If you are familiar with speakers, you might know of the Devialet Phantom, the bulbous and ridiculously powerful wireless speaker that has been seen on the display tables of Apple stores some years ago. If you don't, we forgive you; it probably makes a better impression through being heard than seen. Since then, the ambitious French audio company has honed a niche in thoughtful design and high-performance audio engineering, arriving at the frontier of home cinema with an impressive soundbar—the Devialet Dione.
Frankly, the Dione is too impressive to be called Devialet's first foray into this audio field. The all-in-one Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 soundbar uniquely combines 17 speakers to deliver a deep infrabass, dynamic midrange medium, and crystal-clear treble. Instead of external subwoofers, the three-inch soundbar works with eight long-throw ones and nine full-range drivers, the latter including a centre channel found within the rotatable centrepiece called the Orb. This automatically corrects sound orientation regardless of the Devialet Dione's orientation, and altogether, Dione's immersive, rich and powerful sound is a worthy rival of industry darlings like the Sonos Arc.
The Dione's main claim to fame however, is actually the brand's next-generation audio processing chip: the Devialet Intelligence Processor. It combines Devialet’s amplification performance and signal processing technologies into a single, one-square-centimeter System on a Chip (SoC). This chip stores the Phantom's Speaker Active Matching (SAM) and energy-saving ADH (Analog Digital Hybrid) amplifying technology, but also includes newer features like a new SPACE technology that upscales stereo sound into a more three-dimensional one, as well as the Advanced Dimensional Experience (ADE) that uses beamforming, a type of radio frequency, to create a bigger, wider and more immersive presentation.
While they clearly have a thing for acronyms, its clearer that their radical size-to-performance ratio is a feat one simply cannot mull over; this high-end showstopper is worth considering for both its looks and capabilities. Understandably, there are only so many ways you can change up the look of something that has to be both decor and discreet. But Devialet begs to differ; wrapped in carefully selected (and pretty-looking) acoustic fabrics and equipped with an anodized aluminium central core, the Dione is sleek and sturdily distortion-free. Especially with the statement Phantom-inspired Orb, it's an impression-maker before it's even heard.
To control the Dione, you have the option to press the buttons on the soundbar itself or use your own TV remote to adjust volume. As for more advanced functions, a Devialet App can be used to model your room using room calibration, adjust modes, and enable connection via Bluetooth. It is designed through and through to be comfortable to hear, look at and use; what more can we ask of a soundbar, truly.
Devialet Dione will be available for pre-order at S$3,790 and will be available in-store from end of April 2022. The products will be available at Devialet retail stores at ION Orchard and The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, authorised dealers, as well as Devialet.
