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Hifi Pig 220 Pro Review
#11
This is the recording where I first noticed the sibilance issue.

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/in-war...0295928421
Roon Rock, Devialet 220 pro CI, Palmer 2.5 Turntable, AT OC9MLii, Classic Audio MC Pro Phono and Harbeth SHL5 Plus
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#12
Hi,

I find the review inaccurate in terms of my own experience. I have never experienced unnatural sibilance and no hint of a clinical nature at all. In fact, my 220 Pro sounds smoother and less edgy up top than my previous Esoteric C03 / Burmester 911.

It is interesting that the reviewer decided to use the words clinical and sibilant, almost as if subtlety trying to knock the product. I agree with other comments; there were probably issues with the reviewer's system elsewhere that was simply revealed by the Devialet

Kind Regards,
Douglas
220 Pro/CI, Well Tempered Versalex/Kiseki PurpleHeart, QNAP HS 251+ NAS/Roon, Furutech e-TP86 power distributor, Audoquest NRG10 Power Cable, Furutech Flux-50 filter, Furutect Powerflux Power Cable, Furutech Speakerflux Speaker Cables, Sonus Faber Stradivari. 
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#13
I read the article. I don't mind that she finds some aspects of the sound not to her liking. But I do think that the criticisms of 'lacking warmth' or being, 'clinical' are almost lazy. There is so much information about the nature of warmth in sound reproduction that I would not expect such simplification from a sound engineer, or a careful reviewer. I'm not a very skilled listener, but right from the time of my first listening, I expected that a digital amplifier would have some of that clinical sound (I don't in general like digital amps for my bass equipment). And so I've always listened for that quality in other systems, both in other homes and in the few stores I've visited since. I don't hear it. Mechanical and clinical are terms I attribute to amplifiers such as Hegel, much more than to Devialet. That said, the Devialet 'signature sound' is not everyone's preference. Which is totally fine.

It is interesting that she found fault with the bass; it is generally considered that the Devialet amplifiers are about the equal of any sanely priced (?) amplification available. Others may have more 'oomph' but usually with less detail and control. Regarding sibilance, it may be that she did indeed have some of that in her testing. But after four years of owning a Devialet, I am aware of how sensitive it is to power quality and the compatibility, or appropriate matching, of the various cables. That matching shows most notably in the treble or higher frequencies.

That she preferred the vinyl of Supertramp to a CD of the same album is hardly a surprise, given that so many CD's of 19780's and 1980's recordings have terrible sound quality. Do we have to repeat the old adage about garbage on the input side? With so much discussion of the music and recordings, one might read this article as a review of various recordings more so than of any particular piece of equipment.

Finally, I find the poor syntax and grammatical errors in the article quite annoying. But then I'm just a tiresome old fart in that regard. Actually, I'm just tired.
Damon
Powernode, NAD M32, Cambridge CD transport, Analysis Plus, Nordost, iFi Nova, CSS Criton 1TDX, KEF C62
Vancouver, Canada
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#14
(18-Jan-2019, 17:30)Damon Wrote: I read the article. I don't mind that she finds some aspects of the sound not to her liking. But I do think that the criticisms of 'lacking warmth' or being, 'clinical' are almost lazy. There is so much information about the nature of warmth in sound reproduction that I would not expect such simplification from a sound engineer, or a careful reviewer. I'm not a very skilled listener, but right from the time of my first listening, I expected that a digital amplifier would have some of that clinical sound (I don't in general like digital amps for my bass equipment). And so I've always listened for that quality in other systems, both in other homes and in the few stores I've visited since. I don't hear it. Mechanical and clinical are terms I attribute to amplifiers such as Hegel, much more than to Devialet. That said, the Devialet 'signature sound' is not everyone's preference. Which is totally fine.

It is interesting that she found fault with the bass; it is generally considered that the Devialet amplifiers are about the equal of any sanely priced (?) amplification available. Others may have more 'oomph' but usually with less detail and control. Regarding sibilance, it may be that she did indeed have some of that in her testing. But after four years of owning a Devialet, I am aware of how sensitive it is to power quality and the compatibility, or appropriate matching, of the various cables. That matching shows most notably in the treble or higher frequencies.

That she preferred the vinyl of Supertramp to a CD of the same album is hardly a surprise, given that so many CD's of 19780's  and 1980's recordings have terrible sound quality. Do we have to repeat the old adage about garbage on the input side? With so much discussion of the music and recordings, one might read this article as a review of various recordings more so than of any particular piece of equipment.

Finally, I find the poor syntax and grammatical errors in the article quite annoying. But then I'm just a tiresome old fart in that regard. Actually, I'm just tired.

I wholeheartedly agree with your comment about the state of recordings particularly back to the 60s and 70s. Even remastered versions of Cream's Wheels of Fire are pretty shabby as are plenty others around that era, although all Led Zeppelin material seems to have been beautifully recorded. I could give plenty of examples but if I just put my favourites playlist on random through Roon the recording variability is amazing.
Devialet 1000 Pro CI, Chord Signature Reference speaker cables, B&W 803 D3 speakers

Roon lifetime licence, Tidal.
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#15
I actually thought the review was quite good. As an example, some of us here might be a bit narked by the "clinical" sound comments, thinking its just accurate, not clinical, warmth is nothing more than harmonic distortion. Or something like that.

However, if you take the comments in context, she does say "the warmth I would like to hear" and "Some might, however, find the sound just a little too perfect and clinical, and lacking some depth and warmth." I would say this is about right, some do find Devialet's a little clinical, maybe preferring valve amps and similar to the ruthlessly accurate Devialet, so I think the article gets this about right, considering it is aimed at a general audience.

I do share @Damon 's comments re bass. When I was trying a whole range of amplifiers with the Blades, I could not find anything that dug quite so deep as the Devialet, or anything quite so accurate. Reading the review the comments on bass seam positive "The Enid was deep in bass", "‘The Way Up’ and the second track confusingly named “Part One” had a great top end and bass that was relaxed but authoritative. Similarly, Muse Resistance album and “Uprising” has a deep bass at the start which was clean and clinical, though no less enjoyable.", "This phono-stage gave a musical and defined performance offering a good insight into the top frequencies and with good bass extension." Then we have "Having said that, the bass was full but not as decisive as I would like." Ummm. My take on this is that "lots of bass" is very often inaccurate bass, and conversely some recording can sound like they need more bass when the system is producing it accurately, it comes back to that warmth thing.

I too was interested in the sibilance comment. One thing I have noticed with my Devialet's is that this can vary with the source. Indeed, when trying SOtM's latest firmware recently I wrote this "Of particular note were things like female vocals, in one case moving from a slightly sibilant sound to something far more natural sounding. (actually moving from slightly sibilant to ethereal sounding in one case, can ethereal be described as more natural? It is certainly better to listen to)" Of course, to a degree, the sibilance can be inherent to the recording, but other factors are involved. I note the review used a Krell KPS20i CD. A fine machine, but a little old now, and I recall it used to have a reputation of being a little bright / sibilant, although this is presumably due mainly to it's built-in DAC, rather than digital out, but it is conceivably a factor here.

Taking everything in context I think the review is good, for example, anyone reading it thinking they want a nice warm sounding amp will be put off, anyone thinking they want pure accuracy will read enough positives to investigate further. A lot of us here would be put off an amplifier if the reviewer stated it was on the warm side of neutral, that is the point of a good review, to inform with enough information that the reader can decide. On top of all this, the article is written by a woman! We seem to live in a rarified world where the primary purpose of women is the spend their time in the kitchen, only to comment on the hifi in the next room when the husband has swapped in an expensive cable. "Have you bought a new hifi dear, that sounds amazing?" "No love, it's just my new super spendy cable, I shall immediately post your observations on the internet to annoy the objectivists." So for me, it is good to see that we have been stirred up a little by an article written by a female. Why not?
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
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#16
I had noticeable sibilance in my system at one time and it was entirely due to the speaker cables being used at the time.
WTL TT / HP laptop (JRiver) / Devialet 400 / Marten Django / Crystal Cable

Sydney Australia
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#17
Most of my audiophile friends are very sensitive to sibilance, and in fact prefer a less emphasised sibilance than typically experienced in live music. To my ears the sibilance that I experience in my system with the 220 is very close to what I have experienced in live music, so accurate but definitely not smoothed over.
220 Pro/CI, Well Tempered Versalex/Kiseki PurpleHeart, QNAP HS 251+ NAS/Roon, Furutech e-TP86 power distributor, Audoquest NRG10 Power Cable, Furutech Flux-50 filter, Furutect Powerflux Power Cable, Furutech Speakerflux Speaker Cables, Sonus Faber Stradivari. 
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#18
That's a good point @douglas. I've found it's easy to get hung up about sibilance to the extent that you become overly sensitive to it and can't listen to a system without worrying about it. Having a good reference point, and giving your ears and brain some time away from critical listening can both help to make the "problem" magically go away.
Roon (Mac Mini), Wilson Benesch Full Circle, Expert 1000 Pro CI, Kaiser Chiara
Warwickshire, UK
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#19
sibilance :

In the past I had fed my D220 Pro directly from the USB 2.0 port of my computer via Transparent Performance 2m cable. Computer has Seasonic X400 fanless PSU. I had the same issues as described in the review.

Since Christmas I have JCAT USB Card Femto + JCAT USB Isolator. Chain is now Computer->JCAT USB Card-> AQ Cinnamon 0.75m->JCAT USB Isolator->AQ Carbon 0.75m->D220 Pro. Also I have invested into a AQ NRG-Y3 as power chord to my computer. Cable is plugged in an HMS power power bank.

The JCAT/AQ solution has no sibilance anymore, it has more warmth, more 3D sound, more body. I am very happy with it. USB in my environment sounds better than AIR without all the problems of AIR and ultra short latency 25ms in JRriver MC. 
JRMC/ROON based Media Server - along C.A.P.S V4 Cortes (Win 10 Pro) -> LinkSys 5-Port Unmanaged Switch-> Media Renderer (JRMC; SoTM tx-USBexp, AQ NRG-Y3) ->Transparent AUdio Performance USB-> D220 PRO (AQ Blizzard)-> B&W 804S, Audeze LCD 2 Headphones; Audioquest Niagara 1200+AQ Blizzard; TV ->AQ Carbon Optical->D220 Pro
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#20
(20-Jan-2019, 11:40)Confused Wrote: ....On top of all this, the article is written by a woman!  We seem to live in a rarified world where the primary purpose of women is the spend their time in the kitchen, only to comment on the hifi in the next room when the husband has swapped in an expensive cable.  "Have you bought a new hifi dear, that sounds amazing?"  "No love, it's just my new super spendy cable, I shall immediately post your observations on the internet to annoy the objectivists."  So for me, it is good to see that we have been stirred up a little by an article written by a female.  Why not?

Absolutely agree. This scenario is all too common in reviews. Although, sometimes the voice from the kitchen can be an unfiltered observation. Unless of course, I'm the one in the kitchen....

I guess I object to 'clinical' being used as term of criticism, as it usually seems to be. 'Warm' on the other hand, is almost always used a compliment, and is usually a synonym for emotional. The 'emotion' of the performer comes through on systems that sound 'warm'. Anyhow, I'm just blathering. I'm glad that it comes across as a good review to you, and hopefully to others. It's the most 'emotional' amp I've heard. Even if it is wrapped in a clinically cold metal box, devoid of heart-warming meters, seductive heat sinks or big, grab-able love-handles on the front. Just one evil, unblinking cyclops-like eye, staring at us, daring us to fall asleep....
Damon
Powernode, NAD M32, Cambridge CD transport, Analysis Plus, Nordost, iFi Nova, CSS Criton 1TDX, KEF C62
Vancouver, Canada
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