The question that neither Quentin nor you are explicitly answering is are you guys working on RAAT to be implemented on the Core Infinity board some time in the future? Everybody just wants to be told a simple yes, we’ll be implementing RAAT or no AIR is all you’re going to get. I’m totally gob smacked by the way Devialet are talking around the subject as if they’re a bunch of second rate politicians. It’s quite a joke that I’m asking this question here and not on the Devialet site because I, and many others, know that you guys are more reliable than Devialet when it comes to answering questions.
I wish I could answer that question so simply with a yes or no, but I can not. Let me explain my predicament:
Let’s assume we were in talks and they told me “yes, they will do it”. They decide to not say anything publicly. Now I tell you what they said. They wouldn’t be very happy, since it’s counter their own position to be silent. Also, I’ve forced them to publicly commit to the integration. If they have delays or decide not to later, I made my partner look like liars. But they never wanted to say anything so this was all my fault! I’ve created a PR disaster for them. A disaster could have been avoided by jist following their wishes and staying silent.
Let’s assume they say “no, but the option is open for later.” They chose to stay silent publicly. Now I tell you what they said. They wouldn’t be very happy, since it’s counter their own position to be silent. Any chance that the integration happens in the future is much harder now since we’ve betrayed the private confidence of our partner. That open door closes. That stinks for everyone.
This whole situation really requires us not to speak on behalf of the partner, even if we know what’s going on. I hope you can respect that. It’s a fine line we walk every time we go near the subject.
Appreciate there are confidentiality constraints that must be maintained when you have a working relationship with your Partners.
Thanks for speaking as freely as you can with us (within the understandable constraints), because this trait certainly isn’t one of Devialet’s strong points (understatement).
As said before, think we’ll have to maintain ‘Tortoise’ mode until at least end of the Year, and see what transpires then with Devialet.
Your public position here is prudent allowing for both you and Devialet to work out a development timetable that is suits both of your priorities and resources allocation (public positioning can sometimes put undue pressure or even cause un-necessary embarrassment to your Partner which you have surmised above) - I think by the Devialet CEO mentioning Roon in their communication to Expert owners shows their interest in having an integration with you guys (mind you, the Roon team have been very proactive providing solutions to Devialet like the “AIR” integration, so I suspect Devialet sees value in having Roon onboard ) - but I also presume they are under some pressure to ensure their own software/ hardware development is sorted before dealing with Partners - I get the impression that they underestimated the work and time for this project which I may add will not bring in any new revenue, other than having the costs absorbed for the new builds in the future. I have to say Devialet gets a bad wrap in this forum and others which I do think is sometimes disproportionate to what they are actually trying to do for their customers, which is ahead of many other hifi manufacturers.
I can say they are aware of the need for Roon RAAT but as all will understand they in the first place focus on the stable hardware / software platform.
It’s already been stressed in the first day of the post, but it’s a good idea to keep the momentum up for RAAT/RoonReady. Please post your feeling on the CEO’s comments here:
Agree with Markus that they’re now aware, but also don’t want it to turn out like someone who is aware of a fly which is annoying, but once swatted away can be forgotten about.
Devialet don’t have a great track record of following through with Customer requests, hence unless ‘Louie the fly’ keeps pestering with more of his friends then the momentum will die.
PS anyone from Aussie will know what I mean by ‘Louie the Fly’
Comments help amplify concerns and keep user desires on the radar in weekly meetings and goal planning. Priorities change quickly.
Just days ago Oceane said she only had 4 requests… You know that Quentin’s post and it’s replies is making internal rounds at Devialet… not everyone there is aware of the desire for RAAT.
I did that a while back with the Allo digiOne and am perfectly happy with the solution - certainly I found it more or less indistinguishable from Roon AIR but with the huge advantage that I can link it with a neighbouring zone in the kitchen.
OK, it’s DIY and extra boxes and clutter, and not the seemless solution a RoonReady CI board would be, but I kind of don’t think anything Devialet does from here on will be truly ‘seemless’ and we’ll all be waiting a lifetime for the software/firmware to work properly.
That doesn’t mean I’m not going to hassle them about it, but practically speaking I’ve moved on with a working solution so don’t have to stress about whether Devialet ever gets it together or not. If they do it will be a huge bonus. Until then I think I’ll just avoid the CI upgrade completely until a few ginea pigs have ironed out the problems…
The digiOne’s probably the best value piece of audio hardware I’ve bought in years.
No. Not ‘blind’ anyway. Although I do use a BNC to AES convertor from Neutrik, but again only on recommendation that AES is best with Devialet. I couldn’t tell any input apart blind.
That’s not to say others with different ears/systems wouldn’t of course.
The latest from Devialet is here: https://help.devialet.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005657385-Core-Infinity-Log-November-15th. Of particular interest is the statement: “Roon Advanced Audio Transport is already on our roadmap, we are looking into how we can speed it up. There are some other groundwork developments already underway, and we will have a better vision in the coming months. We heard you loud and clear and will, of course, keep you updated.” Is this a whoopee statement!!!
Danny has been hinting at it, but off course had to keep the confidentiality of a ‘new’ partner.
Now that it’s officially out there that Devialet have RAAT on their roadmap for the Expert range here’s hoping things will progress quicker.
Still expect it to be a few months as believe to be a certified endpoint would mean Roon having to physically test an Expert Pro with the new Core Infinity installed, along with the software.
Devialet just published a news update on their blog.
3/ ROON
The Roon integration of our AIR protocol. We are finalizing with Roon a fully-compatible and improved release.
Roon Advanced Audio Transport is already on our roadmap, we are looking into how we can speed it up. There are some other groundwork developments already underway, and we will have a better vision in the coming months. We heard you loud and clear and will, of course, keep you updated.
It almost seems like @hifi_swlon’s criticism is starting to bite!
“The Roon integration of our AIR protocol. We are finalizing with Roon a fully-compatible and improved release.
Roon Advanced Audio Transport is already on our roadmap, we are looking into how we can speed it up. There are some other groundwork developments already underway, and we will have a better vision in the coming months. We heard you loud and clear and will, of course, keep you updated”
. Let’s hope it continues in this very +ve way:
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