Here’s one reason why it’s been tricky to figure out if the Devialet Expert Pro can be configured into my multi-channel system.
Fixed inputs: 1 USB,1 opt; 1 digital XLR
Configurable inputs:
1 line-in/phono;
2 coax dig-in/1 line-in;
1 mono sub/coax dig in;
1 coax dig-in/dig-out;
1 mini-opt in/RS-232
And all inputs (not sure if that includes both analog & digital) can be configured as home theater bypasses.
I need simultaneous HT bypass, sub out, output for headphones (or a headphone amp) out, & inputs for 2-4 analog sources & an outboard streamer.
Oh and just for icing, the Devialet product literature is so terse as to be unhelpful. The company seems to want people to figure out if the amp works for them by running a Configurator program that stores connection-setups on an SD card that you insert into the amp.
So before you can even figure out if the amp will handle all your other components, you have to go online, learn how to use a configuration application, and proceed by trial-and-error. And when I tried to use the configurator, it had a simple interface, simple in both the best and worst ways: easy to make changes but short on explanations about what those changes do, or why certain combinations are not allowed.
Absolute Sound dinged the product for its complicated setup, but I don’t think that tells half the story.
My head hurts.