Is there any such thing as a bad sounding DAC these days?

@aberyclark 
Well, too each his own. Topping is definitely a brand I avoid. Any dac that makes the voices of Renee Flemming and Joan Sutherland for example, sound harsh is to be avoided by me.

I have had 2 of the top Topping DACs a few years ago. It was not a great DAC but not terrible either. It was much better than the DACs that are in most integrated amps and cost a lot more. A warm system helps keep the Topping in check. 

@laoman I will check the two vocalists and give a listen. 

One thing...this is the first Topping DAC I have ever listened to. 

As has been stated digital conversion seems like a solved problem, but I am not qualified to make that assertion. The impact of non DAC circuitry has been evident to me since my first "real" DAC, a Bel Canto with the then recently developed picosencond superclock and competent output stage. I moved on, but not because I ever perceived something wrong.

But to me much of the measurement misses the point even if it screens out the truly bad. My hearing rolls off at 14khz and I have a small dip between 2-4 kHz in one ear from a minor diving injury. My end state is a Trinnov despite the fact that by modern standards it has a poorly measuring DAC at about a 90db s/n. However I get excellent room correction and the ability to use different base curves for frequency response. That matters more to me perceptually.

As has been said many times in various places, the analog portion of the signal chain, post DAC analog stages, amps, speakers, listening space to perception, is vastly more complex, lossy, and variable than what is coming out of the D/A stage. But not all DACs are created equal either and s/n and imd tests aren’t really definitive for me.

I was just watching a you tube video on the $160 Fiio K11 R2R DAC.

I don't think that there has ever been in audio a type of audio component where the difference in sound quality between a budget piece (DAC) and very expensive piece (DAC) is so small compared to the huge disparity in price.

I do understand why people don't care about diminishing returns when buying expensive DACs.