According to Devialet, the new soundbar was designed to elevate all contents on a television, via HDMI 2.1 with eARC/ARC and optical S/PDIF, while also supporting Bluetooth 5 and Wi-Fi with AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect. The nine 41mm full-range high-end drivers with aluminum diaphragms deliver dynamic midrange and crystal-clear treble, with the response extended by eight built-in 134mm woofers that reach down to 24Hz, removing the need for additional subwoofers or satellite speakers.
Rounding out the angular silhouette of the Devialet Dione soundbar the focus point is dominated by the ORB at the center of the design. In addition to hosting 1 active speaker and 2 passive radiators, this central sphere is an aesthetic nod to the Phantom, Devialet’s iconic speaker. With the ability to rotate the sphere 180° clockwise, users can visually and acoustically maintain its front-facing position whether wall-mounted or when placed flat on a piece of furniture.
In total, the Devialet Dione combines 950W RMS of ADH amplification, enhanced by SAM signal processing technologies. This audio architecture results in 5.1.2 sound channels (five main channels, a subwoofer channel, and two elevation channels) that will fill any corner of a room with a 3-dimensional soundfield, no matter the content. The subwoofer drivers are arranged in Devialet's Phantom engineered “push-push” configuration to further cancel any mechanical vibrations.
Because soundbars need to deal with a variety of sound sources using advanced sound processing, Devialet powered the Dione with a dedicated system on a chip (SoC) at it did with the recently updated Phantom speakers. This unique audio SoC combines Devialet’s amplification and signal processing technologies (ADH, SAM, Magic Wire, Class-A, and 24-bit/96kHz DAC) into a single 1 cm² silicon die, which the company says preserves "the extreme performance level of the ADH amplification (0.001% Total Harmonic Distortion), while reducing the size of the hardware components by a factor of 200 and power consumption by a factor of 10."
The Dione is also powered by the full suite of patented Devialet technologies including SPACE that actively upscales any stereo-encoded 2.0 signal into a 5.1.2 signal, creating an enveloping spatial effect; Adaptive Volume Level (AVL) that adjusts sound levels in real-time, to augment the impact of the sound effects without muffling dialogue; and Advanced Dimensional Experience (ADE) for superior surround sound restitution thanks to speaker placement and advanced digital filters.
On that note, the soundbar is natively compatible with Dolby Atmos multichannel and object-based audio sources, featuring two elevation audio channels to extend the soundstage and accurately reproduce sounds coming from above the listener as defined by the Dolby Atmos content metadata. When content is plain stereo, the soundbar can use its signal processing stage to upscale any signal with the SPACE upmixing algorithms in different listening modes. Spatial Mode transforms stereo tracks into layered 3-dimensional sound when used with any wireless audio source (AirPlay 2, Bluetooth, Spotify Connect, and UPnP) to place the listener center stage and enjoy music and other content at their best. Voice Mode boosts accuracy and intelligibility on programs like podcasts and news, while Music Mode faithfully reproduces a stereo setup and disables all spatialization effects. The different Modes can be turned on at any time using the Devialet mobile app.
The Devialet Dione also features Advanced Dimensional Experience (ADE), a unique patented technology that was specifically designed for the soundbar and combines ingenious speaker placement detection and advanced digital filters to deliver superior multichannel audio restitution through the use of beamforming techniques. For multichannel audio, Devialet ADE relies on a dedicated speaker array to create a spatio-temporal filter which effectively boosts the amplitude of sound waves coming from a specific angle (through constructive interference) and rejects sound waves from elsewhere (through destructive interference). In effect, ADE allows the soundbar to optimize the surround and elevation audio channels and reflections according to its position (either horizontal or mounted vertically on a wall). For the listener, this maximizes the impact and immersion of multichannel content at all times, no matter the position of the soundbar, while delivering superior audio all around.
The Devialet Dione soundbar also comes with the ability to scan and tune its rendering to the room it is placed in. A custom Room calibration software ensures sounds coming out of the soundbar will fit in any space. This custom software takes into consideration multiple acoustic parameters that might impact the audio quality such as room size, walls, furniture, layout, and the placement of the soundbar inside the room to create an accurate representation of the surrounding space. By playing different echoes and frequency sweeps, the software tunes the sound output to the acoustic model of the room, so that the soundbar sounds as good as possible wherever it is. The room calibration scan can be conducted at any time from the application settings. The internal microphones used for acoustic scanning can also be deactivated by pressing the microphone button located on the soundbar control panel.
In addition to fine-tuning the sound through room calibration software, the soundbar comes with the ability to intelligently arrange speaker channel splitting based on its position (flat on a shelf or mounted on a wall). This is achieved with the help of an internal gyroscope and the latest virtualization technology. Users will be asked to actively confirm the detected position of the soundbar before finalizing the product installation inside the app. After confirmation of the final position, speaker channel mixing is intelligently adapted to that orientation.
Thin and discreetly angular, the Devialet Dione soundbar measures 47 inches (120cm) wide, 6.5 inches (16.5cm) deep, and 3.5 inches (77mm) tall. The design is carefully crafted with premium material all around, with the central core body made from anodized aluminum and coated with acoustic fabrics. The local control panel is housed on the side of the soundbar and is easily accessible by the user even when fixed on a wall, offering access to all the main features without the need to use a remote or the Devialet application.
The Devialet Dione uses the same companion app as the Phantom speaker, providing access to the listening modes, features, and connectivity, while enabling access to the latest firmware updates. Once downloaded via the App Store or the Play Store, it only requires a few steps to install and configure. The app will manage any soundbar or Phantom speaker found on the same network, and it provides an open and versatile software ecosystem to take advantage of the many streaming services via AirPlay 2, Bluetooth, Spotify Connect, and UPnP, with tutorials to guide the user within the application. It also allows precise control of volume while in different rooms and offers direct control of the listening modes and room calibration.
The existing Devialet Remote, already a faithful companion to Phantom speakers is also compatible with the Dione soundbar via Bluetooth, with a range of up to 20m from the connected device. It is powered by a lithium-ion battery with an autonomy of up to 2.5 months and is quickly recharged by using the included USB-B cable.
According to Devialet, the Dione soundbar is available to pre-order now and will retail for $2400 USD or €2190 EUR.
www.devialet.com
