Devialet predictions for 2018 (The 2018 Devialet Almanac)

[Zappydev]

2019 has arrived, which first means that we need to wrap up 2018 with a Q4 update.  With this, I find it interesting to note that I ended the Q3 update with the words "This thread has been so dull this year that I feel compelled to predict that RAAT will indeed arrive in Q4, together with something totally unexpected that will arrive as a total surprise.  All of 2018 can't be that dull, can it?"

Well Roon RAAT hasn't arrived, but Q4 did deliver a surprise, the new Phantom Reactor.  Which is not just a new smaller version of the original, it also indicates a move away from Spark.  Time will tell how this develops, perhaps there is a 2019 prediction here for someone?  The Devialet Freebox Delta was also announced, although the significance of this is debatable as it appears to be a regional product.

So what were the more significant developments for the year?

A change in CEO. Founder Quentin Sannie steps down to be replaced by Franck Lebouchard.
The announcement of a new Expert "Core Team" being headed up by Joachim Fritsch.
New additions to the Pro range, the 140 Pro as a firmware update and the new 210 Pro Dual Mono
The new Phantom Reactor

In terms of predictions made, do we have a winner for the year?  Well nobody predicted a smaller Phantom or the 130Pro going 140Pro / 210Pro Dual mono, so overall we collectively failed to predict anything of significance.

There were a number of us that confidently predicted that Roon RAAT for the Pro would become a reality in 2018, which was not too much of a stretch of the imagination when you consider that Devialet had a working demo of RAAT back in March.  

@Zappydev was the most insistent poster stating that RAAT would not be implemented in 2018, so I guess he wins by default.  So congratulations to Mr Zappy, and RAAT implementation for the Pro has to be an absolute dead cert for 2019, doesn't it?

Happy new year to all!

Haha - I will proudly accept the award, and I look forward to receiving my prize of a Cadenza Black (sans stylus) any day soon.

It gives me no satisfaction to have been pretty much right about RAAT a year ago. How long can it possibly take, ffs ?

I plan to send my Od’A to Paris for CI in Q1, in order to avoid it getting tangled up in any Brexit shipping shenanigans, so my only 2 predictions are that (a) it won’t come back RAATed and (b) the flawless Roon AIR performance I have been enjoying for the last couple of years will be a thing of the past. (Posted here because they don’t meet the official criteria for 2019 predictions   )

Happy New Year to all.