Just my experience here: i was getting the first decode of MQA from Roon even using HiFi as long as the signal was 16\44.1 . Anything higher and MQA was lost.
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Trying new headphones for the work setup. Probably will play around with the settings and signal path a bit later on. But for now it sounds nice ‘vanilla’ running the B&W Px8 plugged in with USB-C to the laptop.
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Doesn’t the Devialet Expert 120 upsample all input to 24/192 internally anyway?
(My own preference is to leave as much of the upsampling and DSP to the DAC as possible so that it is done, and tweaked, in the way the designers intended it - particularly in high-end equipment where that design synergy is part of what you are paying for.)
It might at least be worth comparing the Devialet’s own internal upscaling vs ‘pre-upscaling’ by Roon.
BTW, that’s a very neat piece of kit - I love the non-conventional Devialet concept of doing DAC and power amplification in such a tightly-coupled way (but I haven’t had the opportunity to listen to one before).
Devialet upsamples every analog signal to 24/96 or 24/192. Whether it upsamples digital signals to 24/192 is debated in the Devialet chat forum
According to some, also digital input is upsampled to 24/192, but I am the last to know. I must say, I do not notice much of a change when upsampling via HQPlayer Embedded or leave it away altogether. My guess is if the Devialet upsamples, its conversion is pretty good as it sounds marvelously.
And of course I like my Devialet very much, though in the long run, I’ll replace it with something else since the DAC maxes out at 24/192, so flexibility is a bit restricted. Nevertheless, the sound is gorgeous!
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With high-end brands you are often not really paying for performance and synergy…
Look at this 9k devialet amplifier
My signal is totally poked and proded.
Sounds amazing.
Minimum phase crossovers are executed by Roon convolution engine. Trialing a little tweak at 16khz hence than IIR addition.
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I am already biased against Amir, but this is another review where he telegraphs his results by trashing the equipment in the opening paragraph. He hates the look, the chassis, the electronics. He then posts results for a unit that was faulty! Why not get a functional unit and then go ahead with the test? “Because I am Amir and I do what I want!”
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I can find plenty of reviews where his opinion of a units aesthetics and features is poor, but he finds the unit technically strong. Check his opinion of Chord products for one example.
There’s even corroboration with measurements from a stereophile review of a similar amp from the manufacturer. A review is just that, you’re not “telegraphing” by passing opinions early. My inference is simply that it’s big bucks for a badly designed amp.
Regardless of Amir’s subjective opinion, the measurements provide objective, useful data that’s been consistently measured across reviews. I struggle to see where people have a problem with that…
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Well, i did say i was biased…
and in the case of the review by Amir of the Devialet Amp\DAC\ Streamer, i just think it was wrong of him to post results of a unit that was faulty. The results may have been identical, but he could have procured a functional unit. Again my own bias may be in play here. Thank you for your insight.
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No such thing as no MQA on Tidal they refer to the MQA masters which is anything at 24bit. There are lots of 16bit MQA files though on the Hifi tier and some that are have only those as an option.
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I never understood why he published a review of a faulty gear. It‘s just not scientific, contrary to what his forum claims to be.
Thanks for the reply, and yes you did state your bias. For my part, I’m genuinely biased towards a source of objective data is all. I’m not keen on some elements of the ASR forum which doesn’t always feel friendly/constructive, so I don’t use it. I do like objective data though, and the site is a fairly unique resource in that regard.
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There is a few where you get subjective reviews and then lots of measurement nonsense as well. Stereophile does this but also finding this one has lots and lots that i glaze over. But they do at least a proper listening session and talk about it.
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Or less could be less, depending on application.
If you are not correcting for target response, room, or phase, its likely a longer signal path would be beneficial.
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