If we could somehow 'know' about the sound quality or some of the planned features for the new streamer board it would be much easier to decide whether to upgrade or not. If the streamer turns out to be 'average' as Confused writes above there is not much to be happy about.
I think the original list is much more extensive than I would be able to suggest. As a 'basic' kind of home hi-fi guy, I don't need esoteric inputs, but as an advanced audio product, including them (whatever they are) makes sense. Devialet should not fall behind in these areas.
As opposed to ultimate sound quality, I personally would like to see a streamer that gives me access to the widest possible number of sources and services. An Aurender, for example, only streams Tidal, AFAIK. That is a big drawback for me, as their music selection is too limited for my oddball tastes. As a result I have Deezer Elite and Spotify Premium (came with a cel phone plan). We also use TuneIn Radio a great deal, easily for 90% or our casual listening. I think the Deezer Elite SQ is very good. But overall, access to the music is more important than quality higher than CD res for me. But I agree that Devialet should perform at the top of the market for SQ based on a reliable technology.
I would also want the product to have the fullest functioning, most complete interface possible for whatever streaming source is selected. I like that Sonos lets one stream a very wide range of services, but the interface is quite crippled for many of them. I understand that that condition is a function of the Application Programming Interface (?) that any service licenses to Sonos, but it is very frustrating.
Taking 'functionality' a step further. How will this new streamer board actually work? For example, will it still require you to connect a PC or Mac? If so, what does it offer that AIR doesn't? AIR sounds good, it will run absolutely anything you want, brilliant! (Lets not get into a debate about AIR stability, the issues are out there!)
Or will it just need a NAS drive? Or maybe you just need to plug a USB drive in the back? (which works with Melco's, Aurender's, etc. even my TV will run off a USB stick)
Perhaps it should have SSD memory built in? Just add tablet computer and off you go!
The more I think about this one the less I know!
(27-Jul-2016, 18:31)AllenB Wrote: [ -> ]RAAT (Roon Ready)
+ MQA support (just in case it gets relevant in the future)
(27-Jul-2016, 18:09)Damon Wrote: [ -> ]I think the original list is much more extensive than I would be able to suggest. As a 'basic' kind of home hi-fi guy, I don't need esoteric inputs, but as an advanced audio product, including them (whatever they are) makes sense. Devialet should not fall behind in these areas.
As opposed to ultimate sound quality, I personally would like to see a streamer that gives me access to the widest possible number of sources and services. An Aurender, for example, only streams Tidal, AFAIK. That is a big drawback for me, as their music selection is too limited for my oddball tastes. As a result I have Deezer Elite and Spotify Premium (came with a cel phone plan). We also use TuneIn Radio a great deal, easily for 90% or our casual listening. I think the Deezer Elite SQ is very good. But overall, access to the music is more important than quality higher than CD res for me. But I agree that Devialet should perform at the top of the market for SQ based on a reliable technology.
I would also want the product to have the fullest functioning, most complete interface possible for whatever streaming source is selected. I like that Sonos lets one stream a very wide range of services, but the interface is quite crippled for many of them. I understand that that condition is a function of the Application Programming Interface (?) that any service licenses to Sonos, but it is very frustrating.
In area of fast pacing computer technology it is very hard to keep up (also, add variety of technologies/solutions to that). I don't think it would be even possible for Devialet to keep up, without hiring significant (in number of members) software development team. They even weren't able to expand on their own IOS application, which seems simplest to do. Evidently they do not have in-house expertise/capability in this area.
If you don't value sound quality highest, you could, I think, just buy specialized product from 3rd party. Or use one of open source solution like Raspberry Pi/Volumio that specialize in integrating multiple technologies.
(27-Jul-2016, 17:30)Confused Wrote: [ -> ]I am fairly aligned with octaviars original post, it covers the key features I would want plus a lot more. Perhaps one thing I would add is some kind of support for iTunes, but that's just me, I do have a strange love for iTunes, which is problematic as it will never be the best sounding solution to anything.
Picking up on Antoine's comments regarding a wordclock input. To be honest, I would be absolutely staggered if this happens, but I do know what he means. Hearing a dCS rig feeding a D800, both with and without the master clock, I can confirm that these things do improve sound quality. However, I would make a more general point. I would sacrifice many of the 'features' listed here for one thing, the best possible sound quality. Quite how that is achieved I do not know. Consider this, if the new streamer board sounds a bit 'average', and can easily be beaten for SQ by the lower range Melco's and Aurender's, then it is a waste of time basically. If it sounded absolutely epic, better than the Aurender W20, dCS upsampler or whatever, than I could forgive it missing a feature or two.
I can also get along with less functions if they get the soundquality right. Perhaps Roon and DLNA and then most of us are happy.
The future will tell but I dont think we will se more connections on the back if this is a card that the dealers is supposed to be able to change.
(27-Jul-2016, 20:23)Confused Wrote: [ -> ]Taking 'functionality' a step further. How will this new streamer board actually work? For example, will it still require you to connect a PC or Mac? If so, what does it offer that AIR doesn't? AIR sounds good, it will run absolutely anything you want, brilliant! (Lets not get into a debate about AIR stability, the issues are out there!)
Or will it just need a NAS drive? Or maybe you just need to plug a USB drive in the back? (which works with Melco's, Aurender's, etc. even my TV will run off a USB stick)
Perhaps it should have SSD memory built in? Just add tablet computer and off you go!
The more I think about this one the less I know!
And another thing...if it runs as hot as the Dialog, there's no way I'd want to put one inside an Expert series chassis.
If this is the board that will run Devialet OS, then one thing that I would very much hope to see it provide is a self-hosted configuration mechanism as Antoine mentioned earlier in the thread. It would make me feel much more comfortable not having to depend on the on-line configurator.
(27-Jul-2016, 20:31)maxijazz Wrote: [ -> ]If you don't value sound quality highest, you could, I think, just buy specialized product from 3rd party. Or use one of open source solution like Raspberry Pi/Volumio that specialize in integrating multiple technologies.
Agreed, that is why I'm running a Sonos Connect as my streaming hub now; it also lets me use a separate Sonos Amp to run music in the kitchen concurrently.