Firmware 8.1.2 released

[Jean-Marie]

Now I have a decision to make [...] The purist in me says SAM off until resolved, but on a quick listen last night, the Ref 5 SAM profile actually sounded really good, and given that this is an identical driver to the Blade this might make sense from a technical perspective.  

@Confused, the purist in you has a very valid point  Just let SAM go. I understand those what would like squeeze more bass out of their monitors. But what do you need SAM for, with speakers of such refinement and power as KEF Blades? They can stand for themselves... Also, the bass drivers in KEF Blades II and the Reference series are different (smaller) than in KEF Blades.

The purist in me did not stick with "alternative" SAM profiles for very long!  I listened to one or two tracks on Sunday night that didn't sound quite right on Ref 5 SAM, so this this temporary fix was abandoned.   I'm back on ye olde 7.1.3 now, with classic V1 SAM that works.  And yes you are correct about the driver size, it was kind of in my head that they were the same size and I was just trying different things at the weekend, as much out of frustration that yet another firmware update had gone wrong.

As to SAM, it is true that the Blades have more than enough bass without SAM, but that is only part of the story, the phase and timing corrections do improve the quality of the bass.  With some music SAM can be quite an improvement, which is remarkable because the accuracy of the bass is one of the blades strong points.  When you get these kind of improvements, it's very hard to go backwards sometimes.

As an update, Devialet support have been more than helpful so far, they have confirmed that they can recreate the issue (although I'm not sure how?) and are working on a fix.  Time will tell ......

This is pure speculation from my part, but given what SAM is which is a very thorough and accurate modeling of speakers, I would not be surprised if they can run a simulation of their DSP processing plus ADH plus the model of the speaker, and if what you experience is a flaw in either the SAM profile, the SAM algorithm they should be able to reproduce it with the model and figure out what went wrong.

[Confused]

An update on my issue with 8.1.2 / SAM 2 / KEF Blade issue I reported (moaned on line about) last weekend.

I received some very rapid communication from Devialet support, and by early today I received a correspondence stating that they has solved the issue and updated the Blade SAM profile on the configurator. I have been more than happy to whinge about Devialet support in the past, but I have to say, this time around the quality of communication and speed of problem resolution was absolutely first class.

Anyway, I have just updated to the "new" SAM profile for the Blades. First impressions from listening to a few tracks.:

Firstly, the very problematic bass issue reported earlier appears to be resolved. Secondly, I did not feel that the bass was quite as "tight" as with SAM / 7.1.3 firmware, and in some cases too much bass.

I then tried with SAM 50%, this appeared to be similar to "old" SAM 100% with 7.1.3 and seemed to work better, with the bass tightening up again. It is a little late now, very hot for the UK (!) and I'm not really in the mood for too much critical listening at the moment. But from a short listen I reckon SAM at maybe 60% or 70% is going to sound about right and be very similar to "old" SAM on 7.x.x firmware, I need to experiment further some time. I am not sure if this is due to issues with the original 7.x.x SAM profile for the Blades, or a consequence of the revised effects of SAM 2. Has anyone else found that SAM 2 needs the SAM % to be reduced vs the SAM % with 7.x.x? (I need to re-read this thread perhaps?)

As a last observation, after 3 failed attempts, I am finally up and running with V8 firmware. I have only had a quick listen, but apart from the bass / SAM changes, which can be mitigated with a tweak of SAM %, I think 8.1.2 sounds very much like 7.1.3beta, which for me as a 7.1.3 fan is very good news indeed! It looks like I have gained some SAM adjustability too, rather than my old standard of running straight 100%

[miro]

An update on my issue with 8.1.2 / SAM 2 / KEF Blade issue I reported (moaned on line about) last weekend.

I received some very rapid communication from Devialet support, and by early today I received a correspondence stating that they has solved the issue and updated the Blade SAM profile on the configurator.  I have been more than happy to whinge about Devialet support in the past, but I have to say, this time around the quality of communication and speed of problem resolution was absolutely first class.

Anyway, I have just updated to the "new" SAM profile for the Blades. First impressions from listening to a few tracks.:

Firstly, the very problematic bass issue reported earlier appears to be resolved. Secondly, I did not feel that the bass was quite as "tight" as with SAM / 7.1.3 firmware, and in some cases too much bass.

I then tried with SAM 50%, this appeared to be similar to "old" SAM 100% with 7.1.3 and seemed to work better, with the bass tightening up again. It is a little late now, very hot for the UK (!) and I'm not really in the mood for too much critical listening at the moment. But from a short listen I reckon SAM at maybe 60% or 70% is going to sound about right and be very similar to "old" SAM on 7.x.x firmware, I need to experiment further some time.  I am not sure if this is due to issues with the original 7.x.x SAM profile for the Blades, or a consequence of the revised effects of SAM 2.  Has anyone else found that SAM 2 needs the SAM % to be reduced vs the SAM % with 7.x.x?  (I need to re-read this thread perhaps?)

As a last observation, after 3 failed attempts, I am finally up and running with V8 firmware.  I have only had a quick listen, but apart from the bass / SAM changes, which can be mitigated with a tweak of SAM %, I think 8.1.2 sounds very much like 7.1.3beta, which for me as a 7.1.3 fan is very good news indeed!  It looks like I have gained some SAM adjustability too, rather than my old standard of running straight 100%

Devialet should really provide an upgraded Control App, so that we can change the % of SAM from our listening positions.

[mauidan]

Devialet should really provide an upgraded Control App, so that we can change the % of SAM from our listening positions.

+1

[Chris Marshall]

I though you could do this with the remote if you set it right?

[Rufus McDufus]

You can but you have to get up to look at the display! That's maybe a good thing actually. Don't we want Devialet owners to be fit and live long lives and have more years left to buy future Devialets?

[completeluxury]

a well placed camera on the roof zooming in on the devialet displays streaming to an ipad on the couch is a much better solution than getting up to read the damn thing

[GuillaumeB]

I rather liked the prism idea a while back...

Guillaume

[NickB]

Mine are on the wall so binoculars work fine

[JohnH]

My hopefully temporary solution to the viewing problem consists of two cunningly angled mirrors in a cardboard frame.  A much simpler and smaller viewer would be possible if an option was provided to flip the display such that it displayed properly in just one mirror at 45 degrees.