440 Pro sound comparison.

[NickB]

Sorry but that’s what I left to get my Devialet


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[Axel]

@Rama. Nobody’s going to flame you for your preference of the Luxman over the Devialet. If it sounds better to your ears, then go for it. Happy listening!

[David A]

Finally the Luxman C-700u and M-700u have been installed at home, and it has just reinforced my earlier impressions. Don't really want to start a flame war but I would really urge people to go and hear Class A or Class A/B amplification. I did not know what I was missing till I gave the Luxman a proper listen, micro and macro dynamics are amazing. Its just a wall of sound in my living room...

Like many/most of us, I moved to Devialet and its Class A/D hybrid amp after many years with Class A/B amplification, 50 years of listening to Class A or Class A/B amplification in my case. We don't have to be urged to go and hear Class A or Class A/B amplification. Many of us are from the generation who grew up listening to high quality audio when the only amplifiers available were Class A or Class A/B and you had no choice but to listen to that sort of amplification. When it comes to not knowing what we were missing, we didn't know what we were missing until we went and listened to a Devialet.

[Vivialet]

The Devialet is surely not always the best choice for any speaker, if the Luxman is better then go for it. In all cases where I have heard a comparison the Devialet was better for my ears. But also ears are different...

[Waiski]

Well... I have tested several amps. Class A, A/B, D, digital, transistor, valve... All can be good. So far Devialet 1000 Pro is the best from the tested group.

Taste and setup varies so no one can tell to someone what is the best. You need to test yourself.

[Rama]

For now I have set aside my D440 PRO (CI), till we get a bug free and fully stable firmware from Devialet. It looks nice as a showpiece in my living room, the only issue is I have to clean it regularly to keep that mirror shine. Maybe someone on this forum should take a vote on when everyone thinks Devialet will present us with a fully functional firmware, my guess is Easter. Who know maybe they have a few Easter eggs in it.

As for now I am listening to Double-DSD and MQA on the Mytek Brooklyn DAC. Don't really care much for both formats they sound fine, I have heard better 24/192 in some cases. In. order to extract as much goodness as I can from the Brooklyn DAC I replaced the Vodka ethernet to a Diamond. Not really a tremendous difference between the two but still enough to not make me return it.

I have to add there is something apple-esque about waiting for new firmware to arrive, it does get a little tiring after some time. Using a "normal" amplifier is like going back to the good old days. Through the hole components as compared to surface mount. Amplifiers that could last 20-30 years, lets see how long the lifespan for a Devialet is.

Shall keep checking in every once in a while. But I have promised myself to not upload any beta or non-stable firmware. All I want is the damn thing to work as it should because lord knows I paid a lot of money for it.

[Damon]

Mildly amusing; I remember, years ago, when Luxman had an integrated amp that was a 'hybrid', in that it had a tube in the amp, fetchingly displayed in a fancy window on the front panel. Later a publication removed the tube and found that it was not actually part of the sound chain, as the sound continued. Lux later claimed the tube was there to keep things warm... it wasn't a very good sounding amp in any event.

But to the topic; I think that any person, who is seriously interested in hi fi (gear) will always find things that sound better as long as they keep 'shopping'. We all know about all the variables of room, acoustics, set up, etc, but the more one 'shops' the more likely it is one becomes dissatisfied with one's own system. I've pretty much stopped browsing at audio shops, and so am tempted less to want to fuss with the system.

As far as class A, or AB or D or X, I don't understand enough about it to want to get into it, but all the non-D/ ADH gear I've heard in the last two years has been inferior to the Devialet: Naim, Hegel, McIntosh, Mark Levinson. None of these experiences were thorough, or 'critical listening' but happily, I remain satisfied with the Devialet and the bits attached to it.

I think also that we all knew that the software was not ready, or complete, when the hardware upgrade became available. That doesn't mean that it isn't irritating, but it cannot be a surprise.

[Rama]

I don’t really need to add much, the whole situation with the software is farcical. Last firmware update was issued on the 12th, consequently issues with both USB and Ethernet inputs have been reported to the company. I am surprised that we haven’t had a fix by now.

[Pim]

Mildly amusing; I remember, years ago, when Luxman had an integrated amp that was a 'hybrid', in that it had a tube in the amp, fetchingly displayed in a fancy window on the front panel. Later a publication removed the tube and found that it was not actually part of the sound chain, as the sound continued. Lux later claimed the tube was there to keep things warm... it wasn't a very good sounding amp in any event.

That's interesting Damon. I actually had a mate who had one of those amps and this was right about the time that I was looking to buy a new integrated. The three brands I was looking at were Luxman, Yamaha and Denon. I settled on the Denon because it was the middle ground between the Yamaha that was too bright and the Luxman that was a bit too soft (Because, I thought, of the tube  )

[ogs]

@Rama You guess Easter for a working CI firmware. Let me remind you all about Devialet AIR. Before CI, Roon's AIR worked, with CI it seems hit and miss. To my knowledge Devialet has still not fixed it's AIR driver to work 100%. This is after many years, but I am sure Roon will fix it's AIR implementation IF Devialet can correct their CI firmware bugs.
So Easter this year? Maybe in 2019... For me - as long as AES/EBU works I'm good. The general impression is that SPDIF and AES/EBU are working with the new CI board. I will certainly do extra checks on this before I ship my 250 Pro off for CI upgrade.