12-Apr-2023, 21:25
@ssfas
The reason you've been streaming 24/192 files for years using Roon with no problems is contained in your response: you're streaming via wifi. The problem only affects those who stream from Roon using RAAT, ie using their Devialet as a Roon Ready end point, over ethernet. The problem does not occur if you use wifi but wifi has limitations in bandwidth and the distance over which it can be used which ethernet does not which is why some users choose ethernet over wifi.
The problem does not occur with other digital inputs including USB. Those inputs are not streaming inputs. There are only 2 streaming inputs, ethernet and wifi. The other digital inputs carry a PCM or DSD audio signal which is delivered to the Expert Pro in "real time" and simply passes it to the amp's DAC without the need for any processing. The streaming inputs do not receive an audio signal, they receive a data stream in a packet format. Each packet contains a discrete part of the audio signal and the Expert Pro has to extract the small segment of the audio signal contained in each packet from the packet and then assemble those segments into a continuous PCM or DSD signal which can be sent to the DAC. Streaming is a very different way of passing an audio signal from a source to the DAC than is used with the other inputs. I would add that the Expert Pro's wifi input can receive both streamed inputs and native PCM/DSD audio signal inputs depending on whether you pass the signal to the Expert Pro using the Roon Ready or Devialet AIR output options in Roon (streaming outputs from Roon) or USB or one of the other outputs available in Roon such as AirPlay.
The Roon problem only occurs if you stream from Roon over ethernet using the Roon Ready option in Roon's audio output options. Devialet acknowledged that the problem was a fault in their firmware some months after the issue was first notified and released a partial fix 2 years later but some users have still reported issues after installing that firmware.
Similarly there are no issues if you use Sweet Room but don't use SAM or if you use SAM but do not use Sweet Room. Use both together and SAM still works fine but Sweet Room does not work properly. I'll add that Sweet Room and SAM do different things. SAM corrects for phase errors in the loudspeaker's frequency response in the region below 150 Hz while Sweet Room corrects frequency response changes over the whole audible range caused by the acoustical behaviour of the room. They are not different ways to correct the same thing. There has been no firmware update since the update which included the Sweet Room feature over 2 years ago.
As I said earlier, the fact that you have not had any problems does not mean that problems do not exist. Problems exist if you use your Devialet as a Roon Ready input with an ethernet connection, and if you use SAM and Sweet Room together. Those problems are caused by problems in Devialet's firmware which Devialet has been aware of since they released the firmware updates which made the Expert Pro a Roon Ready device in 2018 and since they introduced Sweet Room in 2020 and, despite the fact that both issues have existed for years since the respective firmware updates which introduced those features, the Roon Ready issue has apparently not yet been completely fixed and no fix has been issued for the Sweet Room/SAM issue.
You have not had any problems simply because you are not using your Expert Pro as a Roon Ready endpoint over an ethernet connection and you are not using Sweet Room in conjunction with SAM.
I'm happy that you have not had any problems but that does not mean that others who are using features of their Expert Pros which you do not use are not experiencing problems. Those users should be getting the same problem free experience as you do but they are not getting that because of faults in Devialet's firmware which Devialet has acknowledged but failed to fix.
The reason you've been streaming 24/192 files for years using Roon with no problems is contained in your response: you're streaming via wifi. The problem only affects those who stream from Roon using RAAT, ie using their Devialet as a Roon Ready end point, over ethernet. The problem does not occur if you use wifi but wifi has limitations in bandwidth and the distance over which it can be used which ethernet does not which is why some users choose ethernet over wifi.
The problem does not occur with other digital inputs including USB. Those inputs are not streaming inputs. There are only 2 streaming inputs, ethernet and wifi. The other digital inputs carry a PCM or DSD audio signal which is delivered to the Expert Pro in "real time" and simply passes it to the amp's DAC without the need for any processing. The streaming inputs do not receive an audio signal, they receive a data stream in a packet format. Each packet contains a discrete part of the audio signal and the Expert Pro has to extract the small segment of the audio signal contained in each packet from the packet and then assemble those segments into a continuous PCM or DSD signal which can be sent to the DAC. Streaming is a very different way of passing an audio signal from a source to the DAC than is used with the other inputs. I would add that the Expert Pro's wifi input can receive both streamed inputs and native PCM/DSD audio signal inputs depending on whether you pass the signal to the Expert Pro using the Roon Ready or Devialet AIR output options in Roon (streaming outputs from Roon) or USB or one of the other outputs available in Roon such as AirPlay.
The Roon problem only occurs if you stream from Roon over ethernet using the Roon Ready option in Roon's audio output options. Devialet acknowledged that the problem was a fault in their firmware some months after the issue was first notified and released a partial fix 2 years later but some users have still reported issues after installing that firmware.
Similarly there are no issues if you use Sweet Room but don't use SAM or if you use SAM but do not use Sweet Room. Use both together and SAM still works fine but Sweet Room does not work properly. I'll add that Sweet Room and SAM do different things. SAM corrects for phase errors in the loudspeaker's frequency response in the region below 150 Hz while Sweet Room corrects frequency response changes over the whole audible range caused by the acoustical behaviour of the room. They are not different ways to correct the same thing. There has been no firmware update since the update which included the Sweet Room feature over 2 years ago.
As I said earlier, the fact that you have not had any problems does not mean that problems do not exist. Problems exist if you use your Devialet as a Roon Ready input with an ethernet connection, and if you use SAM and Sweet Room together. Those problems are caused by problems in Devialet's firmware which Devialet has been aware of since they released the firmware updates which made the Expert Pro a Roon Ready device in 2018 and since they introduced Sweet Room in 2020 and, despite the fact that both issues have existed for years since the respective firmware updates which introduced those features, the Roon Ready issue has apparently not yet been completely fixed and no fix has been issued for the Sweet Room/SAM issue.
You have not had any problems simply because you are not using your Expert Pro as a Roon Ready endpoint over an ethernet connection and you are not using Sweet Room in conjunction with SAM.
I'm happy that you have not had any problems but that does not mean that others who are using features of their Expert Pros which you do not use are not experiencing problems. Those users should be getting the same problem free experience as you do but they are not getting that because of faults in Devialet's firmware which Devialet has acknowledged but failed to fix.
Roon Nucleus+, Devilalet Expert 140 Pro CI, Focal Sopra 2, PS Audio P12, Keces P8 LPS, Uptone Audio EtherREGEN with optical fibre link to my router, Shunyata Alpha NR and Sigma NR power cables, Shunyata Sigma ethernet cables, Shunyata Alpha V2 speaker cables, Grand Prix Audio Monaco rack, RealTRAPS acoustic treatment.
Brisbane, Qld, Australia
