I’ve been trying to drum up some support for RoonReady over at Devialetchat, in the hope we can get enough people to pester Devialet into adding it.
Interestingly, one user mentions Devialet’s quite limited memory (32MB) and ‘lightweight’ FPGAs (Altera CycloneIII EP3C5).
I wonder if @brian or @danny could comment on what hardware is required to accommodate RoonReady, and whether this does in fact look unlikely for the Expert range purely in hardware terms?
That’s pretty tight. Without the exact details it’s hard to say for sure, though.
We’ve crammed audio streaming into performance-constrained platforms before. It’s no fun for anyone, and there’s very limited headroom for growing/evolving the system over time. Alternative network stacks (basically, anything other than BSD, Linux, and Windows) have been a source of repeated trouble, too, so we are avoiding platforms built that way as a rule.
Thanks Brian…
Well, I’m a positive person and I like to think “where there’s a will there’s a way” 
We’ve gained a bit of traction our end with quite a few users contacting Devialet with the request - and a few users have received more positive replies from them, saying they are discussing it internally.
If you were inclined, it might be a good time to nudge.
Please, save us from Devialet Air!!! 
Would there be an issue making a Devialet a RoonSpeakers device?
We would love for that to happen. Whether or not it is feasible depends on the exact hardware specs and Devialet’s willingness to cooperate.
The latest we’ve heard on this is that Devialet and their engineers are now ‘becoming aware’ of how great Roon’s technology is, and that it may well be possible to see it integrated in the future, but not at the moment as they are busy with other projects.
This is paraphrased and second-hand, but its certainly better news than we’d had previously. I assume Roon can’t tell us whether or not they’ve actually had any further discussions or formed any plans with Devialet (as they’d probably be under NDA or whatever), but I suppose it wouldn’t stop them liking this post if that were the case……
In any case I will continue my mission to hound them into submission - like the library letter writing in Shawshank Redemption, it can only help to double the ‘hassling’ efforts.
Incidentally they also acknowledged MQA as being a ‘great technology’ that may be seen on the experts in the future…
Would love my Devialet 200 to become a RoonReady unit, but I am not pinning too much hope on Devialet playing ball, since they seem to think the Dialogue is the only way to go. Funnily enough, this is strangely reminiscent of my enquiries regarding headroom for evolving firmware on Naim streamer units. 
During my ‘one man quest’ to try and drum up support for Devialet making their devices RoonReady, I’ve come across some reluctance/resistance recently from a minority (I hope) of owners….
They feel it may be unfair for Devialet to devote resources to adding a proprietary protocol like RAAT- when it can only be used with one commercial package that’s considered relatively expensive to use, as well as requiring a PC in the chain. If they had to chose only one ‘system’ (likely on the Experts at least), then OpenHome and Ravenna were touted as other ‘fairer’ things to consider.
I’m not in agreement personally (but then I’m clearly biased), and this is all theoretical at the moment (sadly) but it did get me wondering whether it might be an idea to open source RAAT one day, or at least make it available (licensed?) for others to use - to help with acceptance/uptake?
You will always find people anti to something, quite often not realising the benefits. Stick-in-the-muds!
I find it mildly amusing when someone who is happy to lay thousands on a cable baulks at the cost of Roon subscription.
I guess the question is what is to stop Devialet adopting Roon?
There may be other reasons of course, but I like choices, and I would really like the choice to run Roon directly to Devialet, without having to hope and pray about AIR. That’s not what enjoying this hobby is about.
I suppose that as a Devialet owner, if I wasn’t interested in Roon but was interested in streaming to my Devialet Expert, I might also consider RAAT a lower priority than, say, getting AIR fixed or finding an alternate, open streaming solution that works. Well. All-the-time. (unlike AIR).
I’d like to think Devialet is proactively working this. But who knows… they could learn a good bit from Roon Labs when it comes to customer service. @hifi_swlon, have you found a communication channel into Devialet that is actually responsive? My experience is that I get a canned response with no followup. The DevialetChat forum seems to echo similar.
Be that as it may, I do love my Devialet Expert – almost as much as Roon – and fortunately, there are an increasing number of RoonReady devices at reasonable price points that will work well with a Devialet Expert and Roon.
Well, I think if they knew how to fix AIR they would probably have done so by now. In less time than AIRs been broken (assuming it ever worked) Roon have setup shop, written an entire application from scratch, grown their business to establish it as a leader (IMO) and released their equivalent concept to AIR, which vendors have already integrated…… Kind of puts it into perspective, yet Devialet are still in denial - I’ve never heard so many excuses from “using protocols that prioritise sound quality over reliability”, “people’s networks being unreliable, or connected to the internet”, “bugs in operating systems” (all seemingly), you name it its been put forward - you literally couldn’t make it up. Mostly unofficial of course, the official line still seems to be “it works (if used properly)!”
Sadly, such a thing does not exist in my experience. Devialet say they care (apparently), but show no signs of actually meaning it.
The latest I got back about my AIR complaints (and request for RoonReady) were “you’re free not to use it”!
True, but it doesn’t make the AIR pill that much easier to swallow, since the device is marketed and sold on the grounds you can stream to it directly, and was one of the key reasons I (and many others) bought it. Now, not only do we know this is untrue, Devialet actively stifle adopting a replacement - forcing us to add boxes to go via USB/AES and circumvent their rubbish software/firmware.
Just out of interest, is there any reason a SonicOrbiter SE plugged into a Devialet 200 would not make the unit RoonReady? The 200 has a USB2 input right? Would it not pass through unfiltered into the Devialet?
I get the sense that owners of some equipment will be waiting a long time for Roonready to be built in so USB2 connected streaming devices that are RoonReady seem like a good option. Might not be understanding it though.
As much as I would like to see the Devialet RoonReady, it makes not sense for them to do it. They just need to fix Air and it will work for everyone.
That said I have a bad feeling that in all their infinite wisdom they will implement some half baked DLNA solution instead of RoonReady. 
I’d prefer not to have a streaming device plugged permanently into USB as I like to capture my Needle Drops using the USB port from the Devialet to my laptop.
I knew there would be a reaosn! I just don’t know what needle drops means, but I would if I could afford a Devialet I am sure!! 
Digitally capture vinyl playback.
Yep, a SonicOrbiter SE would work just fine, as long as the Devialet USB port isn’t already in use for another purpose as @DrTone indicated. You could also use it via optical Toslink I believe.
@hifi_swlon’s frustration with Devialet is shared by many. For me, AIR was not a deciding factor in purchasing my Devialet 200 but I totally understand the frustration. I have to think that potential Devialet Expert customers doing any online research would quickly run away if streaming to a Devialet is a priority to them. Then again, the Devialet sounds amazing and it’s working for me just fine with my Squeezebox Touch - albeit, not sounding quite as good as via AIR - when it works. So if AIR is not fixed, I will likely pickup a RoonReady device.
I’m going to build a PI 2. I have a Squeezebox Touch that I’m using temporarily, but a PI with the soon to be native Roon support sounds good. It will give the dork in me something to do while I wait for Devialet to get their crap together.
Jeff, keep us posted on that project! My guess is you’ll have that project completed long before Devialet gets it together.
Are you as consumer not entitled to return the device on grounds it’s not fit for purpose / doesn’t work as advertised? I’m pretty sure Australian consumers would be able to based on what you describe. Perhaps that’s the only way to get Devialet’s attention…have them deal with en mass returns for full refunds.