Core Infinity listening impressions and comparisons

[GuillaumeB]

Over the past two weeks I have had the use of a 220 PRO with Core Infinity board fitted, compliments of Devialet in Paris.

It's difficult for me to make any definitive statements regarding sound quality since I wasn't familiar with the sound of the 220 PRO to start with. With that said I have been very surprised by how good the 220 PRO sounds.

I have been testing a number of Alpha versions of the firmware. Airplay and Spotify have worked pretty much flawlessly and AIR has been stable, although with high res material I have had very occasional stuttering and on one occasion the music stopped playing altogether. With regular redbook material it has worked perfectly.

Of course when my Od'A returns it will be a very different amplifier with completely new innards so I won't be in a position to evaluate CI properly.

However there is something about the sound when streaming via AIR (or even Spotify for that matter!). I have been repeatedly surprised by how good things sound. I have been streaming Qobuz quite a bit from my MacBook, and the sound has been at times remarkable and better than I recall from my Od'A.

Compared to my OdA under similar conditions (i.e. streaming via AIR), the Od'A is clearly better with more solidity of the sound, improved textures and bottom end grip. However there is something better about the sound with the 220 PRO. Some of this may be down to 6 v 5.5 (motherboard versions), but I am very tempted to think that CI is adding something nice to the party. It's really a hunch given my inability to compare apples with apples.

I should tell everyone at this stage that Roon/AIR does not work. See here for latest statements from Roon about this:

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/deviale...king/33863

Guillaume