13-May-2022, 10:17
@ssfas wrote:
"I’ve been a Qobuz user since 2014 and bought a 250 Pro in 2016 expecting Qobuz onboard. It never happened. I used an external streamer I already owned (Aries), then uPnP when the CI board was fitted in 2017 and then Roon from February 2019. Forget the promises, the thing has and still works perfectly. What’s the problem?
I have no concerns about redundancy or support. I have or had products from Quad, EAR and Leica still fully factory serviceable after more than 50 years."
I'll simply say that Devialet introduced the Expert Pro range when it wasn't in its intended state. There was no CI board and it was using the previous generation of firmware. They introduced in and sold it with promises about what the CI board would do and what features would be added with the rnew firmware which was to accompany the CI board. We got the CI board as promised and we got new firmware with it but we didn't get all of the promised features initially. Some features have since been delivered, some have still not been delivered. Quite a few of those original promises involved streaming features.
One feature which has been delivered but which was not promised was making the Expert Pro Roon Ready. When they added that feature they did so with comments that it was something not promised as part of the Expert Pro feature set, an "extra" if you like. It seems like delivery on the streaming features stopped with the Expert Pro becoming Roon Ready.
I adopted Roon prior to Devialet announcing that they were making the Expert Pros Roon Ready and I'm grateful that they did but, apart from the fact that they still haven't totally fixed the gigabit ethernet bug that came with that firmware release, there is a problem with the failure to deliver the other streaming features. At the moment I think Roon offers the best method of getting really good streaming features with an Expert Pro at present but Roon itself is not a part of the Expert Pro firmware, it's third party software which requires a subscription which means that Expert Pro owners have to pay for it whereas we don't have to pay for Devialet firmware updates. It seems that on the streaming front Devialet has simply stopped firmware development completely, choosing to encourage us to adopt Roon at a cost which adds to the cost of getting certain functionality on the Expert Pro. Many Expert Pro owners don't want to adopt Roon but it seems that Devialet no longer plans to deliver the full feature set promised for the amps.
That's the problem. If you're an Expert Pro owner who uses Roon, and I am one, you can sit back and ask "What's the problem?" If you're not a Roon user and don't want to pay for a Roon subscription then some of those features promised but not delivered are the problem and those people, because of the promises Devialet made, are justified in saying that there is a problem. When it comes to support, those Roon users still having problems using a gigabit ethernet connection with RAAT have a problem. It's now over 3 years since the Expert Pro became Roon Ready (February 2019) and the gigabit ethernet bug first started being reported and we only received a partial fix with FW 13.2.0 in October 2020 and nothing since. That's far too long for a bug to remain unfixed, especially when it's considered in the context of Devialet apparently regarding Roon Ready status as the best way to deliver on their streaming feature promises.
Some of us have things working without problems and are happy, we don't have a problem. There are others who are having problems with Roon because of the bug, and others who don't want to use Roon and want the rest of the promised functionality. They do have problems and those of us who don't have problems should be concerned about that. We should be concerned because the fact that there are undelivered promises and unfixed bugs after this length of time indicates that Devialet does not care about delivering what they promise and providing quality firmware support and that means that we may also find ourselves having a problem that won't be addressed in anything even mildly approximating a reasonable time the next time a new firmware release is issued.
All Expert Pro owners deserve to get all of the features promised at the time the range was released, whether we need or would use the undelivered features, and all owners deserve to receive prompt and effective support for firmware bugs. None of us are getting those things, whether or not we need or want them, and some of us are definitely having problems which have not been addressed.
"I’ve been a Qobuz user since 2014 and bought a 250 Pro in 2016 expecting Qobuz onboard. It never happened. I used an external streamer I already owned (Aries), then uPnP when the CI board was fitted in 2017 and then Roon from February 2019. Forget the promises, the thing has and still works perfectly. What’s the problem?
I have no concerns about redundancy or support. I have or had products from Quad, EAR and Leica still fully factory serviceable after more than 50 years."
I'll simply say that Devialet introduced the Expert Pro range when it wasn't in its intended state. There was no CI board and it was using the previous generation of firmware. They introduced in and sold it with promises about what the CI board would do and what features would be added with the rnew firmware which was to accompany the CI board. We got the CI board as promised and we got new firmware with it but we didn't get all of the promised features initially. Some features have since been delivered, some have still not been delivered. Quite a few of those original promises involved streaming features.
One feature which has been delivered but which was not promised was making the Expert Pro Roon Ready. When they added that feature they did so with comments that it was something not promised as part of the Expert Pro feature set, an "extra" if you like. It seems like delivery on the streaming features stopped with the Expert Pro becoming Roon Ready.
I adopted Roon prior to Devialet announcing that they were making the Expert Pros Roon Ready and I'm grateful that they did but, apart from the fact that they still haven't totally fixed the gigabit ethernet bug that came with that firmware release, there is a problem with the failure to deliver the other streaming features. At the moment I think Roon offers the best method of getting really good streaming features with an Expert Pro at present but Roon itself is not a part of the Expert Pro firmware, it's third party software which requires a subscription which means that Expert Pro owners have to pay for it whereas we don't have to pay for Devialet firmware updates. It seems that on the streaming front Devialet has simply stopped firmware development completely, choosing to encourage us to adopt Roon at a cost which adds to the cost of getting certain functionality on the Expert Pro. Many Expert Pro owners don't want to adopt Roon but it seems that Devialet no longer plans to deliver the full feature set promised for the amps.
That's the problem. If you're an Expert Pro owner who uses Roon, and I am one, you can sit back and ask "What's the problem?" If you're not a Roon user and don't want to pay for a Roon subscription then some of those features promised but not delivered are the problem and those people, because of the promises Devialet made, are justified in saying that there is a problem. When it comes to support, those Roon users still having problems using a gigabit ethernet connection with RAAT have a problem. It's now over 3 years since the Expert Pro became Roon Ready (February 2019) and the gigabit ethernet bug first started being reported and we only received a partial fix with FW 13.2.0 in October 2020 and nothing since. That's far too long for a bug to remain unfixed, especially when it's considered in the context of Devialet apparently regarding Roon Ready status as the best way to deliver on their streaming feature promises.
Some of us have things working without problems and are happy, we don't have a problem. There are others who are having problems with Roon because of the bug, and others who don't want to use Roon and want the rest of the promised functionality. They do have problems and those of us who don't have problems should be concerned about that. We should be concerned because the fact that there are undelivered promises and unfixed bugs after this length of time indicates that Devialet does not care about delivering what they promise and providing quality firmware support and that means that we may also find ourselves having a problem that won't be addressed in anything even mildly approximating a reasonable time the next time a new firmware release is issued.
All Expert Pro owners deserve to get all of the features promised at the time the range was released, whether we need or would use the undelivered features, and all owners deserve to receive prompt and effective support for firmware bugs. None of us are getting those things, whether or not we need or want them, and some of us are definitely having problems which have not been addressed.
Roon Nucleus+, Devilalet Expert 140 Pro CI, Focal Sopra 2, PS Audio P12, Keces P8 LPS, Uptone Audio EtherREGEN with optical fibre link to my router, Shunyata Alpha NR and Sigma NR power cables, Shunyata Sigma ethernet cables, Shunyata Alpha V2 speaker cables, Grand Prix Audio Monaco rack, RealTRAPS acoustic treatment.
Brisbane, Qld, Australia
