Major Roon Changes - Devialet Impact?

[David A]

This Roon announcement worries me.  I just checked my record, I paid $7,654 in 2017 for the Core Infinity upgrade, promising a "platform" for endless exciting updates to ensure future proofing.

Right after taking our money it's been 3 years of silence.  if it is not clear by now that that Devialet has abandoned the Expert platform in favour of lifestyle products for the riches we must be blind.

Their behaviour borders on fraud.  I am surprised no one suggest a class action.

Will my Devialet continues to work with Roon's future developments?  I am not so sure.

You have a Devialet with the CI board. I don't know what you're running Roon on but I'd guess that you can connect your Devialet to that device in at least 3 ways at present: as a Roon Ready endpoint using either ethernet or wifi, as a Roon Tested endpoint using Roon's implementation of Devialet AIR over ethernet or wifi, and also via USB. You may have other options as well. As a worst case scenario, if Devialet stop supporting Roon then you can still connect via USB because that does not depend on a network connection with Roon. I also doubt Roon will abandon supporting USB connections.

There's no sign of anything happening in the near future which would prevent your amp continuing to work with Roon. I wouldn't start worrying until you actually start seeing warning signs and this announcement from Roon about uncertified Roon Ready devices is not such a sign. Your amp is not an uncertified Roon Ready device so this announcement does not affect it and, in any case, and you have at least 2 ways of connecting to Roon that don't even require it to be Roon Ready, by AIR over your network or by USB.

Plus how long into the future are you worried about? I've had my Devialet for 3 and a half years but I had 2 amps in the previous 20 or so years, each for roughly 10 years. If history is a guide then I'll probably be using a different amp some time around 2026/27, whether that is another Devialet or not is another matter, but at the very least I can't see anything preventing me from using Roon via a USB connection in the next 6 or 7 years.

Finally take a look at the history of both Roon and Devialet when it comes to updates, problems, and customer support. What history suggests is that if we do run into a problem it won't be a Roon problem, it will be a Devialet problem because Roon customer support on the software front is far superior to Devialet's. If you're worried about Roon when it comes to software development, you're worrying about the wrong company in my view.