Review: Devialet Dione Dolby Atmos Sound Bar

Core Technologies

Okay, now buckle up. We're going to get in-depth with the core technologies that make the Dione tick. To start off, we have everything a sound bar should have. For Wireless options we have AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, and Bluetooth 5.0. Really the big 3 options. For physical connections we have HDMI ARC and eARC, along with CEC. In case you aren’t familiar with CEC it stands for Consumer Electronic Control and is a standard being used with many devices that use HDMI to communicate back and forth. It's most commonly used to send power and volume commands to an audio device, so you can use your TV's remote to control the sound bar. And of course, with the 5.1.2 channel array, it supports both Dolby Atmos decoding and play back. Pretty much all of these features are standard on most high end sound bars, but what really sets the Dione apart are what they describe their 3 core technologies.

SPACE

Number one is the new patented spatial audio processing, aptly named SPACE. This can be enabled or disabled in the app easily by pushing one button. Anything you listen to can be upscaled to 5.1.2 channel surround sound. If you are listening to something recorded in stereo, it will add a sense of height, increasing the sound stage vertically and horizontally. It will also add height channels to content recorded in standard 5 channel surround sound.

AVL

Number two is AVL: Adaptive Volume Level. This is always enabled and analyzes the signal continuously to boost dialogue and reduce bass on the fly. A lot of content on TV can be mixed in a way where louder effects like explosions or background music can override key dialogue, and this really helps.

ADE

Number three is ADE, which stands for Advanced Dimensional Experience. Devialet uses beam forming audio to accurately recreate directionality and produce a better sound stage. It’s also the reason for the 17 individual drivers. Some of the drivers are set up in pairs, with one being the primary driver and the second being used for beam forming. Beam forming is a really clever technique to focus sound waves in specific directions by using constructive and deconstructive interference.

Beyond those, Dione also has some core technologies found in Devialet's other products as well, like their ADH amp and SAM profiles. The Dione uses the exact same chipset that is found in the Phantoms. It uses a Class A pre-amp, and a class D power amp, measured at 950 watts RMS. Packing tons of power in small spaces is something Devialet has perfected. Same goes for their SAM profiles. Devialet has incredible amounts of profiles for hundreds of speakers that they measure and generate a DSP curve to get the maximum performance out of each driver. When designing the Dione, they measured each individual driver to design a profile that is active at all times.