Munich 2018

[markush]

Seems guys who were attending really know how to make it exciting )

[Soniclife]

Three and a half hours, wow, that must take a while to write up. If I was in a foreign city with shiny toys to play with during the day, and bars to play in later then it would be after I got back before I got around to it. Have fun now, write it up at work later .

[Hifi_swlon]

Three and a half hours of marketing speak and acronyms - it could have been torture - they probably need a few days of beers and rest to get over it.

[IanG-UK]

Here you are guys!

I've only just got back.

The Devialet event on Friday 11 May was held at their DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) headquarters in the centre of Munich, conveniently just one tube journey from the High End show at the MOC. I’d guess there were around seven Devialet guys there including Joachim Fritsch, who previously has spend time in a UK role, and Mathieu Pernot, who had been with Devialet ten years. Some on DC will know from his (usually) annual visits to Oxford Audio.

The DC event at 9.30 followed another customer gathering earlier that morning and I understand that there had been dealer attendees on the previous day. But it looked like the DC event was the most comprehensive as it lasted 3.1/2 hours. There were around 10-12 attendees.

The premises are new and in the process of being fitted out, with a demonstation area on the ground floor (Giya G1 Spirit driven by 6 Devialet 250s) along with a presentation area. In the basement there are two demonstration areas, one with a Devialet 220(?) driving Atohm GT1 and the other set up with both Expert and Phantom to demonstrate multi-room and Roon.

There will have been limits on what could be divulged by Devialet because of confidentiality agreements in relation to the CEO change, and some time constraints on what changes can be made within the new CEO’s first two months, but clearly the executive management is now headed by Franck Lebouchard, as previously announced, and marketing management is lead by Alexandre Kreuz.

Their experience is in international HR consultancy, cinemas/film production/distribution, cultural/electronic products retail and telecoms.

They lead what is now a dedicated top team responsible for the Expert Pro business which (it is promised) will now be given a strong focus which many on DC have felt has been absent for the last two years or more. And the decisions to change those having CEO and marketing responsibilities align with the main areas of discontent amongst  DC members then culminating with lack of deliver of the CI functionality.

There is now an Expert Pro core team which included Joachim as Product Manager and Mathieu as Hardware/Firmware Head, plus someone with responsibility as Software Head (all these three roles are exclusively Expert); and the final member of the core team looks after manufacturing and QC. Between them 24 years at Devialet.

There’s then a  second tier team of six supporting that top team and also dealing with things like high end partnerships, SAM, marketing, upgrade programs, training and press/PR.

The long overdue first phase of the CI software is now nearing conclusion in delivering all physical inputs plus the configurator, along with Devialet AIR, Roon via AIR, UPnP, Airplay and Spotify. Spotify has been certified and Airplay is awaited from Apple.

Devialet envisage two future software releases: FW12.3 with DOS2.2.1 soon and FW12.0 with DOS2.2.x next, to fix the six outstanding issues (as covered in the Devialet Log) including AIR playback stability with Windows.

The next phase will make the Expert Pro Roon Ready. The aspiration is to deliver this at around the end of 2018.

There will be a refreshed upgrade program for Expert owners, covering the V6 platform update and Core Infinity at similar prices to the first program.

I’ll let Guillaume tackle the technical questions and answers; and Devialet  are aware of the communications shortcomings but I guess that for the new CEO to be expected to correct everything in the first two months is unrealistic.

On communication, it sounds more likely that this will be delivered increasingly through the dealership channel rather that having the current lack of certainty as to who does what.

The team does seem much revitalised as though the leadership is now giving some realistic direction.

So I came away feeling much better about their commitment to Expert, the delivery of CI, and the likelihood of sensible general and individual communication.

[baddog]

@IanG-UK - Thank you so much for providing an update, it is much appreciated!

[IanG-UK]

@IanG-UK - Thank you so much for providing an update, it is much appreciated!

No problem!

[brit]

@IanG-UK many thanks Ian, sounds very hopeful. But, as with all these things, the proof is in the eating! We will have to see if they actually mean what they say.

David

[K4680]

Hello IanG, thank you for the report, and your commitment!

[Confused]

...a demonstation area on the ground floor (Giya G1 Spirit driven by 6 Devialet 250s) .......

Many thanks for the comprehensive write up Ian.  (I presume you were armed with your notebook?) I think for me it is the sense you get from meetings like this that matter most, often far more than what is actually said.  So it is good that this aspect appears to be positive.  As ever, time will tell with Devialet.

Re the above, did you get to listen to this?  I have heard the G2's with a 1000 Pro, this was excellent, so I would say the G1's with six Devialet 250's certainly has some potential if set up correctly.

[markush]

Any word why we should trust their promises this time?
You know a lot has been said in recent years, also from top management including CEO.