John
Re-unification. UPnP, Apple AirPlay, Spotify Connect, Bluetooth and Roon – five key streaming connections Devialet intend to add to their Expert Pro range of ‘super-integrated’ amplifiers, bringing future software development in line with the Phantom range of digitally active loudspeakers.
This means new software. The forthcoming Devialet OS, “a Linux-based OS tailored for audio applications optimal performance” will see the French company ultimately develop only a single software stream.
For the Expert Pro, that means new hardware upon which the upgradeable Devialet OS will run. The forthcoming Core Infinity board will replace both the Duet and Wi-Fi board in the Expert Pro to offer 1Ghz Quadcore ARM processor, 1Gb DD3 RAM, 4Gb flash memory, Gigabit Ethernet, 2.4Ghz/5Ghz, Bluetooth module, Apple Airplay chip, bi-directional USB port, Analog Devices SHARC chip for audio DSP and FPGA for data marshalling.
December 2017. On the tenth anniversary of Devialet’s inception, press were invited to witness the Core Inifinty / Expert Pro production process at Seprolec’s Normandy factory. Seprolec have worked with Devialet on Expert production since day one.
Down on the factory floor, Devialet co-founder Pierre-Emmanuel Calmel and Seprolec head Patrick Soghomonian introduce us to a pick-n-place machine that works speedily but methodically to place surface mount components on the Core Infinity board before being soldered into place. Some of the newer components measure less than half a millimetre in diameter (as seen in the yellow container) and so call for the pick-n-place machine’s suction/release functionality.
In the following video, we see how the Core Infinity board comes together, how Devialet apply quality control, where it is placed on the Expert Pro’s mainboard (unchanged) and how the final Expert Pro unit comes together before being shipped out to Devialet’s distribution network.
The hardware board might be ready but the software isn’t, not yet. Devialet OS is still very much in beta testing.
Further information: Devialet Core Infinity development log
