One week countdown...

[bernardl]

There was some chatter awhile back about the possibility of a software release for Expert Pro customers around the time of the Munich High-End Show, originally planned for May 14-17 before it was cancelled due to the Corona-virus situation.  We are now one week from that cancelled show.  Additionally, an OP purportedly was beta-testing a fix for the gigabit Ethernet issue that some of us have experienced with Roon.

So, fingers crossed, let's see whether something transpires in quick order...

What I heared from someone close to Devialet France, is that an Expert model below the 120 will come out, perhaps ment to be presented in Munich.
As I complained about the absence of new software releases for my Expert (one of the reasons I bought the device), the answer was that all the software guys at Devialet are (or at least were) very busy with sorting out all the problems in the Phantom software. 

I would find it odd to bring out another new Expert when the firmware it needs to be auditioned with isn't finished yet. They're meant to have Bluetooth ability and having to skip through half a dozen not used inputs isn't something you will find on even the cheapest of products. If I were in the market for a 'super integrated' that would be something I would like to see fixed before I'd commit to purchasing.
When the original Experts came out, they were well ahead of the competition in sound quality and user friendliness. I would go as far as to say the Expert range was the gold standard the competition looked up to. The only other product I can think of that's had such a large following (And I would assume sales numbers) is the KEF LS50. As far as I know the sound quality of the Expert is still right up there with the competition lucky to get close and even luckier to surpass Devialet. But so many companies have brought out super integrated's that if you were shopping now, you would have lots of choice. All it takes to not buy an Expert on sound quality alone is a bad setup in a shop that doesn't show its quality. That's a sale of a very competent amp going to the competition just because you can't get the firmware right. That would be a petty. 

Then there's the dealers who will inevitably have to deal with the after sales complaints. Too many complaints and a dealer will start looking at alternatives to sell.
They must be selling an awful lot of Phantoms if that where all their attention is going.

I don’t know whether they are selling many phantoms or thinking they should be selling more and correctly analyzing that a key reason for not selling as many as they should is the word of the mouth about subpar software quality?...

I hope for them it’s the former.

I am not sure they have realized that customer support nowadays means to never ever have to call customer support.

Regardless, the reality is that us expert line customers have been incredibly patient with them. And this patience is soon coming to an end.

cheers,
bernard