Devialet 110 What Hifi review

[Rufus McDufus]

I have a confession to make here - my D200 is actually on its way back to Devialet with a potential fault. It's very possible the higher volumes I need (anything up to +10 dB recently!) are actually the result of a fault with the unit, possibly a faulty Class D section.   It's good to hear people have much lower volumes set as it confirms my feeling that something is not quite right.

Let's not forget the wetware: People differ in their hearing abilities, which obviously has implications for volume settings. So please add your audiograms. Make this a gallery.   

This is true, but my unit's been pretty variable. That said, my hearing is pretty variable too!
We shall see what happens when it comes back from Devialet. The most irritating thing will be if it's exactly the same, i.e variable.

[ZincAlloy]

I have a confession to make here - my D200 is actually on its way back to Devialet with a potential fault. It's very possible the higher volumes I need (anything up to +10 dB recently!) are actually the result of a fault with the unit, possibly a faulty Class D section.   It's good to hear people have much lower volumes set as it confirms my feeling that something is not quite right.

Hi Rufus - this is interesting.  I normally listen at between -15db and -5db, with speakers rated at 87dB/W/m.   I actually contacted Devialet about this, and they said it was normal.   

Their response was that, essentially, if the unit was producing sound, it was fully functional - i.e. the unit would either work properly, or it wouldn't work at all.  This seems different from your experience of a fault class D section. 

Did your Devialet display any Last Error on the appropriate menu?  

ATB, Ken

[PhilP]

Is the output of the amplifier the same for each digital input?   I mean if you stream the same music file to the amp via USB, wifi, ethernet or spdif is the power output the same for a given volume setting?

If not then that may account for some of the differences between listening levels listed above.

I seem to remember when I compared spdif to AIR before that spdif was a few dB louder but I'm not near my system now so I can't try it.

[ZincAlloy]

Is the output of the amplifier the same for each digital input?   I mean if you stream the same music file to the amp via USB, wifi, ethernet or spdif is the power output the same for a given volume setting?

If not then that may account for some of the differences between listening levels listed above.

I seem to remember when I compared spdif to AIR before that spdif was a few dB louder but I'm not near my system now so I can't try it.

Hi PhilP - just noticed that those respondents who are listening at -30dB are running D400, so nsybe my single D200 is ok.  Certainly, have never had to get to the +10dB that Rufus has.   Must stop suffering from Devialet-induced paranoia! 

[thumb5]

Hi PhilP - just noticed that those respondents who are listening at -30dB are running D400, so nsybe my single D200 is ok.  Certainly, have never had to get to the +10dB that Rufus has.   Must stop suffering from Devialet-induced paranoia! 

Ken - I don't want to feed your paranoia, but...I don't recall a huge change in volume when I added a companion to my 200.  Maybe equivalent to a few dB on the volume control, if anything at all, but it wasn't enough to make me sit up and take notice - or try to measure it, for that matter.

I must say I'm baffled by the widely varying volume settings we're reporting, unless we just like listening at very different levels.  (Though a few people have said I tend to listen "too quietly" after hearing my system.)

[Jean-Marie]

I do think my D200 is not great at low volumes.  Normal listening volume for me is when the display is indicating around -10 to -15dB dB with my Raidhos which are 88dB sensitivity 2.83V/m but there is a fairly clear threshold between which it's poor and when it's good.
I'm surprised Jean-Marie that your indicated volume is so different for same-spec (interms of sensitivity figures) speakers. And I don't like it very loud!  - [edit] sorry I misread your post, but I can barely hear it at -40dB!
The psycho-acoustic explanation seems quite plausible. Also perhaps room interactions at lower volumes?

I did not say that I'm always listening at -40dB.

In fact it heavily depends on the type of music and whether I want to have a concert experience or not.

If I'm listening late at night or early in the morning, I will listen at -40dB or -50dB.

If I'm doing a dedicated listening during the day, I will probably listen around -20dB for low DR albums, most of the time pop or rock, up to 0dB for classical music (for instance I've just listen a 0dB this record: Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique which by the way is having one of the lowest compression I'm aware of). I'm basically ending up listening at about 75dBA with peaks at 105 dBA from my listening position.

Bottom line is that from a perception perspective, a low level listening at -40dB or -50dB is very different than one at 0dB, but I don't find it to be deficient, and not really different from the difference I'm hearing whether I'm playing an instrument very low or around 70dBA SPL.

[PhilP]

Is the output of the amplifier the same for each digital input?   I mean if you stream the same music file to the amp via USB, wifi, ethernet or spdif is the power output the same for a given volume setting?

If not then that may account for some of the differences between listening levels listed above.

I seem to remember when I compared spdif to AIR before that spdif was a few dB louder but I'm not near my system now so I can't try it.

Hi PhilP - just noticed that those respondents who are listening at -30dB are running D400, so nsybe my single D200 is ok.  Certainly, have never had to get to the +10dB that Rufus has.   Must stop suffering from Devialet-induced paranoia! 

Hi Ken,

I typically run my 200 at -15 to -20 when listening via wifi AIR and my speakers are a little more efficient than yours so yes I think you're being paranoid. There's a lot of it about

What source are you using nowadays? I was really looking forward to the Dialog so I could finally get my old Mac out of my system but that's probably now a long way off.  I now listen to Qobuz most of the time - loving exploring their huge catalogue - so the Mac is used a lot, iTunes a bit and the NDX not much.

Cheers,

Philip

[Jean-Marie]

It makes no difference at what rate the Devialet works , as you attenuate digitally severly, you lose resolution. At some point it becomes audible.

As I understand it, the point that Jean-Marie was making was that if the digital volume control is done using 40-bit maths, it should have more than enough dynamic range to prevent any audible loss of resolution over the useful range of a volume control.  Assuming 16 bits is enough for normal music reproduction and you need (say) 10 or so bits for a volume control going from -60 dB to 0 dB, a 40-bit calculation should have plenty of headroom, shouldn't it?

It is even better than that: this is floating point. I don't know exactly how the 40 bits are partitioned, I'm more familiar with 32bits where you have 24bits of mantissa and 8 bits of exponent. I suspect that 40 bits is 32 bits of mantissa and 8 bits of exponent. bottom line is that -60dB for instance is 'just doing' -10 on the exponent, leaving the 24 or 32 bits of the mantissa intact, therefore not loosing anything.

[ZincAlloy]

Hi PhilP - just noticed that those respondents who are listening at -30dB are running D400, so nsybe my single D200 is ok.  Certainly, have never had to get to the +10dB that Rufus has.   Must stop suffering from Devialet-induced paranoia! 

Ken - I don't want to feed your paranoia, but...I don't recall a huge change in volume when I added a companion to my 200.  Maybe equivalent to a few dB on the volume control, if anything at all, but it wasn't enough to make me sit up and take notice - or try to measure it, for that matter.

I must say I'm baffled by the widely varying volume settings we're reporting, unless we just like listening at very different levels.  (Though a few people have said I tend to listen "too quietly" after hearing my system.)

PhilP - agh, paranoia has returned ....    

It may be my listening room - I'm sitting about 15 feet away from my speakers, and I like to fill the room with music (or noise, as my wife calls it).  What piqued my interest in the thread was Rufus's comment that a section of his D200 may be faulty - this is at odds with what Devialet told me.  I also seem to recall that the Last Fault menu is reset every time the unit is powered off which, if true, is pretty useless for diagnosing faults.  I've had a few power cuts recently.   

I'm looking to replace speakers later this year, so may take the opportunity to get my dealer to give the Devialet a once-over at the same time.   

[thumb5]

It is even better than that: this is floating point. I don't know exactly how the 40 bits are partitioned, I'm more familiar with 32bits where you have 24bits of mantissa and 8 bits of exponent. I suspect that 40 bits is 32 bits of mantissa and 8 bits of exponent. bottom line is that -60dB for instance is 'just doing' -10 on the exponent, leaving the 24 or 32 bits of the mantissa intact, therefore not loosing anything.

Yes, that makes perfect sense - SHARC does have a 40-bit floating-point format with 8-bit exponent and 32-bit mantissa as you said.  It's like IEEE-754 single-precision with an extra 8 bits in the mantissa.