Roon supports Devialet AIR

[ogs]

Roon Advanced Audio Transport (RAAT) reads to me like Roon have set a protocol and whoever builds a RAAT ready device just has to comply with that protocol. I really wonder how much freedom a designer actually has implementing RAAT.

Not so much 'freedom in implementing', more a set of standards for 'how' it's implemented - i.e. thoroughly tested and verified as reliable, and supporting all the controls etc that RoonReady mandates (power on/off, input auto selection, volume controls, reporting back sample rates, etc).  Thankfully, random pops and crackles aren’t part of the RAAT spec, so if it’s happening within the underlying Devialet code it will finally need fixing

Pretty sure it will also be tested grouped with other RAAT devices to make sure playback sync is all working properly.

And it will have to sound equal to AIR - i.e. it can't just be shoehorned in, it has to be optimised to be the best it can be.

As the CI and Dialog is similar (ARM based, Linux etc.) after RAAT is in place on the CI maybe the road to making Dialog/Phantoms Roon Ready is not so difficult? It may still be difficult for Devialet though...
The new "best" here is Dutch & Dutch where the 8c is individually connected via RAAT to Roon and a stereo pair is kept in sync in Roon. Maybe even MCH is possible this way? Devialet should do the same. Omit Dialog and put RAAT directly in the Phantom firmware.

CORRECTION: Roon is connected to one 8c via RAAT. The stream is reclocked and the other 8c in a pair receives a clock synced signal from the 'master' via the AES link. So Roon is not involved in keeping L/R sync.