Questions, questions & questions! New 220pro

[zambie]

Hi Zambie,

First of all, welcome to Devialet Chat. There are many experienced owners here and you will find we're quite the helpful bunch.

Secondly, you owe your boss half an hour overtime for 'wasting' your time on DC

Now to the business;

I don't know how you came to buy your 220 Pro CI but you might want to read up on how it works and why. The Expert range is based on the idea that what comes in digitally will be converted and amplified via the shortest possible route. That system (ADH and Magic wire) is what makes the Expert range stand out from any other integrated amp out there. To keep a long story short, use the DAC inside the Expert and you are way ahead in sound quality compared to using the DAC in your Onkyo player or your MBP. Ditch the 3.5mm jack idea.

Just a thing about AIR; It stands for Asynchronous Intelligent Route and it can be run over Ethernet OR WIFI. The name seems to suggest it's a WIFI only thing but Ethernet is more stable. So if you can connect your 220 to your network via Ethernet that'll be the best way to start.

I have no idea whether it is possible to use the Onkyo player via AIR but the AIR software needs to be installed on a computer so I don't think you can.

Spotify connect should work via Ethernet or WIFI and you should be able to use a phone as a remote control. That means the music comes straight from the internet to the 220. Not via your phone.

To play local files, I would use the MacBook. Either via Ethernet (AIR) or USB. WIFI (AIR) is a last resort because anything wireless is less stable. Having said that, the new Expert has an external antenna so it works better now than in the past.

If you use the MBP you can use a phone / tablet as a remote control so you won't need to be getting up every time you want to change songs. That works with iTunes and if you want down the track, Roon. Don't do the Roon free trial unless you have the money ready to sign up for life. Roon is so easy to use, once you start you won't want to give it up.

Good luck,

Pim

Hi Pim - thanks so much for your very warm welcome and the nudge in the right direction for me - frankly, while I've read up on a bunch of things, I've been confused by a bunch more and needed to just figure out a half decent baseline and then move from there with respect to config options to pursue.
Boss better get used to me slacking for a few minutes here and there over the coming days ...   ... I got the unit up and running with my mac and speakers with source material playing out of the Mac through airplay. Have to say - wow! The first thing that's hit me is just the resolution of every instrument coupled with the soundstage, the finer decay in various instruments, greater bass presence and the dynamic nature of the music (there appears to be a greater range between the loudest portions v/s the quietest portions) at any given volume. Ofcourse -  no critical listening in yet. I'm struggling with getting AIR over wifi to play any music - I just need to clear my head and think through what I'm screwing up.

I will have to figure out whether audirvana is the way to go or roon longer term - so far been using vox and it's resolving my dsd/dsf files well.
Also - lots to explore with regards to cabling, and source playback optimization. Baby steps I suppose.

Always eager to learn tricks of the trade - will keeping a close watch on a bunch of threads here to broaden my knowledge.