10-Sep-2014, 08:33
(09-Sep-2014, 19:58)PhilP Wrote: If clocking is the main reason for the difference in sound between AIR and Totaldac AES/EBU and both mechanisms provide bit-perfect data to the DAC then the implication is that Devialet's buffering and re-clocking of AIR-transported data is sub-optimal. If so, I'm very surprised that Devialet would have made that compromise given that AIR is one of their flagship technologies. And it sounds pretty good to me anyway
I would agree that AIR does indeed sound very good. AIR does seem to outperform most things, with the one exception appearing to be the Totaldac D1. However, I think it is helpful to remember that the Totaldac D1 is not far off the full price of a complete Devialet amplifier, with AIR, phono stage, ADH amplifier, shiny case and nice remote all included. So yes, if you throw large amounts of cash at something, you can perhaps get a more "optimal" solution. At one time AIR was effectively free with some Devialet models. So for the money, I would say AIR is very, very, optimal indeed. You could perhaps argue that this is a compromise by Devialet. The truth is that there are probably very many compromises made by the designers, but to lose this particular compromise would add maybe 4000 Euros to the Devialet's asking price.
