[Womaz]

So it appears that I am using my headphones more and more.

I am curious as to what the Devialet amp does in my set up. So I use roon, the core of which is on my lap top at present

I have the Devialet pre outs configured for HP use as per the Devialet guidelines.

I then have the Auralic Taurus mk2 headphone amp connected to the Devialet by RCA connection.


Please forgive my ignorance here, but what exactly is the Devialet doing? In my set up is it only acting as the DAC?

Any guidance appreciated

 

[Monsterzero]

Never heard of the Devialet before,but apparently a really nice piece of kit.
How is it connected to your laptop?

 

[Womaz]

Never heard of the Devialet before,but apparently a really nice piece of kit.
How is it connected to your laptop?

At present it is connected by Ethernet cable to my lap top. I have always presumed in the HP set up the Devialet acts as the DAC and this feeds the Taurus which is the amp.

 

[Monsterzero]

What other digital inputs does it have?

 

[Womaz]

What other digital inputs does it have?

It has a usb outlet to and my Melco is connected to it by usb . It has others too , but I don’t use them . My set up is as above .

The Melco is being replaced by the roon nucleus in next month or so

 

[Monsterzero]

Yeah,if your laptop has a coax out then your Devialet is acting as DAC.

@Womaz Ok,im a bit confused. So the only connection from comp to Devialet youre using is ethernet? If thats the case im not sure youre actually using the internal dac of the 200. I somehow read your reply as coax. Perhaps someone else can interject,as Ive never encountered transmitting digital data via ethernet. My understanding is all that the ethernet is doing is over-riding the wifi capability of the 200....again could be wrong.

Does your comp have coax out? If not try USB, and see if you hear any noticeable SQ improvement

 

[Monsterzero]

Okay,called an expert on this product. I am correct. The ethernet input is over-riding the wifi,and should be connected to your router for streaming purposes. If that isnt possible apparently the wifi on the 200 is good.

To actually use the internal DAC of the 200,you need to use coax or USB,and also check the output settings of your sound card on computer and make sure youre outputting from either coax or USB. You might need to install a driver to use USB.

It appears that with your current config youre using the sound card on your computer.

 

[Womaz]

I asked the same question on the Devialet forum and this is the reply I received

In your set up the Devialet is receiving a stream from the roon core, extracting the audio data in digital form and converting it to stereo output to the pre amp outputs. So I would say it is acting as the DAC with a network input

 

[Monsterzero]

OK,well I called the Devialet store here in NYC,and they said what I typed above. Ive never heard of a DAC that accepts info via ethernet,so I can only say what the guy at the store said and what my experience has taught me.

 

[Womaz]

I am no expert that’s why I asked . the Devialet is connected to my headphone amplifier but RCA cables. The Devialet is a complicated product as I had to configure the pre-outs to do this . If it is not acting as a DAC then what is it doing ?

 

[Womaz]

I guess I am now wondering if I can improve on this set up. It sounds incredible to me but I have not tried that many HP set ups.

Over the last few years a large proportion of my listening is through headphones .

So would I be better off with a different DAC and taking the Devialet out of the HP set up.

The HEK and Auralic are a great set up so do they deserve a better DAC.


Any guidance as always welcome

 

[ProtegeManiac]

OK,well I called the Devialet store here in NYC,and they said what I typed above. Ive never heard of a DAC that accepts info via ethernet,so I can only say what the guy at the store said and what my experience has taught me.

It's primarily a streaming server like the ones from Marantz and MF. The difference here is that instead of using a tablet/phone app to control it while taking digital audio stored in a separate server (or an external HDD hooked up to the streamer) it works with Roon and the laptop works as the interface.

No computer soundcard has the analog output connected to anywhere but the 3.5mm TRS (or RCA) jacks, same way the DSP on a soundcard can't go through PCI-E, into the DSP, then back down PCI-E, then into the motherboard, then out via USB or the motherboard's TRS jack. Not that it can't but I really see no reason why anybody would bother doing that, even on a laptop with just a single board for everything.

 

[HamsterJ]

The Devialet is pretty good, I also used it with the headphones through RCA, but in the end I bypassed its DAC with the HDV800's one.

 

[HiFyAK2020]

I use the Devialet Expert 220 Pro and looking through this threads it is clear to me that the music data that is stored on a PC or a Server is transmitted by Ethernet Cable (or less viable via Wifi) and processed in the Devialet internally and then output - if it is RCA Analog configured then the Devialet acts as a super power DAC, if the RAC output is configured as Digitial output (it can do both - it is a question of the menu setting) then it acts only as a bridge between source and destination without processing, BUT it may resync the data - or in other words make the clock more precise - with upsampling as well... so either way the Devialet does something good.
I am absolutely stunned by this product - so small and a sound that blows your mind - and it looks great too. A absolut BUY Option for this price !

 

[digitalnomad]

Setting the Expert up is not always intuitive, but the results can be magnificent