01-Dec-2020, 08:21
First, let me explain the situation with Roon as clearly as possible. The answer will depend on whether you have an Expert Pro with the Core Infinity board, or an Expert (or Pro) without Core Infinity.
If your amp has the Core Infinity board, then with the current firmware it is Roon Ready. This means it supports Roon's Advanced Audio Transport (RAAT) protocol and can be used directly with Roon, without needing any drivers provided by Devialet. (There are some other benefits of using RAAT including the ability to group with other zones using that protocol.)
If your amp doesn't have the Core Infinity board, then you can still use it with Roon but in that case it will use Devialet's AIR streaming protocol. Roon has its own built-in support for Devialet AIR, so you still don't need to use Devialet's AIR driver, and in general using Roon's built-in AIR support seems to work more reliably in most situations. Failing that you can install the Devialet AIR "virtual sound card" driver on the computer running the Roon Core software, and use that as the output device to talk to the amp.
Whenever you use Roon, in order to play music you need to have a computer running the Roon Core software. Additionally you can use an iDevice (or another computer) to select what to play and control volume, etc.
To answer your original question, as far as I know if you have an original Expert, hence without the Core Infinity board, you will need a computer or other streaming device to "push" music from your Airport Extreme/disk to the Devialet. Roon would be a good choice, assuming you're happy with its cost, if you already have a computer and are willing to leave it running to listen to music, but there are of course alternatives. If you don't use Roon, you will need to use Devialet's AIR driver and can then use any music playback software capable of reading your files on the networked disc, choosing the AIR driver as the audio output device.
If your amp has the Core Infinity board, then with the current firmware it is Roon Ready. This means it supports Roon's Advanced Audio Transport (RAAT) protocol and can be used directly with Roon, without needing any drivers provided by Devialet. (There are some other benefits of using RAAT including the ability to group with other zones using that protocol.)
If your amp doesn't have the Core Infinity board, then you can still use it with Roon but in that case it will use Devialet's AIR streaming protocol. Roon has its own built-in support for Devialet AIR, so you still don't need to use Devialet's AIR driver, and in general using Roon's built-in AIR support seems to work more reliably in most situations. Failing that you can install the Devialet AIR "virtual sound card" driver on the computer running the Roon Core software, and use that as the output device to talk to the amp.
Whenever you use Roon, in order to play music you need to have a computer running the Roon Core software. Additionally you can use an iDevice (or another computer) to select what to play and control volume, etc.
To answer your original question, as far as I know if you have an original Expert, hence without the Core Infinity board, you will need a computer or other streaming device to "push" music from your Airport Extreme/disk to the Devialet. Roon would be a good choice, assuming you're happy with its cost, if you already have a computer and are willing to leave it running to listen to music, but there are of course alternatives. If you don't use Roon, you will need to use Devialet's AIR driver and can then use any music playback software capable of reading your files on the networked disc, choosing the AIR driver as the audio output device.
Roon (Mac Mini), Wilson Benesch Full Circle, Expert 1000 Pro CI, Kaiser Chiara
Warwickshire, UK
