Devialet 200 ------my first 4 months

[Hifi_swlon]

Thanks for sharing Womaz - seems like we have similar thoughts on Devialet ownership.

I really like the way my D200 sounds, but I actually like the way it looks even more.

But I'm still in two minds whether or not to sell my replacement unit. Devialet as a brand is not what I thought I bought into, even if perhaps they were in their earlier days by the sounds of things.

They have very little respect for their customers, don't engage with them, and don't seem capable of debugging their own product at all.

I was the same as you - if it weren't for this fantastic site I'd wouldn't have known what the hell was going on trying to set it up and what 'I' was doing wrong with Air. Imagine what life would be like for owners if these guys hadn't setup this website.

I think Devialet is founded on some seriously pioneering technology by some brave, clever, people, but economics has taken over to the point they seem hell-bent only on world domination via Phantom.

One can only hope they pull themselves together and keep it going.

Meanwhile I just gave up on Air - it's unusable rubbish. It does sound amazing but who wants something that sounds amazing only for a short time and needs constant messing about with. That's not what I use my hifi for at all - it's meant to be relaxing / partying whatever. I feel embarrassed when a friend comes by and I play something on the Devialet and have to restart Air. As you say it's expensive kit for some of us, and if they package something with it it should work. And by work I don't mean for some people some of the time.

The silver lining for me has been the discovery of Roon as a way to get rid of Air. Now there's a company that engage with their customers and know how to debug their software... Apparently Devialet told them they can't integrate into Phantom as they insist on phantom owners using their own solution of Spark/Dialogue. Poor sods.

[f1eng]

Well it is true that it is scandalous that Air hasn't been fixed for everybody, but I don't think it is some people some of the time. For those who have a working Air setup it works all the time. Mine has been working for years now, I do regret them not sticking with their original Air strategy though.

[Ants]

Well it is true that it is scandalous that Air hasn't been fixed for everybody, but I don't think it is some people some of the time. For those who have a working Air setup it works all the time. Mine has been working for years now, I do regret them not sticking with their original Air strategy though.

The working for some and not for other is what puts me off. When I first did a home demo of the D120 about 10 months ago, (at the time the dealer had not upgraded the unit and was still a 110) AIR worked perfectly for 3 days, no dropouts or noise of any sort. It was impressive. Perhaps this was due to the fact that it was an older unit running older software/firmware but AIR was solid with both redbook and hi res files.

I set up another home demo a week before placing an order for my D120 using the same unit which had now been updated to D120 specs and did encounter some crackling noises after a while. I figured this was due to my network setup and thought nothing of it. I thought if I followed the guidelines to set up a proper network for optimal playback, this one off issue would resolve itself. Well, many months later, it has not and like others, I gave up on AIR and went with a streamer.

My next decision is consider giving up on Devialet and moving on to something else.

[Harry.]

It really is a shame that some owners continue to be unable to use Air. It is also perverse that Devialet have not pulled out all the stops to find a solution for customers who have invested a lot of money. However for me, Air via Ethernet works perfectly and for this I am grateful. The Devialet is with out a doubt the key to my system and has elevated it to a level of sound quality I never expected to hear in my home. I believe it will get better as well, certainly it will become even more versatile if and when Spark and Dialog combine with Expert. I am willing to wait a little time to see what develops. In the meantime I am really enjoying the music. If Air did not work for me I might be less enthusiastic but I think I would still hang onto the D200 because there are so many positives to this system!