Has anyone heard the Devialet D-Premier Integrated Amp/DAC

[FREND147]

Hi lloydelee21,
Thanks for your message.
Unfortunately, keeping the Devialet for a pre-amp is not an option for me. I would indeed need to sell it in order to fund both the pre & power amp. A great idea but sadly beyond my financial means.
Thanks again & all the best.
Paul.

 

[FREND147]

Hi Orb,
It`s interesting that you too have tried a similar Audio Research set up and liked it. From my perspective it`s hard to imagine that you wouldn`t prefer the Ref5/DS450m/Dac8 but I fully understand that it is horses for courses. If everybody liked the same thing then I guess there wouldn`t be many hi fi manufacturers!

If a little more warmth and slam could somehow be injected into the sound of the Devialet then I feel quite confident it would be the perfect component. It is the first set up I have owned in a long time where I feel myself wanting to reach to a bass control and subtley adjust it upwards. If this were possible then I don`t think there would be any issues for me. But, of course this is not possible. I do find in my particular room and with my speakers (Wilson Watt puppy 3/2) that the Devialet seems to be operating at the higher end of it`s volume setting for most of the time, generally between -15db & -5db, depending on the music being played. Maybe this has something to do with it, I`m really not sure. My room is fairly big but not massive @ 21` x 15`. I appreciate that the speakers are old designs now but I still find it quite amazing how good they can sound with appropriate amps. For my tastes they have always sounded good with Audio Research.

Many thanks for your input and advice.

Kind regards,
Paul.

 

[bernardl]

Firmware 5.5

fyi, I have upgraded my D-Premier to 5.5.

5.5 is supposed to provide support for the wireless card, but also to improve the transparence of the sound thanks to a high bit depth internal processing (40 bits instead of 32 bits).

It does for sure sound even clearer... but it could be me. It was increadibly clear already, so...

I should get a wireless card in a few days, I will update on the results although it will initially only support 44.1/16 bits (redbook spec). I'd be surprised if the sound were improved significantly over the excellent Int202's asynchronous connection, but who knows.

Cheers,
Bernard

 

[Orb]

Yeah great service from Devialet,
seriously good I agree and great what they are doing for clients and the wireless card upgrade.

Not too surprised about 5.5 possibly improving the D-Premier, does it seem smoother in sound with the 5.5 as well?
Wondering if this is taking the sound closer to what I heard in the mono setup (IMO is up there with the very best, and especially when considering hi-rez).
Cheers
Orb

 

[FREND147]

Hi Bernard,

Many thanks for your post. Actually I have decided to go down the route of Audio Research LS26 & DS450. I already have the 26 and am just waiting for the 450 to arrive.
I would like to wish you and all other Devialet owners all the very best for the future. It is clear that the Devialet is a very special product and will continue to improve, although, as it turned out, not my particular cup of tea in the end.

All the best,
Paul.

 

[LL21]

Hi Bernard,

Many thanks for your post. Actually I have decided to go down the route of Audio Research LS26 & DS450. I already have the 26 and am just waiting for the 450 to arrive.
I would like to wish you and all other Devialet owners all the very best for the future. It is clear that the Devialet is a very special product and will continue to improve, although, as it turned out, not my particular cup of tea in the end.

All the best,
Paul.

Hi Paul. Congrats...that is a great combo based on what i read from Orb....i certainly am familiar with a range of ARC gear, and its a very good family! Based on your own comments, i can imagine you are really going to enjoy this. So enjoy! and please post when iti is all up and running and nicely burned in.

 

[bernardl]

Not too surprised about 5.5 possibly improving the D-Premier, does it seem smoother in sound with the 5.5 as well?
Wondering if this is taking the sound closer to what I heard in the mono setup (IMO is up there with the very best, and especially when considering hi-rez).

I would say that it does indeed sound smoother but is a subtle improvement. Now, I did some other changes at roughly the same so it is, as always, hard to figure out who is the good guy.

I have only heard dual mono once with different speakers, so sorry, it is difficult to answer your question.

Puremusic 1.83 did also seem to make the sound even more natural last night after I upgraded.

Cheers,
Bernard

 

[bernardl]

Hi Bernard,
Many thanks for your post. Actually I have decided to go down the route of Audio Research LS26 & DS450. I already have the 26 and am just waiting for the 450 to arrive.
I would like to wish you and all other Devialet owners all the very best for the future. It is clear that the Devialet is a very special product and will continue to improve, although, as it turned out, not my particular cup of tea in the end.

I wish you lots of musical pleasure with your new set up Paul.

Finding a sound you are fully comfortable with is key, and our personnal taste does differ as well as the output generated by our systems as a whole (including the room where the system is located of course).

Kind seasons greetings from Tokyo as well!

Cheers,
Bernard

 

[Orb]

I would say that it does indeed sound smoother but is a subtle improvement. Now, I did some other changes at roughly the same so it is, as always, hard to figure out who is the good guy.

I have only heard dual mono once with different speakers, so sorry, it is difficult to answer your question.

Puremusic 1.83 did also seem to make the sound even more natural last night after I upgraded.

Cheers,
Bernard

Thanks Bernard,
anecdotally then it does seem to bring this closer to what I heard in the mono setup.
Great that they still finding subtle improvements with the D-Premier.

Cheers
Orb

 

[robadia]

Hi Bernard,

Many thanks for your post. Actually I have decided to go down the route of Audio Research LS26 & DS450. I already have the 26 and am just waiting for the 450 to arrive.
I would like to wish you and all other Devialet owners all the very best for the future. It is clear that the Devialet is a very special product and will continue to improve, although, as it turned out, not my particular cup of tea in the end.

All the best,
Paul.

Paul, I sent you a PM, did you get it?

 

[FREND147]

Paul, I sent you a PM, did you get it?

Hi Rafael,
Apologies for not coming back to you sooner. It's been a couple of busy days!
I do still have the Devialet with me at the moment but it is due to go back to the dealer early in the new year as I have part exchanged it for an Audio Research DS450.

I assume it would be for sale again but I do not know for certain.

Perhaps I could make an enquiry on your behalf?

It's is a shame that you did not come across this earlier as I only entered into the deal less than two weeks ago.

Do you already own one unit and thinking of a second for use as mono blocks or are you looking to buy your first one?
Kind regards,
Paul

 

[robadia]

Hi Rafael,
Apologies for not coming back to you sooner. It's been a couple of busy days!
I do still have the Devialet with me at the moment but it is due to go back to the dealer early in the new year as I have part exchanged it for an Audio Research DS450.

I assume it would be for sale again but I do not know for certain.

Perhaps I could make an enquiry on your behalf?

It's is a shame that you did not come across this earlier as I only entered into the deal less than two weeks ago.

Do you already own one unit and thinking of a second for use as mono blocks or are you looking to buy your first one?
Kind regards,
Paul

Paul, thank you for answering. Maybe the dealer would rather get the money instead of the equip. If you can I would like you to ask him that. You can also PM me with the price that you sold it.
I still don't have a unit, so this would be my first. I own a GamuT DI150 and use it with a Ayre QB9 DAC. I am wondering if that would be an upgrade.

 

[FREND147]

Hi Paul. Congrats...that is a great combo based on what i read from Orb....i certainly am familiar with a range of ARC gear, and its a very good family! Based on your own comments, i can imagine you are really going to enjoy this. So enjoy! and please post when iti is all up and running and nicely burned in.

Hi again lloydelee,
Thanks for you kind words. Yes, I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the 450 now and I will def let you know how I get on over the next few weeks.
Wishing you and anybody else reading this, a very happy christmas.
All the best,
Paul.

 

[FREND147]

Paul, thank you for answering. Maybe the dealer would rather get the money instead of the equip. If you can I would like you to ask him that. You can also PM me with the price that you sold it.
I still don't have a unit, so this would be my first. I own a GamuT DI150 and use it with a Ayre QB9 DAC. I am wondering if that would be an upgrade.

Ok Rafael, leave it with me and I will see what can be done. As I mentioned earlier, although the unit is still with me at the moment, it technically isn't mine any longer as I have entered into a deal with it to purchase another product. A little bit of an awkward situation as I'm sure you understand.
Regards,
Paul.

 

[robadia]

Ok Rafael, leave it with me and I will see what can be done. As I mentioned earlier, although the unit is still with me at the moment, it technically isn't mine any longer as I have entered into a deal with it to purchase another product. A little bit of an awkward situation as I'm sure you understand.
Regards,
Paul.

I sure do. We'll do the deal only if it is good for all of us. I'll wait for you to get back when possible.

Best,

Raphael

 

[bernardl]

I have received, installed and configured the D-Premier wifi card earlier on today. I could have requested my dealer to do it for me, but it seemed faster to do it myself.

- UPS has a lot to do with the reception,
- The installation should be child's play for anyone having ever installed memory sticks in a PC. Basically open up the D-Premier, push the card down its host pins, add 2 screws and close back. You then need to re-install firmware 5.5 and re-boot,
- Setting up the wifi was also easy. You basically just need to provide the configurator with your wifi network's name and password if it is password protected. The SD card then needs to be inserted back in the unit and wifi can be used after that,
- You also need to install the Devialet driver on the Mac/PC (now version 1.1).

The Devialet then connects automatically to the network in a few seconds after having selected the Air source. The Mac side driver detects that automatically. From then on playing from iTunes just uses the wifi. There is... no UI.

That must be the most user friendly and elegant wifi implementation I have ever seen.

For those... wondering whether it really works...The driver has an optional control panel that shows the state of the wifi connection, starting with how full the buffer is. So far no signal interuption and the buffer is always 100% full with close to zero packet loss.

How does it sound? I frankly thought it could not get much better than it already was with the Int202 over aes/ebu, but it most definitely IS even better. How did it improve? As always it is difficult to rely on one's memory and to phrase these impressions. I would say it is more fluid, still very sharp but somehow a bit more elastic if that means something.

Who would have thought that CDs could sound so incredibly good?

Now I just hope that Devialet manages quickly to extend the support beyond redbook to include high res files... even if it feels like a redbook played through wifi is damn close to a high res file played through the Int202.

Cheers,
Bernard

 

[robadia]

I have received, installed and configured the D-Premier wifi card earlier on today. I could have requested my dealer to do it for me, but it seemed faster to do it myself.

- UPS has a lot to do with the reception,
- The installation should be child's play for anyone having ever installed memory sticks in a PC. Basically open up the D-Premier, push the card down its host pins, add 2 screws and close back. You then need to re-install firmware 5.5 and re-boot,
- Setting up the wifi was also easy. You basically just need to provide the configurator with your wifi network's name and password if it is password protected. The SD card then needs to be inserted back in the unit and wifi can be used after that,
- You also need to install the Devialet driver on the Mac/PC (now version 1.1).

The Devialet then connects automatically to the network in a few seconds after having selected the Air source. The Mac side driver detects that automatically. From then on playing from iTunes just uses the wifi. There is... no UI.

That must be the most user friendly and elegant wifi implementation I have ever seen.

For those... wondering whether it really works...The driver has an optional control panel that shows the state of the wifi connection, starting with how full the buffer is. So far no signal interuption and the buffer is always 100% full with close to zero packet loss.

How does it sound? I frankly thought it could not get much better than it already was with the Int202 over aes/ebu, but it most definitely IS even better. How did it improve? As always it is difficult to rely on one's memory and to phrase these impressions. I would say it is more fluid, still very sharp but somehow a bit more elastic if that means something.

Who would have thought that CDs could sound so incredibly good?

Now I just hope that Devialet manages quickly to extend the support beyond redbook to include high res files... even if it feels like a redbook played through wifi is damn close to a high res file played through the Int202.

Cheers,
Bernard

Bernard, it doesn't work with 24/96 flac files? Have you tested with a PC also?

 

[bernardl]

Bernard, it doesn't work with 24/96 flac files? Have you tested with a PC also?

I did not test on PC, but 44.1/16 is a current limitation for all platforms.

According to the Devialet site, this limitation should be removed in Q1 2012 with support up to 96/24 first.

Cheers,
Bernard

 

[MylesBAstor]

It would seem to me that any hybrid A/D obviates any benefit of Class A mode. After all, the beauty of class A is that the transistors aren't switching on and off.

 

[microstrip]

I have listened for a short time (one week) to the Devialet in my system. An impressive system and fantastic value for money in Europe. But is just confirmed the "Audiophile myth" - it really sounded very good, but it has a characteristic sound signature. It does not sound like other amplifiers that also measure very well, some people will love it, others will prefer another type of sound.

Something that is is not easy to understand is the great improvement you get in sound quality you get when you use two Devialet's in their Stack mode. How do you get perfection more perfect doubling it?