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

[cat3600]

Wow ! What an easy sound, the strange particles in 6.08th music are away. Congratulation Devialet support stuff !

Thanks for the update on the 6.09. I just installed it on my D-Premier loaner from the dealer. I have had the unit for a couple of days now, but could not play it much as I was out for the whole weekend mostly. I had a huge issue trying to get the AIR going with dropout and sudden AIR stop working for no apparent reasons.

I reloaded the custom config which I had created on the Devialet website on the SD card again this morning and, its been running fine for a good 6 to 7 hours on my Windows 8 machine with JRiver being controlled via my iPad. Keeping fingers crossed! Also I find the base a bit more controlled, I don't want to use the word lean, as it is not so but seems so compared to my previous setup of PS Audio PWD Mk II and ModWright KWI 200 Integrated......I could be wrong though.

 

[cat3600]

Strange! Luckily I don't experience this same issue. -12dB corresponds to the maximum volume you get when you set the volume slider in Windows to maximum.

Do you experience the issue using the new 6.0.9 firmware or earlier versions (I myself haven't tested 6.0.9 yet). Did you restart JR MediaCenter or reboot the PC after setting volume control to disabled? Do you have set JRMC to use WASAPI, event style enabled and exclusive mode enabled? Did you also enable WASAPI in the Windows AIR2.1 driver?

I have no issues of the volume jumping with 6.8 or 6.9 and I am a new user too, just a FYI

 

[cat3600]

I completely agree Ian - I have already stopped posting for similar reasons to yours. G

There has been a few posting recently on people leaving or not posting, we are all adults so each to their own. However on none of my postings I have not been disrespectful to any individual and this is a audio forum and constructive and diverse views are part of any forum. It doesn't matter if the conversation is about fuses or anything else as long as its about the Devialet, I agree that we could easily start a few sub-forums on the Devialet and have one for the general discussions such as the existing one. However going through these hundred pages there seems no end to the different types of discussions that have gone on over this period.

What I don't like is the sort of personal attack such as this:
Quote Originally Posted by IanG-UK View Post
I think this will be my last post on this thread as I find it is now plagued by unsubstantiated statements and daft ideas

I am sorry but I have been in the audio hobby far too long to be insulted as such. So well those who do not feel like staying, good bye and good luck!

 

[Petter]

Come on,in the end its just discussions

Only thing that get me smile sometimes,is when a change is reported in the sound,its always a upgrade to the better,why that only because the sound are changed ?

Same as I play with my Logitech Transporter via optical cable to the D Premier quite often,the sound is not so audiophile as via the air,but i like it better for long time listening,specially on rock and loud,and the logitech app beats the Itunes 100 times !

That is not the same as the sound is better,just different and suits me better when playing r&l

 

[cat3600]

Come on,in the end its just discussions

Agreed and thank you Petter, hence my last post above!

 

[Jupiter]

Come on,in the end its just discussions

Only thing that get me smile sometimes,is when a change is reported in the sound,its always a upgrade to the better,why that only because the sound are changed ?

Same as I play with my Logitech Transporter via optical cable to the D Premier quite often,the sound is not so audiophile as via the air,but i like it better for long time listening,specially on rock and loud,and the logitech app beats the Itunes 100 times !

That is not the same as the sound is better,just different and suits me better when playing r&l

Petter, it isn´t better because the sound only changed. Until now each update gave a better sound. However the 6.08 - sound contains some undefinable characteristics which gave him sometimes a bit curious touch. After playing some seconds with 6.09 it was clear: The ease etc. is back. I define "better" as wider stage, clearer, easier, more palpable sounding.

 

[cat3600]

same with me. Even though the problem defenitely occurs rarely compared to the early 6.x firmware versions with AIR 2.0.
That means, it works for me.
... more or less.

Yesterday morning I played the unit for 7 hours straight with almost, note (almost) no interruption but from yesterday late afternoon or evening, no go. AIR would continuously stop and sometimes the music coming out was breaking up. I really am at a loss given my network is fine and that also it did play for a few hours almost perfectly. I spend more time trying to fix AIR than listening to music it seems. Anyone has a 170 yet as I would surely like to know if the Ethernet is more stable than wireless?

 

[Petter]

Petter, it isn´t better because the sound only changed. Until now each update gave a better sound. However the 6.08 - sound contains some undefinable characteristics which gave him sometimes a bit curious touch. After playing some seconds with 6.09 it was clear: The ease etc. is back. I define "better" as wider stage, clearer, easier, more palpable sounding

i ment in general terms,cabels etc etc etc

 

[dans6959]

Yesterday morning I played the unit for 7 hours straight with almost, note (almost) no interruption but from yesterday late afternoon or evening, no go. AIR would continuously stop and sometimes the music coming out was breaking up. I really am at a loss given my network is fine and that also it did play for a few hours almost perfectly. I spend more time trying to fix AIR than listening to music it seems. Anyone has a 170 yet as I would surely like to know if the Ethernet is more stable than wireless?

Before I start I should say that when it works the 170 sounds fantastic and I'm hopeful my problems can be quickly resolved.

I have a 170 and can confirm that the ethernet is more reliable than the wifi, but I'm not able to reliably stream anything above 16/44.

I can usually stream 24/88 and 96 without dropouts but they do occur. 176 and 192 are a no go. They don't make it more than one song without dropping out and the Air app switches to Disable Devialet AIR. It's probably a function of my setup. I have the the 170 connected to the network via ethernet and a macbook air connected via wifi that is pulling the files from a Synology NAS thats also connected via ethernet to the network. So the wifi network has to pull the files from the NAS and push them to the 170. The laptop is about 20 feet away from the router. I haven't tried playing hi res directly from the laptop via wifi yet.

I suspect the only reliable way to stream hi res in my situation is via fully wire network or usb, which brings me to my next problem. I have a linux MPD based Auraliti PK90 that I used to stream to an Ayre QB-9 before I bought the 170. The PK90 was connected via ethernet and pulled files from the NAS. It worked flawlessly on whatever sample rate I sent it. Unfortunately, at present it appears the usb input on the 170 does not recognize linux based machines. The 170 uses the same or similar XMOS based usb chipset that most usb dacs are implementing so it should be an easy fix for Devialet. The best thing about usb is that you don't have to worry about running the AIR app.

I have 2 other problems with the 170. On the phono input I'm overloading the ADC regardless of where I set the max gain. I'm using a Clearaudio Maestro MM cartridge and I've tried setting the gain from 3.6-10 and the db indicator flashes orange on every record I've tried playing.

Last problem is the remote. It will randomly lose connection with the 170. I've followed the online instructions to repair it with the 170 but they don't work. The only way it will repair is to power cycle the unit. The problem repeats itself, sometimes within minutes and other times it takes hours. I've tried turning off every RF transmitting device I can to see if something is interfering but it hasn't helped. The Hi-Fi News review of the 170 mentions ZigBee so I assume that is what's being used by the remote. Did the D-Premier also use ZigBee? I have other ZigBee based products but they were all turned off and the problem persisted.

My dealer has submitted all my issues to Devialet so hopefully a resolution is coming shortly. As of now the only thing I can reliably use the 170 for is the home theater bypass of the front 2 channels. If you have a MM cartridge or use a linux based server I would demo the 170 with your setup before I purchased the 170 at this point.

Has anyone run into similar problems with the D-Premier? I wonder how similar the 170 and D-Premier are given all the problems I'm having.

 

[Petter]

Did have some really issues with downloading 6.9 ,the Devialet wouldn't read the card,but it did after 6 or 7 times

This is what Thierry said to other with same problem,just for info to you/other with same problem :

Thanks for your message. If I remember well, your D-Premier has serial number 00XXX. Units in the s/n range only support 2Gb regular SD cards. SDHC cards are not recommended.

I would recommend you to buy an extra 2GB card just as reserve as long as there are still available on the market. Otherwise, keep using your original 2GB card.

The reason why it sometimes blocks is that the D-Premier is waiting for a certain transfer-speed from the card. If for a reason or another this speed is not respected, it thinks there is a problem with the data and it stops.

Thanks again.

Best regards,

Thierry"

But that said with 6,09 working i must say i am pleased with my D Premier,after been on the trading circus with different brands some years now.

Today i only use my IMac with ITunes via air to Devialet,and second system Transporter via ITunes to Devialet optical,and the music have never sound generally better in this house

 

[Togil]

Before I start I should say that when it works the 170 sounds fantastic and I'm hopeful my problems can be quickly resolved.

I have a 170 and can confirm that the ethernet is more reliable than the wifi, but I'm not able to reliably stream anything above 16/44.

I can usually stream 24/88 and 96 without dropouts but they do occur. 176 and 192 are a no go. They don't make it more than one song without dropping out and the Air app switches to Disable Devialet AIR. It's probably a function of my setup. I have the the 170 connected to the network via ethernet and a macbook air connected via wifi that is pulling the files from a Synology NAS thats also connected via ethernet to the network. So the wifi network has to pull the files from the NAS and push them to the 170. The laptop is about 20 feet away from the router. I haven't tried playing hi res directly from the laptop via wifi yet.

I suspect the only reliable way to stream hi res in my situation is via fully wire network or usb, which brings me to my next problem. I have a linux MPD based Auraliti PK90 that I used to stream to an Ayre QB-9 before I bought the 170. The PK90 was connected via ethernet and pulled files from the NAS. It worked flawlessly on whatever sample rate I sent it. Unfortunately, at present it appears the usb input on the 170 does not recognize linux based machines. The 170 uses the same or similar XMOS based usb chipset that most usb dacs are implementing so it should be an easy fix for Devialet. The best thing about usb is that you don't have to worry about running the AIR app.

I have 2 other problems with the 170. On the phono input I'm overloading the ADC regardless of where I set the max gain. I'm using a Clearaudio Maestro MM cartridge and I've tried setting the gain from 3.6-10 and the db indicator flashes orange on every record I've tried playing.

Last problem is the remote. It will randomly lose connection with the 170. I've followed the online instructions to repair it with the 170 but they don't work. The only way it will repair is to power cycle the unit. The problem repeats itself, sometimes within minutes and other times it takes hours. I've tried turning off every RF transmitting device I can to see if something is interfering but it hasn't helped. The Hi-Fi News review of the 170 mentions ZigBee so I assume that is what's being used by the remote. Did the D-Premier also use ZigBee? I have other ZigBee based products but they were all turned off and the problem persisted.

My dealer has submitted all my issues to Devialet so hopefully a resolution is coming shortly. As of now the only thing I can reliably use the 170 for is the home theater bypass of the front 2 channels. If you have a MM cartridge or use a linux based server I would demo the 170 with your setup before I purchased the 170 at this point.

Has anyone run into similar problems with the D-Premier? I wonder how similar the 170 and D-Premier are given all the problems I'm having.

Is your NAS connected to the computer by Gigabit Ethernet. Gigabit is an absolute must.

 

[cat3600]

Before I start I should say that when it works the 170 sounds fantastic and I'm hopeful my problems can be quickly resolved.

I have a 170 and can confirm that the ethernet is more reliable than the wifi, but I'm not able to reliably stream anything above 16/44.

I can usually stream 24/88 and 96 without dropouts but they do occur. 176 and 192 are a no go. They don't make it more than one song without dropping out and the Air app switches to Disable Devialet AIR. It's probably a function of my setup. I have the the 170 connected to the network via ethernet and a macbook air connected via wifi that is pulling the files from a Synology NAS thats also connected via ethernet to the network. So the wifi network has to pull the files from the NAS and push them to the 170. The laptop is about 20 feet away from the router. I haven't tried playing hi res directly from the laptop via wifi yet.

I suspect the only reliable way to stream hi res in my situation is via fully wire network or usb, which brings me to my next problem. I have a linux MPD based Auraliti PK90 that I used to stream to an Ayre QB-9 before I bought the 170. The PK90 was connected via ethernet and pulled files from the NAS. It worked flawlessly on whatever sample rate I sent it. Unfortunately, at present it appears the usb input on the 170 does not recognize linux based machines. The 170 uses the same or similar XMOS based usb chipset that most usb dacs are implementing so it should be an easy fix for Devialet. The best thing about usb is that you don't have to worry about running the AIR app.

I have 2 other problems with the 170. On the phono input I'm overloading the ADC regardless of where I set the max gain. I'm using a Clearaudio Maestro MM cartridge and I've tried setting the gain from 3.6-10 and the db indicator flashes orange on every record I've tried playing.

Last problem is the remote. It will randomly lose connection with the 170. I've followed the online instructions to repair it with the 170 but they don't work. The only way it will repair is to power cycle the unit. The problem repeats itself, sometimes within minutes and other times it takes hours. I've tried turning off every RF transmitting device I can to see if something is interfering but it hasn't helped. The Hi-Fi News review of the 170 mentions ZigBee so I assume that is what's being used by the remote. Did the D-Premier also use ZigBee? I have other ZigBee based products but they were all turned off and the problem persisted.

My dealer has submitted all my issues to Devialet so hopefully a resolution is coming shortly. As of now the only thing I can reliably use the 170 for is the home theater bypass of the front 2 channels. If you have a MM cartridge or use a linux based server I would demo the 170 with your setup before I purchased the 170 at this point.

Has anyone run into similar problems with the D-Premier? I wonder how similar the 170 and D-Premier are given all the problems I'm having.

Thanks for the update. My main use will always be streaming as this is the whole idea to simplify as I don't want another box sitting next to the Devialet. I used to stream with my PWD Mk II via hardwired Ethernet and had a few issues but not like this. One thing is that there was a web application where one could log onto the PWD DAC to assign a static IP address only for the DAC. Please note that the router etc. would remain DHCP but the DAC itself could be assigned a static IP. This is a bit more reliable and Devialet should have a means to assign a static IP, hope its possible.

I will never have a record player so no worries on that front. I would suggest and I have heard its possible to submit your cartridge details to Devialet team and they can configure a custom file for you.

I have a D-Premier on loan from the dealer as I wait for the 170. I was thinking of picking up the D-Premier contrary to what I said earlier, if I got a very good deal. But since it doesn't have Ethernet (I don't care about USB) and given AIR is so problematic, I might be better off getting the 170 after all, as the upgrade for the Ethernet and USB board is quite a bit. If AIR was working well then I could have avoided the Ethernet upgrade. I am really confused now what to do!

But as i type the connection was lost a few times, my friend came over on the weekend and i could not get AIR to play, so I used my Pioneer Elite SC-68 AV Receiver to do the streaming and output it through the Devialet for L/R set as HT Bypass on Line 1 of the Devialet.

With regards to ZigBee I thought that was the chip or technology used for the wireless streaming, have to read the review again. I have never had any issue with the remote, something could be faulty on your unit.

 

[cat3600]

Ok as trivial or obvious it sounds and I was guilty of taking it for granted. The wireless network router positioning is extremely important. I have a Linksys EA6500 AC category router and since I have other equipment connected to it without a problem, I assumed my network is fine. I couldn't be more wrong, the AIR needs very very strong signal and positioning of router and the Devialet is very important. So my router is located upstairs and the Devialet is downstairs, after re-positioning the router I have much better signal. Also the Devialet which is downstairs is inside the AV cabinet and opening the door actually degrades the signal, go figure!! Keeping the door closed probably amplifies something which may not be the case for someone else, in my case it is better.

So I guess the bottom line is re-postion, re-position re-position both router and Devialet to get the best signal.

I also have a Linksys WUMC710 Wi-Fi Wireless AC1300 5GHz Universal Media Connector Bridge downstairs but that is only to hard wire through Ethernet my Apple TV, Samsung TV and Pioneer Elite AV Receiver as they all are connected to the Internet, however its useless for the Devialet as there is no Ethernet port on it. What I might do is maybe get another AC router and bridge the upstairs router with the new one and keep it right next to the Devialet below.

Will see what happens in the evening, for now AIR is working well again after re-positioning the router.

 

[marcor]

So my router is located upstairs and the Devialet is downstairs, after re-positioning the router I have much better signal.

yes, one thing to keep in mind is that the wifi signal travel well horizontally but suffer a lot vertically. To the point that if your router is on a table and your devialet on the ground (so to say) you will see a difference in lowering the router. Now my wifi router is sitting literally side by the devialet slightly inclined over the antenna and is giving me a reading between -9 and -12.
Another thing I did notice, in case is of any use, is that you have a lot of break up and crackling noise if your computer streams on a different band from *** devialet.
To explain. my router allow me to set up 2 network one 2.3 Ghz and one 5Ghz. D-premier can hook up only to the 2.3G but if you connect your computer wireless to the 5G there will be a lot of drops and crackling noise and sometime the connection will drop. I ended up wiring my computer to the network and disabling the computer wireless to avoid any interference.

 

[Nightmare]

Is your NAS connected to the computer by Gigabit Ethernet. Gigabit is an absolute must.

Why that? The absolutely bottleneck is the WiFi. Should not be important, whether the NAS is connected by gigabit or not?! I really wonder about the bad functionality using WiFi at all. Seems to me, that Devialet has not made its homework yet. WiFi source right to the devialet, no other data through the WiFi, problems with different routers, in the end a WiFi optimized room or even house?! One should perhaps try to move in the countryside to avoid interferences from outside also. Sorry, we are talking about music and not even high resolution 4K 3D material with more than one stream simultaneously. The problem should not asked to be solved by every user on his own experiencing at home, but has to be solved by Devialet. They are out now for years. Should have been solved for a long time anyhow.

 

[Bernie]

I'm using AIR from the beginning and beside the dropout problem of 6.06 I never had any issues. If some users have problems does not mean that there is a general problem. As a computer is involved there can be lots of reasons for wifi problems...

 

[Jupiter]

I'm using AIR from the beginning and beside the dropout problem of 6.06 I never had any issues. If some users have problems does not mean that there is a general problem. As a computer is involved there can be lots of reasons for wifi problems...

I´m Air-user from the beginning. Have had problems over problems. A repeater helped a bit. After using PowerLAN the problems could be solved. Additionaly it sounds better. Now the sender is 1 m away from the Devialet. It works with approx. 1 - 3 short interruptions a week. (at the beginning 5 long interr. per day)
Nevertheless I´m curious about how ethernet will sound.

 

[Bernie]

my router is connected via ethernet cable to the PC and about 2 m away from the Devialet. Big distances are a problem for Wifi of course. I also think that a Wifi connection between the PC and the router is not a good idea...

 

[ogs]

Unfortunately, at present it appears the usb input on the 170 does not recognize linux based machines. The 170 uses the same or similar XMOS based usb chipset that most usb dacs are implementing so it should be an easy fix for Devialet.


Has anyone run into similar problems with the D-Premier? I wonder how similar the 170 and D-Premier are given all the problems I'm having.

@dans6959
Thanks very much for your report. It is very distressing to read that Devialet has selected to exclude Linux support for the USB input. As far as I understand it Devialet is using a Thesycon based driver for the XMOS chip with their own code added for integration. I hope Devialet can be persuaded to add alsa support as USB will be the only possible connection to Linux. The XMOS chip is, as you say, broadly supported in Linux. I would not expect Devialet to do a Linux version of Air2...

As for the remote loosing connection I have never experienced this with my D-Premier (18 months of use) so this is most likely a bug that will be fixed

 

[Nightmare]

Of course ethernet has to be prefered in any case. I am only using WiFi fpr iPad and iPhone at home. And I will have to use it for my Devialet 240, as Devialet asks for WiFi to provide best sound quality so far. I could follow their arguments for that decision. Maybe the problem is not the WiFi of the Devialet in general. But a lot of problems are mentioned that seem to be exist due to WiFi. And why does the Devialet obviously have problems with a Fritz!Box as one of the most widespreaded routers. Of course WiFi is always a bitch. But I doubt Devialet really cares. Hope I will not have to deal with such problems when installing everything.

After using PowerLAN the problems could be solved. Additionaly it sounds better.