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

Well yeah but I take it that means maybe just did the measurements and maybe gave it a quick listen as he usually does and not that he did the entire review? but who knows, I guess we will find out soon enough.

---- My best guess: 99% sure that he did write the review himself. :b
 
i heard the devialet with wilson maxx 2 and with avalon eidolon. it sound very open and clear and controls the drivers off both speakers. But in my opinion you have to watch that the system dont gets to dry sounding with this amp.
 
Headphone DIRECTLY connected to the Pré-Out of the Devialet. Did Someone tried this ?

has someone tried to connect an Headphone DIRECTLY to the Line-Out of the Devialet ?

I know that It is possible and this was today again recommended to me by a Devialet technician. He said that we just need to configure the line-out in variable mode and get an adaptor cable RCA-Jack , and the power will be way enough since up to 4 volts are available on the line-out (default configuration is 2 volts and should be enough according to him)

but the real question remain... How does this connection sound compared to a high-end headphone amp ?

very interested to hear your comments.... because this will save me the cost of purchasing an external expensive headphone amp.


FROM Devialet FAQ site at " http://www.devialet.com/support-faqs.php " "You can use the PreOut output to connect headphones either directly - via a hybrid RCA-to-Jack cable - or through an external headphone-amplifier (for high voltage headphones for example). You need to activate this output using the online configuration tool and define the correct output level depending on the type of headphones you use. If you connect the headphones straight to the D-Premier, leave the volume control field ticked on "Variable". If you plan to use an external headphone-amplifier then opt for the "Fixed" volume control. Remember to assign a remote control key to turn the PreOut output "On" or "Off". It is also possible to connect headphones if you have a multi-amplifier configuration. In this case, you need to daisy chain the amplifiers using the DOUT on the master and the AES/EBU input on the slave in order to free the PreOut connectors on the slave for the headphones. Should you be interested in such a configuration, please send us a mail through our website. We will gladly create a matching configuration file for you."

Hello
This is my impression; I bought the Sure SRH-1840 and configured my Devialet Pre-out with the Variable output, without dedicated headphone amp at the beginning. It is working very well and I thought it would not better work with and dedicated amp until I tested one with balanced output; basically instead of using the classical jack, you use a 4 pin balanced output. This allows you apparently to separate in a more efficient way the right and left side. I have finally decided to buy this headphone amp and I am now using the Pre-out Fixed and control the sound with the headphone amp.
Basically I would say that I was charmed by this balanced headphone amp, otherwise I would have never bought an extra amp.
Thanks
philoouu
 
Got any interesting tidbits to offer from the review for us poor souls who are not subscribers??
 
John Atkinson concludes: “Devialet’s D-Premier amplifier is the most extraordinary product I have reviewed for Stereophile. Superb sound quality, future-proof design, everything you need in one box – it is the epitome of what a high-end product should be. Wow!”

I'm a bit surprised by this comment. I recommend Devialet to my NON audiophile friends - sounds good, gooks great and reduces the number of cables to the minimum - but not to audiophiles. Sound-wise, the amp was a big disapointment for me, esp after all the rave reviews I have read.

To me, this amp has sounds like any other digital amp - good bass, good macro dynamics, flat and uninvolwing midrange, poor microdynamics, limited HF resolution and fineese.

I borrowed the amp for a week, but gave up after two evenings and returned it.

PS. I fed it with a SPDIF signal from my dCS transport. Did not have a chance to try the WiFi option, which was unavailable at the time (November or December 2011).
 
-- Very interesting; I wish that John Atkinson would read that and reply to it. :b

* I think he's a member here. ...Yes he is, as Stereoeditor, ...his username.

___________________

BTW Elberoth, Welcome to WBF! :b

Bob
 
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I'm a bit surprised by this comment. I recommend Devialet to my NON audiophile friends - sounds good, gooks great and reduces the number of cables to the minimum - but not to audiophiles. Sound-wise, the amp was a big disapointment for me, esp after all the rave reviews I have read.

To me, this amp has sounds like any other digital amp - good bass, good macro dynamics, flat and uninvolwing midrange, poor microdynamics, limited HF resolution and fineese.

I borrowed the amp for a week, but gave up after two evenings and returned it.

PS. I fed it with a SPDIF signal from my dCS transport. Did not have a chance to try the WiFi option, which was unavailable at the time (November or December 2011).

Right... there are enough non-audiophiles in Warsaw interested in spending 15,000 Euro on an amp that you have to mention you would "recommend" it to them... I also tend to suggest my non pilot friends to buy a Porsche, even though I find it disappointing compared to the 2012 Formula 1s...

And the way it sounded was a "big disappointment", "digital sounding", "lack of fineese"... oh... just noticed that you had newly registered to this site? ;)

Cheers,
Bernard
 
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i heard it with a avalon time and it was ok. for me it is the right solution for someone who is looking for a good looking all in one solution, an easy installation with a good sound
 
I'm a bit surprised by this comment. I recommend Devialet to my NON audiophile friends - sounds good, gooks great and reduces the number of cables to the minimum - but not to audiophiles. Sound-wise, the amp was a big disapointment for me, esp after all the rave reviews I have read.

To me, this amp has sounds like any other digital amp - good bass, good macro dynamics, flat and uninvolwing midrange, poor microdynamics, limited HF resolution and fineese.

I borrowed the amp for a week, but gave up after two evenings and returned it.

PS. I fed it with a SPDIF signal from my dCS transport. Did not have a chance to try the WiFi option, which was unavailable at the time (November or December 2011).

Well, you need to listen to Devialet again. Via Wi-Fi or from good digital source, which means NO dSC, sorry they sound boring. Devialet DAC is more musical than dSC. Midrange is great, not flat at all, veyr good highs, excellent resolution, fine microdetail. It is fantastic with wide range of speakers. Of course you can have better sound from separates, but need to make a very good selection of components.

For one box DAC/amp/phono the Devialet is incredible. Even for audiophiles and high end junkies.

Vess
 
Vess,

I have hosted a great selection of gear in my listening room - top of the range dCS, Audio Aero, MBS, EMM, Accuphase, MBL, ARC, AN, you name it - so my comments are not based on my experience with dCS alone. Same for the amps - I have owned or at least had for extended period of time gear from Kondo, ARC, Jadis (on the tube front) to Krell, Burmester, Gryphon (on the ss front). I have also tried many Class-D amps - BelCanto (the old one, Tripath based), various ICE power designs, NuForce etc.

I'm a bit surprised that my assessment caused such a stir among Devialet owners, since other users have posted similar comments before. Amir's assessment - among others - seems to echo mine (or should I say vice-versa, as Amir expressed his opinion first and it was me who was late to the party):

+ Gorgeous design. Even better once you power it on. Very nice display on top. The remote has a super nice feel.

+ Commanding control of the bass.

+ The integration is quite nice, having DAC, pre-amp and power all in one box. It took more pieces to simulate the same with the other solutions.

- Unfortunately, once we move above the bass, as with most class D amps, performance starts to drop. The highs were especially grungy with Devialet. Ambiance was lost and sound become flatter.

IMO it is a good amp, well made , great looking and decent sounding. But calling it revolutionary from the audiophile point of view, is too much of a hyperbole. Mark my words and revisit this thread in 5 years time.
 
I'm a bit surprised by this comment. I recommend Devialet to my NON audiophile friends - sounds good, gooks great and reduces the number of cables to the minimum - but not to audiophiles. Sound-wise, the amp was a big disapointment for me, esp after all the rave reviews I have read.

To me, this amp has sounds like any other digital amp - good bass, good macro dynamics, flat and uninvolwing midrange, poor microdynamics, limited HF resolution and fineese.

I borrowed the amp for a week, but gave up after two evenings and returned it.

PS. I fed it with a SPDIF signal from my dCS transport. Did not have a chance to try the WiFi option, which was unavailable at the time (November or December 2011).

Hi. I own the D-Premier for nearly a year now. It replaced a Linn Akurate DS (2011) renderer and Macintosh MA6900 amplification into Ayon Goshawk speakers. I was very happy with my Akkurate but the D-Premier beat even a trial setup with Linn Klimax DS and Klimax amplification (which, together, are considerably more expensive than the D-Premier). There is no grain of "digital harshness" or other artefacts that were ubiquitous at the beginning of the digital era. There is an unbelievably detailed fine dynamics and lyrical (realistic) midrange. True, it's not a euphonically tuned tube amp. Instead it renders the most realistic music and sound stage (in my middle sized room) that I ever heard. But then, of course, I am not a professional reviewer and I assume you are and have a pair of golden ears.
 
Elberoth,

I don't think anybody here wanted to doubt about your experience in high end :)
The point of confusion, and I cannot hide my own perplexity, was your statement regarding your recommendation of this product to your not-audiophile friends. That's it.

Regarding the D-Premier, I haven't heard it so far but I'd love to (standing on excited comments we are getting from forums, magazines or friends). Of course, I have no doubt there's people who can be disappointed by its performance: in the end it's just a piece of gear and it cannot be immune from criticism or delusions.

I read the review on Stereophile, here it's my impressions:
- JA really liked it
- measurements were not as stratospheric as declared (but, as we know, that's not the most important thing)
- JA recommended some care in speaker matching (no very low loads)
- the phono sections has not been reviewed. This was disappointing to me, being a vinyl lover and very curious in this not-orthodox approach (I wish a follow up by Michael Fremer soon or later)
- JA consider the $16k price "convenient" when thinking about assembling a complete (really complete!) system (cables included) with the same budget

Accordingly, I don't see hyperbolic statements such as "best ever". My interpretation of the final sentence of the review is that the "most extraordinary" doesn't go to the absolute performance, but to the concept. And with this, I think that most of the audiophiles might agree :) even if, given the possibility to spend more, they might look to more orthodox systems.
 
Guys, let's be welcoming to new members :). Just in case you think I say that because he agreed with me, my observations could all be due to placebo and bias :). So take it with a grain of salt as with any other subjective comment.

On recommending it to non-audiophiles, that is actually the target market as we saw it if we carried it. I wouldn't call it non-audiophiles as much as non-AV enthusiasts. There are many wealthy individuals for whom the look and compact form factor of this amp has a lot of value. To people here, putting an ugly amp in the room is no big deal :). To them it is. Making an amp small and attractive is no virtue to most enthusiasts. On this front, they have done a great job of making a luxury product for a luxury market.
 
Sounds like the prejudice of anything including the word "digital" is shining through more than any serious listening actually being done.
 

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