runs everything nowadays. If your wifi is unstable (usually due to neighbor interference), it affects everything you do (lower resolution video streaming, drops in audio streaming, slow downloads when surfing the web). In this scenario, you shouldn’t even need the optical cable. Part of the confusion is that streaming via Bluetooth vs Airplay can look almost the same on the iPhone. So you just have to make sure you choose the right symbol since Phantom supports WiFi and Airplay. You also have to make sure you’re streaming in lossless mode in Tidal/Qobuz on your iPhone (instead of lossy music)

 

If you really feel strongly for some reason you need 24/88 or 24/96 for those EDM/hip-hop/pop music, then would you truly need a Toslink connection from your phone or a streamer. But I think the cheapest solutions for this has been provided to you. But at the end of the day, if your Wi-Fi can’t keep up with the streaming, you may still not get a good streaming experience or even good sound.

 

[VIPERSL65]

3 minutes ago, ecwl said:

Hmm… Something cheaper than the WiiM Mini?!? Which is US$100 from Amazon? Not sure if it exists.

 

Also, I really don’t fully understand the problem that is trying to be solved. Sure, @VIPERSL65 said that he wanted Optical input into Devialet Phantom I. And two solutions were provided with web links for purchasing. But was that really the issue?

 

The original comment was that he is only getting Bluetooth 24/44 or 24/48 into Phantom via Qobuz/Tidal from iPhone. Hmmm… Actually, it’s probably much worse than that. If you’re using Bluetooth, you’re probably only getting lossy 16/44 or 16/48 AptX compression into Phantom so it’s going to sound only okay since it’ll probably be worse than 256/192kbps mp3’s.

 

Phantom even without Dialog should support AirPlay 2. So you should be able to get 24/44 or 24/48 from iPhone Qobuz/Tidal lossless via AirPlay, assuming you have good Wifi because you’ll need to stream the music file from your router to your iPhone first and then iPhone would have to stream the file back from the phone to the router and then onwards to the Phantom (wired or WiFi). So you are sending the file 2-3 times over WiFi within your own home. And this should already sound extremely good. But I think everyone should try to make sure they have solid WiFi network connection because WiFi runs everything nowadays. If your wifi is unstable (usually due to neighbor interference), it affects everything you do (lower resolution video streaming, drops in audio streaming, slow downloads when surfing the web). In this scenario, you shouldn’t even need the optical cable. Part of the confusion is that streaming via Bluetooth vs Airplay can look almost the same on the iPhone. So you just have to make sure you choose the right symbol since Phantom supports WiFi and Airplay. You also have to make sure you’re streaming in lossless mode in Tidal/Qobuz on your iPhone (instead of lossy music)

 

If you really feel strongly for some reason you need 24/88 or 24/96 for those EDM/hip-hop/pop music, then would you truly need a Toslink connection from your phone or a streamer. But I think the cheapest solutions for this has been provided to you. But at the end of the day, if your Wi-Fi can’t keep up with the streaming, you may still not get a good streaming experience or even good sound.

 

Didnt know its only $100