Pass-Through Configuration on Devialet?

[MusicFirst]

Can someone tell me if configuring the line inputs on the Devialets for 'Pass Through' bypasses the digital processing in the amp?  I would like to use a preamp or a DAC with a volume control and have this output go directly into the ADH amplifier avoiding the ADC/DAC/volume control in the Devialet.

Thanks

Kerry

[thumb5]

If my understanding of how the Devialet amplifiers work is anything like correct, I think the answer to your question is: no. There is no way to bypass the digital processing in the amp because it is an inherent part of the way the power output stage works. There's a hefty clue in the acronym ADH which stands for: Analog Digital Hybrid.

[Antoine]

Only volume control can be bypassed.

[MusicFirst]

Only volume control can be bypassed.

It's too bad that one cannot bypass the ADC/DAC circuits to access the amplifier inputs directly, especially since DAC development is so rapid at virtually all price points.   It will be only a matter of time before the DAC implementations in the Devialet are bettered at an attractive price....

[Antoine]

Like Thumb5 wrote the DAC is an integral part of Devialet's ADH design. If you want an amplifier without integrated DAC or ADC on it's analog inputs you've really chosen the wrong design!

https://en.devialet.com/technology/devialet-adh-en

[f1eng]

Only volume control can be bypassed.

It's too bad that one cannot bypass the ADC/DAC circuits to access the amplifier inputs directly, especially since DAC development is so rapid at virtually all price points.   It will be only a matter of time before the DAC implementations in the Devialet are bettered at an attractive price....

Whilst you may be correct on price, and I know a lot of hifi fans do not hold this view, in my experience the well engineered ADCs and DACs are already audibly transparent. Using my Metric Halo recorder there is no difference at all between the microphone feed and the output of the ADC/DAC on the sort of music I record.
This has been the case for quite some time too.
There are certainly commercially available DACs which sound different but that is because the designer has designed in some colouration of his liking, and it is no longer transparent.
Some may like this, but it doesn't effect the fact that the Devialet uses its ADC/DAC in an audibly transparent layout.
In fact the character/colouration of the non-transparent DACs I have tried into the analogue inputs of the Devialet comes through unaltered.

[Confused]

Only volume control can be bypassed.

It's too bad that one cannot bypass the ADC/DAC circuits to access the amplifier inputs directly, especially since DAC development is so rapid at virtually all price points.   It will be only a matter of time before the DAC implementations in the Devialet are bettered at an attractive price....

Whilst you may be correct on price, and I know a lot of hifi fans do not hold this view, in my experience the well engineered ADCs and DACs are already audibly transparent. Using my Metric Halo recorder there is no difference at all between the microphone feed and the output of the ADC/DAC on the sort of music I record.
This has been the case for quite some time too.
There are certainly commercially available DACs which sound different but that is because the designer has designed in some colouration of his liking, and it is no longer transparent.
Some may like this, but it doesn't effect the fact that the Devialet uses its ADC/DAC in an audibly transparent layout.
In fact the character/colouration of the non-transparent DACs I have tried into the analogue inputs of the Devialet comes through unaltered.

I find F1eng's response here quite thought provoking, especially when I think back to the time just before I bought my own Devialet.  A couple of years back, I had more or less decided on which speakers to buy, and I was visiting various dealers to try various combinations of DAC's, amplifiers, pre amps etc., to see which worked best with the chosen speakers.  After listening to many combinations, including DAC's from Bryston, Naim and many others, there were two that I though stood out, one was the Devialet, the other was the Chord CodeX streamer, which I actually thought sounded very similar to the Dev, or this was what my ears were telling me at least.

The Chord Codex streamer has more or less the same DAC as the Cordette DAC, so is roughly a £1000 item.  Good value indeed I thought, as to me it sounded superior than the Naim DAC at double the money.  For various reasons, I eventually opted to buy a Devialet 240.  However, I sometimes wondered just how good Chord's "top of the range"  DAC might have sounded.  At the time this was a £4000+ item.  I never got to hear one, but I just assume in my mind it should be superb, coming in at 4 times the price of the giant killing Cordette item.   Obviously this is fairly irrelevant to me now, because there would be little point plugging a 4K DAC into a Devialet that would then convert the Chord's analogue output straight back into digital.

So what's the point of my waffle here?  Well F1's post implies that the Devialet's ADCs and DACs are doing a more or less perfect job, at least with respect to the ability of us humans to discern anything wrong, or at least this is how I interpret F1's words "audibly transparent".  Now I understand what F1 is saying here, and I have heard similar reports from others.  For me I think I had got in my head that the Devialet was providing a DAC that was equal or better to any rival DAC up to about £2500, but maybe if you went further up the price range, then perhaps you would find something better?  (like a £4k version of that little Chord super star)

I don't actually have a conclusion to all this ranting, perhaps others may have thoughts that provide clarity on the matter.

The one conclusion I can reach is that I am very glad to have gone the Devialet route, if only because it renders even the thought of highly expensive DAC utterly pointless.  (the same applies to expensive phono stages too)  Thus allowing me to enjoy the music without niggling thoughts about emptying my bank account of many £1000's for a few more silicon chips in a box that might improve SQ just a touch.

Plus there is a value for money issue here too, as I'm sure a lot of the price of something like the Chords 4K DAC offering goes towards making the nice machined case, rather than the little chips that are doing the hard work.  Of course the Devialet 250 case costs a mint too, but at least you are getting DAC, pre amp, amp, phono stage etc. in that one box, rather than buying many!

Musicfirst has a good point too though, with electronics progressively getting cheaper / more powerful, there will come a time when the performance of something like a Chord 4.5k DAC will come available at far more affordable prices, cost of shiny boxes excepted. I guess the ultimate result of this in Devialet land will be some kind of cheaper / higher performance future model. The innards of the Phantom perhaps hint at what this may look like.

[exiled]

I'm hoping when that time comes I can send in my 800 for upgrade! & for not too much coins!
I've been trying to get out of audiophilia nervosa while remaining an audiophile. My Devs help a long way. I no longer have to worry about DAC, pre-/power-/integrated-amp, and all the interconnects that link them. Now I only need to fret, obsess, and worry about speaker cables, digital link, digital cables, power cables, etc.

[hk6230]

If AIR stabilizes, you don't have to worry about digital link/cables too.

[exiled]

AIR over wifi and even Ethernet is still spotty. Over Ethernet it will play for a while and then lose sync and emit nasty white noise. So I'm still using USB now.