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First experience of Devialet - disappointed

H

heihei

pfm Member
Picked up a 2nd hand D200 today and must admit my experience so far is disappointing. It took a while to set up (updating software, registering, setting up a configuration etc), but I could just about handle that. Ditto having to run everything off a lap-top, annoying as it is.

What is driving me nuts is the poor performance of Air (despite using the latest software). Given the lack of upnp streamer functionality embedded into Devialet, I'm using Tidal as my streaming source. The first 20 mins were fine, but since then, it has become virtually unusable due to drop-outs.

Any ideas as to how to improve my user experience? Or should I quit now and buy a Superuniti?
 
Are you using a wired or wireless network connection? AIR has a patchy history, but even when it is working correctly it presents quite a challenge for the average WiFi network.

Before you buy that SuperUniti, try an Auralic Polaris.
 
AIR via wifi is next to useless however AIR via ethernet has proved to be pretty reliable with the latest incarnation of the software.

As Rodrat suggested it may be worth popping along to DevialetChat forum for assistance
 
Cheers for the advice. It's currently set up wireless, but do have an Ethernet connection into the back of the Devialet. I don't want to hook my MacBook to the network via Ethernet however.
Have applied for membership of the DevialetChat, but find it frustrating that you have to look for this stuff on forums etc rather than there being a sensible set-up process which comes as part of the package.
 
Even if you only connect the Devialet using wired Ethernet and leave your MacBook on WiFi, you will halve the load on your WiFi network. Obviously this is only going to help if your problems are network related. Historically there have been other issues with AIR that are independent of the network, but these usually manifest themselves as white noise.
 
Strictly Stereo said:
Even if you only connect the Devialet using wired Ethernet and leave your MacBook on WiFi, you will halve the load on your WiFi network. Obviously this is only going to help if your problems are network related. Historically there have been other issues with AIR that are independent of the network, but these usually manifest themselves as white noise.
Click to expand...

The other thing to keep in mind of course is that WI FI is not HI FI

Mr ED :)
 
For AIR to work, you really need to use Wired Connection at least on one, if not both sides. The other option is to connect via USB from your laptop which works very well for most, although I find the sound quality via AIR to be better again.
 
Errol said:
The other thing to keep in mind of course is that WI FI is not HI FI

Mr ED :)
Click to expand...

When it is working, AIR provides bit-perfect transmission over WiFi or wired Ethernet. The trouble with it is that AIR is more demanding of the network than sending losslessly compressed FLAC files from a server to a streamer, which would also provide bit-perfect transmission.
 
I don`t know much about this but I do know I was getting extremely disappointed with my sonos and drop outs . after several months I have found I had it too near my virgin router and I guess it was conflicting

moving it several metres away seems to have cured the problem . hope you get sorted
 
The other thing to keep in mind of course is that WI FI is not HI FI
Click to expand...

My special bottled air transforms ordinary wi-fi. Just open the stopper, let it into your room and be amazed at the higher-highes and blacker blacks. Only £1k a litre... and no more of those pesky cables.
 
hifinutt said:
I don`t know much about this but I do know I was getting extremely disappointed with my sonos and drop outs . after several months I have found I had it too near my virgin router and I guess it was conflicting

moving it several metres away seems to have cured the problem . hope you get sorted
Click to expand...

Most home routers are set to output the maximum legally allowed WiFi signal strength, in an effort to maximise their range. Probably your router's WiFi signal at that range was actually overwhelming the Sonos. It sounds unlikely I know. Most people have the opposite problem.
 
I think AIR is a very misleading name! The Devialet makes a pretty good Faraday cage and is not a great place to put an internal wifi aerial! Using wifi rarely seems to work well based on comments over the years.

Today, AIR using windows and ethernet is pretty solid, probably as good as any other streaming solution, but it has taken some real annoyance to get there.

I understand that the mac solution is still not quite as robust, but works fairly reliably today except for DSD files which don't work at all.

The comments about setup and the laptop need to be put in context though, if you just want to plug a cd player or external streamer in then very little else would be needed, the extra work is there of you want to use the options that a Devialet gives over a conventional amp.
 
I've been using Devialet (a 250) for 3 years. Initially there was a lot of frustration with AIR and I resorted to a Moon Mind 180D as a renderer sing the AES/EBU input and the Moon App on my iPad to control. Last year Devialet released AIR 3.0 for the Mac and my setup has been stable ever since. No drop outs, really superb sound quality. Occasional reboot of the mac when an update needed.. System is a Mac Mini 2011 running headless, connected via AIR 3 Ethernet to the Devialet via a dedicated router. I have a linear PSU on the router, but can't swear it makes a huge difference.

Software I use the latest version of Audirvana on the Mac, controlled via the Audirvana App. It integrates Qobuz and picks up all my music files on a separate drive.

I also have a Rega Planar 3 (2016) and it sounds great through the Devialet's configurable phono stage. The real advantage of the Devialet above its high quality is the simple configuration via a drop in SD card.
 
Another option you might try is to increase the buffer size in AIR's advanced settings section. This has the mildly irritating side effect of delaying the Devialet's starting and stopping of playback, but it can help to reduce the frequency of drop outs.
 
I am almost certainly being a bit thick here but there has been a lot of talk re Devialet making a "streamer board" available in the near future. What does that add to the current amp since it already has wifi / wired reception?
Not a streaming expert here...
 
SteveH said:
I am almost certainly being a bit thick here but there has been a lot of talk re Devialet making a "streamer board" available in the near future. What does that add to the current amp since it already has wifi / wired reception?
Not a streaming expert here...
Click to expand...

They mean a board which will turn Devialet Expert models into self-contained streamers. The last time I looked the streaming was based on UPnP. AIR streaming is somewhat different. It is basically just a replacement for a dedicated wired audio connection between a Mac or Windows computer and a Devialet amplifier. The AIR software acts as a virtual DAC or soundcard. You still need separate playback software on the computer in order to play music. AIR is a proprietary Devialet technology, but if you can imagine S/PDIF over Ethernet or USB over Ethernet, that is pretty much what it does.

So far as I am aware the upcoming UPnP streaming board is headed to the latest Expert models only. Older models like the 200 can be updated to the latest spec by having their internal components replaced at the factory.
 
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