Expert 250 Pro and 1000 Pro

[David A]

@ada

We did get 1 other unpromised feature besides Sweet Room, that was Roon Ready status.

What was promised was Roon compatibility which we got because Devialet gave Roon access to their AIR protocol which Roon managed to get working properly without any of the issues of Devialet's AIR app. Initially Devialet actually said that they weren't going to make the Expert Pro range Roon Ready, but eventually they delivered it because users kept requesting it. As you said, Devialet deliver faulty software and there were problems with RAAT if you used a gigabit ethernet connection to the Devialet for your Roon Ready connection. Initially Roon and Devialet both claimed it was the other's fault but Devialet eventually admitted that it was their problem and, after the usual long delay, eventually delivered a firmware update which seemed to fix the problem for most people.

[Music or sound]

I had one of the very first Premier and now after 2 upgrades it is still fine. But I hoped more significant improvements (like EQ filters and speaker correction) would be made to the configurator as promised so I lost my hopes that high end audio is continued at Devialet.
The main reason I was interested in the Premier originally was that it has an active digital crossover function. I am using analog out for low pass and a class D amp (semi DIY) and was finally contemplating to get another D250 for low frequency (only D250 allows that being digitally connected as any other expert can only use analog out and then any other amp could serve that function).
Devialet was initially quite superior to any other class D amps (I had some and some class A before I got the Premier) but now class D greatly improved like Hypex Nilai and Purifi 1ET7040SA or GaN based class D.
Active crossover and dual amps a far more significant than amplifier technology but there almost no decent implementations of that technology except it is standard now in active speakers. (I would not consider Devialet for active speakers at all).

[Confused]

I notice that a couple of UK dealer websites are now indicating that the 250 and 1000 models are discontinued.

It is interesting that only the 250 and 1000 models appear to be discontinued. I know that in the past that Devialet had some supply issues with the 250 style case. Just speculating, I wonder if production issues could be behind all this, or if the significantly more costly 250 / 1000 models are now not selling in sufficient numbers to justify continuing with production.

If the other models remain in production, this does at least provide some cause for comfort with respect to configurator support, service, repairs, spares and so on. For now at least.

[DUTCHDevialet]

I know it's speculation, but I can imagine it's because of standardization of casework Devialet has decided to discontinue the current 250 / 1000 models. It's not said, the 250 / 1000 will appear again in casework of current models. It's said before, casework of 250 / 1000 models is complicated to produce. Fasing out current models will give Devialet the opportunity to harmonize their Expert productline. Call me optimistic or naive, but I believe this scenario is more realistic then discontinuing the benchmarks of the Expert Line.

[wiresandmore]

I know it's speculation, but I can imagine it's because of standardization of casework Devialet has decided to discontinued the current 250 / 1000 models. It's not said, the 250 / 1000 will appear again in casework of current models. It's said before, casework of 250 / 1000 models is complicated to produce. Fasing out current models will give Devialet the opportunity to harmonize their Expert productline. Call me optimistic or naive, but I believe this scenario is more realistic then discontinuing the benchmarks of the Expert Line.

My dealer told me exactly this. It does make some sense, trying to stay optimistic!

[Fornix]

The problem is not the features or the bugs that we have discussed several years here. For me the concern/problem is about the support, if the amp is broken, if we need repair, spare parts and most importantly the configuration which is driven in the website.

From everything I have seen so far, the support is still excellent.

I bought an ex-demo D1000 some time ago. It didn’t have CI boards so early December 2023 I asked Devialet. They immediately replied offering to ship the amps and install the boards for free. I received them back in less than 2 weeks. Communication with the rep and service was excellent. 

To my surprise dropouts during streaming (including Roon, RAAT, UPNP) with CI boards was worse than without CI boards and worse than a D250 I have. Roon on windows 11 on dedicate i5-9400 computer. Reading on this site I saw about the gigabite network problems. I Amazoned a cheap 10/100Mb switch which improved dropouts from multiple to a few times per hour.  Installed ROCK on the computer and now the D1000 plays flawless without any dropout in weeks, not even on 192/24 files. I also have not had any dropouts on the D250, but I don’t use it as much.

[Cylob]

The problem is not the features or the bugs that we have discussed several years here. For me the concern/problem is about the support, if the amp is broken, if we need repair, spare parts and most importantly the configuration which is driven in the website.

From everything I have seen so far, the support is still excellent.

I bought an ex-demo D1000 some time ago. It didn’t have CI boards so early December 2023 I asked Devialet. They immediately replied offering to ship the amps and install the boards for free. I received them back in less than 2 weeks. Communication with the rep and service was excellent. 

To my surprise dropouts during streaming (including Roon, RAAT, UPNP) with CI boards was worse than without CI boards and worse than a D250 I have. Roon on windows 11 on dedicate i5-9400 computer. Reading on this site I saw about the gigabite network problems. I Amazoned a cheap 10/100Mb switch which improved dropouts from multiple to a few times per hour.  Installed ROCK on the computer and now the D1000 plays flawless without any dropout in weeks, not even on 192/24 files. I also have not had any dropouts on the D250, but I don’t use it as much.

Finally a good report on the Dev support. Really cool of them to do this for free. 
And no more dropouts: nothing worse then the constant fear of dropouts or worse (I still have white noise PTSS, haha!). 
Enjoy the music!