Devialet teaser 11-11-2016 / 'The lost recordings'

[AaronG]

I don't see any problem with this. At the moment I am listening to Fondamenta's remastered Navarra set using the technology that apparently will be used in the jazz sets. Like Navarra, Bill Evans, Sarah Vaughan, and Oscar Peterson were all extraordinary artists. I unfortunately never had a chance to see any of them. Through the miracle of sound recording I can experience their art. I don't own a car because for me access to this kind of art is far more important.

I certainly can understand why someone might feel that 1200 is not too much money to pay to get as close to hearing Sarah Vaughan live in her prime as possible. If someone gave me access to a time machine to do this I certainly might consider this. And a live recording is a kind of wonderful time machine. I think it's worth far more than a Gucci handbag. If it was a live recording that I never knew existed of Dolphy and Coltrane in their prime, I might buy a turntable and a lacquer. I certainly think it's worth a lot more to me than another power cord or whatever.

Devialet may have plans to make these available in digital formats. I have no idea.

And BTW my Air still doesn't work on my Devialet and I find this super irritating. But I seriously doubt that this little adventure is eating into solving that problem. And again I admire a company that cares so much about the art we experience through their machines. That's a reason I think so highly of Grimm as well.

I have absolutely nothing against the use of technology and the latest mastering techniques to revive old and 'lost' recordings.  This is a good thing.  I have to say though I find the concept of a £1200 play once recording a genuine embarrassment.  

We know the old arguments, Devialet amplifiers are nice for a one box solution, they sound ok for what is obviously a 'lifestyle' product, etc.  Of course we then say 'but no, they sound jolly good, Devialet are a very serious company making genuine audiophile products'.  Then this, the Devialet branded £1200 disposable recording?  Clearly aimed at stupid people who have zero idea about the value of money.  Consider as a comparison a Louis Vitton hand bag (I don't have one by the way, it's just an obvious example from the LVMH stable), this would cost maybe £1000 and would be considered by some ridiculously extravagant, but a £1000 hand bag looks like a very  practical and sensible choice next to a £1200 disposable recording.  It might just be me, but I think it makes the Devialet brand look utterly idiotic and embarrassing.   In addition, I guess that all this means that they will never be able to release a 24/196 (or DSD) version of the music, which would sound better and would be something we could all enjoy.  So, it looks idiotic and embarrassing, and it severely restricts the number of people that can enjoy this 'lost' recording, after all, many Devialet owners do not have a turntable so cannot even play the 180g offering.  This one gets the full double-bonkers rating from me!