Spark is so awful - I hope Airplay is coming

[booshtukka]

…If Spark is working well for you, it's because your expectations are set too low.

I'm afraid I have to agree here. As consumers we shouldn't accept adequate. We should expect Devialet to strive for excellence and have software that rivals their hardware quality. 

And for the language thing, I am really not criticising any individual's use of language. I'm impressed when anyone speaks English at all when it is not their native tongue - so I apologise if you ever think I'm talking about you directly.

But I'm not talking about an individual, I'm talking about a company who could easily use a translating service to ensure that their brand is represented in an appropriate way, instead of as a brand that can't be bothered to translate their content into target market's languages correctly. I find this disrespectful of the target market's tongue, and this would apply to any language – not just English.

[EvPa]

I guess that my expectations are set too low too, my only "issues" with Spark right now being that gapless playback and DLNA have not been implemented yet, the rest is fine.

For example, while I understand that it is apparently of use to some people, I honestly could not care less about the song's lyrics being displayed...

I had some problems at first with Spark suddenly not being able to access certain local files but it ended up being due to security settings unrelated to Spark (SONOS could't play them either).

I completely agree about the "English" on Devialet's website though (French is my native language), it probably does them a disservice.

[booshtukka]

No, I don't care about the lyrics either.

[jonstatt]

I guess that my expectations are set too low too, my only "issues" with Spark right now being that gapless playback and DLNA have not been implemented yet, the rest is fine.

For example, while I understand that it is apparently of use to some people, I honestly could not care less about the song's lyrics being displayed...

I had some problems at first with Spark suddenly not being able to access certain local files but it ended up being due to security settings unrelated to Spark (SONOS could't play them either).

I completely agree about the "English" on Devialet's website though (French is my native language), it probably does them a disservice.

With regards to the English, it is simply because they are using French people that speak English as a 2nd language rather than a proper translation company or native English speakers. This is not that surprising considering its a relatively small French company. For the same reasons, the issues with Spark demonstrate a lack of cost planning and maturity with project management. They claim to have spent 100 million on the hardware, which requires the sale of about 50,000 units before they start to turn a profit. This has meant they had little left to invest in the software side and so now is under-resourced and potentially holding back the hardware sales too. They will probably find their way out of this hole as the product is good enough, but it is just showing the "all too common" challenges of a small company trying to compete against the "big boys".

[davidadamson]

Point taken, but really how expensive would it be to have the website translated professionally.
I know several French/Americans who could do this in a few hours.


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[Phs]

Can't agree more with the vast majority here who rate Spark poorly.
In my opinion Spark was not needed in the first place because there are a couple of solutions here available of the shelf for wireless audio which are belonging to very strong ecosystems: Chromecast by Google and Airplay by Apple. Please note that both are uncompressed and give you the choice of using your favorite music app.
I wrote an article a year ago about it, and I couldn't change a word today
http://www.gregorypouy.com/?s=Devialet

Devialet knows what some users think, I even met their CMO following the article, but the only thing that happened over the last year was adding Bluetooth (compressed) and stubborn further development of Spark ...
Devialet are hearing users but they are not actually listening.


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[sekriT]

Everybody should read what phs wrote on his blog.   

If it is only you congratulating yourself, but not your customers, your company will be in trouble soon.  The moment you stop inventing, your end begins..

[Johnnydev]

Everybody should read what phs wrote on his blog.   

If it is only you congratulating yourself, but not your customers, your company will be in trouble soon.  The moment you stop inventing, your end begins..

Hi sekriT . 

It's possible that my expectations are to low, but what do you achieve this? Help people on this site? Help devialet? Or Help yourself?

Your wishes for firmware/software updates could be solved according to you comments on this site in one day !!! Now go even arque that they are wrong in their business model, that the end begins!!!

Who are you to do this kind of negative statements????

- Are you someone who always knows everything better than another? 
- Or do you always react so as it does not go according to your requirement?
- Are you a (multi) millionaire who knows best?
- Are you a dealer who does not have devialet in its range, or find that he had not earned enough on?
- Or are you a competitor and want to unjustified harm to inflict Devialet?

If you really are as good and a fan of devialet, then help to develop this fantastic world innovative product instead of doing unjustified attempts to break it off.

I am a happy customer with perhaps too low expatations, but i have the confidence and patience that it will only get better as it is already and that they can improve themselve

For now: Wireless great (high-end) sound, with a very nice and small design without separate amplifiers, cables etc etc. for a reasonable prijs compared to all competitors in the world.

[martinskeem]

IMO, it is perfectly understandable if people are disappointed in software features and quality - and that they vent their frustrations here. Considering the price point, which sets expectations high, and the competition, e.g. Sonos and Chromecast, which at a much lower price point offer better software.

Personally, I wish Devialet would focus on hardware, which they obviously do better than any of the competition. Instead they should focus on an interface with minimum friction to partners that are geared at developing and maintaining software, which - in spite what many seem to think - is far from trivial and obviously underestimated by many audio companies (just look at how Linn, Bluesound, Denon, NAD, B&O are all struggling to produce an app that rates above 3/5 in appstore).

[sekriT]

Personally, I wish Devialet would focus on hardware, which they obviously do better than any of the competition. Instead they should focus on an interface with minimum friction to partners that are geared at developing and maintaining software, which - in spite what many seem to think - is far from trivial and obviously underestimated by many audio companies (just look at how Linn, Bluesound, Denon, NAD, B&O are all struggling to produce an app that rates above 3/5 in appstore).

I think almost every user on this forum would agree with your comments. This approach is in the best interest of Devialet and it's customers.