UK event with Mathieu Pernot - 17 July

[David A]

The Read_Me file in the latest/Roon software release says:

Still being worked on
• Devialet AIR: Windows instability
• Devialet Remote App : Volume control is inactive before streaming starts

I've not used Windows for at least 15 years because I found it inherently unstable.

The volume control in Roon is also inactive until streaming starts. Expert does come with a working physical remote. They have promised an updated app and they still do promise one, it will be integrated with other Devialet hardware.

My Expert Pro works perfectly with Roon wired and wireless, Spotify, Air, Airplay, uPnP and usb. It is very difficult to expect them to sort issues relating to third party hardware that they cannot replicate. Then there are the issues with settings in third party hardware.

My first streaming system was Linn and the day it arrived it did not work because of incompatibility with a Netgear switch. 

The one thing I recall they absolutely promised and have abandoned is Qobuz onboard. There are so many ways of doing this it no longer matters to me.

That ReadMe file also lists Bluetooth as a Main Feature not supported in this release so they still haven't delivered everything they promised as a "main feature".  It doesn't matter whether or not you for I think Bluetooth is important (I don't), or what you or I think about Windows, those things are important to some people and were promised.

As for the Roon problem, it's not a major issue for me because, like you, i rarely get it in my system but other people's experience is different and while I certainly think 3rd party networking issues are involved, I'm not convinced that's all of the problem and I think it is possible that there are some issues in Devialet's firmware involved. I can trigger it repeatedly by streaming content at 192/24 resolution over RAAT but if I stream the same content over AIR I don't get the problem. If I stream any other resolution than 192/24, even 176.4/24, I don't get the problem. It's hard to see it as solely a network problem related to 3rd party products when those products work flawlessly with one streaming protocol at all resolutions and not at one particular resolution with another protocol. Audio file resolution is irrelevant to the network equipment but it happens to be the on/off switch for the problem for me and audio file resolution is relevant to how a Devialet processes the audio stream since it updates everything to 192/24 as part of its processing. I'm sorry but it's not at all clear to me that this is solely a third party hardware problem though I'm quite happy to accept that third party hardware may be making the problem worse for some people.

You may be happy with your Devialet at the moment. I'm 99.9% happy with mine at the moment because I'd like to be able to stream 192/24 content with RAAT but I can't. But the fact is that it doesn't matter whether you or I are perfectly happy with the current state of affairs, not everyone is and some people are still waiting for things that were promised to them as part of their purchase and for problems with the firmware to be fixed. Those people need to get what they're still waiting on. I bought my 140 over 3 years ago. It was 2 years after I bought my 140 that we got the CI board upgrades and all we had thenb was beta firmware. The final firmware with all promised features is yet to  come 18 months later and ther firmware we've got is not bug free. How long should customers have to wait to get the functionality they were promised or to see bugs fixed? The current issues may not concern you but if an issue crops up that concerns you I'm prepared to bet that you'd like to see if fixed a lot more quickly than it's taking Devialet to deliver on everything the people still waiting for things have been waiting.

You and I have pretty much got what we wanted out of what was promised and could reasonably be expected. Others haven't got that yet and they should get what they were promised and can reasonably expect and even if you and I don't need what's still outstanding, those things are part of the product we were promised when we bought our amps and we should get the products we were promised we'd get.

The Expert Pro range wasn't finished when it was released, it was missing hardware and functions we were told it would have. We've got the hardware now but we still don't have all the functionality and there are still firmware problems. It's not going to be finished until all those things are delivered and they should hurry up and finish it, and finish it properly so things work as they should.