Devialet Dialog

[Eddye]

On the Soundstage Global website:

"Devialet's Dialog box is a purpose-built computer that attaches to a network and can communicate with the company's amps and new Phantom-series speakers. Users interact with Dialog twith Devialet's Spark app, which runs on tablets and smartphones. Using Spark, users can stream files from network-attached storage devices and streaming services. Dialog also has multiple digital inputs to connect digital sources directly to it. Although no firm price for Dialog is established, it's likely to cost less than $400 when released."

http://www.soundstageglobal.com/index.ph...ge-gallery

Guillaume

I think that's not detailed enough, at least not about SPARK and how it works, and how a Dialog sounds.

[hahe]

Hi All,
did try to get some further information form Devialet Support on DIALOG (what type of USB connector it offers as well as if any plans for expert line AIR support) - here is what I got:

---
Thank you for your message and interest in Dialog. Please find attached all the existing information about Dialog and Phantom;
As you can see it is a asynchronous audio output, no information about a mini usb though as of now.
The plan is actually to make Dialog used with our new application SPARK, fully compatible with AIR.
It is actually kind of an AIR evolution, only available for the expert line with Dialog. If you appreciate AIR, i think you will be delighted by SPARK.

Attachment(s)
https://help.devialet.com/attachments/to...nglish.pdf
---

Not really a lot of "meat" in the response from my point of view although it seems sooner or later we will be able to also use DIALOG wireless with our "expert line" amps ;-)

Knd rgds,
Harald

[amabrok]

Hi All,
did try to get some further information form Devialet Support on DIALOG (what type of USB connector it offers as well as if any plans for expert line AIR support) - here is what I got:

---
Thank you for your message and interest in Dialog.  Please find attached all the existing information about Dialog and Phantom;
As you can see it is a asynchronous audio output, no information about a mini usb though as of now.
The plan is actually to make Dialog used with our new application SPARK, fully compatible with AIR.
It is actually kind of an AIR evolution, only available for the expert line with Dialog. If you appreciate AIR, i think you will be delighted by SPARK.

Attachment(s)
https://help.devialet.com/attachments/to...nglish.pdf
---

Not really a lot of "meat" in the response from my point of view although it seems sooner or later we will be able to also use DIALOG wireless with our "expert line" amps ;-)

Knd rgds,
Harald

thanks for sharing. at least finally i see an official listing of Dialog specs

[Charlemagne]

Thank you for your message and interest in Dialog.  Please find attached all the existing information about Dialog and Phantom;
As you can see it is a asynchronous audio output, no information about a mini usb though as of now.
The plan is actually to make Dialog used with our new application SPARK, fully compatible with AIR.
It is actually kind of an AIR evolution, only available for the expert line with Dialog. If you appreciate AIR, i think you will be delighted by SPARK.

@hahe: Thanks for sharing. Well anyway this the first time I'm reading about about plans to implement AIR-technology in het Dialog in the future.

[Confused]

Some interesting posts - Thanks guys! So it looks like Dialog can be used with the "Expert" range either by USB or AIR wireless.

It does not look like AIR Ethernet is possible?

So will it match or exceed the sound quality a (non-optimised) PC running WASAPI via AIR? In theory, being a dedicated "music" device, not a general purpose PC, then yes it should.

[thumb5]

Some interesting posts - Thanks guys!  So it looks like Dialog can be used with the "Expert" range either by USB or AIR wireless.

It does not look like AIR Ethernet is possible?

So will of match or exceed the sound quality a (non-optimised) PC running WASAPI via AIR?  In theory, being a dedicate "music" device, not a general purpose PC, then yes it should.

Since Dialog has an Ethernet port, if it supports wi-fi AIR I'd be completely dumbfounded if it didn't support Ethernet AIR as well.  There's no extra/different software to write.

Anyway, I think confirmation that Dialog supports AIR in any form is great news for two reasons: firstly it gives an alternative to tying up the USB port on the D, and secondly it makes it less likely that Devialet will sideline AIR (giving them a possible "excuse" not to fix the current problems).

[GuillaumeB]

Some interesting posts - Thanks guys!  So it looks like Dialog can be used with the "Expert" range either by USB or AIR wireless.

It does not look like AIR Ethernet is possible?

So will of match or exceed the sound quality a (non-optimised) PC running WASAPI via AIR?  In theory, being a dedicate "music" device, not a general purpose PC, then yes it should.

Since Dialog has an Ethernet port, if it supports wi-fi AIR I'd be completely dumbfounded if it didn't support Ethernet AIR as well.  There's no extra/different software to write.

Anyway, I think confirmation that Dialog supports AIR in any form is great news for two reasons: firstly it gives an alternative to tying up the USB port on the D, and secondly it makes it less likely that Devialet will sideline AIR (giving them a possible "excuse" not to fix the current problems).

I must say that the more I read the more confused I get. Why would we want Dialog to support AIR? Isn't it the case that SPARK will be an alternative to iTunes (or J River/Audirvana etc) + AIR?

Put another way, if I had a Dialog with SPARK running on my iPad, why would I want AIR running on a laptop somewhere? Surely that would mean two control points and two setups to worry about. 

Rather I would expect and want the Dialog box to take the place of my laptop, and SPARK running on my iPad to be my only control point. The Dialog box would then pull music files from any storage devices connected to the network, and these could include the hard drive of my laptop and my QNAP NAS. 

It's quite possible that I have got this completely wrong mind you! 

Guillaume

[thumb5]

I must say that the more I read the more confused I get. Why would we want Dialog to support AIR? Isn't it the case that SPARK will be an alternative to iTunes (or J River/Audirvana etc) + AIR?

Put another way, if I had a Dialog with SPARK running on my iPad, why would I want AIR running on a laptop somewhere? Surely that would mean two control points and two setups to worry about. 

Rather I would expect and want the Dialog box to take the place of my laptop, and SPARK running on my iPad to be my only control point. The Dialog box would then pull music files from any storage devices connected to the network, and these could include the hard drive of my laptop and my QNAP NAS. 

It's quite possible that I have got this completely wrong mind you! 

Guillaume

I'm hoping for exactly the same "use case" as you, but perhaps using the terminology differently.  There are (at least!?) three things we're calling AIR:

• the "virtual sound card" software running on a PC or Mac
  
• the on-wire protocol that's used to transmit the data, control the amplifier, etc.
  
• the firmware on the D-series amplifier that receives streamed audio from the PC or Mac
  

In my mind, Dialog sounds like it will have the first two things built into it allowing it to be used as the "streamer" instead of a PC or Mac.  But the fact that it uses the AIR protocol to do so means that feature of the D-series amplifiers' firmware shouldn't become neglected -- or worse, deprecated and no longer supported.

[GuillaumeB]

I must say that the more I read the more confused I get. Why would we want Dialog to support AIR? Isn't it the case that SPARK will be an alternative to iTunes (or J River/Audirvana etc) + AIR?

Put another way, if I had a Dialog with SPARK running on my iPad, why would I want AIR running on a laptop somewhere? Surely that would mean two control points and two setups to worry about. 

Rather I would expect and want the Dialog box to take the place of my laptop, and SPARK running on my iPad to be my only control point. The Dialog box would then pull music files from any storage devices connected to the network, and these could include the hard drive of my laptop and my QNAP NAS. 

It's quite possible that I have got this completely wrong mind you! 

Guillaume

I'm hoping for exactly the same "use case" as you, but perhaps using the terminology differently.  There are (at least!?) three things we're calling AIR:

• the "virtual sound card" software running on a PC or Mac
  
• the on-wire protocol that's used to transmit the data, control the amplifier, etc.
  
• the firmware on the D-series amplifier that receives streamed audio from the PC or Mac
  

In my mind, Dialog sounds like it will have the first two things built into it allowing it to be used as the "streamer" instead of a PC or Mac.  But the fact that it uses the AIR protocol to do so means that feature of the D-series amplifiers' firmware shouldn't become neglected -- or worse, deprecated and no longer supported.

So are we basically saying that Dialog will be a hybrid of UPnP and AIR technologies? So UPnP for the "pulling" and AIR for the "pushing" from the Dialog box to the Devialet amplifier?

I'm just trying to understand how this will be different from, say, the Auralic ARIES which uses UPnP and pushes the PCM stream to the Devialet via USB. 

I suppose where I'm heading with this is... aren't we now seeing the demise of AIR? 

Guillaume

[thumb5]

So are we basically saying that Dialog will be a hybrid of UPnP and AIR technologies? So UPnP for the "pulling" and AIR for the "pushing" from the Dialog box to the Devialet amplifier?

I'm just trying to understand how this will be different from, say, the Auralic ARIES which uses UPnP and pushes the PCM stream to the Devialet via USB. 

I suppose where I'm heading with this is... aren't we now seeing the demise of AIR? 

Guillaume

I don't know enough about UPnP to comment on that, but it could use simpler methods -- for example, mounting an SMB file system -- to access music files on a NAS.

If you were using USB to connect to the Devialet, then yes, it looks like a fairly close alternative to Auralic Aries.

But using the existing AIR mechanism to stream from Dialog to a Devialet appeals to me much more.  Firstly it's cross-network so you don't rely on close-ish proximity between the units (limited by the length of the USB cable).  Secondly it could be wireless or wired (hopefully).  Thirdly it preserves the investment we've made in this aspect of the D-series kit.

Having all this in one very reasonably-priced package is a nice bonus.

Unless I've misunderstood it horribly...