Was a new DAC installed for the those who had an upgrade to Expert Pro?

[Pim]

I have to say I'm also surprised they didn't update to something that can handle higher bitrates etc, as it does seem the direction the industry's going. 

The problem with 'the industry' is that not many manufacturers have the balls to stand up and tell it as it is. There's absolutely no merit in a higher bit rate than 96kHz for supplying to consumers. Mark Waldrep, who is one of the very few who actually records in 24/96, is doing a test amongst his readers at the moment and, although the test is still going, he's already come to the conclusion that the outcome will be that it's extremely difficult to hear the difference between 24/96 and CD quality. So if you have high bitrate music and it sounds significantly better than the CD version, you can bet it's because it's been mastered differently. 

So I applaud Devialet for standing by their principles and keeping the DAC that they think does a great job and work on the things around it to make it sound even better. The higher bit rate Devialet are using internally is so they can do DSP without losing sound quality but that's not the same as playing something that's put in a 24/384kHz bucket. All you get more with those recordings is a heap more very high frequency noise that only your dog can hear.