DEVIALET now Roon Ready.

[David A]

So here's the question.... did the sound of all inputs change/improve with the release of the new firmware/DOS?    I do believe I hear a slight difference between AIR and RAAT, but I also think AIR sounds better/different as well... a bit more open, better defined?  To be honest, I haven't a clue what the difference is, if I really hear a difference, or if both have changed.   I don't really feel like trying to compare before/after the new firmware/DOS.   But it all sounds amazingly good so I'm not sure it matters.

I d on't know about all inputs, I only use ethernet. When I did the update I enabled RAAT in Roon and started listening to it. I didn't do an A?B comparison of RAAT vs AIR but I liked the sound more with RAAT and the new firmware than I did with Roon AIR and the previous software. I've since done an A/B comparison between RAAT and Roon AIR with the new software and I hear a difference. Both sound good but I prefer RAAT. I think Roon AIR sounds better with the new firmware than it did with the previous firmware so I think whatever changes there are in the new firmware include something that improves ethernet handling. It can't improve the actual input because that's a physical device which hasn't changed but the handling of the signal that is received from that input can be changed in firmware and I think it has been changed.

RAAT is a network thing so it makes sense that there could also be changes for the wifi input handling.

As for the other inputs, if there were some changes made to the DAC/ADH software in the update then you would notice differences with the other inputs as well. There was a change in the power area (lower power use in standby mode) and that may have changed something in the power handling which benefits all inputs. I wouldn't rule out the possibility that something in this update has an effect on all inputs.

Thinking about what I heard when I did the brief RAAT/Roon AIR comparison with the new firmware a lot of the difference which stood out was at the top end, AIR sounded brighter and less sweet to me while RAAT sounded warmer/sweeter. Which one you prefer if the difference you hear is in the top end may very well depend on your speaker's top end response. 

I've been in listening comparisons in the past with other people in my audio club where we've all heard a difference and some have said the top end was boosted and others have said the bass was reduced. Different people can hear the same change and perceive it in very different ways, and that's without even touching on which one they prefer. Agreeing that there's a difference can be the easy thing (it isn't always easy) but agreeing on what the difference is and on which is better are two very different things. Two people can both agree the top end is boosted in one of the things being compared but disagree about which is best while another 2 people can agree that the bass is cut in the same thing where the first 2 are hearing a boost in the highs and those 2 can also disagree about which is best. The same difference can be described in different ways and you can satisfy yourself that everyone is hearing the same thing, they're just describing it in different ways, but if you have a difference and both ways sound good you can bet on finding some people who like it one way and some who like it the other. It's only easy to get agreement on which sounds best when one way sounds bad to everyone because it has high distortion or some other characteristic that nobody likes and the other sounds good to everyone because it doesn't have the same characteristic.